Are Richard Grayson and Carol Hafner on the ballot to confuse the voters and so should be removed?

When Dan J. Sullivan appealed the decision to remove his name from the US Senate ballot,

"Basically, Chris Murray, attorney for the Division of Elections, began arguing that Sullivan is on the ballot to confuse the voters and so should be removed," (from this blog)

The first complaint the Division of Elections received was from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).  Then there were two more from the Alaska Republican Party.  

They were outraged.  They fussed about how this was deceptive and intended to take votes away from "the real Dan Sullivan."  Then the head of the Division of Elections, also a Republican decided he wasn't eligible to be on the battle because of his bad intentions.  She removed him from the ballot until the Superior and Supreme Courts told her to put him back on.  And then she left off his party (the only candidate left partyless) and she added "Incumbent" to the other Dan Sullivan, even though honorifics are not allowed next to candidates' names.

This story made it to national news.  Here's from CBS News:

"In a letter to the candidate on Monday, Elections Director Carol Beecher concluded that Sullivan's entry into the race was not done to 'declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or mislead and to thereby compromise the ballot's fairness or neutrality.'

The sitting senator brought the situation to reporters' attention at the Capitol earlier this month, accusing Democrats of being "complicit in trying to trick Alaskans" to 'rig an election in their favor.'"  

In hindsight, I'm thinking that CBS is the network bought by Larry Ellison, like a toy, for his son, David.  And that that made one more major media outlet owned by a Trump ally and then they made Bari Weiss head of news and she got rid of long time 60 Minutes staff.  So it's no surprise that they wrote their report quoting all the Republicans.  

I'd add that there are also candidates on the ballot to be Alaska's US Senator who live outside of Alaska.

• Grayson, Richard (Registered Green) (Certified) 1093 W. 14th Ave.  Apache Junction, AZ 85120    Website: http://www.richardgrayson.com
• Hafner, Carol “Kitty”   (Registered Democrat) (Certified) 514 Americas Way #2296  Box Elder, SD Website: http://www.carolhafner.com
• Mayers, Richard B.   (Registered Republican) (Certified)   6159 W. 64th Place, Unit 6  Chicago, IL 60638

These would seem a lot more deceptive than a man who actually lives in Alaska.  And BINGO.

This week I began getting flyers in the mail promoting Richard Grayson on one side and trashing former US Representative,  Mary Peltola,  Senator Dan Sullivan's main Democratic opponent,  on the back side.  

[When I took the photos of the postcards I put the two addressed sides in the same picture.  So the bottom flyers go with the ones in the top photo - Mary on one side, Richard on the other]

It would appear that Grayson is a candidate so he can smear Mary Peltola.  I can't help but wonder if the Republicans were so sure that Dan J Sullivan was a 'fake' candidate put up by the Democrats (they never presented any evidence of this), because they were planning to use Grayson to smear Peltola.  

And a friend got a similar sort of mailer but on behalf of Carol Hafner, the US Senate candidate who lives in South Dakota, and whose son is running for the US House seat in Alaska, although he's in prison for another 20 years in New York.  

Why would I be so suspicious?  Well, the GOP know that their leader is not popular and that there is a good chance that the House and even the Senate could become majority Democratic.  And this would make it much harder for Trump to get away with all the unconstitutional things he's doing.  So they've tried a whole lot of stunts to tilt the election to help elect Republicans:

• Trump is doing everything he can to get the SAVE Act passed, which would effectively disenfranchise millions of voters particularly women because anyone whose current id is different from their birth certificates (like women who took their husband's names) will face big obstacles.  
• The Republicans began mid-decade redistricting in a number of states to gerrymander away Democratic seats.  (Yes, Dems did some of that too, but only in response to the Republican moves.)  
• Trump has told states to turn over their voter registration lists.  Some GOP controlled states like Alaska did, but 19 or 20 states refused and the courts have backed them.  Exactly what Trump would do is not altogether clear, but there are fears he would purge voters from the lists.
• GOP have gotten states to purge voter lists.  3000 were dropped from the Alaska rolls even though hundreds are actually eligible US citizens..  

KPVI reports:

"And now, two weeks before the primary election determines which four candidates advance to  the general, Grayson, who’s running under the Green Party label, is getting an unexpected boost: A new super PAC has spent more than $100,000 on his behalf.

Fair Deal Alaska registered with federal campaign finance regulators a few days ago and lists as an address a suite in a Wasilla office building that offers “virtual office and mail services.”

In multiple filings with the Federal Election Commission, it has since reported spending some $180,000 on mailers, phone calls and other media supporting Grayson — as well as roughly the same amount on behalf of another Democrat in the race, Carol Hafner, who lists a South Dakota campaign address and uses a New York City phone number.

Neither Grayson nor Hafner responded to requests for comment Saturday. (Grayson did write a letter to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in June saying that the temperature in August in his Arizona town rises to 114 F, and that “just as our town is filled with seasonal residents from Alaska and other northern climes, I now have a good excuse to visit my snowbird neighbors and mooch off them for a while.”)

The apparent purpose of the spending on the two fringe candidates is boosting Hafner or Grayson onto the general election ballot, where either of them could pull a small number of votes from Peltola and potentially tip the race toward Sullivan. Fair Deal Alaska is also spending more than $65,000 on mailers opposing Peltola, according tto its disclosures."

So please excuse me if I suspect that all of this outrage from the Republicans over Daniel J. Sullivan reflected their plans to try to sabotage Mary Peltola with their own fake candidates who don't even live in Alaska.  

I once was on a softball team.  One of our players regularly protested dramatically when he was called out running the bases.  His voice, his arms, his legs all proclaimed he was safe and how could you ever call him out!!??!!  When he got to the bench he would laugh and tell us he was out by a mile.  I get similar vibes from the Republicans here, except our ball player was just having fun, and the GOP are deadly serious about winning, no matter what.  

I can only hope that Alaskans are savvy enough to see these flyers for what they are.  And since they are aimed at Democrats, I'm more confident they will be more discerning than their MAGA counterparts who have believed pretty much anything Trump tells them.  

[For those wondering about an out-of-state candidate running this was discussed at length in the court cases.  Eric Hafner, Carol's son, the one in prison, was ruled eligible in 2024 by the Alaska Supreme Court because he met the Constitutional qualifications - one of which is "is an inhabitant of the state when the elections are held."  They accepted the Republicans' argument that he could be pardoned or given parole.]

AIFF2025: Festival Passes, Nazi Art Thief, Remaining Native Or Not - UPDATED

 The button on the film festival website is now working and you can buy all film passes.  Last year the new  directors of the AIFF Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt did away with all film passes altogether.  There was some pushback and some were made available.  I was told there will be a limited number of passes this year.  The price is $200 each, considerably more than in the past.  That's still a lot cheaper than buying tickets one-by-one if you're going to as many films as you can.  There are a number of folks who have been doing that for many years.  It's still not clear on the website  a) how to buy individual tickets for events, or b) how much they will cost this year.  [UPDATED: Nov 19, 2025 - You can purchase tickets for individual showings for $12.  So if you're going to see more than 16 events a pass is the way to go. And you don't have to buy tickets each time. In the past you did have to get tickets at the Bear Tooth by showing your pass. (You could do one Friday, five on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday each.  There are more showings than that, but they are at the same time.)]

But if you want a festival pass, I suggest getting on the website and scrolling down until you see the link to buy passes.  

This year there are a lot of films showing at the same time.  If you have a lot of programs (showings of a feature film, or showing of a block of shorts) this will, inevitably happen.  But looking at Monday's programming, both the Alaska Experience Theater and F Street Theater have 10:30am and 1 pm showings.  Bear Tooth has a 5:30 showing.  So one of the downtown venues could have started at 10:30am and the other at noon, with a 2:30 or 3pm showing.  Then there would have only been one overlapping event.  The second Saturday, they have spaced things out so there is no overlap. 

I'd also note that on Thursday, December 11 in the online schedule as of my writing this, at 7:00 30 pm in the Museum it says:  "Jewish Museum Feature."  I'm guessing that was a place holder until the webmaster got the name of the film.  I spoke to the director of the Jewish Museum here in Anchorage and she said the film was:

Plunderer:  The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief - Hugo MacGregor.  

Image from 7th Art

From MFABoston: 

“'It’s not every day that you meet an old Nazi.' So begins historian Jonathan Petropoulos, recalling the day in 1998 when he first met Bruno Lohse, Hermann Göring’s art agent in Paris during World War II. Once an obscure art dealer, Lohse rose to prominence in Göring’s inner circle, personally orchestrating history’s most infamous art theft ring for Hitler’s right-hand man.

Filmed over five years and in seven countries, Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief unfolds as a detective story with Petropoulos detailing Lohse’s role in stealing countless masterpieces from liquidated Jews across Europe, and the web of postwar complicity that shielded the Nazi criminal from meaningful justice. This compelling tale exposes the art market’s disregard for provenance and confronts the enduring human cost of these crimes. It also raises questions about the ethical consequences when a writer falls prey to a source and becomes a part of the story. Produced by John Friedman under the aegis of the National Center for Jewish Film."

[UPDATED NOV 19 - It's still listed as Jewish Museum Feature and if you search that, you can get tickets now.]

And here are a few more film previews:  Remaining Native and You're Not Native.  It seems these two really should be listed together.  

Thursday, December 11  7:00 pm in the Museum

Remaining Native - Paige Bethmann

From Variety:

"Director Paige Bethmann’s technically polished and utterly absorbing film skillfully forges a link between past and present by focusing on Kutoven “Ku” Stevens,  a 17-year-old Native American determined to earn a University of Oregon scholarship in track — despite his living on the Yerington Paiute reservation in Northwest Nevada, a place rarely if ever visited by college scouts, and being the only cross-country runner at a high school that lacks a track coach.

Ku’s parents strongly support his pursuit of his daunting goal — especially as they attend track meets where Ku runs so far ahead of his competitors he appears to be moving into a different zip code. And he’s lucky enough to be spotted by Lupe Cabada, a running coach who recognizes Ku’s formidable abilities, and guides him toward competing in meets where the young runner can be seen by the right people.

But there’s more to Ku’s obsession than his O of U dreams. As he runs across the rural Nevada landscapes, he is driven by stories he has been told about his great-grandfather, Frank Quinn, who at age eight fled from confinement at an especially brutal Indian Boarding School by literally running away — 50 miles away, to be precise — after two failed attempts at escape.

“Maybe they got tired of chasing him,” Ku speculates. Many other students, however, weren’t nearly so lucky. Indeed, as “Remaining Native” progresses, and the first waves of accounts about unmarked graves discovered at former Indian Boarding Schools hit the news, the horrors are exposed and the estimated death count escalates."

You're No Indian - Ryan Flynn

From ITC:

"Directed by Ryan Flynn, the film gained the support of Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal who joined the project as executive producers.

Cardinal, a celebrated Métis actor with Cree, Nakota and Dene heritage, told ICT: “‘You’re No Indian’ is a powerful story that needed to be told. Our people are being erased, by our own tribal governments, and that truth struck a nerve. The stories in this film lit a fire in me. You see families broken apart, identity stolen, communities suffering in silence. I couldn’t ignore that. Many are too afraid to speak up, knowing they could be next. I joined this project to help lift their voices.”

Why has disenrollment become such a major issue?

“Disenrollment is not new,” Cardinal says. “It’s a modern-day extension of the same forces that have tried to erase Indigenous identity for generations. More than 11,000 people have already been disenrolled, and many more were never acknowledged at all. Their stories speak to a crisis hiding in plain sight. ‘You’re No Indian’ confronts that silence, revealing just how widespread, and devastating, this injustice truly is.

'It’s about the money,' director Flynn told ICT. “It’s unfortunately underreported – entire families and histories are wiped out with no recourse. We created this film to shine a light on this practice and amplify the voices of those affected. One person gets disenrolled and it wipes out the whole lineage.'” 

 Sunday, Dec. 7, 1pm at the Museum

I haven't seen any of the films I've featured in this post and the two previous posts.  They were simply selected based on the screenshots up on the AIFF 2025 website and the titles.  Or, in the case of Plunderer,  which I've added because it isn't on the website yet at all.  This is a way for me to find out more about what is coming and to share with you.  These aren't necessarily recommendations.  

How Does Trump Screw Us? Let Me Count The Ways

That wasn't the original title, but as I started writing, it just seemed more apt.  

This post is about two videos - one by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut who lays out the details of the unprecedented level of corruption in the first six weeks of the Trump administration.    (Thus the title of this post.)  

The second is a woman from Oklahoma venting her anger over the botched Signal chat that put her husband (stationed in the Middle East) in potential danger.  

I was struck by the contrast between these two approaches to criticizing the Trump administration - one highly factual and rational, almost like a college lecture.  The other focused, but almost unhinged in the level of anger and invective.  

I'd argue that we should all be at the level of anger and resistance that woman is at.  We shouldn't wait until we are directly impacted.  100,000 people raging like she does would probably pry enough US Senators away from Trump to stop the venal actions that Senator Murphy describes in detail.  

We need the facts and details to understand how we're being screwed to raise our level of anger and resistance.  And we need her passion and fury to get us to stop pretending life will not be completely disrupted if we don't stop this horror right now.  

Murphy Video

There's a lot of content and detail here.  You can skip down to the video, or you can first look at my outline of the ways Murphy lists that Trump is corrupting government and enriching himself and his oligarch supporters - from streamlining the art of the bribe to dismantling agencies that have investigations that hurt Trump supporters.  Here are some of them, to help you keep track.  I've added links if you want to find out more about each.  

1.  Memecoins - He starts out talking about Trump meme coins that can be used to transfer money, unreported, directly into Trump's account.  This is the latest in bribe technology. 

What are Meme Coins?

I had to look up meme coins to try to understand what they are.  Here's a link to investopedia.com and one to wikipedia to help you understand.  The first link even offers ways to invest.  The Wikipedia link is more contextual and historical.  One thing I learned looking this up is that DOGE - the Department Of Government Efficiency - the rogue mob that Elon Musk is leading, is also the name of one of the more popular memecoins, one that Musk promoted.

2. Pays off Oil/Gas Industry's $1 billion bribe.   On day one Trump privileges oil and gas and hurts their competition- wind, solar etc.  This article documents the billion dollar ask, but the actual money count doesn't get that high.  But the benefits were given.  

3.  Jan 25  Fires the watch dogs - all the Inspectors General - the people who investigate corruption

4.  Jan 27 - Fires head of National Labor Relations Board.  This means NLRB cannot investigate cases.  Musk has lots of cases before the NLRB.  And many others around Trump have cases pending.

5.  Jan 30 - awards $800K stock of Trump Media platform  to  cabinet members, which Murphy says is another way for people to move cash to bank accounts of cabinet members in order to get favors.  

6.  Feb 23 - Weaponization of DOJ  - Drops case against Musk SpaceX    Then drops case against a GOP congressman.  Then Operation Whirlwind that targets anyone critical of Musk or DOGE.   DOJ turned into entity that drops cases of Trump loyalists and attacks those who criticize Trump.

7.  Feb 1  - Shut down Consumer Finance Protection Board  which was investigating Musk and Trump backers - consumer protection actions now gone

8.  Feb 4.  Meetings in White House with Business Partners - Saudi Gulf League and PGA - Saudis play torunaments at Trump golf course 

9.  Feb 6 - Pam Bondi - dulls foreign government agent act - No longer registering as foreign government represenatives  = now his friends can lobby government while secretly getting paid by foreign governments.  

10.  Feb 10 - Eric Adams case dropped and publicly announced that gettting rid of the charges against Adams if he pledges loyalty to Trump.Six  people in DOJ refused and resigned and finally the seventh agreed.  

11.  Buying $400 million Tesla’s.  Biden admin was going to buy $483K, Trump bumps it up to $400 million.  This seems to have been scuttled.

This is only a partial list.  The rest are in the video.  

 The Murphy Video

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The second video is just sheer anger at Trump's inept appointees jeopardizing the life of the lady's husband as well as of those of his fellow Middle East stationed military men.  [This is supposed to end after about 4 minutes 30 seconds - I added instructions into the code.  But it didn't work.  I'm not recommending you watch the whole thing.]

The original video I saw, but couldn't find a way to embed, was sharply directed to Sen. Lankford of Oklahoma.  She vows to end his career.  Very powerful messaging.  You can see it at this link to a Bluesky post.

As I said above, we should all be at the level of anger and resistance that woman is at.  We shouldn't wait until we are directly impacted.  Murphy offers us just a few of the reasons we should be angry as hell.   100,000 people raging like the woman in the video does would probably cause enough GOP Senators and Members of Congress away from Trump to stop the horrors that Senator Murphy describes in detail.  

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 – 1861

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

This poem is in the public domain.

The Coup Is Happening But Media Aren't Treating It That Way

There's a coup happening in DC.  There's no other way to describe it. 

The president is nominating and the Senate is approving candidates whose basic qualifications are loyalty to the president. 

He's illegally firing employees and  shutting down federal funding to the states.  

He's implemented 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.  

The Republicans in the Senate are approving his nominees.  

He's fired all the heads of agencies that deal with airline travel and safety, then blamed two crashes on Biden, women,  and people of color.  The new N word is DEI.  

He's fired a large number of federal attorneys and FBI agents.  

He's wiping out all traces of programs that work for justice for people who aren't white hetero males.

His unelected, unapproved, honorary vice president (some argue the true president) Elon Musk has slipped into key agencies and people are worried he's collecting data for his own business uses and other nefarious purposes.

Gutting important health and other websites.

He's released water from a dam in California that was being saved up for when it's needed in the summer.  

This is just a tiny fraction of the acts he's taken.  

Even if Congress stood up to Trump, he would simply ignore them and do what he wants.  Who is to stop him?  (I'll try to address this question in another post.)

What seems to drive his decisions?  There seem to be four key factors, though readers can probably think of others:

• Getting everyone to focus on Trump.  He just can't deal with being ignored or criticized
• Punish those who don't kowtow to his whims
• Whip up the fear and anger of his supporters
• Reward his wealthy supporters

No mainstream media mention coup yet

While the main media outlets might mention his actions, none that I've seen have put it all together and called it a coup.  When I google Trump coup - everything that comes up is about January 6, 2021. Cyber coups are as easy to convey visually as military coups.  

But on social media, people are starting to call this what it is.  Here are just a couple of examples:

From Bluesky/ was bustling with coup references today.

"But the longer we fail to recognize the current situation for what it is—a slow-rolling coup attempt—the longer it will take for us to recover."

A privatization coup of the US government?

[image or embed]

— David Corn (@davidcorn.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM

Not just a coup but a coup by a corrupt Putin- and Nazi-aligned foreigner. Too bad we no longer have a real DOJ.

— Andrew Wallingford (@andrewwallingford.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 2:02 PM

Another step in the coup & Trump still doesn’t realize Musk has taken charge.

[image or embed]

— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM

https://spoutible.com/. didn't offer as many examples when I searched for 'coup'

Even on Musk's own Twitter people are calling it a coup

We are in the middle of a fast moving putsch, a right wing authoritarian coup, a five alarm fire, and our media are treating it as if it were a little backyard bonfire.

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) February 1, 2025

If this isn’t a coup d’etat, I don’t know what is. Someone not elected to office is methodically taking full control of the United States government. pic.twitter.com/zxUMcsFv8G

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) February 2, 2025

Elon Musk is staging a coup. Was that not clear? https://t.co/AcCNI1caNK

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 1, 2025

Democrats are still talking about winning the 2026 Congressional races, as if there will be free and fair elections.  But Trump's team has studied all the possible ways to disenfranchise opposition voters and ways to game the electoral process, I can't imagine that the next elections will be conducted with a fat thumb on the scales.  

At the moment, most people are living pretty much the way they were six months ago.  Except for dark skinned immigrants, pregnant women with complications, LGBTQ folks, people are still going about their lives relatively normally.  

They haven't grasped that soon they will be affected.  Maybe when disaster funds are withheld, or people they work with disappear, or their health care or social security are sharply reduced or disappear.  

But most authoritarian governments in world history end.  Some faster than others.  Find ways to resist in your community - whether it's joining a group, contacting your federal representatives on a regular basis, confronting disinformation when you hear it, and many other ways.  Here's Robert Reich's list of ten things to do to resist.  

I'd note Reich reminds people to find joy in their lives - get out and appreciate the beauty of nature, of art, music, a meal with family and friends, play with your pets.  

The Numbers Don't Add Up - The National Gaps vs Alaska Gaps

Kamal Harris lost the popular vote to Donald Trump by almost 10 million votes!

How did the election swing so far to Trump?  How much was voter suppression - mail-in ballots sent too late to get back, Russian bomb threats and who knows what other shenanigans?  Too few polling places in Democratic areas?  Suppression of student votes and other forms?  

How is it that Trump, after losing the popular vote to Clinton by 3 million votes 

"[Clinton] outpaced President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia."

and to Biden by 7 million votes, 

"Biden’s popular vote margin over Trump tops 7 million"

now beats Harris by almost 10 million votes?  There were 155 million votes in 2020 but only 145 million this time.  By all accounts there was a record number of people turning out this time.  It would seem some votes are missing.    

The numbers we have would mean the gap between increased by 13 million and by 17 million against Biden.  

It doesn't add up.  I know, racism and misogyny play a role, but not that much.  Especially after all the terrible things we learned about Trump after the 2020 election.  They've been listed by everyone already from Jan 6 through convictions and indictments.  And I'd argue that Harris ran a much better and exciting campaign than Clinton or Biden did.  And it sure looked like there were lots of people voting early and on election day.  

How is it possible for him to have won the popular vote by a huge margin this time when he lost it significantly the two previous races?  

Alaska Totals Don't Match The US Totals

It seems even more suspicious when you look at the Alaska totals.  Alaska is a red state, so the increased Trump numbers should be more exaggerated in Alaska than the US total which includes blue states and red states.  But it isn't.  The opposite.  

Harris did better than Clinton, and not quite as well as Biden in Alaska.  

Trump beat Clinton by 47,000 votes in Alaska in 2016..  

Alaska Div of Elections

Trump beat Biden by 36,000 votes in Alaska.  

Alaska Div of Elections    xxx

  

But Trump only beat Harris by 39,000 votes this time.  3000 votes more than Biden lost by, but 8,000 votes fewer than Clinton lost by in Alaska.  

Alaska Div of Elections

Alaska's a red state.  If the number were consistent with the Lower 48 numbers, she should have lost by a lot more than Biden and Clinton lost by.  But her numbers were better than Clinton's.  

So my dilemma is how to connect the dots in a way that makes sense.  Not to make up some wild story, but to offer a plausible hypothesis or two that could be tested by people with better math skills and better data analysis skills and maybe some ability to uncover Russian (or others) tampering with out election computer systems. 

One could argue that misogyny and racism gave Trump more votes in the Lower 48, but then why not have a similar change in Alaska?  We have among the highest statistics for murdered and raped women.  

Or you could blame it on the economy or immigration and border issues.  But whatever policy issues you might raise, people in Alaska have as much access as Lower 48 voters to Fox News and odd internet sites that supported Trump with relentless lies. 

What makes sense to me is someone tinkered with the computers.  Or the ballots.  That's not that far fetched.  Trump, before the election repeatedly said if he lost it would be because of election rigging.  

Trump always projects his own behavior onto others. He's a criminal and rapist who said the Haitian refugees were criminals and rapists.  If the Guinness Book of Records had a category on liars, Trump would certainly be in the top five if not the winner.  And he calls anyone who puts him in a bad light a liar.  He accuses others of his own behaviors.  

He told us over and over that the elections were rigged.  Does that mean he was rigging them?  Not conclusively, but it's a clue that fits the pattern.  Just need some serious investigation of this.  Just as Trump would have demanded had he lost.  To be sure.  

Comparing the national gaps between Trump and his three presidential opponents and comparing them to the Alaska gaps raises real questions for me.  

I'm not saying it happened, but I'm saying there are serious inconsistencies that require some explanation.  

I'm sure the Trump mafia are laughing at how easy it was to get Harris to concede.  They knew she would play by the traditional rules that they have flouted since . . . always.  

Joe Biden, you've got three months to try out your Supreme Court granted immunity.  I'm not calling for you to blow up Mar-A-Lago,  but I'd like to see you push some limits to find out more about the Russian Trump election interference and how the numbers got so out of whack.  And it might show us that the Supreme Court has more comfort with Trump transgressions than Biden transgressions.  If it does, it might be forced to put more restrictions on Trump's immunity.  

Oh, and maybe look into the medical records of Trump's ear.  We've essentially heard nothing.  If he'd really been hit in ear, we'd have heard the doctors explaining it in detail and Trump would be showing off the scar.  

 

The Apprentıce - A Good Way To Understand Trump's Behavior

 We saw the film about Roy Cohn yesterday afternoon.  Of course, it also is about Donald Trump - the Apprentice in the film title.

Here's the LA Times review.  It also tells the story of how it was feared the film would not be publicly shown before the election.  But, alas, it appears it was in Anchorage - at just about every theater, all day, and now it's gone.  It would serve the public much better to have it show at different theaters different weeks, so that word of mouth could get out.  Since the Anchorage Daily News no longer lists or reviews movies, you pretty much have to go look on line and seek out movies, rather than get reminders while you're reading the newspaper.  

I started posting about Roy Cohn back in 2016, and it wasn't flattering.

June 19, 2016:  

". . . attack, counterattack and never apologize."  In the movie these are edited to Cohn's and Trump's three rules:   

1. Attack, Attack Attack
2. Admit nothing, Deny everything
3. No matter what happens, you claim victory and never admit defeat

You can hear Cohn (actor Jeremy Strong) list them in this trailer.  

 

June 24, 2016

"Roy Cohn was one of the most loathsome characters in American history, so why did he have so many influential friends?"

There really isn't much in the movie that adds to those eight year old posts.  

But seeing it today, in hindsight, you recognize many characteristics of Trump.  

Listen to any time he talks.  He follows Cohn's rules.  He attacks.  He never admits anything.  He denies everything.  And he claims victory despite what really happened.  (Did you know he totally defeated Harris in their debate?)

He doesn't answer questions that would reflect negatively on him.  Instead he changes the subject and/or attacks one or more of his current perceived enemies. He lies about what they've done, and calls them demeaning names.  

He never apologizes.  Ever.  

Listen for these three every time he talks.  

What most struck me about the movie was, what I'll call grittiness.  It's well edited, but it's often dark and there's a lot of hand held camera.  But it moves right along.  

Again, because I researched Cohn back in 2016 and did those two posts listed above, there isn't much in the film I didn't know and a lot I knew that was slightly touched on in the movie.  For instance, Cohen mentions (while telling Trump he's crazy to get married) that he almost got married to Barbara Walters until he realized she'd own half of what he owned.  That marriage would only be a way to cover his homosexuality.  But the movie doesn't tell you, Barbara Walters stayed loyal to him because he helped get a warrant for her father dismissed.  

But what did strike me as I watched the movie, was how Cohn, in two instances, helps Trump by going through his vast collection of tapes (he recorded all the rooms in his house when he had parties), he was able to get two rulings against Trump changed, by black mailing the decision makers with his tapes.  

I've speculated at times about Trump having dirt on most GOP members of Congress which keeps them supporting him, despite earlier denunciations of Trump.  Think of Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, just to name three.  The movie reinforces that belief.  I wouldn't even be surprised if Russian intelligence hasn't helped him gather such compromising evidence.  

I was hoping to get this up to encourage folks to see the film.  Unfortunately that doesn't see likely for folks in Anchorage, but I'd hope in other places the film will play longer.  

I'd note that at the end of September, we let our Netflix subscription lapse.  I was hoping that would give me more time to read and blog, but so far that hasn't happened that way.  My daily hour at my local elementary school, and preparation for it, takes up a lot of time, but is very gratifying.  The teacher said the other day that my guy is doing much better in class.  I decided that I need to have him work on reading in Spanish.  He can't do that fluently, but he can slowly, and with help, work out the words.  And I can feel his sense of achievement when he gets the word.  In English, he doesn't know enough words to get that satisfaction.  And my hope is that when he can read more fluently in Spanish, English will be easier to tackle.  But he does have a fair passive English vocabulary - that is, he understands things I ask him to do.  And just hearing me repeat the same kinds of questions and instructions in English everyday drills those words and phrases in.  

My Thoughts On Pro Publica And ADN Summary Of The Bronson Corruption

[NOTE:  This post highlights the ProPublica/ADN report on the Bronson administration.  I've added my own reactions in blue.]

For those in a hurry, summary of  points I make:

1.  Baker, as a private contractor, was NOT a client of the Municipal Attorney and thus the attorney saying he can't discuss the case because of that is incorrect.  And if he was a client of the attorney, then t was more inappropriate as part of the Mayor's team to approach the Attorney.

2.  Assembly should make it illegal for the administration to remove the indemnity clause in contracts without Assembly approval, regardless the value of the contract.  

3.  Media have to do a better job of getting past the facades of politicians (and others in power) to get the public the real scoop on who these people are and what they do.  Local media need to give reporters focused beats and incentives to stay on them to develop reliable contacts who will give them tips.  

Image from the ProPublica/ADN article

ProPublica and the ADN published a long article that pulled together many of the events that have happened in the Dave Bronson administration.  It's worth reading. 

It didn't cover all details, but focused on Larry Baker and the conflicts he had over the Golden Lion because he and other Bronson owners lived nearby.  I hadn't heard about the DOTPF memo being mischaracterized to make it look like the state would demolish the Golden Lion.  It discuss Baker's younger partner Brandon Spoerhase and his attempts to get the Muni Attorney to drop all charges against Spoerhase for violating a restraining order against a woman working in the Mayor's office.  

The article mentions that the mayor did not hire Baker as a Muni employee, but skirted the need for Assembly approval by hiring him as a contractor with three contracts at $29,500 - just below the $30,000 threshold that would require Assembly approval.  The contracts also gave Baker immunity from prosecution, meaning the Municipality would be on the hook for problems he caused.  

They asked then Municipal Attorney Peter Bergt about Baker's interference:

"Bergt declined to say whether Baker pressured him to drop or reduce the city charges against Spoerhase, citing concerns that he could break legal rules protecting confidential communications between attorneys and clients. . .

 “I took very seriously my ethical obligation to my client — the Municipality of Anchorage — and always acted in its best interest.”

My thought is that if Baker as a private contractor, the he wasn't Bergt's client.  The Muni, not a contractor is the client.  So there shouldn't be any attorney client privilege here.  [Of course I'm not an attorney so I'm sure some or even most lawyers might say I'm wrong. ]

[OK.  I've spoken to an attorney friend who first said that Baker, as a private citizen, has the right to contact the Municipal Attorney and try to point out legal reasons why he charges should be dropped.  But, I asked, he's the Mayor's policy advisor, so there's a conflict of interest.  In that case there may be an ethical problem, but probably not a legal one.  Then I went on to read the quotes above.  Then my attorney jumped and said, that as a private contractor coming in to discuss his business partner's charges, he's absolutely NOT a client of the Municipal Attorney.  And if the Attorney thinks he is his client, then there are bigger barriers to him interfering with this case.]

But I would also recommend that the Assembly pass a law that says a contractor cannot have the indemnity clause removed without approval from the Assembly, regardless the dollar amount of the contract..  

The article also quotes Assembly member Quinn-Davis (who also acted as temporary Mayor) about Baker and she responded.  

“Unlike Bronson, he knows he needs to get along with people and relationships matter,” said Assembly member Austin Quinn-Davidson, who filled in as mayor for several months after Berkowitz resigned.

“I like him,” she said of Baker. “I think he relies on that, which is smart. People sort of trusting him or liking him as a person to get things done.”

Getting along with people is a very useful skill.  My thought is how many people use this skill to mask some not so nice behavior as Baker did?  How many people in positions of power do dastardly deeds protected by a nice guy image?  Or other images that suggest competence - clothing, education, purported experience.  This is a call to media and political opponents to do a better job learning and then alerting the world about important background information about the people running for office and serving as corporate executives.  George Santos is only the most egregious example of the media not doing their job in this area.  Except for the North Shore Leader. which wasn't able to get the story a wider audience.  

While we have watched quite a bit of this play out over the last year and a half, we we lacked key details that were revealed by Amy Demoboski when she was fired and sent a nine page letter of accusations.  As a conservative Assembly member who moved over to serve as Bronson's city manager, she had the insider's view of what was happening and because she's an ideological ally of the mayor, her accusations have more weight.  

I mention this because I think 'nice' guys are protected by insiders generally not exposing them as Demboski has done.  

This means we really do need better ways to keep our officials accountable and keep government as transparent as possible.  When local reporters have long term assignments, they have time to build up networks of insiders who give them tips.  Let's hope we can get media outlets to keep reporters on beats long enough to develop these networks.  I'd like to thank ProPublica which is helping the ADN do more long term coverage of major issues.  

One of the issues the article doesn't cover is the crowd of abusive Assembly attendees who made anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ attacks in opposition to both COVID regulations and the Assembly's homeless actions.  They were loud and and worked to intimidate Assembly members and the public who did not support their politics.  These were basically stirred up and supported by the group of Geneva Woods neighbors - including Larry Baker - who were opposed to using the Golden Lion Hotel for an addiction center.  

Afghan Corruption Got Lots Of Help From US

[I'm just writing notes today.  Consider this jotting down thoughts before other things interfere.]

Lots of commentators are listing corruption in the Afghan government and army as one of the major causes for the rapid collapse of the government.  

Westerners seem to wear one-way glasses when it come seeing to corruption.  "Poor" "third world" countries are seen as rife with corruption compared to Western countries.  

I would argue it's like alcoholism among the homeless and poor and among the middle and upper classes.  Homeless alcoholics are drunk in public while people with more money do a better job of hiding their alcoholism.  

I just want to point out that Western corruption in Afghanistan probably dwarfed local corruption.  

Some examples:

From a SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.)

"Gallery of Greed

 U.S. reconstruction activities in Afghanistan, or any other conflict zone, face the constant threat of criminal conspiracies among personnel who rotate in and out of theater, infecting their successors with the virus of corruption.

 Over the past five years, SIGAR’s Investigations Directorate has uncovered and detailed a classic example of this threat—an extended, widespread, and intricate pattern of criminality involving U.S. military personnel and Afghan contractors at the Humanitarian Assistance Yard (the Yard) at Bagram Airfield near Kabul, Afghanistan.

 In June 2012, SIGAR investigators following leads uncovered an unusual pattern of suspect criminal activity at the Yard. They found traces of criminal activity affecting inventories, accounting, issuance of supplies, payments, and contract oversight at the Yard, which serves as a storage-and-distribution facility for millions of dollars’ worth of clothing, food, school supplies, and other items purchased from local Afghan vendors. U.S. military commanders provided those supplies to displaced Afghans as part of the Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) to meet urgent humanitarian relief needs for the Afghan people."

From The Marketplace:

"At just short of 20 years, the conflict in Afghanistan was America’s longest war. More than 2,000 U.S. service members were killed there. The U.S. spent billions over the years to sustain its troops in Afghanistan and hired military contractors to feed and house them.

Those contractors profited the most from the war, but those systems can lead to fraud and waste. The U.S. military relied on contractors like KBR and DynCorp International for all sorts of things in Afghanistan.

“For cooking, for driving, for delivering supplies — they were used across the board,” said Linda Bilmes, who teaches public policy at Harvard. She said that, sometimes, the Pentagon had so-called no-cost deals with contractors. Whatever a project cost, the government would pay.

“The whole system was set up in a way to enable contractors to rip off the government,” she said."

From the Daily Beast:

"America has spent at least $2.3 trillion in Afghanistan, but very few know that because the U.S. relied upon a complex ecosystem of defense contractors, belt-way banditry, and aid contractors. Of the 10-20 percent of contracts that remained in the country, the U.S. rarely cared about the efficacy of the initiative. While corruption is rife within Afghanistan’s government, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction repeatedly alleged bewildering corruption by American firms and individuals working in Afghanistan. In many cases, American firms even defrauded Afghans. A military member of the International Security Assistance Force explained to Carlotta Gall: 'Without being too dramatic, American contractors are contributing to fueling the insurgency.'”

Here's a Treasury official, reported in the Washington Post,  questioning an American consultant working with Kabul Bank for three years about the bank:

"A second unnamed Treasury Department official told government interviewers that soon after he arrived in Afghanistan in the summer of 2010, he met with an American who had been working on contract as a consultant to Afghanistan’s central bank for at least three years. The U.S. official wanted to know more about Kabul Bank, which unknown to both of them was on the verge of failure.

“We had an hour-long conversation,”  the official said. 'I asked him, do you think this is a financially sound bank? He said, ‘Yes.’ And literally 30 days afterward, the whole house of cards came down. This was one of the biggest misses in my career. A $1 billion bank collapsed, and the U.S. adviser swore to me it was financially sound.'”

You know this consultant was making a ton of money plus expenses that probably were well above the average US income.   His job, it would seem, was a scam itself.  

This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.  No giant expenditures happen in Washington unless there are lobbyists pushing hard for it.  And war lobbyists are among the most effective.

Afghan citizens had to choose a path that would keep them safe from the Taliban and from the US backed government.  Supporting the government made them targets for the Taliban.  Supporting the Taliban made the targets for the government and the US.  For many of them, their petty acts of what we would call corruption, was how they managed to feed their families and stay alive.  

For American contractors it was a way to make huge profits.  

And is there anything more corrupt than the Sackler family working a deal in Bankruptcy Court to make it impossible for them or many other individuals or companies to be prosecuted for all the opioid deaths they caused?  Just because they can pay $4 billion and still have more than that left over?  That's the same kind of deal Jeffrey Epstein worked out with the Alexander Acosta, who then became Trump's Secretary of Labor.