It’s better to be lucky than good. It’s best to be both. Our new Congressman got elected on merit, and he’s lucky to be a member of the 119th Congress. The next two years will be the most exciting time of his life, and the most productive. I admit I’m a little jealous.
He’ll be treated well by the Republican leadership. He took a seat away from the Democrats, and they want to see him to keep it. And they know that developing Alaska’s resource wealth is a key not only to energy dominance, but to the overall health of the American economy. Prosperity is good politics.
It’s true, I believe, that he has yet to develop any rapport with President Trump. He lost to Mary Peltola two years ago only because of the vainglorious Sarah Palin, who was a Trump candidate. Trump only endorsed him this year after he beat the candidate Trump did want, Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom. But it is in the mutual interest of both men that the other succeed, and self-interest will be enough for a good working relationship.
Talk about an interesting time to be a member of the House Majority! For a while, at least, it looks like a 217 to 215 split, which means any one Republican defection can deny the Speaker a majority. It’s hard to imagine any Republican Congressman actually doing such a foolish thing, but any collection of 217 politicians will contain a few odd ducks. Actually, more than a few. For an old pol like me, this is great entertainment.
Every day seems to bring something new to get excited about. Take NASA. Please.
This is the organization that got us to the moon. If you’re old enough, you vividly remember where you were and who you were with when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. I was in a tiny apartment on West 27th in Spenard, watching a little black and white TV with the original Fritz Pettyjohn and his wife. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life.
Those were the glory years of NASA, but it’s been more or less of a boondoggle ever since. It’s been captured by Boeing, the company that builds planes with exploding doors.
But it’s got a new boss, Jared Isaacman, a big customer of Elon Musk. He paid Musk for a ride on a SpaceX rocket and got to do a spacewalk. What a guy! He’s going to have a $20 billion budget to play with, and I think he’s going to use it to help Elon get to Mars.
Aside from seeing an Article V Convention, and walking my granddaughter down the aisle, my dearest wish is to see a man land on Mars. I like pointing out Mars in the night sky and telling my grandsons that it is not a star, it’s a planet, like Earth, and some day they will see a man walk on it.
That’s one day, and one announcement, about one federal agency.
What a brave new world it may be!
Nick will be in the middle of all of this. What’s curious is that his grandfather, Nick Begich I, was in the same position 54 years ago. He was as good as Nick III, but he didn’t have any luck. He died with the House Majority Leader, and Speaker-to-be, Hale Boggs in a tragic airplane crash somewhere in the Chugach range. What a waste!
If you’re a Christian, you believe that Nick I is in heaven watching all this, and he’s very proud.
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