Pardon me, Kamala (part 2)

Posted on by Fritz Pettyjohn

Back in July I thought Biden might resign, and have Kamala pardon the whole Biden crime family after the election. That way, she could campaign from out of the White House, as President Kamala Harris, the first woman President. I could picture her at the debates, being addressed as Madame President. She’d have to appoint her Vice President (remember Vice President Rockefeller?) That would be big news for weeks. Her appointment would require hearings, and a vote in both houses of Congress. Meanwhile Kamala is redecorating the White House, giving it that special “woman”s touch”. New curtains, for sure. There would be portraits of Obama everywhere. I could see it all.

Wrong!

But now Biden can resign, and Kamala can issue him a big blanket pardon, just like Hunter just got from his dad. She owes this to Joe. Just ask Jill Biden. It would look a little fishy, but Ford got away with pardoning Nixon, under similar circumstances. Just read President Ford’s Proclamation Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon.

If Biden resigns soon, the pardon can be issued six weeks from now, on her way out the White House door. That’s the way Clinton pardoned Marc Rich. Clinton did it for Marc Rich’s money, which found its way to the criminal syndicate known as the Clinton Foundation.

Kamala can pardon Joe from purely patriotic motives. Trump is rabidly vindictive, and his minions at DoJ and the FBI will do his bidding. And he wants to have Biden indicted, just like he was. What a circus!

In order to spare the nation this long national nightmare, Kamala will issue the pardon. At great personal sacrifice, she will put the welfare of the nation ahead of her own political self-interest.

Or not. It would probably help her get the 2028 presidential nomination. Everybody’s a winner!

God bless America!

The slow vote count in Alaska

Posted on by Fritz Pettyjohn

Thanks to the extended time to count all the ballots, Republican David Nelson beat the incumbent Democrat by 23 votes in House District 18, JBER in East Anchorage.  The same thing happened about 40 years ago, allowing my friend Rep. Terry Martin to squeak out a reelection victory.

The margin of victory in both cases was due to overseas absentees, most of them military.  The Division of Elections allows extra time in order to allow all these late arriving ballots to be counted.  For Republicans, it’s worth the wait.

These are mostly men and women who established Alaska residency while they were stationed here.  When they’re transferred overseas, they maintain their Alaska residency.  Many of them do this in order to continue their eligibility for PFD’s.  They all vote in order to bolster their claim to Alaska residency.

Their main issue, unsurprisingly, is the PFD.  Since Republicans have always been the champions of the PFD (initiated by Republican Governor Jay Hammond in 1980), and Democrats largely hostile, they all vote Republican.

Representative-elect Nelson should send them all a thank you card.

So, let’s stop with all the carping about the long wait.  It’s only a problem if the good people at the Division of Elections need the extra time to steal an election.  I don’t believe this has ever happened.

Some old-timers claim Jay Hammond stole the Republican primary election from Wally Hickel in 1978.  He only won by 98 votes.  His Attorney General, Av Gross, was a little slippery, but I don’t believe the election was stolen.

All of us who worked on Hammond’s campaign (including me – I was Chairman of “Hands for Hammond”) like to think that our efforts were responsible for his victory.

And the PFD.

Occupy Mars

Posted on by Fritz Pettyjohn

From Trump’s second inaugural, if Musk could write it:

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on Mars, and returning him safely to the earth.”

John F. Kennedy, in an address to a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, said the exact same thing, substituting the moon for Mars.

I think that this, above all, explains Elon Musk’s attraction to Trump. He wants Trump’s support in his quest for Mars. NASA has a budget of $20 billion a year, much of it duplicative of what SpaceX is doing. Some of this money is being spent unnecessarily. Musk wants that money.

Musk has a prettygood idea of the massive amount of money the mission to Mars will cost. He may become the world’s first trillionaire, but he doesn’t want to bear this burden alone. I think he hopes some of the money he and Vivek Ramaswamy will save with DOGE can be directed to the Mars program.

If all goes to plan, President Trump will see the SpaceX Starship launch from Texas today. It will be a sight Trump will never forget. This is the rocket Musk plans on sending to Mars. Perhaps it will inspire him to dedicate his administration to the glory of going to the red planet.

Re-elect Nick Begich

Posted on by Fritz Pettyjohn

Alaska has always been dependent on the federal government, so we like our Congressional delegation to build up seniority, and power. It’s in our own self-interest. We had Representative Don Young for 49 years as a result.

His enemies had to indict and convict Ted Stevens to end his forty run as one of our Senators. It’s true that his replacement, Mark Begich, only served one term, but he was a Democrat in a Republican state.

Democrat Representative Mary Peltola’s win two years ago was a carefully engineered fluke, enabled by the vanity of former Gov. Sarah Palin, who split the Republican vote. Our new Congressman, Nick Begich, will have the great advantage of incumbency as long as he wants it.

Which brings us to Lisa Murkowski. Any advantage her seniority might give her is canceled by her behavior toward Republican Presidents. She hates Trump, it’s mutual, and her representation of the state for the next four years is a liability, not an asset. She’ll be ripe for the picking in 2028. It’s not as though she has a record of accomplishment to run on. Far from it.

Gov. Dunleavy leaves office in two years, and his plans are unknown. He may take a job in Washington, or he may head up an effort to build a gas line from the North Slope. Or he may go fishing. In my humble opinion, if he ran against Murkowski he’d beat her.

Which brings us back to Nick Begich. He should be able to stay in the House as long as wants. Running against Murkowski would be taking on an unnecessary risk. On the other hand, I’m sure Nick will never forget, or forgive, Murkowski’s last-minute endorsement of Peltola.

If Dunleavy chooses not to do it, Nick Begich would be doing not only the State of Alaska, but the entire country, a favor by retiring Lisa Murkowski.

In the meantime, congrats to Nick and his campaign team for running an outstanding campaign.

Cuba Libre! Go, Marco, Go!

Posted on by Fritz Pettyjohn

When Rubio was a kid, growing up in Vegas, his grandfather, a refugee from Castro, told him all about communism and Cuba. It turned young Marco into a flag waving American patriot, which he remains.

My doctor is a liberal, and a Cuban immigrant. He has family, including his mother, is still back on the island. He says he wishes the US would just invade Cuba and get rid of the communists.

There are a lot of Venezuelan refugees in Florida, and they’re like Rubio and all the Cuban Americans. They hate the leftist regime in their native country and want to see it overthrown.

I hope Marco is given a free hand in Latin America. As our Secretary of State, he can work for regime change in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

We eventually want regime change in China and Russia as well, but those are tougher nuts to crack. So let’s start with Cuba. I hear it’s a beautiful island, and a natural tour destination for Americans.

Maybe Marco’s got the right stuff to pull it off. It will be fun to watch.