Letter to Alaskans (and people who love Alaskans)

[Blue_In_AK]

(You know who you are. :) )From Shannyn Moore's blog. http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/a-letter-to-alaskans/#comments

Dear Alaska,

It’s been a roller coaster of a fall…or should I say Autumn. Maybe it just feels like a fall. We’ve all been catapulted up to the stars, and now I wonder what the re-entry is going to feel like. Where will we land?

Remember how it used to be? You could get on a plane, lay by a pool, stand in line for a concert…pretty soon you would hear “Wow, really? Alaska? What’s that like? Cold?” What I love about being born and raised here is now mocked on national TV. Growing up on a brown bear refuge; catching my first silver on a dolly rod; stranded in rural West Cook Inlet with life threatening appendicitis and being flown through a raging Gulf of Alaska storm for emergency surgery by a neighbor who happened to be a real maverick; learning, first hand, the amazing adverse adventures of the great pioneers of this Great Land, have all mutated into a Jerry Springer meets Northern Exposure episode. Alaska had a mystique that inspired books and movies. It’s over, “my friends.” Now all people will want to know is if you read newspapers, eat moose burgers and own a snowmachine. The truth for many of us is “yes.” I’m making moose chili for a debate night gathering of my friends on Wednesday night. My mantra has been if you don’t Ski-Doo you Ski-Don’t. If you don’t live here, you’re probably laughing. Our lives have been turned into a punch line.

Let’s be honest. We have grown fat on pork. I haven’t complained. I like bacon. But things on the horizon are looking a bit vegan. Ted Stevens has brought it home in buckets, but it looks like he’s going to have a few eyes on him should he make it into the next session. Don Young secured money for a bridge or two to nowhere, and wanted to name one of them after himself. After his Coconut Road fiasco, still being investigated by Congress, I think they are going to make sure he doesn’t even get a coconut, much less a road. So where does that get us? John McPalin is looking rather flaccid in the polls. His big display of “Maverickness” is his promise to make America “pork free.” Wow, how’s that gonna work for Alaska? Other option: O’Bama, O’Begich and O’Berkowitz! How much help do you think the returning Governor Palin is going to get from a Democrat(ic) (I'll add the "ic" for you, Shannyn) President, House and Senate?

Stop playing tiddlywinks and start playing chess. Where will Alaska stand with an Obama presidency? Where will we stand with a cranky Sarah Palin? After the nastiness of this election, how will those in power take care of Alaska’s needs? What do we deserve as Alaskans? Do we have to wait for another 1964 Earthquake to get attention? Or another oil spill? We all know the truth about our Governor’s abuse of power. We now know more about the Palins than we ever should know about any of our neighbors. Her reality deficit issues are becoming more apparent by the day. I’m asking you, what should we do?

XO,
Shannyn

PS. If you aren’t an Alaskan, it’s OK. We need to hear from you!

[liberal renegade]

1. Vote for Obama

in overwhelming numbers, thats what you should do. Make Alaska all blue and everything will be ok....

[islandmkl]

2. among my past addresses: SR 90324G, Fairbanks...it's been since too long ago..

and I still know my address...35 miles outside of Fairbanks on the Tanana...cabin, woods, hand-pump the water, outhouse...electricity? not a chance...

i tell people all the time what alaska is like, and how the people are like nowhere else in the United States...and we're not talking about the palins...

yeah, it sucks to have the outside brought in too close, i'm sure....

i notice it's a balmy 0° out at Eieleson...time to get ready for the bear and moose all canned for the winter and feed the dogs and enjoy the long winter...

people think i'm crazy when i tell them that sometimes i miss the cold, dark nights (which are most of the days for the next several months) and the solitude of the cabin...OR the warmth of the bars & roadhouses....

i still have a HUGE map, pre-pipeline, that has all the roadhouses and 'places' on the map as if they were towns...you HAD to know where you could find comfort and refuge...

alaska...there is nothing like it...but, i'm headed to st. croix...i seem to have headed south since the cold winter day i drove out of fairbanks on that long drive to the outside...

[Blue_In_AK]

3. You know, I love winter, too.

even though our days down here in Anchorage aren't quite as short as they are up in Fairbanks, and it's not yet 0 here, only 29. But we do have about six inches of snow on the ground already, and it's looking good.

Hopefully after November things will settle down here. I'm really curious what Sarah's demeanor will be like when she returns, if she'll realize how much she's embarrassed all of us. She certainly hasn't represented Alaska fairly, and we're pretty pissed off about it.