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The American anti-government movement may have gotten its start here in Alaska with the Alaska Independence Party, the Libertarians, the Succeed or Succumb slogan or later the tea party. Unlike some right-wingers, I do not know what others truly think nor have the audacity to tell others what they are really saying. However, I suspect that many in those movements have a willful know-nothing attitude about civil government in Alaska and the nation. Both Alaskas governor and the U.S. president have demonstrated a severe lack of understanding of basic American civics, that is, how our government operates, why it does things or the way it deals with issues. These groups claim to hate the bureaucracy as if it were alien or unnatural; these attitudes reveal their misunderstanding or willful, outright ignorance.

One of the realities of those views are the insults inflicted upon all governmental actions and actors of the past. It is as if every bill debated, law enacted or regulatory hearing ever conducted was corrupt at its heart. Every individual testifying was concerned only with their own self interests and those were corrupt. This is obvious nonsense. If applied to the revolution of 1776 or even the writing of the Alaska Constitution, the basic lie is revealed, because they were honorable citizens doing their best. Actually, those uninformed viewpoints are un-patriotic and counter-revolutionary. Sadly, our president too often heeds the words of a czar or other autocrat, which leads to a descent into the divine rights of the king, something our revolution set out to overthrow.

Politicians should have the decency to learn the operations of that necessary bureaucracy and the many reasons for the expenditures that have been sustained not merely for decades but generations. If you do not understand the whys, the hows, other means and the history, you have no business running for or holding any high office of public trust.

Chopping up and discarding our system of public education, our university system, some of the means to better public health or a fundamentally necessary Marine Highway System are the actions of enemies of our great state. Our president and governor ought to stop inflicting damage and resign.

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Letter: Know-nothings and their consequences - Anchorage Daily News