10-19-16 Tonight’s Historic Presidential Debate: “God Bless Us, Everyone”

Tonight’s Presidential Debate is Historic Because The Performances Could Dramatically Affect Election Results

Brief Commentary By

Dave Harbour

Last weekend we urged Alaskan public officials to carefully consider the consequences of supporting one presidential candidate over another.

Remember?

Today, as participants prepare for tonight’s ordeal in the Coliseum of public opinion, we will be pondering several questions.  Our questions are based on the unassailable fact that our way of life is based on a secure foundation of domestic energy wealth production.  This principle applies to both the United States as a whole and to Alaska specifically.

Of our presidential candidates, we will be asking:

• Who supports and who opposes the expansion of oil and gas pipeline systems and OCS, ANWR, NPR-A, Shale, etc. exploration & production?  Which candidate respects the role of primary, wealth producing energy in meeting the needs of growing populations and an energy independent nation with a robust economy and plentiful job market?
• Who supports and who opposes the rule of law upon which rational natural resource decisions are based?  One of the constitutional principles under our rule of law is “due process“.  Other rule of law indicators include honest administration of federal power that precludes misuse of such agency administrative and regulatory powers as those found within the bureaucracies of the IRS, EPA, NOAA, DOJ and DOI, etc.
• Who supports and who opposes subsidizing uneconomic alternative energy technology and Congressional pork trading at the expense of economic wealth production, tax-paying enterprises and consumers — especially when spending should be limited during a pending financial crisis preceded by a $20 trillion debt?
• Who supports and who opposes using environmental mirages like time immemorial ‘climate change’ to support the destruction of capitalism and the rise of global socialism?
• Who supports and who opposes protected electoral and immigration processes, without which the rule of law becomes irrelevant?  Sub issues include:
  • Motor-voter registration
  • Alaska PFD-voter registration
  • Enforcement of election rules and laws
  • Proper voter identification
• Who supports and who opposes security for bedrock natural resource/energy wealth production, including:
  • Strong national defenses, including a robust military
  • Freedom to hire based on merit vs. enslavement to one-size-fits-all employment laws
  • Tax and regulatory stability
  • Financially responsible state and federal governments which are disciplined to balance their budgets

In general, we will be looking for the candidate who views Lady Liberty and her “scales of justice” as  the an ultimate political goal for our republic.  We must, every one of us, be able to trust that her scales will begin once again to weigh out justice that is blind to bias and fettered only to freedom.

Obviously, there are many more criteria that each of us should consider through as objective a lens as possible.

Jacob Marley

Tiny Tim

That would lead us to picking a candidate in whom we can most highly trust.

At this moment, the country is divided on that issue of trust.  Perhaps tonight, the cobwebs, allegations, truths, shiney objects, and diverse other distractions will melt away to reveal the preferred candidate.

Is that not a reasonable hope for the aftermath of tonight’s encounter?

We remember Tiny Tim’s plea from the pen of Charles Dickens; so may we invoke his simple little prayer: “God bless us, everyone.”

We believe the “preferred candidate” will more reflect the views of Tiny Tim and his Dad than of Scrooge and his partner, Marley, who wore, “…the chains I forged in life.”