The Presidential Election is on November 3. Who Wins Will Impact You, Your Family, Your State, And Your Country In Many Serious Ways. Which Team Are You On? Because of the viral pandemic, many additional people will be voting by mail this year. Some people will receive their mail in ballots the first and second weeks of October. This year, there are some extra reasons to pay attention to things, and to vote. Most Alaskans are not Democrats or Republicans. They are independent thinkers, and are often registered as undeclared or non-partisan. This is true for well over half of those people registered in Alaska. These people do not want our public policies decided by party "bosses." We want a collaborative, compromising legislative body. We do not want legislators who cannot consider facts and evidence, who cannot follow guidelines provided by public health officials, because they have been told they must not consider facts and evidence, if those facts and this evidence do not agree with the party "bosses." We do not want legislators who are bossed around the facts and evidence. And, in an unusual development this year, our Republican controlled state government has decided to give us ballots with just two teams. Leading one team is Donald Trump. He is supported by "Republican Nominees" on your ballot. We can refer to this team as the red team. The other team is led by Joe Biden. He is supported by "Democratic Nominees" on your balot. We can refer to this team as the blue team. How have Republicans characterized their team leader, Mr. Trump? Lindsey Graham, a well known senior Senator, has accurately stated that Mr. Trump is a "race- baiting xenophobic religious bigot" (Mr. Graham and our own Dan Sulivan are going to rush another Catholic Supreme Court nominee onto our Supreme Court very shortly. Not so good if you have an interest in things like health care for your family, or basic health care for women. And rather than even try to fix things, team red has a case before the Supreme Court this November to kill the affordable care act, in the middle of our viral pandemic. Milions of Americans lose coverage, and especially coverage for preexisting conditions. Team red is not the healthcare team. More reasons to vote this year.) Other Republicans have also noted that Mr. Trump does not have the experience, character, or patience to listen to others. This is also sell-evident. Especially scientists telling him to have people simply use masks, as they do in other countries, to dramatically cut the spread of COVID-19 to limit its damage to citizens and economies. (Mr. Trump has known, as earty as February, that this virus is spread through the air.) Predictably, Mr. Trump and many others around him now have COVID-19, because they wanted to reject science, facts and evidence, and rely on "miracles. " This is not what leaders do. They join over 7,000,000 other Americans who have tested positive. Hopetully they will not join the over 200,000 Americans who have died from this virus. Mr. Trump is not a competent leader. General James Mattis, Dan Coats, And Other Senior US Intelligence Officials Are Not Voting For Team Red Because It Is Endangering National Security And Intentionally Dividing The Country The comments from Republicans have been supported by very senior military leadership, such as General James Mattis. As our Secretary of Defense, General Mattis had ample opportunity to observe and work with Mr. Trump. General Mattis stated that Mr. Trump does not try to unite Americans, rather, Mr. Trump actively tries to divide Americans against each other. (Part of that race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot observation by Senator Graham.). General Mattis also stated that "we are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership." (General Mattis' full statement is easily found online. Search for James Mattis and The Allantic. ) These types of statements from senior level military leaders are, fortunately, very rare. Mr. Trump's low attention level, his narcissism and his constant demand for admiration, are not appropriate for our presidents or our commanders-in-chiet. Even more concerning is that senior American intelligence officials, including Dan Coats, have warned Americans that Russian agents are again rigging the election for team Trump. So team red for Republicans is accurate. The election is rigged, again, for Republicans. Not good for the rest of us. Not good for our Constitutional values. Certainly not good for our mitary. Mr. Trump has also refered to those in our military as losers and suckers, especially if they were captured or injured. He does not want to be seen with wounded veterans. Team blue is everything team red is not. It is trying to unite Americans. It is not actively trying to divide Americans. Mr. Biden respects those who have served, and who are serving, and who will serve in our military. He does not seek to alienate wounded vets. He does not say he does not want to be seen with them. Mr. Biden will follow recommendations of experts to deal with COVID-19 to reduce spread and to them get our country back to work. Mr. Biden and team blue are the only team which is going to focus on healthcare solutions for Americans. They will bring costs down by stopping massive overpayments to certain sectors of our healthcare system. Mr. Biden and team blue will not rig elections with foreign or domestic actors seeking to subvert our democracy. Team blue respects our constitution, and its rights and values. Mr. Biden and team blue will welcome our free press back to its usual role of protecting Americans from fraud, corruption, and efforts to hide the truth from Americans. Induding examination of Mr. Trump's tax returns, and financial matters, which team red has actively kept from Americans. Mr. Trump's hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to unknown people, groups, and'or countries puts America and its troops at risk in so many different ways. Between these two choices, things are very easy this year. But you have to vote. You cannot sit on the sidelines and complain, or say you don't like any politician, A lot of people fought and died in wars to give you the right to protect our constitution. That includes paying attention to details and voting. You cannot isten to the routine, constant stream of tv ads and antisocial media such as Facebook and Instagram messages, attacking blue team members with photos of Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, outsiders/socialists/communists/antifa or puppy or kitten killer (maybe those are coming too) nonsense. When these types of "whistle" messages appear from team red, think again of Senator Graham's honest characterization of Mr. Trump as a race baiting xenophobic religious bigot. And think of Mr. Trump's statement about those who have served in our mitary as losers and suckers. Most importantly, as you read or hear the evasive messages for team red, and against team blue, remember what General Mattis and DNI head Dan Coats, and many others have said about team red. Team red is actively trying to deceive and divide our country, and is receiving help again from Russian agents. For these reasons alone, team red members do not deserve your vote. Easy to vote for team blue if you pay attention to details. To facts and evidence. Not to miracles. Not to messaging avoiding the harsh facts that Team Red is not your friend, or America's friend. All of the whistle ads about democrats, socialists, antifa do not honor what our senior military and intelligence officials have been warning Americans about for years. And they do not honor you, when they leave out the very important specific details in team red messages. "Bob" in some chat room chatting up Blue Lives Matter, and that democrats will be the end of America, is really "Boris" in Russia, trying to deceive and separate Americans from the truth and each other. The more people believe things without taking a little time to do some fact-checking on places like wikipedia.org, the more "Boris" wins, and America loses. Not good for any of us. Voting Will Be Very Important This Year Thanks for paying attention to facts and evidence, and ignoring attack ads on Democrats/Pelosi/Sanders/antita/minorities, which serve to avoid the merits, and keep you from voting for the right team, and the right policies for Alaska and America. And thanks for voting. Dave Carter Retired Attorney Anchorage 907-349-4980. If you have questions, call. The Presidential Election is on November 3. Who Wins Will Impact You, Your Family, Your State, And Your Country In Many Serious Ways. Which Team Are You On? Because of the viral pandemic, many additional people will be voting by mail this year. Some people will receive their mail in ballots the first and second weeks of October. This year, there are some extra reasons to pay attention to things, and to vote. Most Alaskans are not Democrats or Republicans. They are independent thinkers, and are often registered as undeclared or non-partisan. This is true for well over half of those people registered in Alaska. These people do not want our public policies decided by party "bosses." We want a collaborative, compromising legislative body. We do not want legislators who cannot consider facts and evidence, who cannot follow guidelines provided by public health officials, because they have been told they must not consider facts and evidence, if those facts and this evidence do not agree with the party "bosses." We do not want legislators who are bossed around the facts and evidence. And, in an unusual development this year, our Republican controlled state government has decided to give us ballots with just two teams. Leading one team is Donald Trump. He is supported by "Republican Nominees" on your ballot. We can refer to this team as the red team. The other team is led by Joe Biden. He is supported by "Democratic Nominees" on your balot. We can refer to this team as the blue team. How have Republicans characterized their team leader, Mr. Trump? Lindsey Graham, a well known senior Senator, has accurately stated that Mr. Trump is a "race- baiting xenophobic religious bigot" (Mr. Graham and our own Dan Sulivan are going to rush another Catholic Supreme Court nominee onto our Supreme Court very shortly. Not so good if you have an interest in things like health care for your family, or basic health care for women. And rather than even try to fix things, team red has a case before the Supreme Court this November to kill the affordable care act, in the middle of our viral pandemic. Milions of Americans lose coverage, and especially coverage for preexisting conditions. Team red is not the healthcare team. More reasons to vote this year.) Other Republicans have also noted that Mr. Trump does not have the experience, character, or patience to listen to others. This is also sell-evident. Especially scientists telling him to have people simply use masks, as they do in other countries, to dramatically cut the spread of COVID-19 to limit its damage to citizens and economies. (Mr. Trump has known, as earty as February, that this virus is spread through the air.) Predictably, Mr. Trump and many others around him now have COVID-19, because they wanted to reject science, facts and evidence, and rely on "miracles. " This is not what leaders do. They join over 7,000,000 other Americans who have tested positive. Hopetully they will not join the over 200,000 Americans who have died from this virus. Mr. Trump is not a competent leader. General James Mattis, Dan Coats, And Other Senior US Intelligence Officials Are Not Voting For Team Red Because It Is Endangering National Security And Intentionally Dividing The Country The comments from Republicans have been supported by very senior military leadership, such as General James Mattis. As our Secretary of Defense, General Mattis had ample opportunity to observe and work with Mr. Trump. General Mattis stated that Mr. Trump does not try to unite Americans, rather, Mr. Trump actively tries to divide Americans against each other. (Part of that race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot observation by Senator Graham.). General Mattis also stated that "we are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership." (General Mattis' full statement is easily found online. Search for James Mattis and The Allantic. ) These types of statements from senior level military leaders are, fortunately, very rare. Mr. Trump's low attention level, his narcissism and his constant demand for admiration, are not appropriate for our presidents or our commanders-in-chiet. Even more concerning is that senior American intelligence officials, including Dan Coats, have warned Americans that Russian agents are again rigging the election for team Trump. So team red for Republicans is accurate. The election is rigged, again, for Republicans. Not good for the rest of us. Not good for our Constitutional values. Certainly not good for our mitary. Mr. Trump has also refered to those in our military as losers and suckers, especially if they were captured or injured. He does not want to be seen with wounded veterans. Team blue is everything team red is not. It is trying to unite Americans. It is not actively trying to divide Americans. Mr. Biden respects those who have served, and who are serving, and who will serve in our military. He does not seek to alienate wounded vets. He does not say he does not want to be seen with them. Mr. Biden will follow recommendations of experts to deal with COVID-19 to reduce spread and to them get our country back to work. Mr. Biden and team blue are the only team which is going to focus on healthcare solutions for Americans. They will bring costs down by stopping massive overpayments to certain sectors of our healthcare system. Mr. Biden and team blue will not rig elections with foreign or domestic actors seeking to subvert our democracy. Team blue respects our constitution, and its rights and values. Mr. Biden and team blue will welcome our free press back to its usual role of protecting Americans from fraud, corruption, and efforts to hide the truth from Americans. Induding examination of Mr. Trump's tax returns, and financial matters, which team red has actively kept from Americans. Mr. Trump's hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to unknown people, groups, and'or countries puts America and its troops at risk in so many different ways. Between these two choices, things are very easy this year. But you have to vote. You cannot sit on the sidelines and complain, or say you don't like any politician, A lot of people fought and died in wars to give you the right to protect our constitution. That includes paying attention to details and voting. You cannot isten to the routine, constant stream of tv ads and antisocial media such as Facebook and Instagram messages, attacking blue team members with photos of Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, outsiders/socialists/communists/antifa or puppy or kitten killer (maybe those are coming too) nonsense. When these types of "whistle" messages appear from team red, think again of Senator Graham's honest characterization of Mr. Trump as a race baiting xenophobic religious bigot. And think of Mr. Trump's statement about those who have served in our mitary as losers and suckers. Most importantly, as you read or hear the evasive messages for team red, and against team blue, remember what General Mattis and DNI head Dan Coats, and many others have said about team red. Team red is actively trying to deceive and divide our country, and is receiving help again from Russian agents. For these reasons alone, team red members do not deserve your vote. Easy to vote for team blue if you pay attention to details. To facts and evidence. Not to miracles. Not to messaging avoiding the harsh facts that Team Red is not your friend, or America's friend. All of the whistle ads about democrats, socialists, antifa do not honor what our senior military and intelligence officials have been warning Americans about for years. And they do not honor you, when they leave out the very important specific details in team red messages. "Bob" in some chat room chatting up Blue Lives Matter, and that democrats will be the end of America, is really "Boris" in Russia, trying to deceive and separate Americans from the truth and each other. The more people believe things without taking a little time to do some fact-checking on places like wikipedia.org, the more "Boris" wins, and America loses. Not good for any of us. Voting Will Be Very Important This Year Thanks for paying attention to facts and evidence, and ignoring attack ads on Democrats/Pelosi/Sanders/antita/minorities, which serve to avoid the merits, and keep you from voting for the right team, and the right policies for Alaska and America. And thanks for voting. Dave Carter Retired Attorney Anchorage 907-349-4980. If you have questions, call.