This story was originally published on dermotcole.com, and is republished here with permission.
I welcome the editorial Sunday in the Anchorage Daily News, which says Kelly Tshibaka “is spinning what can only be called lies about the need for recounts and lawsuits. This is a dangerous tack to take, elevating ego and personal ambition over the health of our democracy.”
Tshibaka, who made lying a regular feature of her campaign, is using bogus claims about her likely defeat to justify begging for post-election campaign donations from Outside extremists so she can challenge the Alaska election results.
My first reaction to seeing the editorial online Saturday afternoon was that it should and could have been written before the election, when it might have had an impact on the vote.
It was clear before Election Day that Tshibaka was not ready to accept the results of the vote, if she lost. That attitude and her absurd endorsement of Trump’s lies about 2020 should have been fodder for Alaska newspaper editorials and in-depth news coverage by every news organization.
Unfortunately, that never happened.
To varying degrees, Tshibaka, Sarah Palin, Nick Begich the Third and Mike Dunleavy accepted Trump’s 2020 lies that he was cheated. Tshibaka and Palin were the worst offenders, while Begich and Dunleavy played word games to placate Trump and his fans.
Sowing seeds of doubt and claiming there are unanswered questions—in the face of overwhelming evidence and countless investigations that have removed all doubt—is the Trump scam Tshibaka tried to sell throughout her campaign.
As I wrote here July 8, “Alaska news organizations have failed to examine Tshibaka’s two-year tenure as administration commissioner and neglected to challenge her robotic assertions that Trump had the 2020 election stolen from him.”
“She has turned her back on the rule of law and chosen to put flattery of Trump above defending the peaceful transition of power, while spreading dangerous lies that put our nation at risk.”
While it would have been better for the Anchorage Daily News to sound off on Tshibaka months ago, it’s better late than never for the paper to inform Alaskans about the reckless behavior of the U.S. Senate candidate backed by the Alaska Republican party and Trump.
“It’s particularly dangerous because although Tshibaka knows that she has no reasonable grounds on which to challenge the outcome of (the) election, much less prevail, her supporters are inclined to believe that she’s telling the truth — that there really were irregularities, and that shadowy figures are somehow conspiring to thwart the true will of the people,” the Daily News said.
“As we saw on Jan. 6, 2021, that’s a path that leads directly to violence. Flirting with that outcome, whatever Tshibaka’s intent — to entice donations, energize her base or maintain her relevance among the inner circle of Trump-supported election deniers — is manifestly irresponsible, and Alaskans should see it for the cynical move that it is.”
Dermot Cole has worked as a newspaper reporter, columnist and author in Alaska for more than 40 years. Support his work here.
