This article was republished from dermotcole.com.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has a habit of assigning an employee to do something and claiming it’s a new office, such as the “Office of Food Security” and the “Office of Energy Innovation”, imaginary offices established by administrative orders in September as part of his 2022 campaign.
Dunleavy announced the food office with a YouTube campaign ad created and distributed by the State of Alaska that promised great things.
There was the obligatory news coverage about the creation of the new offices to increase the size of state government, but no sign that the offices are real, as they have no phone numbers, don’t appear on the state website and aren’t in the budget. These are the bureaucratic equivalents of Potemkin villages, created to keep up appearances.
Now comes the OFL, which is not a new competitor of the NFL, but the Office of Family & Life, which a far-right ally of Dunleavy claims has been created in the bowels of state government.
The Dunleavy OFL is off to a rough start, as the state employee chosen by Dunleavy to lead the pro-family charge, Jeremy Cubas, flamed out in spectacular fashion, espousing anti-family values.
Cubas introduced the Office of Family & Life at two recent fundraising dinners given to promote the politics of right-wing holy man Jim Minnery, who runs Alaska Family Action.
Dunleavy’s public relations employees claim that Dunleavy had no idea what Cubas believed.
Cubas, a photographer and philosopher, goes to the same Catholic church as Dunleavy, attended the same Catholic university and has nine kids, which may have been all that Dunleavy needed to know about Cubas before blessing him with a $110,000 state job.
We only know that the Office of Family & Life is now supposed to exist because of the public statements of Cubas and holy man Minnery.
Dunleavy and his bloated public relations staff have yet to reveal its existence to the public or explain why he hired Cubas to lead the effort without asking his views on families.
Minnery says the Office of Family & Life is a “first in the nation” and an “idea whose time has come.”
Minnery says, “we were honored to have the Governor by video and his representative (Jeremy Cubas) in person introduce the newly formed Office of Family & Life (OFL) housed within the Dunleavy Administration.”
The new Dunleavy state office, according to Minnery, is going to take on tasks that align perfectly with the right-wing zealots who see no line between government and religion.
“The first of it’s kind in the nation, as far as we know, this unique and critical strategic initiative was created to
“1) change the hearts and minds of society so that abortion should not be considered a necessary option for women/couples who believe a child would be a burden
“2) lift up the reality that spouses, families and children are a gift of the highest value and not seen as a hardship
“3) educate the public that without more children, society, civilization, the economy and our very existence are threatened. In a recent study of 18 to 49 year old Americans, nearly half of this age group is uninterested in having children.”
Minnery is probably correct that the three goals stated above and the straw men arguments they are founded upon, are Dunleavy’s goals. Dunleavy has so far refused to reveal the existence of his newly created office, which was probably staffed by Cubas alone.
The public deserves to see the videos that Dunleavy and Cubas created with public money to see exactly what they told Minnery’s fundraising dinners about this so-called office.
Dunleavy’s office did not reveal any of this to the public, but he apparently provided details to Minnery and perhaps even praised the work of Cubas.
The goals of the OFL, according to Minnery, are “ideas of the highest order.”
“Inevitably, implementing the OFL meant that the governor had to choose among people who are fallen,” Minnery said, referring to Cubas and making an excuse for Dunleavy.
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.
Dermot Cole has worked as a newspaper reporter, columnist and author in Alaska for more than 40 years. Support his work here.
