In 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Alaska’s “At Large” Congressional District, Don Young whose photo above, we still assure you is not doctored in any way (he’s protesting the Obama adminstration calling for harnessing energy from wind turbines). Don Young is a twenty-two term Congressman, and we’ll save you the trouble of doing the math… he’s held office since 1973, meaning he was around during Watergate, and was actually congratulated on being elected to office at the White House by Richard Nixon. Our first take on Rep. Young address his protestations of the use of green technologies to harness wind power (yes, he put that hat on willingly). This is a man who has blurted out words like “buttf***ing” in front of school children while paying them a visit (to say nothing of when he uses racial slurs like “wetback” and then defends it), and he remains, to this day, the only member of Congress to have ever brandished a walrus penis bone on the floor of the House or Senate (that’s not a metaphor, he swung an oosik at the head of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services) and. Young also assaulted a Congressional aide informed him he was trying to access a door where admittance was not allowed, and Young grabbed him by the wrist and twisted until he was allowed to pass… while on camera. He once took to the floor of the House when and complained about how gray wolves are a protected species, and then threw out the idea that the wolves should be turned loose on America’s homeless population as a way to reduce their number. In our second look at Don Young in 2015, we had to talk about how yet again he embarrassed himself while visiting a public school, where during a 45 minute question and answer session, when he as asked about what could be done to reduce suicide rates, he gave an answer that blamed it on the family and friends of the victims. In our 2016 update, we noted that Don Young had another brilliant idea while talking about the potential legalization of marijuana… instead we could lower the number of people being incarcerated for marijuana by suggesting capitol punishment should be applied to all drug dealers. (That’s… a lot of executions, at least 90,000 in federal prison alone).
Don Young is still one of the worst Congressman when it comes to the environment, throwing a tantrum and arguing that not building a road through the middle of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge was “killing people”, which not only makes zero sense, but then again, it’s against the advice of the Dept. of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, his old nemesis (at least he didn’t wield a walrus dong at them this time). In February of 2018, he made the bizarre and insensitive remark that Don Young is, by this point, voted into office in Alaska just because he’s been there so long, that it’s all the state knows. However, it’s not like he wrecks the competition, as he only barely cracked the 50% mark in the 2016 elections, underperforming the +12 lean that his district is supposed to have, by far. He could feasibly see even less than that amount in the 2018 elections, especially given some of the votes he’s made in this session of Congress:
- February 16th, 2017: Young sponsors and votes for HJR 69, to make it legal for hunters on wildlife reserves to kill several species of hibernating bears or wolves while they’re sleeping. Because… Don Young just f***ing hates animals.
- March 16th, 2017: Don Young votes for HR 1181, which would allow veterans deemed mentally incompetent to continue to own firearms, and not have them taken away without a judge’s written order. We feel safer already.
- March 28th, 2017: Rep. Young votes for SJ Res 34, which allowed internet providers to sell the data information of their customers’ internet usage to businesses. Well, so much for privacy.
- May 4th, 2017: Young votes for the House GOP’s healthcare plan, that would kick roughly 24 million people off their health insurance plans, allow up to 28,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, and would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions which would include such medical conditions as pregnancy (current or past), postpartum depression, or prior sexual assault. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Young would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country. He and his Republican compatriots threw themselves a beer bash to celebrate taking away healthcare from millions and then gloated about it with Donald Trump at a White House press conference, as well.
- June 8th, 2017: Don Young votes for HR 10, the GOP’s attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank financial reform, because what the country really needs is to allow the big banks to make the same mistakes that imploded the economy only a decade earlier.
- October 3rd, 2017: Young votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
- December 19th, 2017: Don Young votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.
As a result of Don Young reversing his supposed position on the House GOP’s attempt at repealing the Affordable Care Act because it would cause health insurance premiums to skyrocket, he reversed course and voted for it anyway. This did not go unnoticed back in Alaska, where a protest was staged outside his office in Anchorage. Whether or not that brings an end to what will be, at the time, a 44 year Congressional career for a 85-year-old or not in 2018… well, stranger things have happened.