Native culture uses a shame pole to force a person of high standing to meet or recognize an obligation.

In Gov. Sean Parnell’s case his head would be carved upside down and the words “Choose Respect” would be coming from his mouth and because they are hollow they would flow like the oil that floats them.

His disrespect for Alaska National Guard victims is a public travesty.

His disrespect for citizen rights and open government as shown in his secret dealings with Big Oil whereby he refused to release the data produced by international  oil consulting firms of Baker Hughes and Gaffney Cline or even allow legislators to speak with those consultants before Ballot Measure One/SB21 was passed. He repeated this behavior with the proposed gas line whereby legislators need to sign the “confidentiality agreement” and cannot publicly vet any information.

With Gov. Parnell’s blessing, the original words “conserve,” “enhance” and “future generations” were deleted from the original Department of Natural Resources mission statement. These deletions reflect the governor’s priorities — where corporatism trumps Alaska’s best interests.

Let’s put Alaska First. I’m a veteran and I’m voting for Walker.

Mike McCarthy