The opinions expressed on this show are those of the host and not of iHeart Media or its employees. Thank you for listening to NewsRadio 650 KENI. Amy Demboski, the show starts now. Our lines are open at 907-522-0650. This is The Morning Drive on NewsRadio 650 KENI. Good morning. It is Thursday, March 27th. Oh, what a day it's going to be. It's going to be a great day, Daryl. It's a great day in history. You know what today was?
What? Oh, yes, I do know. I know exactly what today was. Today was the great shaker in another day. Today was that day. Twelve hours. Well, eleven hours, excuse me. It absolutely was. I was going to say March 27, 1964, at 5.36 p.m., the Good Friday earthquake, which registered more than eight on the Richter scale, rock south central Alaska.
The quake released approximately twice the energy of the 1906 San Francisco quake. It killed 115 people in Alaska and more than a dozen others in California and Oregon. That synopsis, that little recap. Thank you, Suzanne Downing. Absolutely. She texted me last night. It was Suzanne. So thank you for doing that.
It was a great reminder. I mean, I can't even imagine. I mean, I obviously know people that came through that earthquake and told stories, and I'm sure, Daryl, you do too. Oh, I have family to tell stories on it. My brother loves to tell about my sister being on a swing set and her yelling at me. Adam to stop pushing her, and they were both laying on the ground. The earthquake was pushing my sister. Wow. Yeah, I was going to say, I've had friends tell me stories about...
Somebody from the Seward area, actually. I remember them telling me a story about all night being in the dark on the top of their house. And I just, I can't even imagine it. I can't even imagine it. Yep, today is the anniversary of that. quake the big one great shaker so yeah i mean it's one of those things you'll see all kinds of stuff on it today i just thought i'd bring it up because that way we're the first people to talk about the great shake
We are. We are. I was glad Suzanne texted me yesterday, and I was like, oh, that's a great reminder. Thank you for the assist. I agree. I agree. Yeah. Yeah, but no, it's definitely a day in history that if you live through it, you will never forget it. I am absolutely certain of that.
Well, today is Thursday, March 27th. I don't have a lot of public announcements. There's just a couple of them. So let's get through them really quickly here. And we'll start with the Matsu Borough. There's a Glacier View Community Council meeting tonight at 630 at Glacier View. Reviews School then there's a Trapper Creek Community Council meeting at 630 tonight and that is at Trapper Creek Community Center
And last but not least, the North Ykes Community Council is meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club off of Bogard Road. There's also a Zoom link, so if you want to attend virtually, you can do that. All you have to do is go to mat2gov. and scroll down to the public meeting calendar, click on the meeting that's interesting to you, and there will always be more information about that.
So there you go. The other thing I always want to remind people, you'll hear me do this a lot because I am very fixated on it. It's one of those things I like to remind people of is being fire wise. It is that season to be fire-wise. Homeowners can take effective measures to protect their homes and property from risk of fire. Adopting fire-wise principles can greatly reduce potential damage or loss to your property.
You know what are some of the things that you can do well clear some of the trees and brush and combustible combustible materials you know, around your house, right? It says 0 to 15 feet from our structure. Remove all conifers or dry or dead vegetation. Edge the building with small plants, flowers, or gravel. And 15 to 30 feet from the structure, you can thin or clump conifer trees. to 15 feet between extending branches. Prune limbs of mature conifers 6 to 8 feet.
Remove shrubs beneath trees. Remove all dry vegetation. There's all kinds of tips about being fire-wise on the Matsuboros website. Don't forget. If the conditions are right, you'll need a burn permit. If you're in the municipality of Anchorage, you always have to be very wise. You'll have to check with AFD daily to see if burning is allowed. This is that time of year where people are starting to think about cleaning up their yards.
where you live you may or may not need a burn permit and you may or may not be able to burn so it's always wise to check with your local government So if you're in the Matsu borough, you can go to matsugov.us, and they have a whole page about being firewise. Moving on to the municipality of, or actually it's the city of Palmer, because I didn't see anything on the calendar today for...
the city of Wasilla, but remember I mentioned the other day that there's a vacant city council seat. Yes, it's the best seat there is. Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha. Sorry, you got me going here. You sparked my attention with that fire stuff. Oh, here it goes. It's never going to stop today, you guys. I'm so sorry. I started it. Actually, I didn't start it. Daryl started it.
All right, so last week Richard Best did resign his position from the Palmer City Council, and they have noticed today vacant city council seat application process is open. Actually, they noticed it yesterday. One city council seat is vacant, and the mayor will be appointing a qualified person to fill the position until a candidate is elected on October 7, 2025 regular election.
The city is seeking applications from engaged citizens to serve. On the city council, if you have questions, you can direct your inquiries to the clerk. The number is 761-1301. The time of appointment is through October 7, 2025. You must be a registered voter in the state of Alaska. You must have resided within the city of Palmer City limits for at least one year preceding the date of filing for office. So this is, again, a city council seat that is open.
For the city of Palmer right now, if you need more information, you can go to palmerak.org. And at the top, they have a header that just says, it's in red. It says vacant city council seat application. pop on it and it'll bring you to all the information you need all right moving on to the municipality of anchorage today is the second day of the alaska police and fire retirement system board meeting and that is at the hotel captain cook
It's going to be in the Endeavor Room. Today it kicks off at 1 o'clock. So if you're interested, that's the only meeting that I see there. There is also a Heritage Land Bank Advisory Committee March meeting. And if you want more information, it looks like they have an online link for that. Just go to muni.org, click on the Mayors tab, and then click on the Events tab.
When we get down to the Kenai Peninsula Borough, the only thing I see on their calendar, there was a tourism industry work group that was scheduled for today. It has been postponed until April 10th. So that is not going to be happening today. If you need more information, just go to their website, kpb.us, and when you click on the link for today, it actually tells you that it's postponed until April 10th.
And then that is really it. I didn't see any announcements for the city of Kenai, Saldana, or Homer for today. So it looks like it's pretty straightforward, but I always recommend that you get familiar with your local government's webpage because they will bring you updated information about what's going on in your community, not just meetings that they're having, but if they have a special program.
If they have interesting things that are going on, a lot of times it will be on your home landing page. So I recommend that you get involved with your local government page, and it will keep you connected to what's going on and keep your finger on. the pulse, shall we say, of local issues.
If you'd like to call in and be part of the show or if you know something fun that's going on or a meeting maybe that I missed that you think people should know about, I'm always happy to plug it. All you have to do is give us a call, 522-0650. We're going to go ahead and take our first break of the morning. Then we'll come back and take your calls. Amy Demboski, 6 to 8, mornings on News Radio 650, KENI. Call now, 907-522-0650. Welcome back, current time.
619 on this glorious thursday morning i am going to go to the phones and doug is with us good morning sir good morning Well, Doug, I hear you live down in Homer. How is the weather in Homer? Has spring actually sprung? Well, this time of year, I'm always trying to get used to the sunlight, you know. It's just too much to the point where you have to put shades on the window. Yeah, I've got to tell you. You know, Homer is...
When I think about Alaska, Homer is my absolute favorite place. It is so beautiful down there. There's so many gorgeous places in Alaska, but Homer just takes my breath away every time I go down there. It's beautiful. Yeah, I've been in Alaska for many, many years, and Homer really is a special place.
Yeah, no doubt about it. Well, you know, Doug, you know, Daryl, it kind of gave me a little background of, you know, talking to you off air a little bit. But I'd love to get your perspective on, you know, kind of Alaska politics and what you think is going on. or what you think maybe some ideas are to deal with it.
Sure. Well, I've never been in Alaska since 1977, and I've never been involved in politics. I've voted, but I've never really been involved in politics. But this last year, there's just so many changes, both international and international. And then on the state level, with our elections in November, and there's been some things that, you know, there's sort of been a change. People get elected and then they don't necessarily follow through on what's going on. Talking about the...
you know, the caucusing and so forth. And as a retired teacher here, I kind of make a comparison between the things that we can do as teachers to change behavior versus what we do in the political realm. You know, there's certain things in schools, good or bad, that are just not being done. One of them is truancy. We're not enforcing truancy. It's just something that could be done but is never done. And holding people back is another one.
And similarly, on the political realm, there hasn't been a declaring authority and enforcing authority on the district level. It's almost like we have the state laws. and then we don't need anything underneath that. So you can have the state rules for a party, but then the local districts don't have their own.
rules that are subservient to that to take action, and so districts have not been taking action. And so basically, I've talked with people for over the last five months and created something that I presented to a lot of people, and it's going to be... It's going to be voted on here in the next three weeks in the District 6 down here in Kenai. Oh, I'd love to see it. Did Daryl give you my private email? No, not yet.
Okay, don't hang up when we get done because he'll give you my personal email because I'd love to see it because I'm currently the chair of District 26. I would love to see what you guys are proposing, because I think you're tapping into something that needs to be addressed, and you have piqued my curiosity.
Well, there's a lot to this. It's kind of like no one would suggest that if you have the city of Canine or the city of Homer that you wouldn't need ordinances. It would be pursuant and subservient to the state law. But you have to have some ordinances. And there's nothing, as far as I've seen, there's no districts that have that, that have their rules of how they're going to do that. So there's no rules for a district to enforce.
For example, the pulling away of an endorsement. We have an endorsement idea, but we never pull an endorsement. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, there's things. So there's five levels of actions that could be taken here. And it's not to be punitive. It's kind of like, you know, over the last many years, there's just been a kind of a toleration that people, you know, there's certain names that comes to mind.
But people can do whatever they want to after they get elected. And then it's just like, you know, that's just we all have to accept that. And, you know, we wouldn't accept that in a business if somebody offended. You know, clients, we would take action. No hard feelings, but there has to be some kind of corrective action that's done.
That makes a lot of sense. You know, in the workplace we have corrective work plans, right? Or sometimes there's suspensions or terminations or, you know, whatever the issue is. I mean, what you're basically saying is we're going to define the rules of the road. and we're going to define actions that can be taken if those rules or those expectations are violated. It makes sense to me. Yeah, and there's a concept of...
public persons. I understand that that's a legal term. So when somebody, maybe they're a celebrity or maybe they get elected to office or something, at some point there's a change where that person becomes a public person. And so public persons, people that are representatives for a business or so forth, they're actually held to a different standard on both ends. People can criticize them that you couldn't do with an average citizen.
because it kind of goes with the territory. And so this action is about public persons, people that have gotten into a, you know, they're representing the party in some way, and so they need to be held to a higher standard. Person can have their own beliefs. We all don't look at things perfectly the same. But when you get to be a public person and you're elected, you have a different, there's a different standard there.
And this is basically saying, let's get it on board. One of the documents is called the charter, and it basically says what the authority is there. And it starts off with a mission. What is the mission of the Republican Party based on the state principles? And so that just basically declares the authority. And then the second document is called, the acronym is the CEDAR. It's a code of ethics disclosure for Alaskan Republicans, and it has all of them.
you know, 50 planks of the party, and then it has some local planks, you know, local, not planks, but local ideas that are important. And then it has a way of, you know, kind of rating that that anybody can rate. There's no secret thing. And then the district can go and kind of say, okay, based on actions that we've seen, either before an election to endorsement or after an election, actions can be taken to sort of curb behavior. and make that aware in the public at large.
Well, it sounds fascinating to me. I can't wait to read it. I really appreciate you calling in this morning because I think the conversations we have give us an opportunity to improve what's going on and to create accountability. And I think that it's really needed. I mean, I think people are, I'm hearing from people over and over again the incredible frustration of electing people and then they just kind of do whatever they want after they get elected.
And voters are getting very frustrated. And there's got to be a way to help not only... reinstill expectations and structure and accountability but also I think that'll lead to voters being reassured and gaining confidence when they elect somebody that these expectations that they said they would hold to, they will, or there will be consequences. I think the path you're on is a good path. It sounds very interesting to me.
I'm going to put you back on hold, so don't hang up. But thank you so much for reaching out this morning. You bet. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right. I'm telling you, that was a good call. So Daryl will give Doug, if you don't mind, Daryl, my personal email address, and we'll do...
We'll do party business on my personal email, not on otherwise. But, you know, it's not just party business. I think this is good for all Alaskans because when you elect somebody, whether you're an independent or a libertarian, if you choose to vote for a Republican, you should know what you're getting. And I think that would be very helpful. All right, I'm going to go to Jim. Good morning, Jim.
Yeah, this morning. I don't want to get on earthquake stories or anything, but this is a different perspective. It's radar. We had an early warning system a while back, and we, as a remote site, we lost communication. which is quite frightening because we're not supposed to lose. You know, we're all thinking the Russians got past us, and the Russians were pretty active then.
But anyhow, we couldn't get through, and then after a while, we did have one ham operator, radio man there, which we always thought was weird. What are you doing here? Because we could still talk on the phone using those bouncer boards, you know. But anyhow, we lost communication and couldn't get, and then finally they called us up asking, we're out in Colorado, called us, and got a clue to us and asked us what's going on up there. And we're saying, well, what's going on down there?
You know, it was an earthquake, and the people in Fairbanks, the ham operators in Fairbanks got through. But for that particular time, we thought, well, we just blew our job. We didn't do it. You know, the Russians got through, but anyway, it was an earthquake.
That's all. I wouldn't want to get on Earthquake stories, but I thought there was a different perspective. No, I think it's an interesting one. Look, I didn't live through the 64 earthquake. I wasn't even a twinkle in my parents' eyes yet. But the people, I know, I wasn't born to the 7th.
But the people that I have talked to that have lived through it, the stories they have told me, I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine it. I mean, I've lived through a few earthquakes here in Alaska that were, you know, shakers. But that one, I mean, wow. I can't even imagine it. It's the duration that kills me. Exactly. I mean, it was minutes long. It was crazy.
Never mind. Go ahead. No, go ahead. Go ahead, Jim. Well, I guess we had a guy in power plant who got to go back early, about a month and a half early, so everybody's wishing they could go, too, you know, and he got back in time. To be at the power plant on Fire Island. Oh, wow. Fire Island was, you know, how that was just going back. People were getting seasick there because they're just going back and forth like they're in a boat. Wow. Anyhow. Wow. I can't even imagine it.
Different, yeah, because we had the C-63, so we, well, we had the Cuban crisis, then we had Kennedy being shot, and then we had the earthquake, and so we're kind of nervous in the service, as he used to say, so. Hey, that's all. Come off the phone. You guys take care. Well, thank you for sharing this morning. Yeah, exactly. Thank you for sharing this morning, Jim. I appreciate it. All right, we're going to take a quick break. If you'd like to call in, be part of the show, 522-0650.
Reach out to Amy now. 907-522-0650. That's 907-522-0650. It's Amy Demboski on NewsRadio 650. KENI. Welcome back, Current Time 635. Alright, so, Daryl, this is clearly going to be Amy's week of tough love for the Republican Party. Yep, I know I have a lot of friends that are... Republicans that are listening to the show. I know I have a lot of friends on the state central committee.
which is the Republican Party's basically governing leadership, right? You have the executive leadership, which is the chair and the vice chair and the region reps, you know, those people. And then you have, like, the state central committee. So every district. has, you know, like their chair is on the central committee for the Republican Party. So, like in my district, for example, we have...
We have multiple votes on the Central Committee because there's a chair, the region rep for Region 2, which is my region, makes up lots of districts, right? She's from District 26, so she's there. And then we have a bonus vote. right so she's there It just happens to be also Kathy Tilton, our elected official, is one of the ones from the House that is on the Central Committee. So my district actually has a number of votes on the Central Committee.
that do and you go to these meetings and they're huge because there's 40 districts in Alaska so you think about that if every district has a couple of representatives this is a big governing body basically of the Republican Party and I will tell you this. For everybody who's listening, I want you to know how smart people are in their watching. This is an example.
Daryl, this is what I told you I would tell you about on the air because I didn't want to say, I didn't want to, I didn't want to, I wanted your raw reaction. So yesterday, I basically called, I just waved the flag. And I'm not talking about the flag of surrender. It's Amy Domboski's BS flag. I let you know what exactly was happening.
And, you know, when you don't see something, sometimes that's more important than what it is you're actually seeing. Because what you're not seeing oftentimes is the behind-the-scenes stuff. And sometimes it's very obvious when somebody's absent. What is going on? So, you know, I just called it out yesterday because it was time for tough love for the Republicans in the House to get your act together. And, you know, it's interesting to me because.
I do the show yesterday, and I talked to a friend after the show, and she made a comment to me. And she said, where is the leadership? And, you know, that was my point, right? That's my point. But she said something else. She said, the leader of the Alaska Republican Party in Alaska really is the governor, right? That's what she said.
the governor i can't argue with that now you've heard me many times on this show defend the governor defend his positions because i agree with those positions and i could understand where he was coming from and i said to her You know, well, on this one, it seems like he's leading from behind. And she challenged me. She said, no, he's not leading at all. Solid point. Solid point. I can't argue with that. I can't argue with it.
But then I had a very interesting conversation, and I want to thank the gentleman who reached out and spoke to me. When I was standing in line at Best Buy yesterday, I had to go to Best Buy to pick up a computer for work. And so, you know, it's just Amy's running into Anchorage, going into Best Buy, standing in line, and then a guy just leans up to me, and he says to me,
Where is Carmella Warfield? Why isn't she doing anything? You know what? Took my breath away for a second. Because I was like, and we weren't talking. I was just standing in line. And a regular, everyday Alaskan reaches out to me and says, basically, where the heck is the leader of the Republican Party? Great point, sir. I appreciated him saying that. He is 100% right. I'm going to tell you another story. Now, I started this segment by giving you...
I know people are losing. My phone is blowing up right now. It's already zipping. Zip, zip, zip, zip. This is what happens during the show when Amy starts talking about party business. So I'm going to tell you a little story about Carmella. Now. I'm not saying I dislike Carmela, but she's a long way from earning my trust. And let me tell you why. When I first got elected as District 26 chair, Then every, you know, once a quarter they have central committee meetings.
And right after our convention, our state convention, we had a SEC, a quick SEC meeting after the convention. And at that meeting, We made a motion to remove Gary Stevens and Bert Stedman from the Central Committee. Why? Because they were the head of the Democrat caucus in the Senate. There was more Democrats in their caucus than Republicans. And both of those gentlemen had a seat at the Central Committee table for the Republican Party, and they're leading the Democrats in the Senate.
So, yes, Amy Domboski made the motion as a new Central Committee member chair to remove those two from the Central Committee. Guess what? Motion passed. I don't remember anybody voting against it. So the next Central Committee meeting comes. Chair acted like it didn't happen. What?
Yep, acted like it didn't happen. In fact, it was pretty obvious she led the effort to keep Bert Stedman and Gary Stevens on the state central committee for the Republican Party. Now, I haven't talked about this on the air for a year. Because I keep saying this would be detrimental to the party to make moves like this. But you know what? I think today is the appropriate day to talk about it. Because when you're a Republican...
And you start saying, wait a second, the leadership, yes, I understand Gary Stevens is, you know, the Senate president, was the Senate president at the time, too. But the reality is they're leading the Democrat caucus, and you're letting the fox literally into the henhouse. And you know what?
I fought the battle. I tried to overrule the chair. And more than half of the Central Committee sided with Carmela. She's the new chair leadership. Let her have a chance. Blah, blah, blah. They voted for it. You want to know what the problem is with the Republican Party? I'm telling you right now, just what the Democrats are dealing with on a national level, there's no leadership.
the leader of the Republican Party? Is it the governor? Is it Carmela Warfield? I think there's a fair argument to say neither. What are they doing? It's a fair question. You know these are people look I voted for both of them at the end of the day. What can I say? Are they going to do what they actually said they were going to do?
You know, Daryl, you have to hit your button. Are you talking? I got my button now. What I'm hearing from me, I mean, listening to you right now is, and I think you nailed it with the fox in the hen house, but it's the rhino in the zoo. You're letting the rhinos run every time. I mean, to me, that's what I'm hearing. And those are giant rhinos. Every single time I leave a central committee meeting, I am PO'd. Every single time.
I don't care if you like the person that's the chair or you dislike the person. The question I have for every single delegate to the State Central Committee for the Republican Party, are they effective? Are they doing their job? Look at the dysfunction that's happening in the House minority right now. Are you kidding me? I know exactly what's going on. They're playing patty cakes with Chuck Copsey.
We can lure him back and be part of the Republican caucus. You offered that man literally everything he wanted and more, and he still said no, he wanted to lead the Democrats. What are you doing? And I know what they're doing in the Senate, too. In the Senate, oh, let's, you know, it's, like I said, when it comes down to it, when you look at the state central committee and you look at party leadership,
They're like, well, you know, we're going to need Stevens and Stedman in the future if we're going to get the majority back. You know, we don't want to attack them. We don't want to hurt their feelings. You know what? Suck it up and get a backbone. You'll never get it back. Well, I'm just, I get, this is the reason I call myself a little R, because I hate party politics, because they just take me off. Because you know what?
Bunch of weak-kneed sissies. Like, grow a pair. Like, at some point, grow a pair. You know, people didn't like Tuckerman bad luck because, look, Tuckerman is not a perfect man. I have criticized Tuckerman over different things. But he was a sensational party chair. You know why? Because he took on the Muscox coalition. He took on those weak-kneed Republicans that caucused with Democrats. And you know what? He held their feet to the fire. Why is this Republican Party chairman not doing that?
You know what the actual thought is. The thought is this is just a stepping stone to maybe a public office. That's what the thought is. That's what people were saying to me yesterday. And you don't want to talk about any tones because those might help you get in there. Look, I got to be honest with you. This is a step up from Anne Brown. Anne Brown was a disaster. She was a Murkowskiite. She was a disaster as a party chair. I'm glad she's gone.
But what I'm telling you is the Republican Party right now, we're screwing up. Because we have no leadership. In the era of Trump, Alaskans overwhelmingly voted for Trump. They want you to kick butt, take names, and take this country back. And you're not going to do it by kowtowing to Chuck Kopp and playing patty cakes with his Gary Stevens. It's not going to happen.
You know, this is exactly the problem. We have no one that is stepping forward to be the leadership of the Republican Party in Alaska. You know what, Governor? Stand up. You're tall enough. You can take it on. Be a leader. You know what, Carmella? Stand up.
Be a leader. I think the gentleman in Best Buy yesterday was absolutely correct. And the reason I bring up that story, I want every elected official to listen to me right now, because I know you all are listening. I want you to think about this. This was an average voter who out of nowhere, I don't know this person, they stepped up and they said, where's the leadership in the party? Where's Carmela?
They recognize a void of leadership and my challenge to each and every one of you were elected Republicans is it going to be you? Who is it going to be my challenge to every single member of the Central Committee? What are we going to do to take control and show leadership? Because right now, there is a void. There is no leadership in the Republican Party here in Alaska. What are we going to do to change that?
I believe in being a productive member of this team, but at the end of the day, I am one voice. I don't rule the Central Committee. I don't rule the Republican Party. But you know what I will do? Is I will speak truth. And you know what? It's about time. And your voters are listening. They're watching. And they're smart. They get it.
And that was evident by my conversations I had yesterday. And I'm telling you right now, you guys are messing up. You better own it, and you better do something to fix it, because people will not forget. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Looking at your Alaska total traffic cameras on this Thursday morning. Now back to the boss, Amy Demboski. Call 907-522-0650 and be a part of the show on NewsRadio 650, KENI.
Welcome back. We're going to go straight to the phones. And Scott is with us. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Amy. How are you? Oh, good. This is my friend Scott Myers. There you go. First, I want to say I'm calling on behalf of myself. Absolutely not as anybody else in any... any party or any political affiliation or any seat I may hold on the Anchorage Assembly.
Oh, wonderful. You've got to get that disclosure out of the way. All right, Scott, what do you got for me this morning? Well, I feel like this was a perfect segue. I've been a registered Republican since the day I turned 18, and I couldn't agree or echo more of the sentiments you just said. In fact, we have an election. Hopefully people are aware of that. April 1st, your ballots are due, and I'm going to call and soundly support my friend Jared and say, please get out and vote.
And since you brought up the Republican Party, I want to know what they're doing when we have a candidate, an opponent of Jared, running in District 2, who is a member of the Republican Party, a vice chair of District 24, and has... has some indiscretions, has some issues paying taxes on time, has some issues on his Twitter account, has some issues filing his APOC report, and yet you have the ship creep group, if you go read the report, who's doing these.
filings for him and yet not on time in a clear violation, you've got the Republican Party not doing anything about it. So you've got a state running against Jared by a machine of unions pushing it. And again, a Republican Party that's silent. So I couldn't agree with you more. Why are we circling the wagons and eating our own? We've gone over this before. We probably said this exact same thing a year ago. Yeah, you make a good point. And for those that don't know, the Ship Creek group...
uh you know they really represent democrats i mean that's that's like the political arm that runs campaigns really for mostly democrats um you know so you really good point i mean jared gerker in district in district two for the Yacht Eagle River Assembly seat, 100% would have my vote. I don't live in the district anymore, but...
I know, you know, you are somebody, you're going to have to work with this person, whoever gets elected. So coming from you, that's who you want to be on that, I think says a lot. I mean, obviously, you know, the district, too. The dishonesty in campaign is what really gets me, and then the lack of transparency and the lack of anybody calling it out from the GOP. What is going on? So again, I couldn't agree with you more. It's frustrating. It's aggravating.
You've got a plant, essentially, that we've seen in the House, we've seen in the Senate, and now we're going to see it again on the local level. Well, I hope we don't, but that's why the importance for people to get out and vote. Yeah. and support, it all starts local. I heard this from the chair when I was running, that they were going to help. I haven't seen any help for Jared's campaign from the Republican Party.
You know, this brings me back to the Republican Party, like, inner nuances, because...
I know. I mean, I was sitting there when the chair was trying to court your vote to get a four-party chair. And, look, there was a lot of discussion because as a local elected person, formerly myself and you currently, see oftentimes is the republican party ignores local races and we know this is a breeding ground for state legislative office and higher office so it is a miss we're not building our bench right at all and and she swore
would help i remember her saying that's what i'm going to focus on the local level i'm absolutely going to do it okay what have they done so let's go one step further who's running in district five That's an opportunity. It goes the whole way. I don't know anything about District 3 people running. I don't know anything about District... Yeah, that's the Keith guy, McCormick, I think. Yep, exactly.
But, you know, this is the point. We were talking about this earlier in the week. People are asking questions, and we, even Daryl and I, have been struggling in some of these districts because we hear nothing about any of these candidates. There's been no help. There's been nothing. Has the Republican Party even vetted any of these people and said, hey, these are our recommendations? No, I haven't seen even one flyer nothing come out. So to your point, you know, look.
I'm not just going to blindly, I might end up by process of elimination giving you my vote, but you better live up to what you said you're going to do. And frankly, I'm not impressed. I'm just going to say it. I'm not impressed. Maybe it takes a lot to impress me, but I'm not impressed. Well, what I don't want to see happen is Jarrah to not be successful. Again, it's imperative people in District 2 get out and vote for him. If you look at APOC reports, you've got somebody who's
Pouting a trusted neighbor with one person from that district donating to the campaign. That tells everything. Follow the money, right? Follow the money. That'll tell you everything. Well, Scott, I'm hitting my top of the hour break. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for calling in. And your support of Jared McGurker says everything to me. I mean, I got to tell you, I know you both.
Jared would absolutely have my vote too. I think he is the best candidate in that race. All right. Thank you so much for your call this morning. I'm going to go ahead and take a quick break. I'll be right back. The opinions expressed on this show are those of the host and not of iHeartMedia or its employees. Thank you for listening to NewsRadio 650 KENI. Welcome back to live, local, and insightful Morning Drive Radio on NewsRadio 650 KENI.
Welcome back to Hour 2 of the Amy Domboski Show. I'm going to go straight to the phones and Bruce is with us. Good morning, sir. Hey, morning, Amy. Morning, Daryl. Well, you got me motivated on this one. I've been talking about this lack of leadership for months now. And when I look at our GOP here, let me first say, you know, I live out in the Mets, too.
I like Carmela, just like you. I think she's great. I love our representatives and senators from the Matsu. Now we're going to put that aside. Right now in the Alaska GOP, I agree with you. We have no leadership. But we also have no accountability and we have no consequences for actions. And you cannot be a successful organization without having those three. And until somebody steps up, we're going to keep failing and failing and failing.
You know, I come from a long time in the military, and you are in the military, and you've done a lot of cool things. Am I wrong? If you have no leadership, accountability, or consequences, how are you going to be successful? There's no way. you're not you're not you're not And this is the problem we have. Look, it's great to have a fancy title and be in a position, but that doesn't make you a leader. You actually have to be effective, and you actually have to do something.
to show people this is the direction, this is the mission, this is our focus, this is what we're doing. And there has to be accountability. And that's why I say, for all of his faults, people want to talk about, Tuckerman Babcock was a very effective leader of the Alaska GOP. And we just don't have that anymore. We don't have it. I'm sorry.
You know, I'm not going to sit here and play patty cakes and pretend that Carmelo is doing a good job. I don't think she is. She hasn't earned, you know, my respect, frankly, at this point. I want you to, like, I voted for her. I will say that. As the chair, I voted. She convinced me. She told me all these things she was going to do. I was standing right there with Scott Myers when she was saying it. She's like, okay, as a candidate, you told me all the right things.
You know, I was going back and forth because I was going to vote Jerry Ward. I was going back and forth. But the one thing, she swayed me because of her desire to focus on local issues. And I thought, okay, this is going to be fine. But then when I watched her. at one of her first SEC meetings, and I watched her defend Gary Stevens to make these little political moves, and you could tell it was all orchestrated, these little political moves in order to keep Gary Stevens
and Burt Stetman on the State Central Committee. Are you kidding me? They're leading the Democrats, and we're giving them a seat at the table of the leadership of the Republican Party. What are you doing? I mean, that said everything. That said everything to me. I was just done at that point. I got like two questions for you just to make sure I'm right here. Now, I know that the GOP back in the day, it went up to the state board.
election officials or some kind of state board and said they couldn't kick people out of the party, right? Yeah, I don't know if it was a state board or if it was a lawsuit, but they claim that they don't have the authority to make people not Republicans. That does not make zero sense to me. I don't care what your group is. How can you not control who's in it? And then my other question, because I know I called about it this week.
We have enough if the governor vetoes everything that our minority can support his veto and everything stops, right? Hopefully. Yeah, hopefully. You see what you just said? Hopefully. That's my fear, too, because I think that's our only power play that we have to make the Democrats and these purple Republicans come to the table and do bipartisan legislation.
We have to veto everything, and we have to stand tall and stop it all. That's what I want to happen, and I don't see anybody from the GOP saying that. You know, I think you're right, and this was my point, and this is why I literally, like, Look, it's out of love and support that I tell them get their act together. Like, it is time we have some tough love this week and we speak truth. You know, if they don't get it together, this is what I'm seeing. I'm seeing a caucus fracturing.
And I'm seeing people make their own political moves. And to me, what I see is... If they continue on this path, they're going to screw it up so they won't have enough votes to uphold the governor's veto, right? Right now, they're playing this patty-cake game, and you need strong leadership. You need to hold it together. You need to have the backbone to...
uphold those vetoes because that is your leverage, especially in the Alaska House this year. Like I said, when we started this session, we knew exactly where this session was going to go. They were going to increase the BSA by some unsustainable amount.
right? They're probably going to pass a defined benefits retirement plan that we can't afford. We knew this was their two major priorities. And we also knew at the end of the day, the governor's probably going to veto it, and he probably has the vote to uphold his veto.
this whole game is already it's already gamed out like anybody ray charles could see how this game was going to play out this year right it's obvious so so again you see this and and now you they're giving they're giving yards up that they don't need to give Why are they doing that? And then you step back and you say, well, why isn't Mia Costello went to chuck cop?
And is it because maybe there's moves afoot for potential other leadership positions for Mia Costello and future legislatures? I mean, because, look, they offered Chuck Kopp literally everything. come back and be in the Republican caucus this year. He turned it all down to lead the Democrats. Is that really somebody you want to court and be on your team? You can't trust them.
And my other last piece of advice for the Alaska GOP here, our elected officials in Juneau, you can kind of be far removed when you're out there. But I will say to our elected leaders. When your active constituents are not happy and are telling you why they're not happy and they're giving you advice on what you think maybe you should do, maybe you should listen and not become so defensive and argumentative.
Yeah. That is a very good point. You know what? You just tapped into one of my greatest pet peeves. You know what one of my greatest pet peeves are? Is when we elect people and they get to Juneau and they turn around and they just tap you on the head and say, oh, you just don't understand.
understand you're not down here you just don't understand you know what stop treating your voters like they're stupid like they're not as smart as you because here's the thing this is what the conversation I had at Best Buy really highlighted for me yesterday The gentleman who just walked up to me and said, where's Carmelo Warfield? That's what he said to me. Out of nowhere. What it tells me is they're watching. They get the game right away. They understand it.
I've got to tell you, I've got to say, I think the voters are smarter than a lot of these legislators that are down there right now. They're much smarter than they're being given credit for. Yep, you're absolutely right. I talk to a lot of people. These are the same things people are talking about. But so far on our team, I can't get nobody to listen. And it makes me wonder sometimes why I'm still trying to fight for this team.
It gets very upsetting. Well, you know, welcome to my club. Not every time, but multiple times I've run for office. I had Republican Party leadership solicit a candidate to run against me. And I'm like one of the most conservative people that you would find. I was the most conservative person on the Anchorage Assembly when I was on there from a safe district. And they still found somebody to run against me because they wanted to take me out. But that's how every time I have.
I have fought the party. Every time it's happened, it has been an uphill battle because I'm too conservative for them. And, you know, I look at that and I think, I'm a reasonable person. Like, look, I want to keep taxes low. I want to keep government limited.
And, yeah, there's times that Republicans offer ideas. They're bad ideas. So I say, no, that's a bad idea. But how dare you speak out against another Republican? I'm like, no. Sometimes when a Republican acts like a Democrat, you've got to speak out against them. my opinion and look and I think good ideas can come from both sides but so can bad ideas and if we can't speak truth and if we have no leadership we're like a ship adrift with no paddles right
Exactly. Good point. Leadership and accountability consequences. Thank you, Amy. Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate the call. All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we have a candidate from District 3. This is Daryl's district, West Anchorage. We're going to talk to Amy Steen in just a minute. We're going to learn a little bit about her and why she...
running for the assembly. Hopefully it'll give you a little bit more information as you go to cast your ballot for the Anchorage municipal election. Stay with us. You're listening to live, local, and always insightful Morning Drive Radio with Amy Demboski on NewsRadio 650 KENI. Get on the show now by calling 907-5220. Welcome back.
Well, we always try to bring you information, and we welcome all candidates to call in and tell us about themselves. And one of the races that we didn't really know a lot about was District 3. This is seat D in West Anchorage. Election is going on right now. Voters have their ballots. They have to be postmarked by April. first at 8 p.m. or dropped off in one of those drop box boxes by 8 p.m. on election day and one of the candidates that's running her name is amy steen good morning amy
Good morning, Amy. It's a good day. Thank you to you and Daryl for having me here today. Oh, we're excited to get to know you a little bit. Whenever candidates pop up that I don't know, I always love the opportunity for us and our listeners just to kind of get to know you a little bit. So can you start by telling us just a little bit about yourself?
Yeah, of course. So I'm Amy Singh, running for Anchorage Assembly, like you said, in District 3. And a little bit about myself, I am currently an Air Force reservist, and my husband is also an Air Force recruiter. We have two cats and a rescue dog. I'm working towards my Master's of Divinity in Pastoral Counseling. And also, I will say that my military affiliation does not imply or constitute DOD endorsement.
Yeah, I appreciate that. We love it when people do their disclosures. We want to keep you out of trouble. We don't want you to get in trouble. Well, you know, Amy, as we typically talk to people, we kind of like to know that you have a great background. I also hear you have a degree in criminal justice, is that right? I do. I have a bachelor's in criminal justice administration and I was prior military police.
Oh, nice. See, we have a lot in common. See, I have a bachelor's in criminal justice, too. Well, that's exciting. How long have you lived in Alaska? I've lived in Alaska a little over a year. My husband got stationed up here as an active duty recruiter, and Alaska was his number one choice, and this is why we're here now. Well, welcome. You know, that's how I got here.
My dad was in the Air Force, and I was in the Air Force, but I went to high school here. We got stationed here when my dad was at Elmendorf, and so a lot of us listening today were, you know, brought up here by the military. So once you come up in Alaska, you're an Alaskan. So we appreciate that. And you live in West Anchorage. So what drew you to run for the Anchorage Assembly? Well, there are various reasons. It's something as simple as I have to fight for my own self.
uh you're familiar with military and um they didn't want to cover me for my uh through tricare and i was like wow like what is going on here like i'm a military member i've been on active duty i'm an active duty spouse and i have to write to Senator Sullivan and explain myself. And then I came to find out that
There's actually a lot more military members, reservists in particular, who just choose not to get coverage because they don't want to deal with the insurance. And I'm like, this is insane. So I spoke to DHA. They actually ended up changing their policies, updating their website, because I was the only one that ever really, like, spoke up about it. And I was just shocked. I'm like, okay, well...
Let me take a look at our city because if somebody is not speaking up about, you know, their health care and insurance and we're in 2025, what's going on with the city? And I was talking to my supervisor and he is a chaplain. What mentioned to me about the assembly, just very briefly, there was a couple days left before it was time, you know, to submit everything to the elections office.
And he said, that would be great for this. And I was like, oh, you know, are you sure? He's like, no, no, no, you're perfect for this. Like, I've seen what you do. I've seen how you did this to fight for yourself. Like, I think this is what you're supposed to do. And I'm like. Ooh, like, I feel like this is almost like God telling me, you know, I'm very religious. And I'm like, I had to really have that conversation.
with myself and God to really feel like this is where I needed to be today. I don't know where I'll be in the future, but I'm supposed to be doing this right here at this moment in time. You know, I appreciate the fact that you're so willingly, openly talking about your faith because there's a lot of people in politics that just don't do that anymore. And I think it's a shame because it gives us a glimpse into who you are as a person.
what you believe you know the anchorage assembly i used to serve on the assembly years ago and it is is it is a lot of local issues which is great um but i voters are always asking like who is this person I'm voting for what can I expect you know from up from a political standpoint how would you characterize yourself how what do you what do you view yourself as when people ask you what your political preferences are? Right. So I know that you...
You like honesty and everything, and that's what I'm here for. Just, you know, to give you an example, I'm a registered Republican. This is a nonpartisan party. for the assembly, but this is who I am. My family has a history, same thing, registered Republicans. I am here to represent the hardworking families of Anchorage. I'm a hardworking person myself. And I, just from being here a little over a year and a half, there's problems out there.
I mean, Anchorage is at crossroads. Property taxes are too high. Homelessness is out of control. And obviously public safety is failing. Like, the same politicians make the same promises, but nothing gets changed. Except the way we pay, like, you know, we pay more and get less. And I just thought we need real leadership, financial accountability, like common sense solutions. And I mean, that's why I'm running.
You're speaking my language. I've got to tell you, property taxes and taxes in general were the things that drove me to run as well. And I think, look, people just want to know that somebody is there.
They can go to that will follow through on what they say they're going to do. And I appreciate the fact that you were willing to call in this morning and just introduce yourself to us and our listeners. You know, Amy, the election's coming up. If people want to get in touch with you, you or if they have questions what's the best way for them to do that so i do have a website it's amystein.com and i do have a phone number uh it's
It's provided on the website, and I can provide it here on the air as well. It's 907-313-8308. I prefer messaging better, but if they can't, if they leave me a voicemail, that would be great, and I'll get back to them.
Perfect. Well, Amy, I wish you the best of luck in Tuesday's election, and thank you for putting yourself out there and running and for your time this morning. It was really great getting to know you. Yeah, thank you so much, Amy and Daryl. I hope you all have a great rest of your day. All right, you too. Thank you so much for the call.
All right, there you go, Daryl. Daryl is the one who shut that up. My confusion, I now know who I'm voting for. I don't even have to worry about not voting because my option was just not voting in my district, and I hate that. That is something I don't. like to do, because I feel like I've lost my chance. But no, Amy Steen, she's got my vote. There we go. I haven't heard from the other candidate, and so...
She just wanted by coming out here and letting us know what she was. It was Daryl's persistence that gave us the opportunity to talk with Amy. So Amy Steen is her name. She said her website is amiesteen.com. Last name is spelled S-T-E-E-N. And her first name, Amy, is spelled A-M-I-E. So the website would be A-M-I-E-S-T-E-E-N.com.
And then you can connect with her that way. And she did give out her cell phone number, too. You can also text her or call her at 907-313-8303. I appreciate the fact that she took her. time out to to call us and talk to us today it's always a little tricky daryl when um when you're brand new to politics and you you know sometimes it's a new road for many people and it's it's
It can be overwhelming. Oh, I imagine. It can be nerve-wracking. I think that was a great interview. I think you got a glimpse into who she was. So, again, I recommend if you're in that district and you're not sure who to vote for that you do check out Amy Steen. She seems like a very solid person, so I'm excited to see her get involved in Alaska politics. That's somebody, I think, that district. Which house district is it?
Oh, House District. We have, what's his name? Such a slick, slick willy. I always call him slick willy. Matt Klayman. Ah, Klayman. Yeah, that's Klayman. Slick willy. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to have to reach out to the district chair in that district and make sure that they connect with her because she sounds like somebody that we should see. Again, building the party. Exactly. We should get her involved. Right along the line of what you're saying there, though, is.
Three months ago, when all these people were finalized as candidates, that's when the party should have reached out. That's the party responsibility saying, oh, let's talk. How are you going to do this? How are you going to do that? Want a little bit of help with this? Well, and to Scott Meyer's point, I mean, this is...
what the current party chair said she was going to do when she ran is she was going to support local candidates. And, you know, I've got to tell you, now we know we have a registered Republican in that race. There you have it. Hopefully that gives you a whole bunch more information, and hopefully that has been useful to you this morning. All right, well, we've talked a lot about party stuff, so we probably should get into some headlines. Oh, my gosh, you know I have one more thing for the party.
Okay, I'm going to finish it right now because this is one of those things that, you know what, Daryl, actually I'm not going to do it yet. It is one of the things I've been dealing with with the party. I've got to tell you, this is going to trigger Bruce. It's going to trigger Bruce bad. Okay, I've got to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll finish it up. We'll get to the headlines of the day. Stay with us. Call now, 907-522-0650.
Welcome back, Current Time 737. You know, I just have to say this because I did not intend for this show to go off the rails the way it has, but here we are. I want to first do cleanup for myself because I might have messed up here. Amy Steen, she is district... She is a candidate in the West Anchorage District for the Anchorage Municipal Election. If you want to contact her, you can call her at 907-313-8308. So, again, that's 907-313-877.
And she prefers a text, but if you need to, you can leave her a voicemail. She will get back to you. She also has a website, amystein.com. So I want to thank Amy for calling in. Sounds like a wonderful person. And I'm really hoping that the party connects with her so they can start giving her some support. A little late, but I'm hoping. I think she's going to be a great person to know going forward. You know, the other thing I was going to say, look.
This is a little bit of the inside baseball, but when it comes to the party, where's the leadership? That's been my question all day today. Where is the leadership? Just recently, District 8, which is down on the Kenai, passed a sanction
of Lisa Murkowski. So they had to have this formal hearing. They invited Senator Murkowski to attend. They had all these questions. Of course, Senator Murkowski did not attend. And they ended up passing a resolution to sanction Lisa Murkowski, ultimately their goal was to say she cannot attend, participate in, or get any money from the Republican Party ever.
For the future, never get it, right? So they're trying to give teeth to it. So District 8 passes this resolution to sanction Murkowski. Okay, hold on, Bruce. This is what happened. I'm going to trigger Bruce all over again. So District 26 sees it. And we review their recording. We see what they did. They went through this very deliberative process. District 26 jumps on and says, you know what, we vote on it.
we agree with district 20 20 district 8 and say yep they should that lisa mcowski should be sanctioned we forwarded to the central committee you know what i get back I get back an email saying, if you're going to do that, every district has to effectively hold a separate hearing for Lisa Murkowski and give her the opportunity to respond. And then...
Maybe we can bring up potentially sanctioning Lisa Murkowski. You know what they've done? Internally within the party, they've made it impossible to ever sanction a legislator who basically abandons the Republican Party and teams up with Democrats. what they've done. And again, this is inside baseball, but this is what we're dealing with when it comes to the Republican Party. Now, somebody who knows way more about this than I do, I cannot wait for this conversation.
Because one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world is on the phone right now, Miss Bernadette Wilson. Good morning, ma'am. Oh, good morning, Amy. I'm going to apologize in advance. I'm getting kids out the door, and I'm making breakfast at the same time, so ignore the background. All right, go for it. We're mob duties here. I wanted to add to the conversation. I wanted to point something out.
The head of the Republican Party, above even the party chair, is the governor. In every state, if you have a Republican governor, whoever your last Republican governor was, that is recognized the head of the party. And my message to Republican legislators, to those 33, is this. You better thank God.
that you've got a weak-ass governor sitting in that seat right now. Because I will tell you, Amy, if I were the governor, I would have picked up the phone the next morning, I would have called the president, I would have said, Mr. President, I have 33 legislators, including Republicans, who just slapped you in the face. And, Mr. President, I need some help and I need some money to go into those districts.
to have a conversation with their constituents and to hold them accountable when their voters go to the polls in November of 2026. And that conversation starts today. That should be the conversation. And then every single one of those Republicans needs to get sat down and said, here's the deal.
Some of you may have legitimately made a mistake, and we're going to forgive you for that one time and one time only. But let me tell you something. The president has just given X amount of dollars, or he's going to help us raise X amount of dollars. And either you shape up and you get in line, or we will hold you accountable in your district at the voting booth. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I've got to be honest with you, Bernadette.
This is what I'm seeing is a massive lack of leadership. I mean, who is going to, you know, because Dunleavy's not going to do it. Carmella's not doing it. Who is going to step up and who is going to be that firebrand, that person who actually has a backbone to lead Alaska Republicans and take advantage of having a pro-Alaska delegation?
having a pro-Alaska president? Like, who's going to step up and lead? Well, I'll tell you what. If we've learned anything on the national level, it's this. Somebody who's not a bureaucrat and has not... become so desensitized to the bureaucracy of the system. And unfortunately, there are even good conservatives in their heart who get in there and they get desensitized to that.
It's going to take somebody coming from the outside in, just like we had with Donald Trump, just like we had when Trump phoned up Vivek, just like we've had with Elon Musk. It will take someone that comes in and says no. I'm not inoculated to the status quo, and I'm not going to put up with it. Things are going to change. And I think here in Alaska, we'll see that. The conversation is going to start getting driven incredibly hard, no matter how uncomfortable some may find it.
Well, and that's why, you know, I started yesterday. I have to tell you, the night before last, when I saw the HJR 11 be passed, and I saw Chuck, and I... I saw Chuck Kopp had authored it. And I saw Dan Sadler added on as a sponsor originally. And then I see all these House Republicans. I'm like, what are you doing? I mean, there's no way this is going to be perceived as any way other than.
the Alaska House siding with Canada against America and slapping the president in the face. Like, there's no other way to see this. And I couldn't believe so many of them joined on with it. And then the next day, here comes a... Here comes an op-ed with Chuck Kopp on it and all these Republicans. And I'm like, what is happening in the Alaska House? I mean, the tell is obvious to me about the background politics that's happening.
Yeah, and the op-ed is a whole other problem, which also exemplifies lack of leadership. But like I said, Amy, it starts up at the top. It starts with a good governor who's going to sit down with legislators and say, here's the direction we're going to go. And we continually hear from legislators, well, you know, that's not what my district wants. Well, you just don't understand the strategy. And I agree with you. You could not say anything more insulting to the electorate.
Act like you're playing some high game of strategy. If you think that you are being so strategic, if you think that this district wants, then let's go if that's actually true. This state elected. points. Elected Trump in districts. Democrats won. And that's not, people did not vote the down ballot because I heard that argument.
Just because they voted for president, but they didn't vote down. Amy, the numbers simply do not support that. People voted for Trump and then proceeded to vote for a Democrat. I believe, because they did not see a strong distinction, but it's going to take the very top, it's going to take a strong governor to step in and say, you think this is what your district wants?
you think that you're being strategic, I'm going to push that conversation. And if you're truly being strategic and this is what your district wants, then you will have no problem with a strong governor coming into your districts and forcing that conversation. And like I said, pick up the phone. If you need to call in for help from the president, then by God, you do it. And you call that president. Absolutely. Absolutely. We need a legislature that's going to support it.
I've got to tell you, Bernadette, you are saying exactly the right things. And this is exactly right. And that's why I say I get so frustrated. And, you know, one of my calls yesterday after the show, the first call was from a friend who said, Where's the governor? And I said, well, he's leading from behind. Clearly that's what he's doing. And she goes, no, he's not leading at all. And to your point, I mean, that's what you're saying. And I think you're both right. I think you're right. Yeah.
Well, like I said, I can't wait for this. I got to tell you, I see it flashing in my mind right now. There potentially could be a Wilson for governor race coming up here. I don't know. Well, I don't know. Something's got to change in this state. I know that. Yeah, no doubt about it. Well, Bernadette, as always, a breath of fresh air. Thank you for calling in this morning. It was great hearing from you. And, by the way, I still owe you lunch.
Thanks, Amy. Have a good day. All right. We'll talk soon. Bye-bye. All right. We're going to take a quick break. That was Bernadette Wilson, the one and only. I got to tell you, Daryl, she is 100% spot on. Oh, spot on. And here's what Donald Trump had to say.
You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. I love it. I love it. I love it. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Welcome back to live, local, and insightful Morning Drive Radio. On News Radio 650 KENI. Welcome back. Current Time 751.
You know, it's been an interesting conversation today, and I want to thank again Amy Steen. She's a candidate for West Anchorage Assembly for calling in earlier in the show, and we've had people call back and say, can you please repeat the right website? Yes, I will. So, Amy Steen, it's... spelled A-M-I-E-S-T-E-E-N. She has a website, amystein.com, or you can call her or text her. Her phone number is 907-313-830. eight.
So, again, 8308 is the phone number. I want to thank her for calling in. But, you know, we've had an interesting conversation today. And if you didn't hear the whole thing, I recommend you go back to the first hour of the show when the podcast is up. I kind of explained it in detail of where we're at. And as we talk as the Republican Party, we have to have a conversation about the leadership.
And what we're seeing over and over again is a lack of leadership. Where is the leadership? And who is going to step up to rise to that challenge? You know, I kind of chuckle because... We know what we're getting with Lisa Murkowski. Let's be honest. She should be a registered Democrat. She acts like a Democrat. She votes like a Democrat. She should be a registered Democrat. But here we have it. We have a weak party.
internally is blocking any efforts to sanction her, which kind of makes, that's how I feel. And that's been my experience. And you have enough people that are just kind of, just kind of just. Hanging out, just doing their thing. And people are frustrated. Everyday voters see what's going on. They see this lack, this vacuum, this void, and they're getting frustrated. You know, there's a couple articles out, and I have to kind of...
because, look, I made no excuses for, I realized it was a mess up. When you see the signal chat group with the Secretary of Defense and the VP and all these people and somebody acts. accidentally, and I'm saying that with quotes, added a reporter to that group, Mike Waltz, added a reporter to that group, you know, it was a mess up. There's no way around it. When you make a mistake, you own it and you move on. That's it.
Well, Lisa Murkowski, and typical Lisa Murkowski, comes out and says on X, I am appalled by the egregious security breach from the top administrative officials, their disregard for stringent safeguards and secure chances. could have compromised high-stakes operations and put our service members at risk. I hope this serves as a wake-up call that the operational security must be a top priority for everyone, especially our leaders. Okay.
end quote right all right that's fine but she goes on to say basically um basically she was right in not voting for pss as a sec def Right? She's using this as an opportunity to say, see, I was right. You know, here's the thing, Lisa. Juxtapose that against Dan Sullivan's comment. Dan Sullivan, look, he quotes, this is a quote, they need to up their game.
End quote, right? He goes on and he says, when he's talking about the actual strike on the Houthis, he says, quote, it should give Alaskans confidence that our military and intelligence leaders are deliberative and serious-minded about responding.
to our adversaries for establishing deterrence and ensuring freedom and navigation, all of which are top priorities of mine." So Dan Sullivan is saying, look, they made a mistake, but look, it was a very effective campaign. We're kicking butt and taking names, right?
That's Amy's paraphrasing for Senator Sullivan. Lisa Murkowski on the other side is rubbing everybody's nose in it saying, oh, you know, look, this is such a security breach. And look, see, I was right for not voting for Pete Headset because he's a... Lemonizer. Look, I got to tell you, I want a SecDef that has a pair. I'm just saying.
Male or female, it doesn't matter to me. I want somebody with a backbone who understands war fighting, who understands the mission is to keep this country safe, and sometimes it means killing people. That's what I want somebody to understand. Lisa Murkowski, I don't need your weak-kneed commentary. And Suzanne has a fantastic article in Mustard, Alaska. I know Mike covered it last night on his show. But if you haven't read it, you should. Murkowski wants you to know she was right.
not to vote to confirm Hegseth for Defense Secretary. But in this article, Suzanne does a fantastic job of outlining all the times Lisa Murkowski never criticized Secretary Lloyd Austin for his failures, never criticized Hillary Clinton, when she let Ambassador Chris Stevens die in Libya in 2012, she highlights the point that
You know, when cocaine was found in the White House, she didn't hear Lisa Murkowski speak of that. I mean, she goes three and she lists all the time. So again, with Lisa Murkowski... Why don't you just sit down and color at this point? Like, I am sick of hearing from Lisa Murkowski, to be honest with you. All right, well, that does it for today's show. Thank you, everybody, for listening. Thank you for participating. Thank you for everybody who called in.
Daryl and I will be back with you tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. Until then, stay safe. God bless.