Joe Miller Republican Alaska Campaign for U.S. Senate News/Comments

U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller running against two other solidly financed rivals-Sitka Alaska fisherman Scott McAdams on the Democratic Party plank and second-try Lisa Murkowski for-herself after losing the Republican primary is encountering political turbulence in the last two weeks of the campaign with two controversial phenomena. For one-he is charged with using a computer at lunch while employed by the Fairbanks Alaska North Star Borough government, the second weird event that brought demands by Lisa Murkowski that Miller apologize is more complex.

A blogger with a camera who has written critically of Joe Miller was held by security guards until police arrived at a Miller campaign event. Miller had rented a school and hired a security firm for the event.

Bloggers should be given special consideration over the broadcast media journalists at all political events obviously, yet they should not interfere with candidates by heckling them with importunate questions. Bloggers should be respectful of the candidate’s ‘store front’ and stay within a candidate’s guidelines for marketing. Later, the blogger may chastise the candidate for supporting the existence of the broadcast media and other exclusive, elite tools for propaganda by concentrated wealth if he wants.

Courtesy is requisite in public affairs if individuals are to have a chance to actualize and express political ideas and then for the public to consider those concepts. Cyber bullying and broadcast media abuse can be held as bad examples and public corruption of common sense. It is possible that some bloggers try to emulate the broadcast media practice of invasive trampling of private interests and individualism in public affairs.

On the issue of lunchtime use of a government computer for personal interests it is easy to understand. Americans are somewhat addicted to the Internet especially with all of the brilliant bloggers out there writing of things philosophical and practical in addition to YouTube videos and so forth. Computer and Internet access for all public employees at lunch would save a lot of time spent on trying to get something to eat and find a wireless Internet connection at lunch hour. In Fairbanks even a government lawyer might need to go outside in 40 below zero temperatures, start a cold car, drive a couple miles and park by a snow drift to get a wireless connection maybe with the interior of the car as warm as minus 20. The one must still walk over the icy parking lot, buy a jelly donut and coffee, watch it freeze and get into the slightly warmer car with the engine left running and type a few words with freezing fingers and gloves off. To avoid frostbite the twitting must be brief. Then it time to drive back to work and hope the plastic notebook doesn’t fracture from all of the extreme temperature changes (minus 40 to positive 70 degrees at work).

The political critic of Joe Miller for using a computer in Fairbanks at lunch plainly are not concerned about employee safety. If they were they would agitate for wireless Internet access for all Alaskans at all city, borough, state and federal public office buildings. With ordinary Internet wireless access public employees could use their web-book computer at lunchtime and brown bag it saving money and fuel consumption that causes global warming.