Alaska Candidate Goes Bundy: ‘Martyrdom Goes A Long Way Sometimes’

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan talks about the city forming an exploratory bid to possibly bid on hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The city of Anchorage has formed an explo... Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan talks about the city forming an exploratory bid to possibly bid on hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The city of Anchorage has formed an exploratory committee to help determine whether it should bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

A candidate for lieutenant governor in Alaska said recently he’d be willing to invade a federal wildlife refuge to expand oil and gas drilling, even if it led to a shootout, because “martyrdom goes a long way sometimes.”

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan (R) told a local Chamber of Commerce Wednesday that if he were leading the state, he’d fight for Alaska’s rights, including seizing land controlled by the federal government to develop oil production, radio station KRBD reported. Sullivan’s remarks were widely circulated on Tuesday.

“One of the things I’ve suggested, too, is that if I was governor today, I’d probably invade ANWR [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge],” Sullivan said. “What are they going to do, shoot you? Well, they might. But martyrdom goes a long way sometimes.”

Whether to allow drilling in ANWR has been a politically divisive issue for decades. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has been a staunch advocate for oil and gas exploration in the refuge — remember “drill, baby, drill?” — while the Obama administration wants to keep the land off-limits to drilling.

Sullivan’s comments are reminiscent of Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, who rallied thousands of supporters to his side in a showdown with the federal Bureau of Land Management over his unpaid grazing fees. Like Bundy, Sullivan also caught flak earlier this month for racially charged comments he made that referred to union dues as a form of “economic slavery.” The lieutenant gubernatorial hopeful issued a statement saying he was sorry for any offense after the Anchorage chapter of the NAACP demanded an apology for those comments.

h/t Gawker

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. All these people who talk about being martyrs should just go and be martyrs and stop talking about it all the time. If you want to be a martyr it’s fine with me, seriously.

  2. “martyrdom goes a long way sometimes.”

    Exhibit A: Jesus died for oil.

  3. “A [GOP] candidate for lieutenant governor in Alaska said recently he’d be willing to invade a federal wildlife refuge to expand oil and gas drilling, even if it led to a shootout, because ‘martyrdom goes a long way sometimes’….”

    But it doesn’t go nearly as far as Exxon contributions in a political campaign.

  4. Please proceed. Seriously.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

27 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for meri Avatar for jonathang Avatar for ncsteve Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for maxie Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for chammy Avatar for jimtoday Avatar for irasdad Avatar for kenstarr Avatar for callmeeric Avatar for sniffit Avatar for jasper Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for grawk Avatar for jjrothery Avatar for sarenarterius Avatar for martinheldt Avatar for captaincommonsense Avatar for sally Avatar for darrtown Avatar for antisachetdethe

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: