In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, "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 administration 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 capital 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 argument about gun control that the Holocaust would not have been as bad if Jews had just been packing heat to defend themselves:
Don Young was re-elected yet again in 2018, this time with only 53% of the vote and still underperforming the +12 lean that his district is supposed to have, by far.
- January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Young voted against HR 648, because he was gleeully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- January 27th, 2019: Don Young votes against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attacking our democracy.
- February 28th, 2019: Don Young votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
- March 14th, 2019: Rep. Young votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
- April 4th, 2019: Don Young is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- June 4th, 2019: Young votes against the Dreamers Act, assuring nothing is done in the way of immigration reform.
- July 16th, 2019: Young is one of 187 Republicans who vote against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
- December 18th, 2019: Young ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
- May 15th, 2020: Young votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Don Young’s career now stretches 47 years, and bizarrely, he allegedly is still shoving people at the Capitol that he decides are standing in his way. The most recent incident was not a page, it's a journalist. Who is also a woman.
Well, Don Young is up for re-election in 2020 at the age of 87. He’s currently refusing to even consider the remote voting rules that have been established by House Democrats to protect members of the body “at risk” for Covid-19, (like y’know, him…) and has started just missing votes outright. He's also made light of the tens of thousands of deaths from Covid-19 by referring to the disease as “the beer virus” while hosting campaign events where no one was wearing masks.
It bears watching if Don Young survives the 2020 primary here in about two weeks, and the general election to see if he gets a 25th term in office. But Alaska has trended away from Republicans more this year in polls than it has in decades, and it might just be time that voters opt to allow Young to go self-quarantine for his own safety, and not have the hassle of shoving people in the Capitol like a jackass.