Letter I submitted to the ADN on Don(think they'll publish it?)

[Ken Burch]

With his insensitive and offensive comments about suicide to the grieving high school students in Wasilla, and with his disrespectful and physically violent(squeezing her hand until it hurt)response to Native elder Gloria Poullard at this week's AFN convention when she confronted him on those insensitive remarks(remarks he still refuses to admit were simply wrong-falling back, once again, on the meaningless "I'm sorry if offense was taken" non-apology apology), Congressman Don Young has, once and for all, morally disqualified himself from electoral office or further public service in any form.

Suicide is not caused by government spending, or by, "permissiveness", or by families who didn't "try hard enough" to save the person who chose to commit it. Suicide is caused by a person becoming overwhelmed by the pain of life. We've always had it in Alaska, and it has always occurred in all other societies, regardless of politics, ideology, family values or "effort". And no one, even a twenty-some term congressman, is ever entitled to lecture grieving families and friends about what they did and didn't do before the person they loved chose to end her or his life.

Congressman Young should withdraw from his race for re-election and resign his seat immediately.

If he will not do that, he needs to be removed from office at the polls this November 4th.

He's no longer "folksy". He's no longer "crusty". Congressman Young is now nothing more than a spiteful life-hating relic. His time is past. He must go. Alaska deserves better than this.