Mark Begich's Parade of Trans-Democrats aka Fake Republicans

Yes, there is another Begich ad on the airwaves, and yes, it has in it once again a phony Republican. Why is Mark Begich trying so hard to scare up Republican support? Does he think Alaskans are stupid? He must, because he keeps repeating the same mistakes.

First, Mark Begich tried to dress up Jim Whitaker as Republican. Jim Whitaker is nothing more than a Trans-Democrat; he dresses up and pretends to be a Republican at election time in much the same way that some people cross genders for Halloween.

After realizing that most Alaskans remember "Republican" Jim Whitaker giving the nomination speech for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, Sen. Mark Begich turned his attention south to Anchorage. In his search he produced an almost obscure character, almost sympathetic at first blush, as an "Independent Republican," named Skip Nelson.

Well, at least Jim Whitaker is actually registered Republican. This fellow isn't even registered Republican, he is just another crony capitalist "cashing in" during the Obama years, although at one time, it seems, he was patriotic enough to serve our nation honorably. However, he is still a trans-Democrat today.

Who is Skip Nelson? 

Now, for those readers who are Sourdoughs, you might best remember Robert C. "Skip" Nelson as one of the big honchos for Yute Airlines back in the "PFD Airline Coupon" days of the 1990s. Like Mark Air, Yute was another small commuter service competing for a share of the regional commuter market.  Nelson arrived in Alaska sometime after he retired from the Air Force in 1994 and landed a position with Yute Air.  As some may recall, this was the hay-day of the PFD coupon, where flights could be acquired at a very low cost for a coupon from the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Airline Coupon. Like all booms and busts in Alaska, this boom went bust in the late 1990s. The airlines went bankrupt and left a bit of a mess in Hanger 11 in Bethel. Now, to his credit, Skip Nelson did get the matter cleaned up, and he attempted to resurrect the airlines through a holding company. He used the trademark YuteAir, and it did have some flights for a time. But since it was clear that the airline coupon days were gone, Skip moved on to bigger and better things.

Fast forward to the Obama environment.  Nelson managed to get in on the ground floor of a deal with  ADS-B systems. This is a satellite based traffic control system that was mandated for full implementation by 2020 in the FAA Reauthorization Act.  With modest accommodations at Merrill Field, a U.S. Senator in his back pocket, and spiffy White House connections from his military days, Skip Nelson was going to change his fortunes through another government boondoggle.

Bundling for Democrats

It seems in March 2011, while the rest of us watched the Japan Disaster, Arab Spring, and Presidential primary speeches,  Skip Nelson and Doug Johnson worked with Mark Begich to assemble a Democratic Party Steering and Outreach Committee. It wasn't exactly secret, people were just distracted by other events. The two men wrote a piece dated 27 March 2011 in the  Alaska Dispatch describing how they were putting together. I'm not sure how it was missed by the GOP in their responses to the Begich Ads, but the article is available here.  Yes, I have a screen shot in case the page magically changes or goes missing.

This is how bundling begins. One gathers one's fellow craftsman for a day of smoozing, or um, learning about how to improve the business environment.




Now, what one has to realize here that it isn't just one contribution that matters. It is the "aggregate" of the industry that counts. There are pages and pages of donations to Mark Begich of Aviation companies, related vendors, and software companies who stand to benefit from the implementation of ADS-B. Furthermore, it isn't just aviation- the key to the success of ADS-B is that there be global internet access. That means getting internet access everywhere. The "Broad-Band for the Bush" initiative that is part of common core? That is a ruse.

Broadband in the Bush is for this program; it isn't for the children after all. But if getting the state to foot the bill through the education budget under the guise of new education standards works, why not?

Amazingly, a fellow who could never contribute more that $10.00 to any political activity before Obama was president, he is now able to spare more than a few pennies for Mark Begich.





For all of the ADS-B system's flaws, like its ease with which it can be hacked, a U.S. Senator named Mark Begich managed to insert into the FAA Reauthorization Act a requirement mandating ADS-B system compliance by 2020. Millions will be made, and you can certain guess that Skip Nelson, or his heirs, will be very comfortable.

Never mind that the system is hackable with very modest level equipment, and that the FAA and ADS-B knew of those security issues when they made their pitch to the FAA. The security of the system is of little concern when a case of Crony Capitalism sets in. What matters is that major Democratic bundlers benefit.

Skip Nelson is going to make millions, because Begich got the FAA to require his product. That is perhaps the most revealing proof of Skip Nelson's true political leanings.

A Republican in Spirit? 

While I could write far more on the crony activities concerning the ADS-B system related industry, but that isn't the purpose of today's entry. I don't begrudge an honest business man making an honest buck in the marketplace. Nor is it my point is to smear a Navy Veteran.  My point is to examine the claim that Robert C. "Skip" Nelson can be considered a Republican by any reasonable standard during his time in Alaska, or at least since 2000.

Let's put the facts together.
1) The man isn't a registered Republican, and appears to have not been in the past 14 years.

2) Nelson, along with another noted Democratic donor, sat on a Democratic Steering and Outreach
    Committee in 2011 for Mark Begich.

3) Nelson has donated to Mark Begich and raised money for him.

4) Mark Begich is so vested in this guy's future, that Begich arranged for Michael Huerta, the Acting Head of     the FAA to come to visit him in May 2014.

5) His fortunes have radically improved during the Obama Administration while other industries languish.

Outside of Nelson's statement that he has been a Republican and grew up playing with stuffed elephants, there is not enough evidence to convict him in a court of law of being a Republican if it was a crime. In contrast, there is enough evidence to convict this man of being a Democrat, or at least,  for Barack Obama and Mark Begich to identify this man as a Democrat.

Trans-Democraticism

I do not understand why Begich's folks try to hide they are Democrats, even to the point of claiming to be Republicans?  If Mark Begich has such strong Republican support, why does he keep trying to dress up Democrats to look and act like Republicans?  If they don't want to be a Democrat, they can switch parties. Why lie about who you are?

Who will be the next Trans-Democrat? Will Vic Fischer himself come out and attempt to claim he is a Republican supporting Mark Begich? No, it will have to be someone so obscure that their business is not in the Google search engine. Attempting to pawn off the man who gave the nomination speech in 2008 for Barack Obama as a Republican supporting Mark Begich is absurd. Dressing up someone on your steering committee for whom you have secured a market monopoly and has never been a registered Republican is equally absurd.

But like every other election in Alaska, Democrats like to disguise who they are and hope that they can trick Alaskans into believing they are "sort of" Republican through the election cycle. They then go back to their typical liberal ways.

Post Script: In all fairness to Mr. Nelson, I am including the bio he submitted during the Yute Air bankruptcy. I will leave it to others to do their due diligence.