Election Day is here, and “all my trials soon be over”. I have suggested to a few people that everyone should run for Congress (or other political office) at least once in their life. I have no idea how many votes I'll get, but I get good vibrations here in Juneau, even though many who offer smiles and encouragement will vote for Diane Benson. (Even Diane thanked me for running and highlighting important issues, and I appreciate it.)

Regrettably, I have had to "block" one of my most prolific critics. I explained it to him in the following email:

"One of the functions of my blog is a campaign website. It is listed in the election pamphlet and elsewhere as such. It seems self-evident to me that any candidate who allowed his website to be used for purely personal attacks on himself - or anyone - does not take himself seriously, at the least, and is probably mentally unstable to boot. Why don't you criticize the contents of the blog?
"I appreciate your concern for my health, and I do the best with what I got, but isn't one of the great merits of the internet that anyone can get on his soapbox and air his opinions? You don't have to like them; you don't even have to read them,"

Perhaps Ted will use his energy to go after Young or Stevens in two years. (And, Ted, surely a man of your years and experience must know that he who laughs last, laughs best. I may be in my grave when the day of reckoning comes, but come it will.)

Below is a message I sent to the political newsletter “counterpunch”.

In doing research for a blog article on "John Negroponte and the Kiss of Death", relating to his recent visit to Baghdad, I have tried to uncover (so far without success) his hand in the coup that overthrew the first democratically elected government in Fiji, in 1987.

I recall from the time that Negroponte had been relieved of his death squad activity in Honduras and Nicaragua in order to "help" the U.S. Embassy in Fiji in the days between the election, for the first time, of the Fiji Labour Party, and the coup. The Wikipedia article on the coup says that although some have suggested a U.S. hand in it, the theory "has little support among educated commentators".

I felt at the time and remain convinced that the mere presence of Negroponte provided a huge enough fingerprint to convict the Reagan administration of this anti-democratic exercise in regime change. But then, I didn't go to Yale, so I guess I'm not educated.

The issue is timely not only for how it relates to the Maliki government in Iraq, but because Fijians, in particular the Indian population, continue to suffer from the effects of the 1987 coup, up to and including the current constitutional crisis. (The Bush administration now hypocritically warns against a military coup.)

May I suggest that you use your superior resources to investigate and analyze the Negroponte connection and disclose it to a wider reading public. I would also appreciate any links or references to assist my research.
Thanks.

Bill Ratigan