Alaskans choose respect

  • Saturday, October 8, 2016 3:14pm
  • Opinion

Perhaps someone should send Donald Trump’s campaign the link to Alaska’s Choose Respect website.

Friday’s news that Trump was recorded making lewd comments about women should not come as a surprise given the candidate’s well-documented attitude toward women and his propensity for putting himself in front of cameras and microphones. Indeed, the biggest surprise may be that the recording didn’t surface sooner.

Late Friday, Trump’s campaign posted a video apology from the candidate for the comments. We’ll leave it to our readers to judge the sincerity of the apology, but we’ll also note that Trump is not the only person on the campaign trail with a problematic history with women — former President Bill Clinton’s past also is well documented.

In his apology, Trump said, “This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we’re facing today.”

On that point, we vehemently disagree. Here in Alaska, domestic violence and sexual assault are some of the toughest issues we face. Claiming to have groped women and gotten away with it because of who he is paints a vivid picture of the problem.

Alaska’s domestic violence and sexual assault statistics also have been well documented. At least 52 percent of women living on the Kenai Peninsula have or will experience domestic violence, according to the 2013 Alaska Victimization Study conducted by the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center and the state Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

We encourage our readers to use Trump’s comments as an opportunity to start a discussion on how we treat others. It’s especially crucial to have this discussion with our children, because dismissing that type of behavior as a distraction in essence condones it. We need to set a better example than that.

There are resources available online to help you start the conversation. Try the Alaska Department of Public Safety website at http://www.dps.state.ak.us/cdvsa/Prevention-Choose-Respect.html; http://www.alaskamenchooserespect.org has good information as well.

We have a month left to make a choice of who will become the next president of the United States, a decision that, for many voters, is proving difficult.

But there is an obvious and important choice we can all make in our everyday lives: choose respect.

More in Opinion

LaDawn Druce asks Sen. Jesse Bjorkman a question during a town hall event on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Addressing Kenai Peninsula’s education and public safety employee shortage

Many of our best and brightest educators take a hard and close look at the teacher’s retirement system in Alaska early in their careers and are stunned

Deven Mitchell, executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Providing for generations of Alaskans

As a public endowment, the wealth of the Fund is the responsibility of every resident of the state

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney greet each other outside the chamber at the U.S. Capitol on April 5, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP file photo)
Opinion: Alaska’s senators and Mitt Romney

When newly elected Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, began his term five years… Continue reading

A line of voters runs out the door of the Diamond Ridge Voting Precinct at the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. Chamber Executive Director Brad Anderson said he had never seen the amount of people coming through the polling place. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
How many ways can you vote?

Multiple ballot options available to voters

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building.
Opinion: UAA offers affordable and convenient pathways that prepare students for the next step

At UAA, we provide numerous academic programs designed to meet specific workforce needs

scales of justice (File photo)
Opinion: The Dubious Dunleavy Deal to use public dollars for personal legal costs

In 2019, these regulation changes were ultimately abandoned without public notice

A 2022 voter information pamphlet rests on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Where to find voter pamphlets

Be educated about what you are voting on

Trustees and staff discuss management and investment of the Alaska Permanent Fund. (Courtesy Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation)
Providing Alaska-based opportunities for professional talent

Expanding our in-state presence by opening a satellite office in Anchorage has been part of the fund’s strategic plan for the past four years

Ben Carson (center) visits Iditarod Elementary School in Wasilla with Gov. Mike Dunleavy (to Carson’s right) on Tuesday. (Official photo from the Office of the Governor)
Opinion: Embarrassing Alaska through neglectful governance

When Gov. Mike Dunleavy learned Dr. Ben Carson would be speaking in… Continue reading

Flowers bloom at Soldotna City Hall on Wednesday, June 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Municipal government? What are their responsibilities?

Municipal governments (boroughs and cities) are similar to state and federal governments

A voting booth for the Kenai Peninsula Borough and City of Homer elections at Cowles Council Chambers on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Charlie Menke/ Homer News)
Voices of the Peninsula: Will you vote?

Kenai Peninsula Votes is asking the reader if you have a plan for how you will vote