OPINION: Dunleavy was right to reject Jeremy Cubas. The governor also needs to fire whoever vetted him.

I recently found myself in the unfamiliar position of defending Gov. Mike Dunleavy. It was a short but wild ride. The issue at hand was Jeremy Cubas.

My friend was bemoaning the fact that because of resignations in Dave Bronson’s and Dunleavy’s administrations, there is hardly a political hack left in municipal government. Well, she wasn’t so much bemoaning the fact as she was horrified by the reasons for the resignations.

I personally feel that the governor needs to take a good look at the people who are supposed to vet his appointees. Find the one who let Cubas slip by and fire that person. Because this one was way too easy for anyone to miss.

It’s one thing to bemoan the number of people who have had to slip in and out of government due to their actions and words. It’s another to try and find out why they were allowed to reach such a high level of state or city government in the first place. Shouldn’t someone have noticed their racism, sexism or simple lack of any skill or education making them eligible for the job?

I worked in government long enough to know that the cream is not always what rises to the top. I also learned early on that no matter what an elected official says, if you really want to know what he or she thinks, check out the people surrounding them. These people are the ones the elected official has chosen to have around. This usually means that the elected official agrees with their viewpoints to some degree. So, no matter what the official says in a public statement, the truth about their beliefs can be found in the people they appoint.

But here’s the thing with the latest resignation — I honestly believe that Dunleavy is horrified by most, if not all, of Cubas’ beliefs. Dunleavy has made a pretty valiant attempt to work on the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. He doesn’t seem to have made any more progress in this than his predecessors, but at least he’s tried. Given that this is possibly the most intractable issue in this state, it’s not too much of a surprise that Dunleavy’s administration hasn’t been able to get any further on it than previous administrations.

So, while Cubas is a flaming embarrassment to Alaska — and all Alaskans who believe that divorce is not worse than rape and that being married doesn’t give you license to rape your spouse — I don’t think he in any way represented the governor’s views, public or private.

This, of course, brings me back to my original idea, which is that Dunleavy needs to fire whoever let that scum ooze under the door and make it into the governor’s office.

So just let me state once again, as bizarre as this may sound coming from me, Dunleavy has never said or done anything that would lead me to believe Cubas’ views in any way mirror his. I clearly disagree with the governor on many things, including the definition of pro-life. But when it comes to domestic violence and sexual assault, he has tried to make a difference.

As for Cubas and his statement that he is merely espousing the beliefs of our civilization for hundreds of generations, the word he is missing is “progress.” As society learns, it changes. It has learned that women do not deserve to be slapped or raped in their marriage bed; society has changed the rules so that men who do those things are held accountable. He speaks about Europe remaining European without the slightest knowledge of history and the evolution of European culture. Quite frankly, if Adolf Hitler was the acme of that culture, then I am among many, many women, children, Jews, LGBTQ+ people and Romani who are glad that cultural paradigm has changed.

As a woman, I find Cubas vile. I have a feeling I am not alone in that. As a human being, I am amazed that someone so limited in his actual knowledge of the subject would be so loud about it.

So goodbye to Cubas. And goodbye to the horrid, medieval, and hateful beliefs he espouses. The future is bright as long as he remains in the past.

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