Rep. Carpenter likens proposed Capitol COVID protocols to wearing the Star of David

In a bizarre response to an email to members of the Alaska House of Representatives, Representative Ben Carpenter (R – Nikiski) asked if COVID stickers could be “available as a yellow Star of David.” Jews were required to wear a Star of David in Nazi Germany. The email listed protocols that include legislators wear stickers in the Capitol that indicate they have been screened for COVID-19.

Legislators will be returning to Juneau on Monday to deal with a lawsuit about federal COVID aid. They need to pass a bill ratifying how the Legislative Budget and Audit (LB&A) Committee accepted the money.

The email that went to House members said:

Representatives and staff –

Please see the attached session safety protocols developed by LAA and reviewed by Dr. Anne Zink, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Joe McLaughlin, State Epidemiologist

Thanks,

Here are the proposed protocols:

Here is Carpenter’s response:

Since then several legislators have replied. Representatives Grier Hopkins (D – Fairbanks) and Andy Josephson (D – Anchorage), who are both Jewish, condemned Carpenter’s remarks. Representative Sarah Vance (R – Homer) came to Carpenter’s defense. Here are those emails:

One thing is for sure. It’s guaranteed to get very loose next week in the Capitol.

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turbodigits
3 years ago

Amazing. The PROPOSED protocol requires only staff & media to undergo screening. Legislators can refuse, and the only consequence is not receiving the sticker that lets other attendees know that the bearer doesn’t have any apparent symptoms of a deadly virus. That’s some jaw-dropping, chikensh1t sniveling from Carpenter, even more remarkable because he’s a retired military officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

cade
3 years ago

Both sides of this email exchange make me glad I don’t work in Juneau (or in politics). They each come across as strident hard to work with. Can’t fathom who would leak this thinking it makes their side look good.

Covid-19 blows
3 years ago
Reply to  cade

So that’s your takeaway from this exchange? Both sides are bad? What a moron.

Martin
3 years ago

. . . . . or signing a loyalty pledge, Sarah?

Lynn Willis
3 years ago

I never thought I would see my government be turned over to such self-centered, juvenile-minded narcissists with galloping martyr complexes as Carpenter and Vance. Sadly, they are not alone. How dare they compare these minimally invasive public health protections to treatment of the Jews and others by the Nazis? Are Carpenter and Vance being torn from family members then each subjected to selection on the ramp with one of them enslaved to be worked to death within months and the other murdered within an hour or two? The comment attributed to John Wayne pretty well sums up the situation with… Read more »

Sydney Kotic
3 years ago

How about a “M” tattooed on his forehead? It can either stand for MAGA or Moron.

S B
3 years ago

First: comparing this to a Star of David on your lapel is asinine and insensitive. Second: I’m no fan of Carpenter or Vance, for certain…however …
This is not Nazi Germany and we’re not talking about a religion here…we’re talking about a public health emergency, and as such:

1) Your employer CAN screen you each day upon arrival to assess your health (including taking your temperature) AND provide you with a sticker/etc indicating you’ve screened; and,

2) require it again tomorrow when you arrive; and,

3) this is NOT a *HIPAA* violation.

Jeff
3 years ago

Either the alaska legislature is anti-Semitic
or they sanction Rep. Carpenter for being anti-Semitic. This type of hate speech is not harmless and does not represent Alaska values.

Justin
3 years ago

And here I thought Mat-Su and Eagle River kept all the kool-ade for themselves…