I am an ungrateful bastard!

If it was Christmas day and I were eight years old again, and I had just gone downstairs to discover a real live pony standing next to the Christmas tree, wouldn't you think I would be happiest kid in the world?

And then if I were to open the next gift and it was the Red Ryder BB gun my mother had always refused to let me have how could I possibly ask for anything more?

But you know I also asked for just one more thing. And if I got those two amazing gifts already then surely it must be here someplace. It simply must.

But it isn't.

But I know it SHOULD be. I can feel the emptiness that it was supposed to occupy. The question of why it is not here keeps me from the joy that those first two amazing gifts should have brought me.

Ungrateful. That is the only word for it.

Having Barack Obama as my new President is one of the greatest feelings I have ever experienced. And having Mark Begich as my spanking new Senator totally rocks my world. But....

Where is that third and final gift? Where is my new Congressman? Where is Ethan Berkowitz? Why isn't he under the tree as well? And why do I feel he should be?

I can see all of the other Progressive kids (who actually received the very same gifts I did), running out to play and celebrate their good fortune. Their childish gleeful voices tickles my ears and I so want to join them.

But I can't. Not yet.

I want, and deserve, that joy as well which is why I am going to continue to ask for a recount of the votes from this election. I may be the last voice left in Alaska that is raised in protest, but that does not mean I will not stop shouting. I am a Liberal living in Alaska, do you imagine I don't know what it is like to be isolated?

Don Young is not my Congressman, because I do not trust the process that elected him. I just don't.

So I am going to be making some phone calls. The people on the other end of the line will probably tell me to go away, they may even hang up on me, but I will call back.

And when I get a hold of a sympathetic ear I am going to tell them that even if there is the smallest possibility that our election results are tainted that we owe it to ourselves, and to the rest of the country to put those questions to rest.

What would it harm? How could absolutely KNOWING that our election reflected the will of the people be a bad thing?

Is there a chance that it will cost Mark Begich his Senate seat? Hell no. And if it did then he has no business being our Senator anyhow. This is not about making sure my candidate gets elected, it is about making sure we can trust the process.

Minnesota is conducting its recount right now. Why can't we demonstrate the same integrity that they are showing? The world is watching Alaska right now, let us take this opportunity to impress them.

After three months of watching Sarah Palin make us look like morons, we have an obligation to show who we really are. So who are we really? Are we the type to just quietly accept these questionable results because we got something, so we shouldn't be rocking the boat? Or are we the type of American voter who wants to know convincingly that their vote was counted and that their elections are honest?

This is our right, this is our year, this is our responsibility. And we are not alone. There is plenty of help if only we are willing to ask for it. And if we find ANY problem then we can finally get those damned Diebold machines out of our state and never have to ask if our elections are honest again.

All we have to do is find our giant Alaskan balls and demand to know the truth.

Update: Phone calls made. Information gathered. The good news? Alaskans DO have balls. Stay tuned for further updates.