Blogger Matt Buxton did a good job capturing the bizarre press conference Gov. Mike Dunleavy gave last week. The news stories that treated this event like a normal presentation did not convey just how weird and disjointed it was.

The press conference, unlike the news stories that presented a few topics as if they were dealt with in a rational way, was as random as the spinning images on a slot machine. This was Dunleavy unplugged.

Here is Buxton’s report on the press conference and his attempt to provide context to a gathering that lacked focus and an orderly set of ideas about leading the state.

“It was nearly an hour of what could be charitably described as a gripe fest, filled with rambling, often incoherent diatribes that seem to suggest the governor is consuming an unsettling amount of conspiracy theories,” Buxton wrote.

Alaska political observer Pat Race assembled the video collage below. One viewer of these excerpts responded, “He sounds like michael scott trying to give an inspirational speech.”

The quotes, some of them of considerable length, give the flavor of the day in about five minutes.

If you want the full experience, here is the entire event.

One thing Buxton explained well is how Dunleavy’s executive orders are linked to the governor’s desire to give himself more power.

“The Dunleavy administration has been generally mum about an expansive use of executive orders at the start of this session—a flurry of orders that accounts for 10% of all executive orders since statehood—other than to give bland answers about streamlining efficiencies. Asked about them and how, specifically, the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board would be improved by a board that answers only to him rather than having input from the Speaker of the House and Senate President, Dunleavy conceded it’s about consolidating power and silencing dissenters,” Buxton wrote,

“If they're at odds with the DOT Commissioner or the executive, if they want to go one direction or another we may not be able to fix the problems with the Marine Highway system. That's the answer,” he said, adding, “The framers of the constitution wanted a very strong executive, and in many cases for that reason. They wanted decisions made and things executed. I believe if they were awake today, they were with us today. They would be somewhat shocked at the lack of problems that have been solved in this state over the decades."

“Are there some people who aren't going to like it,” he added. “There are some people who aren't going to like paying teachers more.”