Anger towards our government.

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I have been told many times, with some accuracy, that I write out of rage.

And that’s a charge to which I plead guilty.

Although I spent a long time past a decade in the military, this former soldier has lost faith in government at every level.

As a political science/government graduate, I am well aware that we are not a direct democracy… that we are a Republic… and I get that.

But what does that mean in real terms for us today?

Does that mean we are possessed of a government that can supplant what they know to be the
will of the people at a whim, because they view their judgment to be superior?

At the federal level, the biggest, most recent example was the mind-numbingly horrific Obama care.

At the state level, the most recent example is the legislative effort to memorialize the democrat lie that as soon as the stadiums in Seattle are all paid off, the taxes that bought them would be reduced.

At the county level, the lies about the CRC, the bridge and loot rail continue unabated, aided and abetted by a paper that has long since given up any pretense of fairness or objectivity, instead frequently using their platform to injure those wise enough to oppose them.

At the city level, the flip-flopping mayor strives to silence the opposition to his perfidy.

Where did government get the right to ignore us?

How is it that we were allowed to vote on loot rail before, but now, all of a sudden, we’re not getting asked, and we have no say?

What’s up with that?

Our politicians lie to get elected, like Tim “The Liar” Leavitt and Ridgefield Barbie.

How are we supposed to respond to that kind of abuse?

Many of those engaging in that abuse demand civility from those fighting them, as if polite words and niceties will somehow overshadow the crimes they’re committing against us.

We’re told that, well, if we don’t like what they’re doing, we can always vote them out.

But that variety of platitude is nonsense.

As we strive to remove from office the thugs ramming this bridge and loot rail down our throats without a vote, could someone explain to me how, for example, we can “unbuild” this massive waste?

Or when the proponents lie about costs, impacts, necessity, results… how we can hold them personally responsible for their actions and jail or sue them for the hidden costs that they, naturally, don’t care about… since it isn’t their money?

Few of us can actively oppose these people who answer to no one and who simply believe their view is both superior to ours… and worthy of ramming down our collective throats without our say… in the case of the bridge/loot rail project, sucking our money out of our wallets indefinitely… long past my death.

David Madore can… and is. As a result, he is treated the way all of us should be treated. But he is treated that way only because of the growing fear that those who support this massive waste of billions might just have to face his wrath next November and the Novembers to come… and Madore comes equipped, relatively speaking, with a checkbook the size of Rhode Island.

But our elected officials have even called Madore names (“Crackpot” not the least among them…) and one has to wonder: who do these people actually believe they are that they can treat us this way?

We are, locally, told that the CRC wants to hear from us. But in reality, they only want to hear our opinions about the silverware patterns they’re discussing on their Titanic. The fact is, they want the illusion of public involvement while they do everything they can to eliminate any meaningful impact of that involvement… to include mighty efforts to even take away the one gerrymandered vote they were going to allow in Clark County.

Government at every level holds us, their employers, in utter contempt.

They ignore is when it suits them. They intend to make us pay and pay and pay. Public employees get benefits those of us who pay them can only dream of… and horrifically high pay raises when they SHOULD be lucky to have a job at ANY wage, let along pay nothing for their health care and get massive raises.

Yes… this kind of abuse enrages me. These kinds of lies and exaggerations by those who are supposed to be looking out for us causes my blood pressure to hit 4 numbers. Those, for example, demanding we build this unneeded, unwanted and horrifically expensive bridge/loot rail project with life-time tolls who WILL NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR IT, should volunteer to pay the daily toll as if they WERE using it.

So, when tolls hit $7 per day, for example, these clowns who do not have to pay for this thing, should be required to send in a monthly check equal to the number of business days in the month as if they WERE going to have to pay for it.

Because if, all of a sudden, they had to use THEIR money like they’re demanding to use OURS, maybe they wouldn’t be quite so eager to stick it to us.

The end result?

Rage. Anger. Disbelief.

I write this blog in part as a therapeutic exercise to relieve the pressure close examination of this corrupt, corruptive and corrupting government system that we have to live with causes.

(Just one quick example: many of those in our legislature are employed by the state in some capacity or another. You would think that ethics laws would prohibit those with conflicts of interest… such as voting on their own pay raises… would be required to recues themselves and vote “present” or something. You’d think that. And you’d be wrong.)

So, I am told that how I write this blog reduces it’s impact.

Maybe, but how can writing in niceties and glittering generalities increase it’s impact? There’s a number of blogs out there that make nice. Can the reader name them?

As far as impact is concerned, here’s a partial list of my readership, based on the tracking software I use:

Sound Transit, US House of Representatives, US Senate, The Columbian (In fact, it says they spent 3 hours and 22 minutes at my main site… today) , The University of Central Arkansas, Bonneville Power Administration, C-Tran, City of Vancouver, Umpqua Bank, HQ USAISC, Apple, State of New Hampshire Health and Human Services, Clark County Government, Lockhead Martin, DePaul, Amazon.com, State of Delaware, The George Washington University, California Association of Hospitals and Healthsystems, FOX Entertainment Group, State of Washington-Legislative Service Center, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Canadian Department of Education and many others back through March 3.

These people and bots, aimed at my site, are not unusual comparatively speaking for the past 6 years or so. Some are first time visitors. Others, like the House of Representatives, show 38 returning visits. Bonneville Power… 138 Returning Visits.

The Columbian, who, if they are to be believed, loath my meager effort here… shows 719 Returning visits.

Odd, that. They hate me but it seems they can’t stay away from my blog. One ponders why.

So, yes. I admit it. When I write I am usually angry, usually fired up and frequently broke, having just sent in another quarterly IRS check or B&O tax check, or having just read how government, once again, is going to ignore the will of the people they would govern and bury us in debt at the local level… because their judgment is oh, so superior than those they would govern.

Just like Hitler’s, Stalin’s and Mao’s.

After all, what do we know? We just pay the bills.

So, I’m furious, and using my pre-earned First Amendment rights, I strike out to have an impact, to make a difference, to get these people to pay attention.

Like they pay attention to David Madore. David is an excellent speaker and writer. He is, in my estimation, a genuinely nice man who does not yet understand that politics is, in fact, the equivalent of combat. In short, "nice" doesn't cut it, and he has around 200,000 casualties, called "dollars," because of a lack of direction and focus to show for it, but little else.

And if I had his check book and I knew they were listening to me, I'd probably write much more like he does. But I don't.

So, yeah... I'm angry and hold those doing this to us in utter contempt... returning the favor as they do the same for us. For me, the real question isn't really why am I so angry...

The real question is.... why aren't you?
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