The ongoing Boldt saga.

(Full disclosure: Marc Boldt is my brother-in-law and I was his Legislative Assistant for almost 6 years.)

Comments and editorials continue to come in from those who neither know... or care.... what's going on here.  As a Republican, what I know is this: both the democrat major daily and the democrats themselves are stepping up to defend Boldt:

Just the headline when a democrat has announced against Boldt, eh?

When those on the left sit down with their tub of popcorn and local microbrew to watch this debacle, I'm reminded of some 11+ years ago, when GOP officials, primarily from Seattle but here locally as well, cheerfully threw both myself and State Senator Don Benton under every passing bus, a program our local societal cancer fostered and cheerfully participated in with their rather interesting, typically biased and one-sided coverage.

The Columbian and their fellow leftists did everything they could to exploit the situation, giving it front page, sensationalist coverage... much like this nonsense.  They joined the chorus of outrage, claiming that Benton could not serve as party chair AND as state senator simultaneously.

That's a lie, of course.  Was then... and it is now, as various state GOP organizations are chaired by state senators today, and the world hasn't ended.

When reorganization rolled around that December of 2000, many of those who shot their mouth off suffered for it.  Locally, our state committeewoman (also a WSRP Executive Board Member), who was holding a grudge against Benton because he pounded her candidate in the '98 congressional primary, was subsequently (and rather unceremoniously, if memory serves) dumped in what was termed by one insider as "one of the most brilliant political coups he'd ever seen," as the result of a spontaneous effort by Sandy White.

Most of this took place without comment by the Columbian.  The ongoing effort by those on the Executive Board to get rid of Benton finally came to fruition with the subsequent (and utterly disastrous) tenure of political mercenary Chris Vance.

The parallels here with the current situation are obvious, save for the maliciousness of local state executive board members.  It became part of the standard to measure current coverage of this issue.

The newspaper and the various leftists rallying to Marc's support were part of the amen chorus who howled for Benton's scalp.  Which brings us to the reason for the differences.

In the past, this very newspaper, now acting like Boldt was sending them a check every week, had also howled for HIS scalp, back when he was a Republican.  One moron, the late, unlamented Tom Keonninger, demanded that Boldt resign because he'd successfully worked with Oregon Sen. Ted Ferrioli to whack the Gorge Commission's budget.

But that was back in the good old days, when Boldt was a Republican.

No longer.

NOW, BECAUSE Boldt is a democrat in Republican's clothing, these people are foaming at the mouth to exploit an internal matter, making Marc out to be some sort of victim of the local GOP.  Utter nonsense.

First of all, what the local GOP does or does not do with Marc Boldt is none of the paper's business.  This is an internal matter, period.

Where, for example, was the big bruhahah when the democrats got rid of their chair, Deana Horton, over her support of Tim Leavitt over democrat favorite Royce Pollard?

So, the local newspaper prints the lies of the democrats:

A Clark County Democrats official said Thursday the party does not sanction elected officials.

Odd... they failed to use the NAME of the "Clark County Democrats official," when of course, at the state level, the multiple sanctions of DEMOCRAT State Senator Tim Sheldon (D-Mason County) and at the national level, the multiple sanctions of now former democrat US Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) are of some legend.

And then, they pound the local GOP by furthering Boldt's victimhood with a moronic, lie and exaggeration-filled editorial... as if any of this were any of their business.

Next, the Hounds of Leftistville come out swinging, positively BABBLING over the local GOP's efforts on this matter... not caring that Boldt had long-since abandoned any pretense of the GOP principles that resulted in his elections... Boldt going so far as to admitting that he had not even bothered to read the GOP platform.

In all of this, you'll note that the GOP, unlike the newspaper who so rabidly supports him, has not called for Boldt's resignation.  What they demand is that Boldt "remember who brung him to the dance."

If Boldt wants to continue on as a commissioner until the end of this year and beyond, well, that's fine.

If Boldt wants to switch to the pro-abortion party, and run for re-election, well, I'm sure they'd love to have him... but he needs to check that pro-life thing of his at the door, along with his opposition to special rights for gays and gay marriage.

But if you're going to run as a Republican, the expectation is that you will VOTE like a Republican, and not be a democrat sellout.  The issues publicly addressed were... and are... just the tip of the iceberg.

Marc has chosen to abandon GOP principles for years.  Since the sanctions were applied, he has done essentially nothing, save finally voting the way he SHOULD have voted months earlier to kill that moronic ballpark scam.

He has done nothing to kill the CRC; nothing to kill the gerrymandered tax district where a small minority of voters are empowered to tax the majority through the political machinations of Boldt and others;he has done nothing to repeal that unconstitutional weapons confiscation ordinance; he has, and continues to block any effort at any countywide vote on the CRC

He has voted like and acted like a democrat.

And the newspaper and his fellow fringe-leftists act like HE is the victim when, in fact, WE are the ones HE has "victimized."

And the main irony in all of this is that the more the newspaper and their fellow leftists howl about this... the more it cements the fact that Boldt has long abandoned the GOP... making himself worthy of much more than sanctions.

The Executive Board changed nothing last night, leaving the sanctions in place.

And that was precisely the right thing to do.

For the reporter in the breaking story to claim she didn't know about this until, relatively speaking, 60 seconds after Madore announced against Boldt?

That is a flat out lie.  This blog and that of Lew Waters discussed it and mentioned it for quite some time.  I know for a fact that the newspaper reads this blog on a regular basis, typically a few times a day.  (Tracking software tells me that.)

When the Columbian and their fellow leftists continue to portray Boldt as a victim, it's because he is so faithfully working to implement their agenda.  No one should care what they say or write.  They can support whoever they like and vote for whoever they like... precisely like the CCRP can support whoever WE like.

I take no pleasure in opposing Boldt.  There was a time I'da taken a bullet for the man.

But no longer.  And now?

He begins to reap what he has sown.