Joe Tanner and the truth.

I like plain-spokenness in my political types... especially on the local level.

Say what you mean, mean what you say.  No parsing allowed... or required.  The common meaning of words... and words DO have meaning.

Joe Tanner is running to replace Tom Mielke.  Tom has my full support; he's a good man in a tough circumstance; as the only Republican on the commission, he's been on the wrong end of many votes... to be expected when you're in the political minority.

But Tom is not a hard guy to understand.  He takes plain-spokenness to a whole new level, a trait I try and emulate.  Like him or hate him, you know where he stands.  As the only voice for the people on the County Commission, or Ctran, or the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council, only one member has been demanding a vote on the CRC, only one member has tried to build in accountability.

That brings me back to Joe Tanner.

Joe is a nice guy.  We've had a dust up over language.  In this case, the language was a part of his biography on his campaign web site.  But I know he supports the CRC; I know he supports tolls and I know he opposes a county wide vote.

The downtown democrats won't allow any other position: Just ask bridge-opponent Jon Haugen.

Teeing this up:

I'm a veteran.  So is Joe Tanner.

I enlisted the day after I turned 17 back in 1972.  I fully expected to ship to Vietnam as an Armored Reconnaissance/Cavalry Scout... to discover that they weren't shipping 17 year olds in 72... so I was sent to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry in Germany.  Heard a few bullets fly, but those were "border mistakes..." never launched any myself.

Joe Tanner spent a long time off the coast of Vietnam on a cruiser (USS Providence).  He served well, did his job (Electronics) spent a very long time over there... 41 months and change.

What he is not, as I am not, is a Combat Veteran.

Our initial issue was his use of the phrase "As an active duty Vietnam veteran, Joe Tanner received numerous combat medals." on his campaign bio.

Tanner responded, at first to the newspaper, but then directly to me.

We chatted back and forth (Tanner's a nice guy, really) and arrived at compromise language:

"As an active duty Vietnam veteran, Joe Tanner received several meritorious medals and awards"

There is a difference, you see between being an "active duty Vietnam veteran" and an active duty COMBAT veteran.

So, having arrived at a suitable replacement on his bio, and having held face-to-face discussions, imagine my surprise when I reviewed Tanner's Voter's Pamphlet statement:

Joe Tanner

(Prefers Democrat Party)

It’s All About Jobs!

Joe Tanner is a longtime local small businessman, decorated Vietnam veteran, Eagle Scout, former State Senator, proud husband of 42 years, father, and grandfather.

Joe delivers results. In the legislature he fought for WSU-Vancouver, to eliminate sales tax on manufacturing, and built a strong bi-partisan reputation. As President of the Economic Development Council, Joe helped land thousands of new family wage jobs.

Put Joe back to work for you, fighting for good jobs, adding taxpayers rather than taxes, protecting private property rights, and enhancing our quality of life.

Joe welcomes your suggestions and appreciates your vote.

Words, of course, have meaning.   After all, as a Harvard grad, Mr. Tanner knows that.

And what Mr. Tanner is not is this:

Decorated.

I'm not decorated and I've got a dozen commendations., up to the Department of Defense Joint Service Commendation Medal. and the Expert Infantry Badge.  But then, the Army has always passed our medals at this level like samples.

In fact, here are Tanner's awards:

Viet Nam Service Metal (with 6 bronze stars)

Navy Unit Commendation

National Defense Service Medal

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal

Vietnam Campaign Medal

Every one of them is an "I was there" ribbon.

Being there is important.  But none of those awards listed were for any individual act or achievement.

Tom Mielke, on the other hand, has the Bronze Star with the "V" Device for Valor.

Many people tried their best to kill him.  He served, on the ground, with a brigade of the 82nd Airborne ("All Americans") seconded to the 101st Airborne, the "Screaming Eagles" of Band of Brother's fame.

He's paying the price for that service, even now.

Voter pamphlet statements are important.  Many people give little to no thought as to who they're voting for, relying heavily on the voter pamphlet statement and voting at the last minute.

Again, to utilize the phrase "decorated Vietnam veteran" when one has not BEEN decorated is at best, a gross exaggeration and at worst, an outright lie.

To me, this is not unlike Jon Russell's weaselly efforts to claim a non-existent College degree:  As it turns out, even that much was a lie; Russell was making a claim to an AA degree in Political Science: no such degree exists at Edison (Or anywhere else I can find.)

Russell maintains that he never said he actually had the degree. “I’ve always said I’ve earned my degree,” he told The Columbian. “I’ve never said I obtained my degree.”

Hardly qualifies under the "straight talk" rules.
 
Tanner's statement, then, is troubling to me for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I don't want to have to kill off brain cells to try and figure out what someone means.  And, in my elected officials, I'd like to think we're getting the truth; the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

And the truth here is, that, at a minimum, through nuance, Joe Tanner is trying to make himself into something he's not, and quite unnecessarily, I might add.

This race is about, or should be about, issues.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have met with Tanner twice and will be meeting with him again in a couple of days... maybe.

I have been trying, without success, to determine what he thinks Mielke has done that's so wrong that he needs to run against him.

Most candidates have no difficulty explaining that.  Tanner has yet to do so.

More to come.