Politically, how to stay on my island.

It's not hard, really.

First of all, before anything else, you have to believe in the will of the people.  Whatever that will may be, you job is to express that will, not to replace it.... not to ignore it... not to parse it.

If you, for example, know that your district is opposed to a gas tax increase, your only job is to do everything you can to oppose it.

If you, for example, are presented with a bill... any bill... that is designed to keep the people silent about the outcome of the bill... then no matter what the bill claims to do, your only job is to oppose it.

If you, for example, FORGET WHO VOTED YOU IN, like your intelligence, or your view of the world is somehow far superior to the people that put you there?

Then you should likely resign.

Like everything else in politics, there's a spectrum.  On the left end of the spectrum, the elected official believes his or her agenda is superior to that of those he or she would govern.

My favorite example is that of Steve Stuart, a former county commissioner who was bought off like a cheap suit to throw this county under the bus on the TriMet eminent domain scam.... his vote guaranteeing his a cush job continuing on in government since he knew he was committing political suicide by selling out the people of this county.

Now, of course, he has to make do with a six-figure job that was his payoff.

Here's Steve's take on governance and how worthless the will of the people actually is.



Indeed.

Stuart is not the only one who shares this view:  Most everyone on the CTran Board could care less what we want.

Jimmy "Molehill" Moeller is a great practitioner of the art.  Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, whose only accomplishment besides turning his liver into a specimen in a jar is to lie his way into office... is the poster child for all things despicable in the political realm.

This variety of arrogance extends to all levels of politics... from the scut level Leavitt and Stuart occupy to the White House.

Local democrats as a whole, for yet another example, could care less that as a group, the people of Clark County have repeatedly made it clear we do not want the CRC and that we certainly do not want light rail, in ANY way shape, manner or form... including the ubiquitous "light rail ready" bridge variety.

("Light rail ready" is just code speak for providing the left with yet another way to ignore the people and rape our wallets... to move their scam from "light rail ready" to "light rail operational.")

The irony of all of this is that the local left refuses to learn their lesson:  the incessant yammering of the democrats concerning the CRC... the latest from that simple idiot of a governor yesterday:

"Inslee, a proponent of the project to replace the Interstate 5 Bridge, does not hide his frustration that the project failed. 

Although it’s still a top priority, he said on Friday, 'the local community has not yet coalesced.'"

Is that the understatement of the year, or what?

This incessant whining about the CRC has resulted in the people of this county effectively crushing the left at the polls... like Chuckles Green is likely to be crushed.

So, from my perspective, I laugh out loud every time a leftist babbles about this idiocy.

But it goes to the point of the issue:  the left doesn't care what the people want... at any level... even when they're punished badly at the polls.

The proof of this is in the fact that even though they've been clobbered since 2012, not one local leftist has in any way modified their positions on anything as a result.

It's like the voters have been yelling at a brick wall.  No democrat running for anything around here will even come close to admitting they were wrong, or acknowledging the will of the people in this matter.

Outside the 49th, no democrat can get elected dog catcher as a result.

The only problem is that the GOP, who have been handed control of most all of SW Washington as a direct result of leftist intransigence, may have forgotten this lesson.

There are very few reasons why the people have handed over control of government to the GOP.

First and foremost is simple: the local GOP candidates have put on a facade that they are what the democrats are not: a responsive group that actually listens and actually responds to the sense of the will of the people.

As long as Republican electeds continue to be responsive to those they would govern, they will continue to be elected.

As the reasons to elected Republicans gradually shrink to the point of being vaporized,  so will GOP control.  So will GOP candidate's success.

As it is, this is the last term the GOP will maintain control over the Senate.

People will vote GOP as long as the GOP continues to listen.  The gas tax scam of the Senate tends to show that they have stopped.

And since they have acted precisely the same way the democrats would have had they remained in charge of the Senate, that means there's precisely zero reason to keep sending them back.

As a result... we won't.  And like the democrat's insistence on falling on their swords over the CRC, the GOP Senate's insistence on pulling the pin on a hand grenade and then swallowing it over the gas tax will begin to have the same result.

You want to stay on my island?

Then stop trying to out-democrat the democrats.  Because when you sell us out for the greater good or your superior vision or knowledge or intelligence?

You're not being any different than the other guys.  And if we wanted the other guys?

They'd be in office and YOU would be on the outside looking in.