So, a post in the Reflector as a result of my Pike endorsement... and my reply.

I certainly endorse Liz Pike for county chair and I certainly oppose my brother-in-law's candidacy for that same position.

Under my letter on the Reflector web site, a poster (Steven L, whoever that might be) posts thus:

Mr. Hinton, you mention in you LTTE that your brother-in-law would be beholding to special interest groups. So, how do you feel about one person, a sitting council member, putting $292,000.00 dollars into Ms. Pike's election bid? To most people that is an obscene amount of money for a County Council seat. You might not see that some of us might think Ms. Pike's special interest group would be sitting right next to her if she is elected.

Fair question and quite inevitable, given the demonization of Madore and others.

Does anyone believe for one second that any of these same people would be asking this question if Madore supported leftists?

Of course not.

Here is my response, unaltered and pending review by the paper for release.

How do I feel?

I'm fine with it. Why?

Oh, I get it. Those opposed to the write-in effort because it might cost a democrat this position of county chair want to deflect from Boldt's horrendous record as a commissioner, one that saw him voted out of office and one that he refuses to disavow...

You know, where he lied to me about holding a CRC vote, where he raised our taxes for 6 straight years, where he rabidly support the CRC, light rail, tolls and all and where he voted to confiscate our guns in the event of a county or state-declared emergency among other things.

So, you indict Pike with the idea that she will do whatever Madore wants, whenever he wants it. Kind of like Boldt’s record when he was a commissioner supporting the special interests who were SO opposed to the will of the people of this county… dancing to the democrat's/downtown mafia's tune.

But your sort said much the same thing about the influence of money in another recent campaign... who was that.... oh yeah: Jeanne Stewart. And how has that worked out?

And naturally, when Tom Steyer, a California billionaire dumps his additional millions in here to buy Inslee's re-election along with more democrats in the legislature (What was it? $3 million last year?) your sort will be out there demanding that he take HIS money out of OUR elections.

Right?

Fat chance.

Unlike Boldt, who clearly does what he's told, both Stewart AND Pike have minds of their own and will actually represent the people of, in Stewart's situation, their district and in Pike's case, this county. While charged with much the same allegation during her campaign for the council, Stewart is hardly under the "control" of Madore... but your ilk ignores that outcome because it doesn't fit the meme.

And outcomes are the thing. Boldt's record and reasoning hasn't changed. He doesn't want to be held accountable to either side so he can do what he wants regardless of what we want. That's how he governed before and that's how he'll govern again, unfettered by any responsibility to the people if he gets the gig.

And with Boldt, history suggests a completely different outcome from what the people of this county expect, one that has to do with his Stuart-like position of speaking for Marc and never speaking for the people of this County.

Meanwhile, you ALLEGE that Madore will control Pike but have zero proof. I convict Boldt of being controlled by those who want to run our lives through him and offer a great deal of proof to support that.

In this case, the "special interest" you seem to be most concerned about, given Boldt's commissioner record, is that of the people of this county who are not particularly interested in a replay of his 8 years of ignoring us when he had the chance to listen. And given their respective histories, it's a chance I'm willing to take.

Thanks for asking.

The link goes to the YouTube video where Stuart, on his way out, acknowledges the truth... which is that he could care less what the people of this county think.

This is the thing, you see.

With Boldt supporters or Pike opponents, it's never about history or record.

It's always about money.

Money isn't everything and there's a variety of ways to influence that have nothing to do with cash.

And that is what Marc is most susceptible to.  And that is just one of the many problems I have with him and one of the many reasons I don't want him elected to dog catcher.

Later on today, Steven L responded my post:

Thanks for the reply Mr. Hinton.

Responding to me that another obscene amount of money that was donated to a Dem Governor somehow makes an obscene amount of money donated to a Republican okay is odd. That you think spending $292,000.00 by one person on a locally held county office is okay and shouldn't cause any questions is frankly laughable.

I replied to that, but forgot to paste it here, so I took another shot at it.

My last response to Steven L might have gotten lost somehow, so let me try this again. 

I appreciate your position, Steven. You oppose Liz Pike as is your privilege But the fact is that in your response, you ignored everything I wrote and stuck with your dogged attack on David Madore as if he is a reason not to mark our ballots with a write-in for Pike. 

I get that there's a double standard here: you hold one party accountable while casting a blind eye to your own side of the political spectrum. But the fact of the matter is that a careful review of what I wrote in no way says "questions shouldn't be asked" and I have to wonder why you assert I wrote such a thing. 

You asked the question. I answered it. I'll answer anyone's relevant questions to defend my position here. Even yours. 

I merely pointed out that your ilk said the same thing about Jeanne Stewart. That has been proven to be flat wrong, but you fail to acknowledge that reality because it doesn't fit the left's meme. If you were to admit that Madore has no more influence over Stewart, also heavily supported against Pridemore, than my spaniels, your position would have no more relevance to this issue than the Duck loss to the Cougs. 

In arriving at my position, I try to keep emotion out of it and rely entirely on reality. The reality is that I offer proofs that support my position that Boldt should not be elected to any position based on the 8 years he was a commissioner. Many would ask us to ignore his political history: I find that impossible to do since his tenure this time would be a replay of his abysmal tenure last time. 

That is a record, a fact set if you will. 

Your response is to cling to the "Madore owns everything he touches" meme of the left and insist that what MIGHT happen, since you can offer no proof it ever HAS happened, is a reason to vote for one of the two democrats on the ballot. 

I'm sorry I can't share that view. 

The reality is that Madore supports a great many conservative causes and candidates, but you on the left have yet to prove one single instance of "ownership" from those he's supported. 

That doesn't stop you from spouting this sort of thing, because the LAST thing you want to do is talk issues, since in this right-leaning county, you, Boldt and that other guy know that on issues... 

... you lose. 

So, feel free to keep hammering away at the amount of money being spent while you continue to ignore your side of the spectrum that does the same thing... many, many times over. 

There's a word for that which begins with the letter H. I can't quite place it, but you get the drift.

Actually, the word came to me while I was posting this:

Hypocrite.

But then, I'm sure he knew that.