Tough choices for governor in Washington.

I’ve mostly been silent about this election cycle, which is definitely unusual for me. It’s difficult to explain, exactly… or even inexactly.

But there is no doubt the cringe-factor has played a role. I’ve spent the better part of the last 40 years observing, involved in, analyzing, advising and consulting in primarily local politics. The wear and tear on me has been horrific and now, as I approach my 69^th birthday, I find the once roaring fire that drove me to have been reduced to the size of a single ember, little more than a spark.

Over time in a river, even the sharpest stone is typically worn down to a pebble.

Real life combined with medical issues and stress finally did the deed.

And situations like those confronting us now have also played a role, combined with the cynicism resulting from candidates claiming to be one thing, only to become something completely different once sworn in.

The culmination of these experiences where those false promises are clearly bereft of accountability in a state where the Supreme Court has ruled that lying as a part of any campaign by either public agency (Sound Transit) private organization (the Drug Policy Alliance) and individual candidates, among them Sen. Ann Rivers (R?-18) and former Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, are perfectly legal has led to a certain level of “why bother?”

Which brings us to the question of which GOP candidate, if any, will advance to the general election this November.

I say “if any” because the misguided efforts by both parties to force party registration (which I strongly opposed and made every effort to stop while I was the state GOP’s Executive Director) led to our top-two primary system where regardless of party, the top two vote-getters move to the general, which has led to a great many democrat-only general elections and to a lesser extent in this dark blue state, the odd Republican-only general elections.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of the Washington State Grange, we’ve so far managed to avoid the cancer of party identification, save for going through the motions of the lightly-voted presidential primary (35.26% of registered voters earlier this year) where if you participate at all, you have to write your party allegiance on your ballot envelope.

I, personally, am known as a 4 of 4 voter. This is based on my participation in the last 4 elections, regardless of politics or school levy or bond or what have you, or any other balloted election. 4 of 4’s can be counted on to vote. And that’s a very valuable commodity.

Except this last time. The requirement of party identification on the envelope, which I steadfastly oppose, made that impossible for me so I skipped it. And I will skip it again in 2028 due to the party identification issue as well as the reality that the left could run a brick for president in this state like they did in 2020 and they’d vote for it and the leftist federal candidate would win the electoral votes here.

Democrats are rerunning a president too dementia-addled to stand trial for his theft of documents as a Senator and Vice President and subsequently the storage of some of those documents in cardboard boxes in a garage, while somehow simultaneously remaining sharp enough to be president.

That is obviously either an indictment of the position of the Presidency of the United States, as in any simple-minded idiot can actually perform that role… OR, it’s an indictment of our justice system because the democrat-controlled Department of Justice just sees this as yet another instance of the weaponized double-standard where Biden’s political opponents face a level of accountability they otherwise wouldn’t experience… while he avoids ANY accountability outside a ballot box.

In short, like the Washington State rule on lying, if your side is in power, it’s perfectly OK to lie your collective ass off as long as you can win.

There is also, I believe, a substantial overlap between the state and federal elections confronting us and frankly, I find the whole thing to be exhausting.

The microcosm of our state gubernatorial primary election is a reflection of the choices confronting the entirety of the American people at the federal level.

I’ve seen, up close and personal, voters make decisions to oppose someone not because of what they have done or will do, but because they don’t “like” them. And that’s a major part of the problem confronting us today. It’s a complete abrogation of responsibility. Arrive at an outcome of the “like” test, and you no longer need to do the work. You don’t have to pay attention. You don’t have to understand what’s going on and who bears responsibility for this horrific state of affairs.

The “like” test supersedes all of that, “end of discussion.”

Of course, that’s how some historical figures in the past who were very, very bad actors came to power.

Vision doesn’t matter. Ability doesn’t matter. Record doesn’t matter. The reality of past=prologue doesn’t matter. For far too many, the only thing that matters is if the voter “likes” them.

It’s not surprising, really. We’re a feelings-based society that typically ignores reality, driven instead by manipulation and social media combined with fictional advertising. So why not vote for a guy bent on this country’s destruction because you dislike the other guy; even though America was better off in every imaginable way during his term, considering the impacts of covid?  For many voters, the destruction a candidate has caused, destruction they see with their own eyes and the blood he has spilled and which is dripping off his hands means nothing.

The vote this November will be driven by hate. And the unreasoned, never ending hatred of a candidate and, for that matter, a religion; frequently by the SAME PEOPLE, is on full display here.

One is dementia-addled and brain damaged idiot with a worthless, incompetent, ignorant toad as a VP, a heartbeat from the absolutely unimaginable horror of taking over for Racist Joe. He has done more damage to this country in his almost four years than Obama did in his eight. It will take decades to repair every aspect of our lives that’s been infected by their cancer.

The other did mean tweets and drove leftists insane which, to be sure, isn’t that far of a trip.

Here at the state level, there are two main candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the general. One is a former member of Congress and a former King County Sheriff. The other is a former Special Forces soldier.

One has a voting record in Congress frequently more in keeping with the Congressional Democrat Caucus than with the GOP. The other is being chastised for wearing awards and qualification badges on his uniform that he is not entitled to, and claiming to have done things he didn't do.

The former soldier was endorsed by the State GOP. The former Congressman threw a hissy fit over losing out, which from the 10,000 foot level certainly qualified him for losing what little chance he had for that party endorsement.

Here is my professional opinion of the outcome.

The GOP candidate in the general will be the former Congressman.

When the GOP-endorsed candidate gets clobbered in the primary, two things will happen.  First, the GOP base will stay home in droves for the general. There will be zero ways to incentivize the base to throw their support behind a candidate who, along with his surrogates, never misses the opportunity to belittle the soldier’s supporters... and who, all while the non-endorsed candidate, when he was in Congress, on the surface at least, has a voting record in office that would make Patty Murray smile.

Think in terms of Jaime Herrera voting to impeach Donald Trump in that totally unconstitutional congressional kangaroo impeachment court… or Liz Cheney/Adam Kinzinger's democrat efforts on the Jan 6 Committee.

But the exact, same, thing would happen if the Soldier won. The leftist Republicans would refuse to vote for him, making the outcome inevitable and a replay of the Culp campaign 4 years ago.

Second, by committing political hara-kiri, the state party will have been reduced to the political laughing stock of the PNW.

Far too often, even those actively engaged in the political realm fall victim to the “is he like me” syndrome instead of the “can he win” syndrome.

That’s what happened here.

Conservatives are frequently unable to separate the two because a major part of conservatism all-too-frequently involves feelings instead of political reality.

That is not to say that conservatives are wrong in their thinking as to what is the best course of action of those available. But that IS to say that frequently, conservatives as a group forget that they make up, perhaps, 30% of the electorate. And in this state? Likely even less.

But the political choices to date for the GOP in this state appear to be between fringe-left Republicans which results in the conservative base staying home, or conservative Republicans which result in the independents and fringe-left GOP’ers staying home; or, as they did in the WA03 Congressional allowing their fringe-left hatred of conservatives to shine through by actively supporting an antifa-leftist in the Congressional race.

Democrats, for their part, are just as guilty. For example, they’ll run a fringe-left, downtown-Seattle democrat in the most rural of legislative districts that have been GOP for decades. Not because that candidate has even a remote chance of winning but because they will support no other, which leads to their inevitable defeat n those districts.

This state is a deep, dark, blue. There’s no denying it. And after the general in November is over; it will, if anything, be even a deeper and darker blue. Because as badly as things are going in this state, democrats dominate and have party discipline the GOP can’t even dream about.

To be successful, we’ve got to take baby steps. And as Culp proved 4 years ago, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome IS a definition of insanity.

In all of this, we can see the symptoms. No one realistically believed Reichert could win statewide. The Establishment hacks that put him up to it are the same hacks that supported the democrat over the Republican in the 3^rd Congressional District 2 years ago and spent millions to torpedo him, which they did successfully.

The GOP establishment would rather have a democrat win than a conservative Republican.

Sadly, my professional opinion in all of this is that absent some major October Surprise, this election is already over. And my professional opinion is not the result of any bias for or against anyone. It is my assessment of politics in this state.

Were I wrong in this assessment, leftists would be rioting against their city governments. Seattle has turned into a sewer. Tacoma may even be worse. Most every city of any size in this state, including Vancouver, refuses to act to end crime, homelessness, drugs and everything that goes with it. And the majority of these cities continuing to foster these outcomes all have the commonality of leftist dominance in city government.

Even Lynnwood has city council members involved in drag queens for 2 year olds. Grooming is obvious and open. And who’s doing anything about it?

ANGER is required to replace incumbents or titular incumbents.  And it’s just not there at the state level. It SHOULD be. But it isn’t.

And as a result, the winner in this state will not be a Republican.

Ten years ago today, the then GOP-controlled Senate sank the CRC scam... back when Rivers was an actual Republican.

It was 10 years ago today, when Ann Rivers (Now not only a senator, but enjoying her CRC scam payoff as Assistant City Manager of Longview in ADDITION to being a state senator so she can double dip AND bring home the bacon for her REAL employer) actually was a Republican, that the GOP Caucus in the state Senate ended the CRC Scam 21 YES to 26 NO.

It was a tremendous rush to have seen this victory secured for the people of Southwest Washington as the billion-dollar Light Rail Project masquerading as an unneeded, unwanted and unaffordable bridge replacement project... when every sentient being in Washington and Oregon knows, as the Oregon Supreme Court ruled, that the entire purpose for this project was to ram loot rail down the throats of people who have repeatedly voted against it... went down to defeat.

It was a tough, tough slog. The Democratian was rabidly in favor of this scam (Of course, it's always easy to be in favor of something that YOU won't have to pay for in taxes and./or tolls to use) and they would RABIDLY attack anyone opposed to this insanity (One does recall Brancaccio's Pit Yorkie, John Laird, referring to those of us opposed to this theft as "cockroaches," doesn't one?) and would repeatedly lie about the project's impacts and the utterly fake efforts for the CRC Scammers to get "public input" which, as it turned out there were, by policy, then going to ignore.

For years, Brancaccio made it his mission to lead the charge to destroy those smart enough to see this rip off for what it was, including yours truly. He'd use his fantasy columns to attack those who could not fight back for the most part. It became the typical litmus test for political support (or at least, acceptance) Light Rail Lou, with the usual exception of, you guessed it, Rivers.

His utter hatred and contempt for David Madore was on display for all to see, and it was the lede in literally dozens of his published screeds, week in and week out.

Any political figure could lie their collective ass off about the CRC scam in support of that insanity, and Lefty had no problem with it.

However, lie to get elected by claiming you opposed tolls and then magically CHANGE your position to SUPPORTING tolls AFTER you were elected? And Lefty didn't bat an eyelid. Right, Tim Leavitt?

Even in the end, when Lefty was forced to acknowledge that we'd been lied to and played by the low-life's pushing this horrific waste of money that they people opposed, it made no difference, and lies or no, that nimriod STILL wanted us to support this insanity.

"There have been so many missteps on this Columbia River Crossing project that if it was entered on "Dancing With The Stars," it would be voted off before Mike Tyson. It's just mess after mess. The tomfoolery is epic. Even its most ardent supporters would agree with this. For me, I hold my nose and close my eyes, and say we should move forward."

And local politicians who decided to become useful tools on an utterly worthless advisory committee... and then expressed amazement that having been figureheads, their "concerns" were dismissed. Why that was not right, or unfair or something when, oddly, anyone paying attention knew from the get KNEW they were merely figureheads getting played, and the importance of what they felt or wanted or believed was right up there with what my Spaniel felt or wanted or believed by the CRC Mafia.

In short, of zero importance.

How come *I* knew it from the start, but they didn't?

Because the sold us out for nothing. They DID know, and the "surprise" they showed was merely political cover. Why, they were as "shocked" as could be.

Bull.

And here’s the list of those who sold us out, which included Marko Liias, the legislative Dr. Mengele behind the Child Mutilation/Parental Removal bill, SB5599

Cleveland, Annette (D)
Fey, Jake (D)
Harris, Paul (R)
Liias, Marko (D)
Orcutt, Ed (R)
Rivers, Ann (R)
Wilson, Lynda (R)
Wylie, Sharon (D)

The question is, will it matter?

Everyone on this list who was a part of this insanity will be reelected in 2024 should they choose to run, and if their office is up.

In the 49th, Cleveland and Wylie won’t even have to lie about it. The 49th is so much Charlie’s Country that the left could run bricks with “D’s” after their names and they’d get elected. Just look at who they HAVE run. And yes, both Cleveland and Wylie voted for the Child Butchery Bill.

Those from Seattle don't care: they don't care about butchering our children, so why should they care about this?

Who knows if Wilson or Rivers, (who both also voted to screw us on our property taxes with their fantastical support of the McLeary Budget rip-off) or Harris and Orcutt will ever be held accountable for their stupidity?

I'm sorry it turned out this way. I'm sorry these scum ganged up on us to cost us hundreds of millions up front and then hundreds of millions in never-ending, always increasing tolls. I'm sorry that the voters who went along with this charade fail to hold these people accountable.

And what a sorry state this has become as a result... on this bridge scam... and dozens of other things that hurt us every day.

Maybe it's time for Lefty Lou Brancaccio to just go away.

Sadly, the Daily Democrat has been under the control of a thug named Lefty Lou Brancaccio for over 2 decades now.

No one has caused this community more damage and divisiveness than Lefty.

When he hates you, he hates you as his most recent diatribe concerning the CRC/Loot Rail scam shows.

His latest twisted view of the CRC scam left out some salient points while being used to, once again, hammer the defenseless who cannot fight back on an even footing, something of a Brancaccio specialty.

Failing to take his own advice ("Don't do stupid stuff") has led to a newspaper that most to the political right of Mao simply cannot abide.

For years, Brancaccio and many of those who worked for him who had sunk to the level of scum; lied, twisted and exaggerated about the non-existent benefits of replacing the I-5 Bridge which was completely and entirely being done to bring the infestation of the hated loot rail into Clark County, a forbearer of wasted billions to come in the future.

Lefty never acknowledged that light rail was the ONLY reason to replace the paid for, functional and safe I-5 bridge.  He does not care that it will cost the commuting public more than $2000 a year (each) in tolls to get to work and back... or that such a horrific toll would blow at least a $100 million hole per year... to start, with ever increasing toll costs to come... into this county's economy... making hundreds of millions of dollars in disposable income that small business around here depends on to survive.... simply vaporize.

Lefty the Thug, BEING Lefty the Thug, again doesn't fail to take a shot at David Madore.  His hatred for Madore is legendary, as is his hypocrisy.

While his love for Tim "The Liar" Leavitt is ALSO legendary... and equally hypocritical.

Lefty, you see, hated and still hates Madore for several reasons, not the least of which is he "blames" Madore for actually implementing the will of the people whom, on every occasion when given the chance, have been overwhelmingly opposed to Lefty's 4th Reich view of Vancouver generally and the I-5 Bridge/Loot Rail scam particularly.

He also hates Madore because Madore never kissed his ring... I mean, ass... so to speak, and as a result he did not and never will get the deference he stupidly believes he's due.

Making The Reflector the official newspaper of Clark County also frosted his shorts as far as that goes.

The result was vitriolic, weekly lie-fest columns filled with his hatred of Madore, and to a lesser extent, Commissioner Tom Mielke, that he obsessed over...

Yet, when it comes to Leavitt... WHO OUTRIGHT LIED TO GET ELECTED (yes, as I pointed out DURING the election Leavitt was lying) Lefty gave... and continues to give... him a complete pass, making Lefty perhaps the biggest public hypocrite available locally today.

Oh, it's not that he fails to mention The Liar's efforts.  It's just that he fails to hold Leavitt accountable for them.  Lefty has two standards.  He applies one to his friends... and he applies the opposite to his enemies... the very definition of hypocrisy.

See, if Leavitt had also come out in favor of the CRC like Pollard, and THEN changed his position to one in opposition after he was elected, there is no doubt the local editorial thug would have beaten him to a pulp.

But in Lefty's world, it's OK to lie to get what you want, as long as when you do it, the lie favors HIS agenda (pro-toll, pro-bridge) instead of opposing his agenda.  For example, the entire CRC scam lied about public involvement.

But that was OK with Lefty, wasn't it?  Because if you oppose Lefty's agenda, you're in for it from the fringe-left editorialist and reporters of the daily Pravda of Vancouver.

For years during the lie fest of slavish support of all things and politicians that supported the CRC rip off, *I* pointed out that the CRC scammers were lying.  How many times did the worthless rag of a newspaper point out that we "seeking public input on this project?"  How many times did I point out that any such conclusion was an outright lie?  (See, the reality is that if they ever HAD been seeking out public input, at least SOME of that public input would have mattered.  It would have resulted in some change... ANY change to their scam plan.  And it never did.)

When then Commissioner Steve Stuart screwed Clark County by voting for sublimating OUR control of eminent domain to TriMet, for example... or pay them $5 million if we didn't (it was never about what was right or wrong... it was about the money, you see) did Lefty come after Stuart the way he's gone after Madore?

Nope.  Because he supported that betrayal.  To Lefty, he really doesn't care how his bidding is done as long as it IS done.

Years ago, for example, I broke the news concerning the true reasons for Jim Jack's resignation from the House of Representatives (misconduct with female staff) and the rag never drilled down on that.  They ignored it.  They made excuses for him and for themselves.  They soft-pedaled it and softballed it... because Jacks was their guy.

But then, the #MeToo movement broke out, and with it... YEARS LATER, the rag found out they could no longer sit on the truth that had had written about years before.

But that is the nature of Lefty.

So, in his column today, he once again allowed his hatred of Madore to spill over, although I do give him props for one thing: acknowledging that the reportage had been in lockstep with the democratian vision... or else:

There were going to be lane closures and commute headaches and big wrenches and all that good stuff. Sure, The Columbian had a great plan for coverage — both before and after the repairs began — and executed it superbly. But the point Tom wanted to make to me was all that bridge coverage was just what the doctor ordered for the newsroom. 

Tom said the newsroom had been in a bit of a funk and having the entire staff coalesce around an important project was critical. It brought notoriously individual staffers together. So that stubborn old bridge became a good thing for the newsroom. “It reinvigorated newsroom careers,” he said. 

Right.  And where are those people now?

So, you see, with the thug Lefty replaced, it was never about what was best or what was right or what the people of this county/community wanted.  That played zero role in it.

It was about getting the little robots to "coalesce" around der fuhrer's vision.  And back during the 3rd Reich, we all know from history what happened to those who didn't see it Adolf's way.  Lefty merely picked up Tommy the K's mantle and ran with it, while he ignored the reality of the community's needs (additional bridges in other locations) wants (cross-river infrastructure that would reduce congestion, i.e., additional bridges in other locations) and desires (no loot rail).

Instead, he became the CRC's bitch.  He supported every lie, every exaggeration and every politician who agreed with him on that point.

And then, a memo surfaced that laid bare the lies of public involvement and the efforts, by policy, to ignore any public input while going through the motions of seeking it out.

To this day, the rag continues to lie about the lack of "public input," referring to it as a "straw man argument."

The FACTS say otherwise, of course, the facts they knew all along, but the rag has never really acknowledged the facts about this horrific waste of money.

Yes, Lefty has been the most damaging figure Clark County has ever known.  He's used his bully pulpit to beat the hell out of those he despises and to support a horrific change in government purely out of admitted spite over his hatred of David Madore.

His incessant rants combined with RINO support and possibly a little less heart had the desired effect, And Mr. Madore is no longer in government, replaced by the worst possible system of government allowed in this country and with fake Republicans (along with a leftist hater who makes AOC look normal) who now typically do whatever Lefty wants them to do (though the jury remains out on Councilor Medvigy, who is working on concerns over his political support)

Nevertheless, Brancaccio's hatred of the man continues unabated.  That moron just got done writing this garbage:

David Madore is known for a bunch of stuff, including manufacturing widget thingies that created a bunch of local jobs and made him a millionaire. But he would have forever been just another rich guy who flew below the radar if it weren't for the stubborn old bridge. Yes, Madore has helped a number of faith-based groups, but you rarely see him at a community luncheon or event.

So.

He's a successful small businessman.  He made money from his work/company. He helps a number of faith-based groups.

But his cardinal sins are two-fold:

He doesn't show up on Lefty's rubber-chicken circuit, which are typically leftist "hooray for me" affairs and, of course...

his opposition to that "stubborn old bridge."

Never mind that David has done more for charity on any given day before 9 a.m. than the scumbag former editor of the democratian has done in the entirety of his life.  Never mind that he provides dozens of jobs where employees typically make family-wage pay and also typically like working there.

He doesn't do it the way Lefty likes it done... and then... there will always be that bridge because, well, in the end?

He made Lefty look like an idiot.

Lefty was SO sure it was a "done deal."  Attacks on the opponents, a slimy worm named John Laird referring to those opponents as "cockroaches" and malignant attacks, individually, on many who have spoken out in opposition to this insanity that will waste billions, foment loot rail and the massive waste of billions that comes with it all while ignoring the 8000 pound gorilla in the room of overwhelming public opposition and a failure to increase capacity through additional bridges over the Columbia.

And his reaction is typical of what has now become termed the anti-Trump snowflake when it all blew up in his face.

And he has never recovered.

We will continue to hear about Lefty's hatred of Madore until he dies.  And on his deathbed, he will likely find a way to blame Madore for it, as he's found a way to blame him for everything else he doesn't like.

Lefty's hatred of Madore preceded Trump Derangement Syndrome, but it was the model for that exact variety of stupidity.  The day the CRC was put into hibernation, I can envision Lefty in his office, doing an imitation of this snowflake at Mr. Trump's inauguration.

It's just sad that to be a leftist is to live your life based on hatred and hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, it's time for Lefty to realize he's the David Gellatly of local politics and just move on.  He's a has been... a used-to-be-somebody... who thinks what he says or does matters... when we all know that the reality is... something different.

Like Gellatly, who did his best to turn the GOP into either his personal fiefdom or, failing that (and he DID fail that) a serious effort to destroy it... Brancaccio COULD have been a voice for this community that reflected the will of the people of this county and not just the downtown mafia that obviously owned him... and kissed his ass, appealing to his massive vanity to get them the earned media he so cheerfully provided.

He COULD have been somebody.

Instead... he merely became an egomaniacal leftist hack, late and unlamented... just like what's-his-face.

If he were to vaporize tomorrow, would he be missed?

Maybe it's just time for you to go away, Lefty.  I assure you, few would notice.

Why would you rather dive into a pool of boiling lava than vote for your brother-in-law, Marc Boldt?

I get asked that frequently.

After all, he hired you as his legislative assistant for 6 years when he was a state representative, didn't he?  You roomed with him for 5 years or so, didn't you?  You put in countless hours in damage control and explaining his bizarre behavior, didn't you?

So.... what happened?

What happened was rather simple: the man became completely co-opted by the left once he became a county commissioner (although now, his full support of the LBTGQ+ agenda, posted on Eric Holt's facebook page and his endorsement by the local Young Democrats when he first ran for council chair now illustrates how far left he's gone) but even that didn't do it.

His decision to ignore my warnings that the "yes" vote he took on an unconstitutional county ordinance that would have allowed the county to confiscate our weapons in the event of a declared emergency didn't even do it, although it should have.

Here's what did it:  The man lied to my face.

That's right.  He became just another political scumbag, just another liar.

And here's the story on the end of my support of my brother-in-law and my strident opposition to even allowing this lying psycho to be in government.

Remember, Marc?  I get all this "But he's your BROTHER-IN-LAW!  He's FAMILY!" a great deal.

That never seems to bother Marc.  Why should it bother me?

Marc, of course, had Jimmy Mains spread the lie that David Madore was paying me to oppose him. And I've got to tell you, if that's true, I'm still waiting on the check after almost 8 years.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Well, I guess I was mistaken when Marc Boldt told me he would do an advisory vote.

On March 20, while at the GOP Convention, I discussed the bridge situation with Marc Boldt, my brother-in-law and county commissioner.

As a result of that discussion, I posted the following: Saturday, March 20, 2010

Boldt/Mielke to support Bridge/Loot Rail advisory vote.

As our local government clowns have wasted 10's of millions of dollars; as our despicable rag of a paper has attempted to jam this thing down our throats as those who've lied to us (Tim "The Liar" Leavitt) and those corrupted (Steve "Cold hard cash, Mr. Barnett" Stuart) have taken it upon themselves to ram all of this down our throats without our say.

Well, this November, we will get out chance.

I directly discussed this situation with Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt and he agreed to put a non-binding, county-wide advisory vote on the ballot this November as part of the general election.

This is great for two huge reasons: first and foremost is that the people... the people who will actually pay the bills, will FINALLY get a say.

But second: every candidate and incumbent running this November (You listening, Steve "Unmarked bills, Mr. Barnett" Stuart?) will have to take and defend a position that so far, they haven't had to take or defend.

I look forward to the reaction from the various people who, while not having to pay the tolls this project will bring, want to ram this down our throats and the throats of the 65,000 commuters who WILL have to pay this price. I'm sure it will be classic.

Well, this IS classic, just not as I expected.

I got a call from my wife at work, warning me that things weren't going exactly the way I had been led to believe.

And, so, what's the story?

County Commissioner Marc Boldt, a fellow Republican who previously served with Mielke in the state Legislature, said he’s not inclined to support an advisory vote now.

“Once you go down that path, your ballot could be full of advisory votes,” Boldt said.

Exclusive of the absurdity of such an observation (It really doesn't matter if there are 50 advisory votes on the ballot or none, I would submit that any time there is a multi-billion dollar project that will cost 65,000 or more Clark County commuters $100,000,000 a year, blowing a hole in both family AND county budgets, there should, at a minimum, be an advisory vote) Marc looked me in the eye and promised me that such a vote, a non-binding advisory vote, would take place.

Apparently, it isn't.

I, of course, felt just the tiniest bit slighted considering what Marc had told me.

To my face.

So, I asked a couple of questions via email:

Marc,

The up or down vote on light rail will only apply to operation of light rail, not if either the bridge or light rail will be built. If the bridge is to be built, it must have light rail infrastructure on it. Since the only reason to replace a 6 lane bridge with a 6 lane bridge is to bring light rail into Vancouver, there is absolutely zero chance to build it without light rail.

If there is an advisory vote on the bridge there will be no light rail vote because when the people vote this down, and they will, any chance of one dime of federal money will vaporize.

The light rail/CTran people don’t need to make a sub district; they can just use the one they have now. Meanwhile, the people of this county will pay the bill, even though, once again, no one will ask us. Further, when the light rail operations vote goes against them, they could just make their sub district THEN, using THOSE results. In short, an advisory vote that will likely kill this deal cannot stand as an excuse to not hold this vote because CTran might use the outcome as some sort of template for a sub district.

Clearly, they will do that ANYWAY, since that’s what they did with the CTran vote where 10’s of thousands of us were excluded from the vote, but not excluded from paying the tax. No matter what the outcome of such a vote would be, CTran will keep trying until they get what they want.

Kill this bridge through an advisory vote, and there won’t be any light rail operations vote.

Failing to do this will result in a minimum of 65,000 commuters and their families being highly upset because one, the toll is going to vacuum $1300 or so per year out of each of their pockets (of which the county will not get one dime of revenue) and two, you will be held responsible for not allowing them any say.

As for an advisory vote, the assistant director of elections for the secretary of state said in the article that

State law does not explicitly prohibit advisory votes, according to state elections officials.

“There’s nothing that says they couldn’t,” said Katie Blinn, assistant director of elections for Secretary of State Sam Reed. “This whole animal of advisory votes is simply advisory. The process is not spelled out in state law, so there aren’t black and white parameters around it.”

Thus, there are no legal reasons not to hold such a vote, Potter’s babble notwithstanding; and anyone telling you different is lying.

The directive to Potter shouldn’t be “find a way to keep us from doing this.” Instead, it should be, “Find a way to make this happen or we will replace you with someone who will.”

Potter is, of course, dead wrong on his positions concerning advisory votes. Advisory votes by their very nature have precisely zero effect or authority or legal requirement to make any alteration of any kind on any issue.

Unless he can find a LAW that EXPLICITLY makes such advisory votes illegal (And the secretary of state’s office has indicated that he cannot) then he is flat wrong. And Stuart’s moronic idea of a “scientifically valid survey” will cost a hell of a lot more than $3000 and supersede the BEST survey: the results at the ballot box, which transcends any other type of survey in its inclusion and accuracy.

Marc, I get that you don’t want to take flack over allowing the people to have a say. But in this instance, giving the people a voice is the right thing to do for two reasons:

First, on a project of this magnitude with the horrific impacts that will result on family budgets across this county, the people deserve a say.

Second, you promised me that an advisory vote would be held.

I recognize that I’m a nobody relative to Steve Stuart or the unions. But someone, somewhere, has to care about what the PEOPLE want.

An advisory vote will provide that opportunity.

The comments on the article in question were generally supportive of such a vote, save for the usual fringe-leftist scum and union hacks who think we owe them a job and who certainly don't want a little thing like the will of the people to get in their way.

One particularly moronic slimeball commented that those of us who want to determine the will of the people on this issue should move to Somalia.

Well, it's a lesson learned. About politics, about what's important, and about my brother-in-law.

He had the opportunity to do something for the people of this county; to provide them with a voice... to make up for his support of Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, who, as I warned, scammed people into actually believing he was opposed to tolls.

And he did nothing.

I will remember. 2012 isn't that far away.

________________________________________________

Boldt has gone on to engage in various psychotic activities since then.  I had to block that clown from texting me it got so bad; he frequently referred to female politicians I know as "girl friends" (of mine) and he expresses a level of private arrogance that is sickening.

As I pointed out, Boldt has expressed complete agreement with the leftist FLASH education program and the LBGQT+ agenda on another candidate's facebook page.  Now, why he would comment on another candidate's facebook page when that candidate is running for the same job that Boldt already has is a mystery to me.  And, of course, Boldt's endorsement of the LBGQT+ agenda won't impact the RINO vote one way or the other.

But what Marc did with $5000 he ripped off from his 2012 campaign is also a mystery to me.

What ISN'T a mystery is why he has been restricted from running his own campaign finances by the Public Disclosure Commission or why he has that leftist whack job Jimmy Mains handling that for him.

No, the reasons for that are obvious.

What IS a mystery is how anyone voting for him could do so knowing the state had determined he was too incompetent to run his OWN campaign finances but believe he was on the ball enough to run the finances of this county.

I could put up with a great many political disagreements with the man who, when I was working for him, was actually a conservative Republican with principles and integrity.

Both those circumstances are long since a distant memory.  I could only take so much and like every other politician I go after who lies, cheats, steals or is incompetent, I simply refused to give him a pass just because of the fallacious claim that he's "family."

His claim that I was being paid... by ANYONE... to go after him is as psychotic as he is.  I have no reason to be paid to go after those I despise politically, who are far more interested in doing TO us instead of doing FOR us... and Boldt has long since dropped that "Servant Leader" crap he used to use to get elected in the past.

"People over politics?" indeed.

Feel free to comment with any other questions you may have.

So long to Tim "The Liar" Leavitt.

One of the many reasons I've had to avoid either living in... or going to... the Vancouver Soviet has been the utter lack of integrity of their city council and, of course, their politically late, unlamented mayor, Tim "The Liar" Leavitt.

Leavitt, best known for lying to get elected by claiming, falsely, that he was opposed to tolls on the I-5 Bridge scam he worked so hard to jam down our throats... an effort I repeatedly called him out on during the fantasy of his fake campaign... fooled a large number of people generally and Republicans particularly into actually believing that he was opposed to tolls on the I-5 Bridge scam that he was instrumental in his efforts to sell us out so that Oregon could force loot rail into Clark County and blow a $2000 hole in each commuter's wallet.

Leavitt's position on the tolling issue was a lie from the getgo, of course.  And, naturally, about 60 seconds after he was fraudulently elected to the head of the Vancouver Soviet, he changed his mind publicly.... Much to the joy of the democratian newsletter.

As expected when you lie in support of the democratian's agenda, he was let completely off the hook for his lies... because, as Sen. Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers has shown, when they like you, they like you.

The four faces of The Snake

Leavitt's absence from the political scene won't be noticed beyond the lack of fumes.

As a county and as a city, we are better off without him.

His replacement is a make-no-mistake-about-it fringe left whack job.  She was elected based on her slavish devotion to tolls and the loot rail scam, because like most leftists in government she could actually care less what the people think... just look at our RINO herd if you need an example of those who could give a damn about their districts when the will of the people conflicts with the will of the special interests who own them.

People generally have the government they deserve.  As a group, many of us were fooled into voting for and providing donations to people who claimed to be one thing while during their campaigns, while in fact, they were something quite different.

That's how slime like Wilson and Rivers got elected... and now what are they and others doing?

Resurrecting the hated and despised CRC Scam that they made us falsely believe they opposed.

So, let this be a
lesson to you voters.  Remember, when we're getting raped by our stratospheric increases in property taxes this year that, for example, Wilson and Rivers were as instrumental in jacking our wallets on that scam as Rivers was on blowing a hole in our wallets on her efforts to jack up our gas taxes so her special interest buddies cold get their pay offs from OUR check books...regardless of what the people she actually is supposed to represent wanted.

There is no difference between these people.  ALL of them lie to get what they want... and all of them lie once they're elected.

And now, in his wake, The Liar leaves behind higher taxes, higher fees, and higher retail prices as a result; more homeless and not even a hint of resolving the cross-river transportation nightmare he helped to create...

It begs the question: what did he do FOR the people of Vancouver instead of TO the people of Vancouver?

Why Larry Hoff shouldn't be elected, Chapter 12

In addition to Hoff's total political inexperience and lack of involvement (I've been politically involved in this area generally for 29 years generally and the 18th District, my district, specifically for the last 14 years... and I've never heard of nor seen this guy until now) and the obvious RINO support from those such as Sen. Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers (D-Strategies 360) and Sen. Lynda "The Liar" Wilson (D-Tracy) who despise conservatives so much the Wilsons have dropped $2000 in on a guy who, to date, lacks the guts... or the knowledge... or simply the ability... to articulate any positions on anything, nor any ability to explain where, for example, he would have voted any differently than Gas Tax Rivers over the past 3 idiotic sessions she's been screwing us...

Or, he simply hasn't been told what... if anything... to write down AS his "issues.

I have, for example, REPEATEDLY asked him to articulate where... and how... he would have voted differently than Gas Tax Rivers.

To date, he refuses to even acknowledge me, let alone answer me.

We come to find out that major democrat funder David Nierenberg is writing checks and has, to date, dropped a paltry $4000 more on this clown.

Nierenberg was a the force behind the Madore Hate PAC last cycle that leftists and RINOs joined together to oppose conservative David Madore.

Let's take a look at those who've been getting cash from this leftist, shall we?

Jack Burkman, Washington State Democrats, Tim Probst, Brent Boger, Arch Miller, James McIntire, Sam Reed, Planned Parenthood, Democrat front group "Stand for Children" ($10,000), Julie Olson, Deb Wallace, Jim Jacks, Christine Gregoire, Paul Harris, Monica Stonier, Jimmy Moeller, Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, Clark County Democrats, Mainstream Republicans, Craig Pridemore, John Blom, Jay Inslee, Joe Tanner, Yes on I-1000 (Death With Dignity), Lynda Wilson, Pam Brokaw, Kathy Gillespie, Jay Inslee, Marc Boldt... and now, Larry Hoff.

So what David does is finance those who do things TO us... instead of FOR us.

And this, of course, is no exception.  It's also another in the growing list of reasons to vote for anyone not named Hoff.

Yet another reason to stay out of the Vancouver Soviet.

Thanks to the GOP-controlled state senate, local municipalities can feel free to tax vehicle owners into oblivion, and do so at a whim.

Take the Vancouver Soviet, for example.

I have yet to see a tax those scum didn't like: threatening a head tax if business didn't support an increase in tab fees and then, having blackmailed the local business community, smacking them with a head tax anyway.

Beginning next June, if you're unfortunate enough to live in the Cesspool of Vancouver, part of the cost for your idiocy will be the privilege of paying an extra $40 per year to put tabs on your vehicles.

Talk about throwing money down a black hole.

Look, I have no problem with a tax or fee increase under one tiny condition: that those demanding more of the sweat off of our brows ASK us.

Conveniently missing from this, yet another ability for government to screw us (thanks, Sen. Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers!)  was the requirement that these scum ASK us before these increases are implemented.

Even the daily democrat found it hard to overlook:

With little fanfare, the Vancouver Transportation Benefit District Board unanimously approved a $20 license tab fee increase Monday evening. The city council serves as the Transportation Benefit District Board to control vehicle fee revenues.

Like anyone is surprised.

Of COURSE there was "little fanfare."  Still stinging from the idiocy of their CRC scam debacle, they wouldn't want the opposition to such a stupid move to get time to organize, would they?

Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, who has governed over massive tax and fee increases and development on his watch, babbled thusly:

“Everyone needs to pay their fair share,” said Mayor Tim Leavitt. “If you’re working in our community, living in our community, you need to pay to keep our roads in fair shape.”

There's nothing "fair" about this, yet another rip off by the Vancouver Soviet.  It might have been "fair" had these slime ASKED to increase this tax.  But God-forbid that the people are EVER given the chance to say "no."  We can't have THAT, can we?

"Fair" has nothing to do with leftists scamming ever more money from our wallets.  They're insatiable, as leftists, socialists and neo-communists typically are.

As motorists, we pay hundreds of dollars in gas taxes every year.  As a government, is it the people's fault that The Liar would rather have wasted 10's of millions of dollars on unneeded and unaffordable new buses and funky bus stops so he could waste a million point five on each bus that now rides empty most of the time instead of making sure roads were fixed?

We're paying our "fair-share."   The problem is the amateur, clueless, typically drunk idiots show a level of incompetence rarely seen in the private sector in their handling of the money they DO get.

Well, Vancouver, you have the government you deserve.  In this case, the city council who just got done screwing you resembles a Taliban group more than a responsive, governing group that listens to, or even remotely give a damn about, what they people they would govern actually want.

And the leftist commenting under the article are, as expected, taking the "no big deal" approach.  One of the more ignorant babbles "It’s a 1x fee not 12. $1.60 a month."

You know... as if these various increases in taxes and fees don't build up in our wallets with the same cumulative effects as lead poisoning in our blood streams.

Over the past couple of years, thanks to the RINO-run state senate, we've seen massive gas tax and tab fee increases, increases in costs for citizens to have a driver's license, we're going to be HAMMERED with a massive property tax increase next calendar year, and now, the local cities are screwing the people sideways with their locally imposed tab fees on top of that.

And now, those wanting to bring the CRC/Loot Rail scam back to life want to add thousands to the cost of owning a vehicle if you have to commute... all to waste billions replacing a bridge that does not need to be replaced.

Who was it who once said "...a billion here and a billion there... pretty soon, we're talking real money?"

This is becoming a great time to move out of Vancouver... and out of Clark County.  The Cowlitz side of rural, outside the GMA boundary Woodland is looking better all the time.

An oldy but a goody: something the democratian no doubt forgot on McEnerny-Ogle.

Back in 2011, AMO got some of the same cash that Tim "The Liar" Leavitt scammed from, it would seem, the same place:  The Cowlitz Tribe.

Here's the story:

Monday, October 24, 2011

McEnerny-Ogle: Jeannie Harris revisited, and the unions are getting what they're paying for. 

Much is made of M.O.'s tenure on the planning commission.  But is anything made of the fact that she couldn't get re-appointed? 

We already have a Jeannie Harris.  Do we need another one? 

“Staff has received a few complaints about both incumbents. In the case of Commissioner McEnerny Ogle, the complaints relate to the way she has treated applicants and their representatives. Some complained that her questioning was unnecessarily harsh and her comments demeaning, particularly related to treatment of school district personnel. There have also been complaints that some of her decisions were made based on personal prejudices, not the decision criteria in the Development Code.”

Is comparing McEnerny-Ogle to Jeannie "Gavel Down" Harris legitimate?  It certainly could be... and here's another comparison that raises my hackles: 

Tim "The Liar" Leavitt was elected with the help of illegal campaign contributions, money laundered through the hotel unions that started from a union in Seattle, was laundered through a union in New York, and dry-cleaned by a local in Portland (Unite Here?  Are you kidding me?) and done with the support of the unions in the Pollard Hilton (How's THAT for irony?) 

Well, check THIS out:  How much does McEnerny-Ogle cost?

$32,556.65. 

The SAME union that laundered money for Tim "The Liar" Leavitt is NOW laundering money for Anne McEnerny-Ogle. 

So now, we're faced with the possibility of getting not only a version of Gavel Down Harris, but a version of Tim "The Liar" Leavitt as well. 

Now that the word is out, do ya think the rag is going to beat up the unions for AGAIN laundering money and AGAIN doing for MO what they did for Leavitt? 

This expenditure answers a lot of questions about MO: She's for the bridge and loot rail, and she'll be a guaranteed "yes" for tax and fee increases. 

Lovely. 

The slime of Vancouver. 

BTW, vote for Turlay and Wentzel.  You could do a lot, lot, worse.  Just take a look at McEnerny-Ogle, for example. 

What are chances the Tribe is going to pay this kind of money for her again?

Pretty high, I'd say.  And for those of you who like the idea of this economic black hole landing here, sucking up our local economy?

Remember that as those we elect wind up representing THEM, instead of US.

Meet the Casino - the New Politics of Clark County

I've noticed some rather strange reactions to the fact that our community lost and the Cowlitz Mafia won.

There are going to be a great many changes here... changes that most reading this haven't even begun to consider.

You will, however.

For us directly, this is the final act of Obama screwing this area individually.  Issues of costs to us (the taxpayers) how the tribe doesn't live here and won't have to suffer the impacts of what they're going to do to us; the traffic nightmare, the social service nightmare, the school nightmare, the housing nightmare, the law enforcement nightmare.

With what amounts to unlimited money, the tribe will be buying local government.

They have been making that effort for at least 13 years, starting with the effort to buy Pam Brokaw in the 18th District Curtis-Brokaw race... then the purchase of Steve Stuart back in the commissioner days... then another late effort to buy Brokaw in her race against Mielke for county commissioner... then laundering money for Tim "The Liar" Leavitt... all at the behest of tribal shill Dave Barnett... not to mention AM-O's $32,000 laundered by the same people.

Again, when traced... it appears to have originated in Seattle.

You know... right around where Barnett lives?

Some have indicated some rather bizarre ideas about what this rip off is going to mean to this community in terms of the non-existent generosity of the scammers who made this happen.

So, here's a few words about the uglier face of this effort.

It started back in 2004, when David Barnett laundered $25,000 through the Washington Conservation Voters (like most leftist outfits, they can be bought, so he bought them) to attack Richard Curtis, then candidate for state representative, over his support of a bill that would have expanded non-tribal gambling.

How's that for irony?

Next up, was Steve Stuart.

Having been found out locally about his underhanded efforts to buy politicians, Barnett proceeded to launder $100,000 through Progressive Majority for Stuart.

At the time, it was much more difficult to follow the money when it is routed from in-state to out of state to back in-state.

That resulted in a series of bogus, but effective, mailers that ultimately enabled "I only represent Steve" Stuart to get elected over Tom Mielke.

Next up was his old buddy Brokaw again.  Brokaw was the recipient of a very effective independent expenditure campaign that went up on TV.

She panicked and went back to her check-book buddy, Barnett, who dutifully forked over some $75,000 that was dumped in during the last 5 days of her campaign.

Too late.  She lost.

Most recently (2016), Barnett made a semi-serious effort to buy Alicia Topper as a state representative:

He laundered $29,400 through a PAC where he was the only donor and her campaign was the only effort.

I think all that money is illegal, given that a PAC requires what, ten donors to actually donate?

Not my circus, however... not my monkeys.

So, Republicans, when casino interests pliability becomes the defacto requirement to get elected around here... and the only requirement of these people is to do what they tell you, party or philosophy notwithstanding... you'll know why.

So, look forward to the corruption and the massive problems this insanity is going to cause.

And those of you who actually go there?

Enjoy.

In My View: the democratian continues to wound.

Didn't bother to read beyond the headline of today's lie set (Councilors Left Wounds) that was emailed to me.... that typically makes the rag look like the democrat daily/Pravda Izvestia. 

Look, here's the reality: the ONLY thing that matters to Lefty Lou and his Winged Monkeys (remember, the fish rots from the head down) is their agenda.

What we want?  What we've voted for?  What common sense requires?

If it doesn't match their fringe-left, huge government, screw the taxpayer agenda?

Then they come after you.  Regardless of what we've said at the polls.

Oppose the CRC scam?  Oppose loot rail?  Oppose downtown taxpayer financed redevelopment?  Oppose their idiotic ball park scam?  Oppose ANYTHING these clowns want... REGARDLESS of what WE want... and political jihads are what you're going to get.

(So Lou, haven't seen anything concerning your moronic Trump column a few weeks ago... you know, the one that talked about how Trump was going to handle his loss?  The one your fellow fringe-left nutters used to beat on conservatives?

Bonus stupidity from Lou's fantasy column:

Michael Piper ·

Former Executive Director at The Arc of Southwest Washington

I hope he accepts his loss with some respect and dignity. And I hope he doesn't incite violence. People are very upset about two of the most unliked candidates in the history of polling.

Like · Reply · 1 · Oct 29, 2016 1:03pm

So, Piper, apparently, is OK with leftist inspired violence.)

For the most part, those that the rag are denigrating once again (something they've done literally hundreds of times) did what they said they would do or at least made an effort to do what they said they were going to do (and the rag did everything they could to block many of their efforts) and did a great deal to reflect the districts they represented.

The local cancer on our community doesn't care about that: veer away from their agenda and they will beat on you like a gong.

If only the rag hadn't pathologically lied to us for so long on the issues confronting us: downtown redevelopment scam that led to the Pollard Hilton...The CRC/Loot Rail scam that made $200,000,000 disappear without a single shovelful of dirt being turned.... the support of Gas Tax Rivers' rip off and lie to get elected that will make SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS disappear from this county, ALSO against our will; the support of the downtown mafia's slick deals with people like Ellie Kasab; building swap scams (the bankrupt democratian building magically turning into city hall, for example; a deal that STILL stinks; corrupt candidates let off the hook for their lies, like Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, who as I repeatedly pointed out at the time, ran ANOTHER campaign of lies to get elected to head the Taliban City Government of the Vancouver Soviet, when he lied about his bogus opposition to tolls... Gas Tax Rivers, Scott "The Liar" Weber who ran on a platform of getting rid of his position as an elective office; that Blom punk who ran as a fake Republican to become the 4th democrat on the county council, and their support of the charter scam and all the lies they told about THAT....  and the ongoing jihad against ANY conservative... ALL have wounded and will continue to wound this community.

The rag is all fine with that.

There is, you see, no lie these scum will not tell to get their way.  No exaggeration.  No expression of hate or disdain beyond them.  After all, who could forget that scumbag editor Johnny Laird, referring to those of us wise enough to oppose his favorite CRC/Loot Rail scam as "cockroaches?"

Wounds have been and will continue to be inflicted on us by these people.  And those doing the inflicting will do so with the help and support of the scum behind and working for this very carbuncle on our county.

Yes, wounds have been inflicted.  Such as the wounds that would have been struck had these scum been successful in their desire to screw us on the CRC Scam, which would have had our county drained of $100,000,000 plus in ever-increasing tolls for each of  FORTY FRICKING CONSECUTIVE YEARS, tolls these scum wouldn't have to pay.  Dollars that our small business infrastructure depends on to survive.

And now, as the days go by and our taxes and fees continue to shoot straight up, thanks to the al Qaida County Council of 3 Stooges... precisely like I said it would, come to think of it... as they continue to work at warp speed on an unneeded and unwanted I-5 Bridge replacement that represents the triple threat of both being completely unneeded, completely unaffordable AND completely senseless when it comes to TRULY addressing our local transportation needs... which obviously requires that two other bridges; one to the east of I-205 and one to the west of I-5 to the Hillsboro area... and they have long since become the chinese water torture of incessant, leftist crap... they do all of that with the rag's support.

The democratian will continue to support most tax and fee increases, as long as those increases do not involve them... after all, even now they demand that all fees concerning development be reinstated... since among Lefty's other talents?

He's a rank hypocrite.

So yeah, the rag will continue to wound... just like they have for the almost 30 years I've had the misfortune of living here.

The issue of voting for a non-vable candidate helping the democrats.

Wow.

As we close in on the November election, all sides run this mantra: if you don't vote for X, then you're helping Y.

Well, it's true.

The question is: does it make any real difference?

Over my years in politics at every level from state down, I've seen a lot.  Learned a lot.  Done a lot.

What I've learned is simple, really: very little is what it appears to be.

I've learned that labels are absolutely meaningless when it comes to party affiliation.

One need look no farther than the Three Stooges running the county council.

They have acted and voted EXACTLY like their democrat opponents would have had they lost to them.  The local RINO contingent joined with their leftist buddies and did their best to remove any conservative voice from governance.

Those mostly responsible for this debacle CALL themselves "Republicans."  But the reality is they have no resemblance to anything the GOP stands for.

So... what difference does their... or any candidate's... party affiliation actually make?

At the state level, the allegedly Republican Senate has voted in lockstep with much of the democrat agenda.  State level Dream Act... massive gas tax and tab fee increases... letting the scum behind the pot initiative completely off the hook and enriching them by tens of millions... rampant corruption... sounds more democrat than the democrats.

At the federal level, the GOP establishment, having made several promises they has no intention of keeping, have been handed the keys to Congress on the off chance they might... MIGHT... actually do something.

And they have: for the most part, they've done everything that criminally simple idiot in the White House has wanted them to do.

So, the question becomes simple: why sweat the party label?

You see, it USED to mean something.

Now, not so much.

That's why, for example, I will not be voting GOP in my legislative or county council district.

That's why I will not be voting GOP for Governor.

That's why I will not be voting GOP for the US Senate.

In fact, not a lot of my ballot will have GOP candidates marked on it anywhere.

You see, to me, if you're going to be a Republican... THEN BE A REPUBLICAN.

If you're not?

Then call yourself something else.

I recognize that the reality is that my votes are not going to matter regardless.

Because people are, essentially, politically stupid for the most part, they don't care about the issues I've raised.  Most of it is inside baseball stuff... in the weeds.

People will vote locally and around the state because of party labels.  They'll vote based on the (mostly) pathetic voter pamphlet statements... permanently soiled by our loose cannon fake Republican auditor who used it to campaign for the charter... illegally... and, of course, without consequence by anyone in a position to put consequences on him... they'll vote because of the fiction that counts for the lame-stream media telling them how to vote.

Candidates generally and incumbents particularly count on voter ignorance and laziness.

They'll vote for candidates who have damaged us individually, who have lied in obvious and outlandish ways, which have been bought; body, soul and legislative vote, by special interests.

And they will prove the Gruber Theorem:  "“The American voters are too stupid the understand the difference.”

Our country is in a mess.  And it's getting worse.

We blame our politicians when the responsibility lay with us.

Whether it's getting hosed by Tim "The Liar" Leavitt on his fake toll position that I warned everyone about for months, or hating a conservative so much that you'd support a neo-communist over a him, selling your soul to the leftists to get a RINO rubber stamp like Blom elected, those who supported them and others like them are, in fact, "...too stupid to understand the difference."

My problem is that I DO understand the difference.  And the difference is so horrific that I wish I didn't.

And that brings us to the presidential election.

There are precisely two viable candidates.

Two.

Johnson has zero chance.  Stein has zero chance.

It's between Trump and Clinton.

The Never Trump types are going to vote for Hillary... and some will vote for Johnson.  As RINO's, that's what they do.

The Green Part types are going to vote for Stein.

Those claiming Libertarian alliance will vote for an increasingly Obama-like Johnson, again, not because they have even a remote clue as to his positions, but because of his party label.

Minorities will vote for Hillary, not because the democrats, Hillary or Obama have done a damned thing for them that weren't designed to keep them on the plantation, but because it's been drilled into their heads for decades that the party of the Klan, the democrats, really and TRULY supports THEM.

All of which is to acknowledge that, without question, Lyndon Johnson used the N-word in private conversations. What is in question is whether Johnson in fact uttered this particular instance of it: "I'll have those niggers voting Democratic for 200 years."

The quote appeared for the first time anywhere on page 33 of Ronald Kessler's book, Inside the White House: The Hidden Lives of the Modern Presidents and the Secrets of the World's Most Powerful Institution, published in 1995:

Johnson, like other presidents, would often reveal his true motivations in asides that the press never picked up. During one trip, Johnson was discussing his proposed civil rights bill with two governors. Explaining why it was so important to him, he said it was simple: "I'll have them niggers voting Democratic for two hundred years."

"That was the reason he was pushing the (GOP supported and democrat opposed Civil Rights Act) bill," said MacMillan, who was present during the conversation. "Not because he wanted equality for everyone. It was strictly a political ploy for the Democratic party. He was phony from the word go."

But the reality is this:

Those who've made up reasons to oppose Trump (RINO, draft dodger, rich, white, male, racist, etc, etc...) and who, as a result, will either not vote or vote for one of the others not named Hillary, simply do not care about the outcomes over their personal "integrity."

I, on one hand, will be voting democrat in large part, because the record shows, beyond any doubt, that more and more recently, it hasn't mattered when a Republican wins in the end.  They all too often out-democrat the democrats with their votes, even going so far as to lie to get elected on important issues such as the gas tax and tab fee increases brought to us by fake Republican Senator Ann "Gas Tax" Rivers, who pledged... IN WRITING... that she would oppose those increases... and who, in fact, did oppose them... until it really, really mattered.  (Captured from her 2012 Campaign website:)

And when the time came?

Our nation is at a crossroads.  We are dangling over a precipice that Obama and the RINO congress did their best to shove us over... with Hillary's help, of course... and what are the chances that a Hillary presidency would change any of that?

Our foreign policy is a disaster.  Our military is getting weaker by the second.  Our infrastructure is crumbling.  We're wasting billions on loot rail and Obamaphones.  Minority unemployment is skyrocketing.  The Russians are chewing off chunks of Europe and the Chinese are swallowing parts of the South China Sea. Iran keeps jamming a thumb in our eye and the President of the United States is reduced to paying hundreds of millions in ransom.

Hillary pisses on our security laws and her responsibilities there; she has blood on her hands of all sorts as people mysteriously seem to drop dead around her, and she is doing her best to allow wave after wave of illegal aliens to swamp our increasingly rickety boat.

You see, all along, my position on Trump has been that he has been keeping a finger on the pulse of this country.

I freely admit that he is not perfect.  But he's done OK knocking off 16 other accomplished pols, considering that he's never ran for elective office... and so, our choice boils down to this: those who claim he's a democrat shill and they won't vote for him... will, in the event of his defeat, refuse to take any responsibility for that outcome.

Much like those RINOs around here who joined with the leftists to elect a rubber stamp "moderate" by taking out a conservative from the county council to silence us... they won't take any responsibility for the subsequent massive spending increases, and, of course, the subsequent massive tax and fee increases that go along with them... and the increases in regulations and fees and all the rest.

The next president will likely be the one to put, perhaps, 3 or possibly 4 justices on the supreme court bench.  That, by itself, is reason enough to vote for Trump... particularly if the 2nd Amendment means anything to you.

Vote for whoever you like for president, particularly here in Washington or Oregon, since the democrats could have run Wesley Alan Dodd for president and these states would have voted for him.

There is no doubt our electoral votes will be going to HillBilly.

But if you're reading this from somewhere else where Trump actually CAN win... then please, do us all a favor and vote for the man.

Help to, in effect, save us from ourselves.

Trump's biggest problem today.

We have become a fragile people.

We have been promised so much and been lied to by so many for so long, that it's hard to believe in anyone anymore.

Clinton is the poster child of the lie: a Washington Post poll shows that 68% of those polled conclude that Hillary isn't honest and trustworthy.  Yet, clearly, partisan hatred is so blinding that many of those who know she's a liar will vote for her anyway.

Politically, I had both local heroes and national heroes.

One by one, their true selves became known to me.

Sometimes, it took years.  In one case, it took a decade.

Their thirst for power, their demand for obedience, their arrogance and their disregard of the people they would govern surfaced over time.  Their re-election became more important than their duty to the people.  Their arrogance superseded their public persona, and they allow themselves to be manipulated by interests harmful to us in return for a few bucks.... think of the "when rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it" philosophy.

I BELIEVED my brother-in-law when he came up with that "Servant Leader" shtick back in 94. Well, when was the last time you heard that from him?

I bought IN to the importance of GOP control over our legislature and our Congress.

What do we have to show for it?  Well, here in Clark County, for example, we have a $700 million gas tax bill.  Nationally, we have an almost $20 trillion debt.

The fragile nature of the American psyche is due in large part to our expectation and subsequent failure of those we elect to govern to keep their word, keep their promises and to make the will of those they would represent their primary goal in elective office.

Now?

Now we're too stupid. We just don't get it. "Business decisions" supersede the collective's thought, desires and demands because now?

They have all the answers and they know that when they lie to us, they will not be held accountable.

Just ask Sen. Rivers.

It's difficult for Trump to make the headway he needs because he must find a way to make the people understand that he will keep his word and he will do everything he has pledged to do.  He also must understand that his support is fragile, even though apparently strengthening, and that he will only get ONE chance.

The moment he becomes a national version of, for example, Tim "The Liar" Leavitt, it will be over for him.

So few in politics actually keep their word. Most at all levels disregard their primary duty to the people and make their primary duty their own self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement.

No more.

Never again.

Sen. Rivers voter pamphlet statement.

Imagine my surprise when I read this:

Statement: As your State Senator, I made a commitment to listen to your concerns and turn them into actionable solutions that move our state forward.

As a result of listening to your priorities, we reduced college tuition, increased K-12 education funding, and increased funding for those with developmental disabilities – without raising your taxes. We accomplished this by prioritizing what government needs to do and demanding accountability. I’ve successfully passed legislation to end the backlog of rape investigations, and give victims peace of mind. I worked to tightly regulate the new marijuana system, ensuring the system works as intended, while keeping our communities safe.

Every day, families make tough decisions about how to balance their checkbook – I hold government to the same standard. These values guide me when I serve as your voice in Olympia. You’ve put your faith in me and I’m asking you to do it again. When I go back to our Capitol, you can trust that I will continue to make sure our children have access to a quality education, and that our economy is thriving so people can have family-wage jobs that pays the bills. I would be honored to earn your vote!

Odd.  She left a few things out.

Let's start with her lies from the last time she got elected:

This is an excerpt from her 2012 campaign web page, an excerpt of a section I wrote/edited.

Look familiar?

It's the same kind of garbage she's troweling out now.

What's the difference between "As a result of listening to your priorities..." and "The people have spoken and I have listened?"

Well, maybe she DOES "listen."  But does she HEAR?

I think not.  Because this same woman who told us that she heard us... that she would oppose a gas tax and tab fee increases, then proceeded to hang a $700 million bill around our necks... 3.5 times more than was wasted on the CRC scam.

Oddly, among her many "achievements," she managed to leave out her efforts to increase our tab fees by a third, and our gas tax to among the highest in the country... bad enough for a variety of reasons, but even worse considering her pledge to oppose such efforts.

Her subsequent and successful effort to recruit Shane Bowman to run against Rep. Liz Pike because Pike voted against and loudly opposed the gas tax has shown us what kind of political monster Rivers has morphed into.

She has, in fact, become everything she used to loath in politics... everything I was tasked to keep her from becoming... an arrogant, non-responsive, personal-agenda driven wholly-owned subsidiary of the special interests who have made tens of millions off of her while she betrays those of us who voted her into office.

Did I mention "non-responsive?"

FIVE months ago, I asked her to clarify her lies at the Battle Ground Town Hall Meeting she held last January, wherein she stupidly claimed she voted FOR the $700 million tax on us to, effectively, forestall a $7 BILLION tax instead, one of the biggest lies ever uttered by a local politician.

It was, she tells us, a "business decision."  (NOTE: this video needs to be viewed in any Browser NOT Firefox because of software issues.)

Well, if they're all business decisions, why do we even need a legislature?  Let's just hire a bunch of accountants and THEY can ignore us instead of the woman we hired to be OUR voice.

She has refused to respond.  After all, I'm just a constituent who busted his ass to get her elected in the first place... why bother to respond to me?

Think she'll bother to respond to you if she disagrees with you?

Think again.

If Rivers was so proud of her betrayal of the people of this county to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars... then why didn't she mention it in her voter pamphlet statement?  She sure took credit for everything else, didn't she?

I, once again, admit it.  I will never vote for her or any of her RINO lackeys again.

And the next time she breaks her word to us, you won't be able to blame me for not warning you.

Much like I warned Lew Waters and many others that Tim "The Liar" Leavitt was gaming THEM on the toll scam for the CRC with his fake claim of opposing tolls.

They didn't listen to me then, either.  And how did that work out for them?