When I saw the quotes at Orbusmax from this Robert Jamieson column, I thought it was an all out attack on those who want an accurate vote tally in King County. And it is, as you can see from the phrases he uses:
Republican Red Scare . . . swirling forces of sneer and smear . . . skeletal greybeard . . . slithered back . . . shooting hyperbole from the hip . . . ruthlessly right-wing . . . Slade the Blade . . . partisan puffery . . . relishes heat over light . . . politics of destructiveness . . . lock-and-load revenge mode . . . want the head . . . lunatic blog-crazed fringe . . . rage campaign . . . GOP Scream Machine . . . wild personal attacks
He is objecting, if you are wondering, to former Senator Slade Gorton's claim that King County "has the worst elections administration of any county in the United States". I wouldn't say that, because I haven't examined all the counties in the United States. But I would say that I do not know of any county with more errors than King. (I don't know whether Jamieson considers me a member of the "lunatic blog-crazed fringe". He has never replied to any of my emails, some critical, some complimentary.)
But it is also an admission, if you read all the way through to the 21st paragraph, that those in the "lunatic blog-crazed fringe" are at least partly right.
Under [King County director of elections Dean] Logan's watch, valid absentee ballots were mistakenly left out of vote counting. Dead voters and felons cast ballots. A discrepancy in ballot numbers that should have been reported to Logan somehow failed to make it up the chain.
(And if he had been reading Sound Politics, he could have added many items to that list.) So, there are valid complaints, but it is wrong for Republicans to make them? Is that what he means? And why does he think it fair to hold King County Executive Ron Sims responsible, but not Sims' appointee, Dean Logan? I honestly don't know the answer to either question.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(Composition teachers will be amused by parts of the column; it would be better writing, for example, if Jamieson had picked a single metaphor or description for Gorton and then stuck to it, rather than mixing them wildly. And composition teachers will be annoyed by other parts; for example, the phrase, "somehow failed to make it up the chain", uses the passive voice to excuse the inexcusable. That's a trick politicians and bureaucrats often use; Jamieson should be ashamed to copy them.)
Posted by Jim Miller at April 08, 2005 07:31 AM | Email ThisI believe that in order to actually have a mind and cognizant thought processes, one must first have a functional brain. To have a functional brain, one requires a repository for said brain. By her own moniker, she has no repository, therefore, she must be a tape recorder,(because even a CD recorder has some semblence of artificial intelligence).
Posted by: dragon on April 8, 2005 08:01 AMPR
Posted by: PR on April 8, 2005 08:02 AMCorrect me if I'm wrong, but is it even possible to have one without the other? I say turn the light on full blast. The heat is merely a byproduct.
You ask for comparisons to Ohio or Florida (where the problems were in...surprise...Democratic districts!), yet you offer no facts of your own.
You attack the man ("But he can also be ruthlessly right-wing. The man we're now seeing is pure Slade the Blade.") as opposed to the argument. That's called 'Argumentum ad hominem', in case you hadn't heard that phrase before.
Why not offer some facts or comparisons of your own? What are the best Election Districts in the country? Does King County measure up to those? Of course not - there are thousands of counties around the country that keep track of EVERY vote. You know it.
So try this mental machination - why not name a few counties that ARE worse than King County in 2004? Can you come up with any? If not, you can't refute Slade's assertion.
It's all coming apart, Robert, and you just threw yourself under the bus. You'd rather apologize for a flawed process set up by obvious partisans than search for the actual truth. It's a pity that a journalist like yourself has no real journalistic instincts. You could have won a Pulitzer for a comprehensive expose of this mess. Instead people like Stefan Sharkansky are doing your work, and blogs are eating traditional mass media's lunch.
As for Dean Logan - why would anyone trust him to lead us 'out of the woods'? Who led us into the woods in the first place? Dean Logan. Were this many mistakes being committed in every other election? Official election documents indicate that is not the case. Dean Logan is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Regards,
Larry
Now, if we can return to the central points, after this attempt at diversion . . .
Posted by: Jim Miller on April 8, 2005 08:19 AMJim makes a valid point in his critique of Jamieson's writing style. Although predictably partisan, he has shown that he can deliver objective journalism if he wants to.
This is just embarrassing (the sort of crap we've come to expect from the lucy's of this world)
Posted by: alphabet soup on April 8, 2005 08:20 AMLarry, that's really beautiful.
***
This guy's column is a classic case of projection, is it not?
2. There's always some other argument.
Posted by: Bostonian on April 8, 2005 08:29 AMHe's really just a talking donkey. And he accuses Gorton of being a winger.
Ass.
Posted by: Rex on April 8, 2005 08:35 AMConservatives have no right to ask for accountability. This is why performance audits hasn't gotten through yet.
Posted by: Andy on April 8, 2005 08:57 AMTom Delay is in really hot water.
Posted by headless lucy at April 8, 2005 08:27 AM
That is why they dont get it. Thank you Headlice.
Posted by: Son of Liberty on April 8, 2005 09:04 AMSo I came to the comments section to suggest that Jim should direct his comments to his fellow bloggers on this site. Stefan in particular prefers this method, which detracts from his otherwise valid arguments.
But I find the comments section overflowing with personal attacks against those with whom they disagree (and more will probably follow my comments).
I personally agree with Jim's piece. It's too bad that so many have completely missed his point.
In the interest of civil discourse, allow me to reply, absent ad hominem attacks. No one has missed Jim's point. Jim was not decrying the lowering of public debate. He was simply illuminating the impotence of those who wish to wish away corruption and incompetence.
It was the columnist's reply to mountains of evidence with personal attacks that drew the attention.
Besides, the desire for civil discourse with the left presumes an ability for reasoned arguments on the part of the left. That presumption is foolish. Bloggers here recognize this. Since it would be a waste of time to attempt to engage the willfully blind in a debate, it's just easier (and more fun) to poke them with a sharp stick on occasion.
The left is so easy to wind up, though, it does lose its appeal after a short while. (Read any post by headless for further illustration.)
Posted by: dkpcowboy on April 8, 2005 09:28 AMStop buying the PI and Times
Posted by: Brad on April 8, 2005 09:29 AMThis phenomenon, by the way, has not been peculiar to King County it is part and parcel of how Democrats have skewed the process in their favor in every municipality, county and State that they hold a decisive advantage of power. Where they ‘stepped in it’ in this case is that in King County they had been doing this for so long, and had become so arrogant, that they turned the job over to a bunch of ‘rank amateurs.’ For all they knew, after decades of the leadership of the State Republican Party being a bunch of panty waste cut and run sniveling cowards, they thought they could get away with anything no matter how outrageous.
But as the saying goes ‘the times they are a changing,’ the State Republican Party has real leadership that recognizes the importance of standing up for principal and a vital, energetic constituency as opposed to the dried out old 60’s leftovers on the Democrat side. If you don’t believe me take a look at the membership numbers of college clubs around the country and you will find out that the largest and most active clubs on most campuses are the College Republican Clubs.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Fine OPINION piece!
Posted by: Doc on April 8, 2005 10:01 AMBut Jamieson makes multiple inflammatory, unsubstantiated attacks on specific people and on the Republican party in general.
How else do you read this statement: "The state GOP relishes heat over light." Is that not an attack?
He refers to Republicans as "would-be executioners." Is that a calm, reasoned thing to say?
And he pretends it's a "mystery" why anyone would claim that KC has the worst elections administration of any country in the US.
(The statement is not exactly scientific--you'd need to see some side-by-side comparisons to determine if it really is absolutely the worst, but a truly shocking number and variety of irregularities have emerged and have been documented, even in his own paper. It's hyperbole to say KC is the worst, but it's not at all a mystery to figure out where that statement came from.)
So, Al, I don't know what editorial you read.
Posted by: Bostonian on April 8, 2005 10:03 AMDemocrats and Republicans alike will see him burn, certain to end up in jail.
Posted by: Doc on April 8, 2005 10:11 AMBig Bad Jim (and perhaps the only rep. with cult like status).
Posted by: Doc on April 8, 2005 10:13 AMI'm sure we will soon see a profanity laden ad-hominem attack piece from David Goldstein that makes even Jamieson's piece look tame.
But it's all for a good cause, because when the only defense of such an error filled election is writers like these, it's really no defense at all.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 8, 2005 10:19 AMJust a small correction as, actually, republicans are in pursuit of both - destroy the democratic coruption and construct an environment for long term free enterprise.
Posted by: Fred on April 8, 2005 10:24 AMThe column by Bogus Bob is urging Republicans to take the moral high ground by working with democrats to solve elections problems and to leave poor "near perfect" Deano alone, while at the same time it throws vile personal insults at them.
Not really a way to make friends, is it? Bogus Bob's column is disingenuous. He is being a left wing "partisan hack" while pretending to offer legitimate solutions. His editorial ridicules conservatives and it will serve to encourage more personal attacks.
I think we understand Jim's point all too well and Low Road Bob's, too. Bogus Bob has brought this election mess further into the gutter, a place toward which leftists naturally gravitate. The tone of the column is meant to inflame the situation, which it has.
How hard is this to see? Yes, he mentions lots of attacks and belittling language, but mostly because the article in question consists of little more than attacks and belittling! But time and again he uses these quotes to show they're not going anywhere. Insults are not arguments. He even shows Jamieson's poor writing, with wildly mixed metaphors. In other words he gives many examples from several different approaches all showing Jamieson's column makes no sense. (And is poorly written, to boot!)
It's in the title. It's in the article. Can it really be so hard to grasp?
Posted by: Chuck Miller on April 8, 2005 10:41 AM"a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows. One-third of Republicans say Democrats in Congress should prevent Mr. Bush and party leaders from "going too far in pushing their agenda,"
Unprecedented gas prices, a crack down on porn, a federal cut in Meth fighting, messing with social security, farm subsidy cuts....
Things are starting to get a wee bit uncomfortable in the red middle.
Posted by: CandrewB on April 8, 2005 10:42 AMEd- "How...hot...is it?"
Johnny- "It's so hot that Slade Gorton could boil a Maine lobster, a large package of his Gorton's breaded cod fillets, and still have time to count the 2,000 votes that he lost the Senate race by, before Tom Delay could denounce Rep. Senator Martinez from Florida for politically capitalizing on the unfortunate death of Terri Schiavo."
How's that for fishy/metaphor consistency?
Posted by: headless lucy on April 8, 2005 10:53 AMI thought I wasn't allowed to talk about politics outside of the "sound"? Where is thought police Larry? Anyway thanks for the link to that wonderful PI article. I made a mistake and got a subscription to that right wing rag Times. I hate those guys at the Safeways, they are so compelling.
Lucy; It wasn't Martinez. It was his attorney.
Who happened to work for Hammerheads PAC group along with Delays wife.
The vote counting process in King County was after all, as he states, over 99% accurate. That is a paragon of excellence that we, the citizens of King County, should all be proud of. There is no need to strive for anything more.
NOT! Sorry Bob, doesn't work for me, nor a majority of my King County fellow citizens, most of which, despite your own personal smear campaign, are not right wing wackos.
Maybe I if I walked a mile in your shoes.... ... .. . but in order to do that I would have to hang out with whiny losers.
Not!
The House DSLA oversight committee today announced the result of their investigation of Tom Delay regarding allegations of misuse of funds and ethics/PAC violations charges. A panel of 12 found that Tom Delay was not guilty of anything except possibly the appearance of impropriety at a politically inopportune time. There is absolutely no evidence of wrong doing. In effect Delay is guilty of “poor timing” and politically standing in the wrong place during a mournful lull in international news. The Democrat caucus consisting of nine of the committee members had no comment. Charges have been filed against several of the members for wire tapping, collusion, and filing false documents in the investigation of Tom Delay. These charges have been overshadowed by the hysteria of some in the party who are over-playing their hand in a bid to destroy Delay.
Barbara Boxer, the new Director of DemPacCuc signals it’s not political payback for leaks aimed at Bush, but she would not be surprised if it develops into one. An FBI probe and mail fraud allegations associated with these current developments are both forthcoming. The subjects of these investigations spring from behind the scenes, as Delay is exonerated and the focus shifts to the activities of his attackers. As authorities look into them, the scope of these activities are not disclosed, but considered numerous.
Because of the nature and factual inaccuracies of allegations made against Tom Delay in the democrats characteristic “shotgun” approach to charging Republicans with whatever they are able to enunciate, “we are unable to enumerate all of the claims that have been dismissed against Delay,” reported an observer for the Houston Independent Media. However, it is clear that Delay is the latest in victim of a purely partisan attack by liberals in the house “staged for effect,” that have absolutely no substance.
In fact, creators of liberal hit-pieces like those perpetrated against Delay are themselves running for cover. Amidst an avalanche of evidence proving that the charges are a mixture of lies, fabrications, and mis-direction designed to weaken his position, those like the phony charges of funding scams made and then hastily retracted by Lisa Myers. December 03, 2003 http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2003/12/19640.php
Lisa Myers is among those liberal attack dogs being investigated. However, don’t worry about Tom Delay, the liberal democrat smear machine is in full force, and the charges they make are so shallow that they are only being believed by their own. Tom Delay has done nothing other than “being a target” during a period when Democrats are afraid of the fallout that would come from any hint of attack against the Bush administration. As soon as the pope is securely buried, and the dust has settled, the democrats will choose another target closer to the White House. Most revealing of the claims against Delay is their utter lack of substance. For liberal attackers, as always, it is the seriousness of the charge, not the facts that matter. Alas, another day, nothing new.
Or should that be “Do as I say, not as I do”?
In Mr. Jamieson’s 4/7/05 column “Fresh target, fresh pit bull for GOP”, he ends with: “The time has come to put away the blade.” (I assume this means needing to “lower of the volume” and less “heat over light” instead of something more sinister seeing as he refers to former Sen. Gorton as “Slade the Blade”.)
Seems to be a rather ridiculous comment seeing as it comes at the end of a column that began:
“The Republican Red Scare is on the loose. Again.
The swirling forces of smear and sneer are now looking to a skeletal graybeard… “
Who’s doing the “smear and sneer” here?
And by the way, have you similarly taken anyone to task for going to the other extreme and calling this a “model election”?
The what? please post a link.
Or did you miss April 1st?
Posted by: danw on April 8, 2005 12:53 PMI'm disappointed you didn't make some mention of traitor, commie, panty-waist there John Wayne. Also, that whole "NOT" thing: played.
Posted by: CandrewB on April 8, 2005 01:10 PMI guess other people wish to answer your ridiculous assertions, thereby keeping your illogical posts flowing like glacial milk in the Hoh River in springtime. Such is their want.
The point of this post is the ad hominem attack by Mr Jamieson in his ridiculous Lost-Intelligencer piece. If you wish to discuss Tom Delay, go right ahead, but it only illustrates your inability to grasp what is real fraud and what is not. I certainly won't waste any more of this beautiful Seattle afternoon trying to explain something that you cannot grasp.
As for Headlice Lucy - Were the students allowed to go home for this lovely day, OR ARE YOU STILL POSTING AT WORK AND WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS?
Posted by: Larry on April 8, 2005 01:17 PMAll of this silly crap about Delay is a tedious evasion of other more important issues. It's a good thing they cleared Tom Delay, so they can go after the real criminals who lied about and framed him to begin with. Most of them will simply scamper away back under their rocks. The liberals pride for Boxer tells the whole story. It will be her turn soon.
Thanks.
Danw,
Looks like the Dumb $hit Liberal Allegations Committee (DSLA) particularly seeing as how Babs Boxer is involved, and you responded.
Candr: King County said there was no fraud? In what? Get a grip.
Posted by: Amused by liberals on April 8, 2005 01:41 PMI count no less than 10 or more blatant. kool aid induced(maybe shrooms too?) remarks from the abyss that is HL's mind. ALL the things it spews here have been done to the 10th power by the party and culture of death and washed over by the MSM and other willing accomplices.
The Delay thing, while somewhat tawdry sounding when you read the LA Times is not illegal, did not use taxpayer money and is not even a story compared to the Berger hand slap or the coffins of dead lined up over the years by the Clinton execution team. Berger better watch his back.
Posted by: niceville on April 8, 2005 02:11 PMWhaat??
Candre says: Amused, you missed the whole point of that, anyways. Boxer can go for all I care as well. Hubris is hubris and I won't defend it, why do you? Cause he's your SOB?
Maybe I don't have your sophistication so help me out there feller, O.K.? Agreed, hubris is hubris.
However:
Boxer can go where?
Who's hubris?
Who's defending hubris?
My SOB, who?
If you know, could you please splain what the heck you are trying to say--in English? In essence, WGAS?
Posted by: Amused by liberals on April 8, 2005 02:23 PMWhat I DON'T know is to whom he refers. Hubris? He was talkin' 'bout someone under attack. How is mounting a defense "hubris?"
And more to the point, what on Earth does that have to do with the topic?
Or is he referring to outrage over the stealing of an election for the highest office in the state, upon which thousands of jobs and tens of millions if not billions depend?
Not that it matters; either one is projection.
Posted by: scott158 on April 8, 2005 02:45 PMShe can provide a valuable object lesson for young people on why it is important to not do drugs. Or what can happen when you put perfectly innocent words into a blender.
Posted by: scott158 on April 8, 2005 02:50 PMI predict that they will hang on to this Tom Delay bunk even though their own people have fully and unequivocally cleared him. It is done and over with, but if they can keep it alive they will continue to cover up the investigations of those who illegally pursued Delay.
Doesn't matter, anyway. As Schism says, the liberal attackers openly admit that it is the seriousness of the charges, not the facts that matter. Have a nice weekend.
But, the fact remains that none of the problems with King County would have been exposed if we were relying on the PI.
Posted by: DeadManVoting (aka Iguana) on April 8, 2005 03:56 PMI'm all for the Monorail but once Horn gave himself a $8000 raise, he has to go, that is hubris.
Delay put his own Dad down while playing politics and publicly condemning Mr. Schiavo to Hell, also frivilously suing an equipment manufacturer for his own mistake back in '88. But if it were up to him, you could not do the same. That is unbelievable. He has to go just for that.
Are you gonna say "What about KKK Byrd?" Vote that b*st*rd out too for that as well as his pork barrel addiction. Starting to see my point?
She's lost her arguement and now is resorting to calling republicans hypcrotical and unethical in a failed attempt to change the conversation.
Maybe she can convince Rostenkowski to come out of hiding and save our system...
Posted by: bob's yer uncle on April 8, 2005 07:26 PMLucy is a student. s_choir and amused by hot air are the same person and also students at lucy's school.
The closer we get to the court date the more disruptive the leftists and/or students will be.
A certain person used to post here over and over again, the same long posts in numerous discussions.
It was like listening to the same recording repeatedly. Discussions with him usually led nowhere which I suspect is what he wanted.
We should ignore the disrupters as much as humanly possible.
Nice rant. I repeat. WGAS?
Posted by: Amused by liberals on April 8, 2005 10:19 PMhttp://wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?StoryID=5123
Posted by: Patrick E. Bell on April 9, 2005 04:11 PMHe is objecting, if you are wondering, to former Senator Slade Gorton's claim that King County "has the worst elections administration of any county in the United States". I wouldn't say that, because I haven't examined all the counties in the United States. But I would say that I do not know of any county with more errors than King.Personally, I for one don't believe that King County has the worst elections administration in the U.S. And I'm not defending King County. I just happen to believe that there are many examples of corrupt systems to point to. Like Philadelphia, for instance. Anybody who watched the conduct of the election there last Novemeber, even a mere casual observer, knows that the system that they've got in place there is thoroughly corrupt. The difference between the way a place like Philadelphia run its elections and the way Seattle runs theirs lies in two things. First is that in the Northwest we sanctimoneously believe that we are above the kind of rank union-goon driven election stealing that takes place back east. We tell ourselves that it isn't as bad and it's more more civilized, even genteel, when it's done by a Birkerstock-wearing Volvo station wagon-driver than when it's done by a thug swinging a lead pipe. Secondly, there's the fact that the election thieves in Washington were so stupid as to allow the results to be close. They should have engineered it so that Gregorire won by at least 10,000 votes, and then nobody would've cared. But when there's only a few dozen votes separating the two candidates, everything about the election gets a magnified and up-close proctology exam, and all the flaws get exposed and bandied about. That makes King County seem worse than other places when it really isn't. It's as bad as many, but not worse than the worst of the worst.
Metaphor Alert
From a column by Robert L. Jamieson Jr. in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("intelligent as a post!"):
The Republican Red Scare is on the loose. Again.
The swirling forces of smear and sneer are now looking to a skeletal graybeard to legitimize their cause: Slade Gorton.
The former U.S. senator from Washington has slithered back into the politics pool. Gorton says King County "has the worst elections administration of any county in the United States." . . .
One would have hoped the éminence grise of Evergreen State politics would be above shooting hyperbole from the hip to stir up the masses. . . .
Gorton's splash was about partisan puffery, not a fleshing of meaningful facts.
Pretty much the whole article is like this, but respect for intellectual property prevents our giving you more than a taste.
www.opinionjournal.com/best
Posted by: James on April 11, 2005 12:13 PM