The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime, and the punishment of his guiltJohn Philpot Curran, 1790*
Now that the Wenatchee trial is behind us, our mission is to remain vigilant to defend our liberties from the arrogance, incompetence and outright frauds inflicted upon us bythe likes of Christine Gregoire and King County officials.
Here are some of the things we all can do together this year, starting immediately:
* Continue to keep a close eye on King County Elections. Not only to understand what went wrong in the last election and hold accountable those who ill-served us, but more importantly to monitor that future elections are conducted with the integrity and transparency that the public deserves. I can almost guarantee, that no election in King County will ever be certified in the foreseeable future without a full and honest accounting of both ballots and voters and a full disclosure of any discrepancies.
* Work in the trenches during the elections. I'm delighted to report that over 100 readers responded to my call to volunteer to work at the polls this fall. This will make a huge difference.
* Campaign for effective election reform for security, integrity and accountability in elections. Among other things, reform the current idiotic election contest statute that only protects the most blatant election worker "errors" and outright voter fraud. Push for sensible reforms that would enable a clearly tainted election with a plainly uncertain outcome to be nullified and rerun.
* Elect David Irons for County Executive in November.
* Say NO! to the wasteful and irresponsible transportation package. Help put the No New Gas Tax initiative on the ballot and pass it at the polls in November.
Hopefully, Republicans all over the state are thinking the same things, so we can make them happen.
Posted by: Timothy on June 9, 2005 11:27 AMStefan, I'm curious how much higher the traffic was on your site Monday then on normal days or days leading up to the court result. I know for a period there after the ruling it took forever to post a comment. Just curious.
Mark D
Posted by: Mark D on June 9, 2005 11:27 AMI know a referendum requires fewer signatures, but are there other advantages to them over the initiative?
Thanks for the education
Posted by: Jack on June 9, 2005 11:34 AMIt is very difficult to move conservative people from the talking stage to the action stage. It takes STRONG leadership. It takes clear instruction and TASKS for people to do. This has long been the WSRP's biggest obstacle.
If this Election Contest doesn't get people off their A$$ES as a Call to Action....well, then it's never gonna happen.
The WSRP needs to immediately and I mean immediately make sure each County has current, updated voter registration lists divided up by precindts with info on whether or not they were credited with voting in this last election. Local people need to call their neighbors on these lists. Local people need to make sure everyone in their precindt is a legitimate voter. THE WSRP needs to provide clear instructions on how to challenge someones registration if they do not live where they say they do. That means doing some investigative work because as Micajah pointed out, you must state where the voter actually lives in the challenge.
WHERE IS THE WSRP LEADERSHIP?????
CHRIS VANCE---now is the time to get it together and call folks to action with a well-orchestrated effort to clean up the registration roles ESPECIALLY AND STARTING WITH HIGHLY DEMOCRATIC PRECINDTS!!!
Today!
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on June 9, 2005 12:25 PMJust because Gregoire and her party won this case, it does not make her anymore legitimate as Governor of this state. Was her appointment and installation as acting Governor due to fraud? There does appear to be elements of this. However, if there was no fraud committed (which those suspicions continue to linger) the only laurels that King County can rest on are that they are extremely incompetent and poorly run and that is nothing that neither Sims nor Logan can smile about (as they have in the aftermath of the verdict of this trial - that's scary).
No one truly knows who won this election. This has been stated by the Democratic statistician (on the stand during cross-examination), Dean Logan, Sam Reed and even the Judge himself. Therefore, the only things that came out of Wenatchee were the following:
1. Gregoire's election as Governor is still
unresolved
2. King County is still a mess and will
continue to remain so as long as Sims
and Logan are in charge
3. The election process and laws are in need
of serious reformation (which also need
a leadership change starting w/former AG
Gregoire herself down through the Leg.)
4. This state (subjective) will continue to
suffer under the poor leadership (as
demonstrated by Gregoire and Legislature
thus far)
On the other hand, what can be gained from all of this? Much. People of WA are getting a first hand look at a broken system and the abuse of power by a party (with exceptions of independents such as Owen, Sheldon, etc) that is running rough-shod over the will of the people. The fear is that we (the people) will forget. I disagree. In spite of Gregoire and her Legislature, we the people stood up and challenged her and her loyalists with a ReVote Rally and many campaigns and protests (never letting her silently settle into the mansion). We the people are fighting the overturning of voter approved initiatives such as 601 with the no new gas tax campaign. We the people have the opportunity to change the makeup of the Legislature by voting out those who stood against us with the raising of our taxes and ignoring us...the very people who placed them in that position. We the people will have the opportunity to send the ULTIMATE MESSAGE in 2008 by redefeating Gregoire and having the first elected Governor of the state since Locke!
Lets continue to remind her that she was never elected and that she will be redefeated.
Keep suggesting specific steps I can take to follow your lead. I will respond to at least some of your direction. Although I can't speak for them, I suspect others will be with me.
Have you considered developing some 'Regional Shark Assistants' to work with you on specific projects? I think a Statewide volunteer chain of command effort with emphasis on population centers might be an idea worth considering. Organization combined with communication to know what is being accomplished where could be of value.
Posted by: Curtis T. Mohr on June 9, 2005 12:47 PMwww.cascadecounty.kendra.com
Sorry, quick nitpick on your choice of words: Hillary calls them "contributions." Olympia calls them "packages." Don't fall into the trap! They're all just TAXES!
Posted by: TB on June 9, 2005 02:12 PMAre we the party of Walter Mitty and the Dems the party of Rambo? What keeps us so silent, so polite, so sheepish and so pliable? Our morality? Our religion? The meek may inherit the earth, but they will never govern this state. Or is it we just don't care, that we really don't believe deep down inside the problem is THAT bad? We blog, we rant, but when it comes right down to it, we sit on our asses. Does anyone think this is how the Ds would have reacted to the ruling?
Like many, I am a transplant to this state. I have loved it from the start. It's my love for Washington that makes me angry now. But I am also very disillusioned. When I lived back east in Virginia, we were able to get things done. We chased off Doug Wilder, Chuck Robb and all the other liberal swine. We made a difference. I just don't see that spirit in the Republicans out here. They have been denied victory for so long, defeat has become institutionalized.
Posted by: On the Far Right Side of the State on June 9, 2005 02:22 PMSo, if a bill has an emergency clause, it can not be put to a vote through a referendum. For example, the gas tax bill had an emergency clause which is why we need I-912.
Here is what the SoS file says about referenda: "The only acts that are exempt from the
power of referendum are emergency laws — those that are necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health or safety, and the support of state government
and its existing institutions."
Out of curiosity, with all the caveats put on the gas tax money - passing a local tax increase or the money could go elsewhere - how does that qualify it as "... those that are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, and the support of state government and its existing institutions."?
With additional programs and new spending, I think it is a farce to say that the emergency clause was necessary on over 18% (1 in 6) of the bills passed this year. It's obvious that the Democrat majority did not feel comfortable passing all of the tax increases without first limiting the voters ability to respond. The Governor gleefully signed the increases into law without once publicly questioning the emergency clause.
To make a short story long, the citizens will be more active in the initiative process precisely because our legislators have forced us. I see that there is I 905 which may address the emergency clause abuse, but it still requires a jaunt to the court.
Posted by: Jack on June 9, 2005 02:42 PMHmm... 3 Germans and 2 Italians. Somebody needs to tell these fascists that WWII is over.
And they lost.
Posted by: Dogbert on June 9, 2005 08:44 PMWere you given a rhyming dictionary as a gift, or did you come up with that one yourself?
Posted by: jdb on June 10, 2005 10:32 PM