The Seattle Times editorial board has endorsed the re-election of Ron Sims as County Executive
Imagine King County suddenly grappling with a strange, sweeping flu epidemic, a terrorist attack or earthquake. Voters pondering which candidate would do a better job leading in times of trouble should pick incumbent King County Executive Ron Sims.A sensible person would trust David Irons to do a better job. It's laughable to suggest that Sims, who has demonstrated difficulty with middle school arithmetic, is equipped to cope with something as scientifically complex as a flu epidemic.
Equally comical, if it weren't so disturbing, is the way the Times editorialists spun the election scandal to downplay Sims' responsibility --
:
the brouhaha surrounding his weak handling of the elections office ... He did not catch on soon enough to problems in the elections office, which were both institutional and technicalThe problems weren't a matter of weak management by Sims. They were a product of inappropriate meddling by the Executive's office, at best a year-long cover-up of severe mistakes that could have changed the outcome of the governor's race and that were improperly concealed from the litigants in the election contest trial; at worst, it was organized fraud to manipulate the results.
The Times endorsements and other opinions are generally too silly to take seriously, especially when they're based, as this one is, on distorted facts and jumps of illogical reasoning. And I doubt the editorial page has much influence, especially on races where there are a lot of other sources of news and commentary. Except for Bruce Ramsey's first-rate columns on local issues, there's little value in the in-house opinion pieces. Expectations are both low and met, so you have to wonder why the paper and its customers keep paying for this stuff.
The Seattle Times news desk is another matter. As the region's closest thing to a newspaper of record, readers have a higher expectation that it will keep the public well-informed. Regarding the Sims administration, I know that the Times is sitting on a lot more information about the elections fraud and cover-up scandal than it has dared to report, even as the reporters know that they're being lied to by the Elections Office. Will the paper do its job and break news in time for the public to make an informed decision on Nov. 8, or will it continue to look the other way and preserve its cozy spot in the status quo?
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 31, 2005 09:09 AM | Email ThisIt's about time the gloves have come off on this election. Unless Sims gets exposed by the papers and the media soon, I am afraid he will pull it out.
The power structure of this state has to change and it has to start now.
In my City, the local mayor race is getting campaign contributions from somewhere on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. What in the name of high heaven do these folks have a say in my government?
912- same thing. The power needs to be changed and neutralized. Do all you can and don't forget "to vote early and vote often and don't forget the dead relatives and the unborn children" (quote from a Democratic high operative in 2003 election).
Posted by: swatter on October 31, 2005 09:41 AMSo we can see someone in the mold of Dean Logan, appointed by Ron Sims for party power structure reasons, grapple with the intricacies of such a disaster. And I'm sure King County and Jim McDermott would be quick to reach out to the Federal Government and the President for assistance.
God help us all.
Posted by: Larry on October 31, 2005 10:39 AMThis is every bit as much political activism as what Carlson & Wilber do with their audience, it's just less honest. If local voters were more educated, Seattle MSM would earn themselves the position of total irrelevance.
Posted by: dl on October 31, 2005 11:29 AMSeriously, if Seattle has a natural disaster, the house of cards will come falling down. And if you need to see a comparison of competent leadership in the face of a disaster, see Rudy's handling of NY on the heels of 9/11. Or simply look at Mississippi's governor Haley Barbour's preparation and response to Katrina. (Hint for you trolls, both successful responses were run by Republicans.)
The dems in N.O. and LA cried and whined for and about federal aid. The Rs in NY and MS took care of their own business. And when Rita came a callin', Houston successfully evacuated 2.5 million people (and even used school buses), while closing down over 400 miles of interstate highway so that all lanes were open to out-bound traffic.
Dems...clowns. Republicans...git er done.
Posted by: Danny on October 31, 2005 12:13 PMHmmm....The Seattle Times conduct their investigative reporting in an "unbiased" manner?
I think I'll wait for pigs to start flying instead.
Posted by: jaybo on October 31, 2005 12:50 PMGood thing for them they have a decent sports section, or no one would read them...
Posted by: marcs on October 31, 2005 12:57 PMGet real folks...you couldn't come up with a real candidate so you support slime?
Posted by: HelloWorld on October 31, 2005 01:25 PMGoldy is a REALLY LEFT WING DUDE, and he's upfront about it. The Seattle Times, however, tries to present themselves as fair and balanced (my appologies to Fox). The Seattle news establishment in genreal is pretty biased. Ray Charles could see that, and, not only is Ray blind, he's dead!
Posted by: Libertarian on October 31, 2005 01:34 PMWell yes, I imagine that you would. That's why you are a liberal toilet-drinker. Fortunately there aren't any candidates who fit your description (unless you know something about sims that you would like to share?!), so we'll just have to go with who we have....
Even when her scumbag son won't take a polygraph?
How does that fit with the party of integrity and character -- just like good ol' GW returned to the White House (except for all those indicted folks of course)...
Politics trumps character and slime..eh?
Hello World: People like yourself (whom I have NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER voted for Clinton both times) are not in an enviable position to be pointing fingers about integrity and character.
Posted by: itTakesAVillageIdiotToProposeUniversalHealthCare on October 31, 2005 01:57 PMI never would defend Clinton's morals (or more correctly lack thereof).
So...now do you agree that Irons' beating his own mother is a blight on his character?
Posted by: HelloWorld on October 31, 2005 01:59 PMOh wait, I forgot, you don't have to be registered to vote in King County, you don't have to be a US citizen, you don't have to live in King County or even in the state of Washington, and you can vote as many times as you want, even if you are a felon. But they probably wouldn't count MY vote because I'm retired Army.............
Posted by: sgmmac on October 31, 2005 02:29 PMSo, should we lend credence to a totally unsubstantiated charge and consider it a "blight"?
Hmmm....Rumor has it that ron sims is a hermaphrodite serial child molester. Is it true? Who knows! But RUMOR HAS IT, you see.
Do you now consider this a blight on sims's character?
I thought not.....
Posted by: alphabet soup on October 31, 2005 02:50 PM"Mr. Sims ...KC is the largest County, and can "decide" the entire State in any important State Race. Why does someone need to File Suit to get information from your elections dept, under the Public Records Request.
If Mr. Logan had provided the information requested months ago, we would not be asking the same questions today. With the repeated requests and delay's, and now the lawsuit filed, we enter another election with no confidence.
Why did the elections department wait until they are "too busy" with an election? Is the information that is being requested, somehow damaging to the current administration?
I ask this question because I am a citizen of this state, not of King County. Your Elections Department should be held to higher standards than any other in this state, solely because of the size. No "one" county should be able to mandate the entire state."
I encourage all SP'ers to do the same...
Posted by: Chris on October 31, 2005 02:53 PM
Q: Mr. Sims, some have questioned your enlightened humanitarian response to the latest natural disaster. Do you have a response for your critics?
A: I asked Dean Logan and he told me that there was no natural disaster, but if there were our response would be the envy of New Orleans. Now if everyone would just go back to work and earning money so I can raise your taxes and take your property. Next question?
There is a reason that polygraphs are in admisable as evidence in court-- because they are notoriously inaccurate. And yes, having listened to a couple of interviews of her, it is easy to not believe his mom. The only "proof" is her word, and the woman is not quite firing on all pistons. No bruises or wounds, police reports, witnesses... nothing. And last I checked, it was innocent untill proven guilty. Heck, even Sims ripped Goldy a new one for publishing it, that's how believable the story is.
Posted by: Mike H on October 31, 2005 07:02 PMI can only imagine what their sales are today....after their endorsement of Sims.......(I hope his payoff for their endorsement makes up for their lost revenue....)
Posted by: Deborah on October 31, 2005 08:59 PM1) It would seem that Stefan could present a good case for 'throwing the rascals out' with objective evidence of fraud, misfeasance, etc., in say, half/full a newspaper page.
2) How about a paid half/full-page ad in the newspaper? I'd be willing to contribute to that!
3) I don't like to waste money, so which 'rag' should this be carried in the Times or PI or both?
4) Where do I send my money for this effort?
Posted by: OroDave on October 31, 2005 09:16 PMI'm getting to the point that when I hear the word "community" I slip the safety-catch off my revolver. Mentally speaking, of course!
The best thing that could happen in the Seattle publishing world would for the Times to go tits up and take that wretched P-I along with it to the big printing press in the sky.
Posted by: Bill K. on October 31, 2005 10:55 PMYou're such a big Ron Sims supporter, yet you've never mentioned nor championed a single reason to vote for him. Don't worry, none of his other 'supporters' can either. Most of them have the mental acuity, like yourself, of the 'supporters' you might see hanging around the sacks of NFL football players every Sunday.
Posted by: Larry on November 1, 2005 12:38 AMThere, now that we got that out of the way....;'}
Posted by: alphabet soup on November 1, 2005 07:26 AMHow accurate is a King 5 poll, given that Seattle news organizations have regulated themselves into branch offices of the Sims re-election campaign? Could be who called my house last night. Recording said they had two quick questions, but when the first one was "will you vote Democrate or Republican in the 2006 election"...I hung up. If they are going to interrupt my family time, they need a better agenda than putting my number in their data base as "conservative" so they know who not to call next time. I have no faith that their "poll" isn't skewed towards their candidate, like everything else they say.
Is anyone requiring this crap to be reported as in-kind-contributions? If this unconstitutional ruling is going to stand, we need speech police so both sides are penalized fairly.
Posted by: dl on November 1, 2005 07:48 AMEeek!
Posted by: Bill K. on November 1, 2005 11:15 PM