As long as people like Alison Carl can't see corrupt and integrity-less self and blame the system, the system will never run the way it's supposed to run.

and

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

You take virtually nothing, embellish it "Rush Limbaugh" style and try to create an evil result.

The real result is that you are simply painting yourself into a more and more extreme corner.

Most of the *reasonsable* republicans (I know, you are not reasonable) realize this. Finkbeiner votes with the vast majority, Tom swithces parties. Even your fellow national extremists are now only able to give Bush a low 30%s approval rating.

Your continual Sims' attacks really just show us you are the small one here. Your bragging about being quoted in the Economist even further minimizes your legitimacy.

Amazing that you still find some extreme supporters to drink your kool aid. Must be getting really lonely...

pass me some more of that kool-aide, dude. It's very satisfying!!!
Funny, never thought of myself as extreme. Perhaps in washington having a sense of Integrity IS EXTREME....

LovinUSA, take a deep breath, man.

The LAST thing the republicans have is integrity.

That's why 35% of the people support Bush right now! Remember, he was the "character" candidate?

His cabinet is as crooked as they come. His key advisors are going 1 by 1 in front of grand juries. Leading Senators (e.g. Frist) are in trouble along with the leading Represenatives (e.g. Delay). Not to mentoin the ones in jail or resigning from taking bribes.

Every bush cabinet resignee has written a book on the lying at every level of the bush administration.

It must be really embarassing to be a republican these days. And certainly hypocritical to even use the word integrity...much less claim it.

Ron Sims? You obviously are way off your meds! He is without a doubt a good politician, an accomplished liar, a soul less socialist and a life long political hack. He has cost his constituents millions, stolen property, and supported a corrupt elections agency that will soon topple under the weight of its own arrogance and incompetence. His only claim to fame is D behind his name. He still cannot go into Rural King county without a bodyguard.

Then I remind myself: Don't argue with or pay attention to a fool. It only makes the fool think that they have an audience and are important.

I'd wager that somebody mentioned in this post has a county job that grants them a bit too much free time to kill.

How often do you get out of your liberal echo chamber?

Stefan is the small guy with the blog. Ron Sims is the head of the big machine that has repeatedly lied to the public, misrepresented facts, and attacked whistleblowers. I thought you liberals were FOR the little guy, and AGAINST the big machines?? I guess it really depends if they have a (D) or an (R) next to their name, right?

It's interesting that you quote Bush's poll numbers. Are you aware that he's a lame-duck and that he won't be running for re-election in 2008? If so, I can't imagine why his poll numbers are important? I wonder what John Kerry's poll numbers are now? Does John Edwards even have a poll number?

Let me ask you a pointed question, LovinUSA:

Christine Gregoire (whose poll numbers DO matter) has one of the lowest Gubernatorial approval ratings in the nation. Almost two-thirds of the state believe that Dino Rossi won outright, or that it's impossible to know who won. Gregoire is viewed as illegitimate by many in this state, and around the country Washington is viewed as a laughinstock for this situation.

Do you believe that Christine Gregoire rightly won the election, that she had the most legal votes? If so, why couldn't King County account for, handle, and count the votes accurately until the THIRD count? Why did they keep 'finding' those 'legally cast' ballots? If they 'found' ballots 11 times, how many batches are still missing someplace?

How have you held Ron Sims, Dean Logan, and King County responsible for their incompetance and neglect in not being able to perform their job after the election, resulting in 3 counts, a court case, and the general view that Gregoire is illegitimate?

We believe that it was fraud and corruption that led to Gregoire winning the manual recount. Liberals believe it wasn't fraud - they believe King County just couldn't do their job right the first two times. This resulted in taxpayers paying millions of dollars, Washington State being dragged through the mud, and your precious Governor Gregoire being viewed as illegitimate.

Is that okay with you?

We're around the same age.
We're both multi-generational Washington natives.
We're both in the same industry; although I'm sure the number on his paycheck has one more digit than mine.

So how can we have such disparate views on the United States and the direction it is heading in?
I'm a hicktown reporter who, while growing up, had to clean chicken coups to earn money. Blethen is the son of a multi-millionaire.
So why am I the one who feels positive and upbeat about America while Blethen has the view of one who is being led to the guillotine. Does he really mean it or is he just writing for effect?
I'll change places with him if life is so bad although I'll be keeping the hoe I use for scraping out chicken coups. Might need it to get the Times back making a profit.

This is what is supposed to save the Times? I hope the Blethen's have saved up lots of money, because it just a matter of time before it goes under.

Cynthia and her spouse are living in the basement..... Duh. Sheesh

I believe she's now registered in Kittitas County as Cynthia S. Hebert (click on link to see record). The age is right and the Kittitas registration was created on Oct 3, 2005, the same day that King County records show that Cynthia Sullivan's registration was cancelled with reason "MOVED OUT OF COUNTY".

I saw that entry and wondered but figured that was a heck of a commute if she is still on Sims payroll. How much does she make and what exactly does she do for King Country all the way over the pass? Maybe she was just SO valuable to King Ron that he kept paying her even after she moved away. Good work, if you can get it!