September 26, 2006
Help this woman move out of the governor's mansion
Mrs. Gregoire's Monday press conference is on TVW. The bit about the dinner she auctioned off starts at 26:55.
Gregoire acknowledges that the governor's mansion "is the people's house". Nevertheless, she's defiantly blind to the distinction between having guests over and the ethical problem of selling dinners at the people's house for political fundraisers. She also complains about the privilege of living in the governor's mansion:
It's a difficult place to live in, folks. You're not free to do a whole lot.
30:59:
Again, I ought to be able to have somebody in my own private living quarters in the mansion ... And if you're not going to let a governor do that, in the mansion, I don't think you're going to get very many governors who want to live there.
Ingrate. There should be no shortage of volunteers to help her move out.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at September 26, 2006
11:42 AM | Email This
1. Were it not for Sound Politics, blogs and the like, this would never have even hit the public eye. Amazing how quickly Queen Christine changed her tune once it hit the airwaves! Does anyone really believe that it was just going to be a little dinner, "fixed by Mike" in the private quarters? Heck no, no one would pay $3000-4000 for that and she knows it! Never doubt that "we the people" would have been footing the bill for a full "State" dinner in the Mansion dining room with all proceeds going to Darcy Burner! When will the little people understand that the rules apply to them, but not to the annointed who are soooo much smarter and more worthy?!
2. You must also tip your hat to Richard Pope.
He filed the complaint.
Gregoire probably would have ignored Blog criticism.
She couldn't ignore the formal complaint.
Thanks to Richard for his efforts.
3. Please make sure to take it out on Darcy Burner in November, yet another reason to vote against her. Then the Governor would have taken all of this heat for NOTHING. Just the thought of it makes me smile.
4. Sound Politics and Richard Pope deserve kudos for getting the word out and keeping the pressure on. The Lame Stream Media never would have had any comments.
5. I think she's right: she SHOULD be able to invite whoever she wants into "her" (provided by the people) living quarters... if she stops being Governor at 5:00 p.m.
Hey-y-y-y... We could have Dino take the other 15 hours of every day.
6. How about setting up a Gregoire move out helper list here on SPolitics? Those of us willing to volunteer our own time help her move out 1/09 could sign up. Then, say around Christmas, we could send her a Christmas card showing her how many fellow Washingtonians would drive to Olympia and generously, happily, joyously help her move out......Just a thought...
7. A modest proposal to keep our Governor happy:
I seem to remember the governor of Arkansas temporarily lived in a trailor home while that Governor's mansion was renovated. Perhaps Governor Gregoire could avail herself of a double wide for political functions?
P.S. If the commute were a little shorter I would gladly trade spaces with her. She could have all of the formal occasions she wanted to in my living room. I would pledge not to hold any fundraisers in the mansion.
8. I ought to be able to have somebody in my own private living quarters in the mansion
Absolutely, you can have people over. But there's a few laws about fundraising for political candidates that the former Attorney General of this state should have known about. I agree with the poster on the other thread, there is absolutely NO excuse that someone who held her previous position would not have known about using public property for political fundraising.
9. As I said before, I feel her pain. She can resign tomorrow and start living free. Really.
And she is trying to confuse the point. She can have all the guests she wants. She just can't outright sell tickets (so to speak)to benefit her political party to do it. Didn't someone else suggest that she could invite those auction winners to her own residence that she lived in before living in the mansion?
Dino, your state awaits a more palatable governor.
10. We have a terrific governor who is doing lots of good things for our state. She has a backbone and is a moderate on most issues. As a centrist, I'm appreicative of her professionalism and results.
I know that because she doesn't have an R by her name, you will never support her. That's ok..it just marginalizes the view of your extreme position -- most of my centrist (R and D) friends like what she's done...like the state of our state and feel good about the future.
Many more people will volunteer to keep her in Olympia then help her move out.
11. Well "Jim Miller" (I somehow don't think you are the Jim Miller who blogs on this site), why don't you enlighten us on just what issues she is a "moderate" on. A moderate I suppose is anyone who agrees with you.
12. I'd volunteer to throw her sh*t out on the front lawn, but it's up to her to get it from there, to her new digs.
And I'd do it for a Repub who was proven to be as crooked as she is, Jim-Bob...
;)
13. Okay, Jim, let's see where you're really coming from. Please give us a list of the "lots of good things for our state" that Queen Christine has accomplished. Does the gas tax make you "feel good"? Does state sponsored thuggery in the form of forced union dues make you "feel good"? I'm really interested. What exactly are her great accomplishments for this state of ours?
14. I see the fake Jim is afraid to stand up and comment. Gotta be a liberal Democrat.
15. Yeah, he's a troll. And he's misrepresenting someone who blogs here which should be some kind of rule or something. What's the punishment? Outting his IP for one....
16. Richard Pope, you ARE the man!
17. Any bets on how many of us think "Jim Miller" in post 10 is really Ms. Fraudoire?
Hey, Jimbo, your lack of supporting facts for your statements show how wide your liberal stripe really is. How is someone who has impleted more taxes and raised traffic fines a "moderate"? Or the forced union membership of state workers? Sounds more like a communist.
18. Please don't vote against Darcy because of the indiscretion of one of her supporters. It wasn't her idea, and it put her in a very awkward position.
Instead, vote against Darcy because... there's just no reason to vote *for* her.
19. Tell me when and where I'll be there to help mover her out!!!
20. Democrats are not happy people. That Greogire takes offense to those who question using her status and the facilities associated with the Governor's office to auction political gifts shows how little common sense she possesses.
And she can't even back down with dignity. She deserves the criticism.
21. wait--didn't "Mike the Mover" run for Senator? guess he won't be re-doing his business cards, eh?
shoot--he can pitch in & help her move--(at arm's-length price, of course)
22. When Guv Fraudoire is out of the mansion that evening holding her fundraising dinner for "Burner the House Downer" could we borrow the "people's house" to hold an informal gathering of Dino Rossi supporters? No fundraising, just a time to pop a cork or two and open a beer or three and get a feel for what it will be like in January 2009. Come on, the mansion will be available that evening anyway, right?
23. Of course Her highness can have people over for a private dinner at the governor's mansion. I'm sure it's been done many times. I think she knows it and probably has indeed had people over for dinner.
The whole point here is that she auctioned off the invitation for political reasons. Had she done so as part of a non-political charitable auction, no one would have raised an eyebrow.
Gregoire isn't some dumb hick who might have made a mistake, she is an attorney. She was also the State Attorney General. She KNOWS the law.
For her to cry about not being able to have guests is just plain disingenuous. She knows the law. If you think she doesn't, then you are probably the dumb hick.
VW
24. Fraudoire says: "Again, I ought to be able to have somebody in my own private living quarters in the mansion."
Well, Fraudoire- if you do it for money, it's often called prostitution.
25. Yeah right, Gregoire has done a lot of good things for the State.
Raising the Gas Tax.
Growing the size of Government.
Yeah right.
Bad Try===No Sale
26. "...and the unwashed masses with torches gathered at the Bastille Gates of the Olympia Mansion...their garlic breath and anger was oozing from every pore...the tension could be felt like crisp morning fog on the Nooksack River..." one peasant grumbled: "...ha--THEY are not like us--they do not LISTEN...why?...our animals listen..." grrrr
27. Remember this in 2008 should be the battle cry, like Remember the Alamo ! It is hard to say who is worse her or Hillary Clinton.
She is the Governor of King County. What goes around comes around. Save this up for the 2008 campaign - you'll need it !
It would be good if Dino Rossi is her opponent again...bring it on!
28. She said it more than 3 times so it must be true! LOL! No one wants to be Governor because "she can't have anyone over to let her old man cook them a simple meal"....ugh! To think that we trusted this female dog as the "top" law enforcement officer for the state.....What a piece of work! The head bobbing and smile's were very telling. Democrats=Communism, Republican's=American Patriotism!
29. Finally a Governor who speaks the truth - the Mansion is a hard place to live in. Everybody who has been in the private quaters knows it.
The public spaces in the house are beautiful. But being cooped up in the private quarters is not easy living.
So Richard Pope wasted more public money on a self promoting ethics complaint.
30. Try living in a tent city without servants or guards. Then tell me again how hard it is to live in the PEOPLE'S Govornor mansion without your political hacks buying their way in...
I don't feel any of her pain!
31. Good job, Richard Pope of holding an elected official's feet to the fire..you also Stefan for exposing it to the light of day..
32. It's delicious irony that now feels trapped by the very place she hungered for and bullied her way into. Enjoy the taste of bitter fruits chrissy.
33. Thor: Sounds like you've maybe been there to see the "private quaters" she's so cooped up in? Tell me, does it have maybe more than 1,500 or 2,000 square feet? That's about the average family footage for us peons. I really don't think, if it was that "cooped up" in there, she would be inviting guests over, do you? Stop preening for the Queen, Thor. Makes you look like the court jester.
34. I wonder how many Toyota Prius's hybrids it will take to move her out in 2008. That is if their $3000 plus labor battery can hold up under the loads.
"Can't wait...Till 2008!"
35. she's a Leona Helmsley to a tee.
KS 27--remember the Alamo works--how about "remember the dinner roll!"
Cheryl 32--exactly. now she is playing victim--bad press & the Right again? just like recently from the Arkansas 2. it's never their own actions, just the evil critics.
36. Finally a Governor who speaks the truth - the Mansion is a hard place to live in. Everybody who has been in the private quaters knows it.
The public spaces in the house are beautiful. But being cooped up in the private quarters is not easy living.
Boo freakin' hoo. Cry me a river, lousy 'Rats. If Fraudoire doesn't like it, I'm sure there are many other suitable living quarters available in the Olympia area. And don't give me any crap about "security". Security at many private residences is at least as good as what can be provided by the state.
Ironic that Fraudoire would complain about living in the Governor's mansion, the very place the 'Rats cheated and schemed and ruined the confidence of the people in the electoral process to get her into. Well, 'Rats, you made your bed, now lie in it. And tell your Fraudoire of a "Governor" to suck it up and live with it, just like the "little people" have to do.