July 24, 2007
By the content of their character

There's a sad irony in seeing the likeness of Martin Luther King, Jr. on King County's "2008-2012 Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Plan". It's not about preventing discrimination (according to the summary of recent discrimination complaints, hardly any actual discrimination has been found [p. 81-82]). It's about racially profiling every county employee, and setting goals and timetables to achieve "full representation" of "protected class individuals" in every job in every department. e.g. 3 of 22 "Officials and Adminstrators" in the Department of Executive Services are Asian. [p. 103] According to the formula that's more than enough Asians and there's a goal to add 1 Hispanic [p. 21]. Does this really mean an Asian applicant has less of a chance to get the next open similar position than a Hispanic does?

Modest proposal: Maybe the county should just focus on hiring the most capable people who want the jobs.

More in in the County Council's legislative archive, here.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 24, 2007 09:46 AM | Email This
Comments
1. What is it about liberals and their desire to highlight race and sexual orientation in everything? Why can't Americans just be Americans of various ethnic backgrounds and leave it at that? I mean, is it the liberal viewpoint that people of certain ethnic backgrounds require special consideration to achieve jobs? Do they believe that people of certain ethnic backgrounds "can't" achieve those positions without help to elevate lesser qualified people above those more qualified and deserving?

If Sims and the Democrats run King County, there can't be racism in hiring, can there? So their argument can only be to grant special considerations on the basis of race even though it will discriminate against those more qualified.

That to me sounds pretty racist.

Posted by: MJC on July 24, 2007 10:25 AM
2. Back in the '80 I tested for SFD. 30 slots open, 500 0 applicants. I would place in the top 30 each time, but not the top 10, white males needed to be top 10. They did one year go down to 365 on the list to make the quotas. I was number 13 that year.

Posted by: JCM on July 24, 2007 10:40 AM
3. By this logic we should be breaking things out into sub-categories to make sure that the right mix of Asians are employed (whoops, too many Chinese, fire two of them and hire Cambodians), people from blue-collar backgrounds are also hired (hey, Frank, fire that guy from Yale and hire this guy from Ohio State in his place), IQ is taken into account (I know you're qualified and this guy is as smart as a head of lettuce, but we have a quota of retards to keep on the books), and lifestyle choices are properly represented (hold on a sec, you live in the suburbs? Sorry, we can only hire people living in double-wides for this job).

After all, what does merit or experience have to do with anything?

Posted by: John Galt on July 24, 2007 10:49 AM
4. In other words, its it about institutionalizing racism. Progressives want to glorify and institutionalize the victim and the minority classes because that is the New Cultural Marxism that they see as the predecessor and recipient of the 19th Century Marxist thinking regarding the worker vs. owner.

Like that failed take on Marxism, so too will the current Political Correctness and cultural / racist Marxism will fail. What Progressives just can't seem to grasp is that building ideas on philosophical sand just does not hold up to the test of time anymore than would building physical structures.

But the Progressives are a determined set. I guess if one is that ignorant of physical and metaphysical reality, they'd be willing to try anything. Or perhaps, it's just that they have such a cynical and predatory view of their fellow man.

I place all the blame for today's increase in racism squarely on the shoulders of today's Progressives. Read HorsesAss and other Progressive (Marxist) blogs to see them try to justify their racism.

Posted by: Jeff B. on July 24, 2007 10:54 AM
5. First, I don't have any answers to the conumdrum of race in this society. Some of the threads here have been very contentious when the discussion turns to race. I do know that there are several things which will move this society to the point where there are capable people of all flavors that can be hired for any position:

1. K-12 education has to become excellent for
all children. In my opinion, it is more
important to have a superior k-12 education
than phony integration.

2. A child that has had a superior k-12 education
can compete for a slot at any university. There
has to be funding to allow the kid to go.

3. Hip-hop has to be eliminated as a cultural
influence. You know that I am on the right
track when Sharpton of Sharpton/Jackson has
jumped on the bandwagon and is now pressuring
the state of New York to divest from companies
producing this garbage. Do I sense a bandwagon
here?

The question posed by Stefan is difficult and complicated because sometimes tribal preference and not competancy may make a person decide to hire one over another. How does society conteract this preference when there may be injustice toward a group? It doesn't always have to be Caucasians discrimating against Blacks either. In New Orleans there were allegations of the other way around. In Miami, both Caucasians and Blacks say Latinos discriminate against them.

Still, everything hinges on an excellent k-12 education for all children and societal support of strong families and role models for children.

Posted by: WVH on July 24, 2007 11:02 AM
6. Oh and Stefan,

There's nothing modest about Progressives. So a modest proposal falls on deaf ears. Just read any typical Progressive or Mainstream Media trash. They are the gold standard for myopia and hauteur.

Posted by: Jeff B. on July 24, 2007 11:04 AM
7. I'm sorry, Jeff B., but before you run down another's way of thinking you should work on clarifying your own. You come across as a first year student who's just learned a lot of big new words but doesn't have a clue as to what they mean or how to use them correctly.

For example, I'm puzzled how the "new cultural marxism" can be the "predecessor" of the old marxism; what a "failed take on marxism" looks like (in the context of your rant); how reality can be both physical and metaphysical (as you seem to imply); or exactly how you can accuse classic marxism of having "a cynical and predatory view of their fellow man", when such a view is usually associated with that of classic liberalism, early Calvinism and the American Founding Fathers.

In any event, I do agree with you in part in that I think that modern liberals perpetuate racism through their use of race based affirmative action (which I despise), and I wholehearted agree with WVH that education is our best hope for elimnating racial hatreds, although, given the miserable state of public education in this country, I don't have much hope for our immediate future.

Posted by: MJ on July 24, 2007 12:33 PM
8. MJ,

I'll explain it all a bit hear. But go read about Herbert Marcuse. Marxism is a 19th century philosophy. The fundamental concept is that of class warfare. Originally, the idea was to pit the haves against the have nots. But that does not work so well under US Capitalism, because over time, almost everyone has done quite well under our system. Certainly in comparison to any other former human poverty, even the poorest in the US now live quite well. But not to rathole on a discussion of poverty. The point is that the New Cultural Marxists, with the lead of Marcuse (earlier mispelling) came to the US in the 20th century, and instituted what we now know as Political Correctness, and the hedonistic sexual revolution of the late 1960s.

These New Marxists want to institute class warfare, as with 19th century Marxism, but this time, the medium is Culture and Race. It's much easier to create classes of race and culture (and it is indeed almost arbitrary) and then pit those classes against whatever the assigned "majority" color or class is current in the West. And that's exactly what's happening. Progressives are Marxists whether they know it and admit it or not.

I may have worded the first comment a bit poorly, but it's a large topic for a single comment.

Posted by: Jeff B. on July 24, 2007 04:28 PM
9. Oops, a couple more typos. You get the idea.

Posted by: Jeff B. on July 24, 2007 04:29 PM
10. Does anyone know what the county pays annually to use the likeness of MLK? I understand that MLK's family has tight control of the use of his image and anyone who wants to use it has to fork over BIG BUCKS. (which is why, I believe, you do not see the image as much as you would think, especially on the holiday bearing his name).

Posted by: Michele on July 24, 2007 04:48 PM
11. I noted with interest (page 424) that King County has 13,529 employees with a full 67.5% of them earning salary of $50,000+ annually (not including benefits).

I'd love to see how this compares to the rest of the working citizens because my suspicion is that the employees are well compensated vis-a-vis the private-sector tax-payer. Don't forget the public-sector non-wage benefits which tend to be better than most private-sector jobs.

If they can do a comparision like they did on page 18, I suspect there must be data somewhere to provide this view; it just isn't a focus of this report. I wish it was though.

The only data I can find is that the 2006 census appears to show average HOUSEHOLD income in King County as being at $53,157. Helpful, but not entirely insightful:
http://www.answers.com/topic/king-county-washington

Does anyone know where the data might be available?

Posted by: Interesting Data on July 24, 2007 05:18 PM
12. Now I understand! We named the BLVD after MLK, we re-nameded our county after MLK, all so we would NOT HAVE TO LIVE THE DREAM. Now I got it.

Where is David Connelley when we need him?

Posted by: thomas on July 24, 2007 05:34 PM
13. I thought there was an initiative/referendum passed in the 90s that eliminated race based hiring, student admissions, etc. in Washington state in regards to state/local institutions? Please correct me if I'm wrong or fill me in on what happened to this. I just moved back to the People's Socialist Republic of Washington from the great state of Texas. I remember voting for it and it passing when I lived here, but haven't seen or heard about it since...

Posted by: spaceboy on July 24, 2007 09:06 PM
14. Yes Thomas , the dream of one day little white boys and girls and little black boys and girls could grow up in a country where the color of their skin was not part of their momies and dadies getting a job or not .

Posted by: Mick Sheldon on July 24, 2007 09:07 PM
15. There seem to be a couple of discussions going on here:

1. Licensing of the King likeness. Well, are you
folks saying his family shouldn't be
capitalists? Brand Beckham or other
intellectual property interests are licensed.
My reading of some of his later works is
that he wanted not only Black people, but all
low-income people to fully participate not
only in the responsibility, but benefits of
citizenship, including economic benefits.

2. The issue of the county paying or not paying
licensing fees goes to the cost of the
name-change. There was a fiscal note and I
assume that your representatives voted for
the change. The issue you have is with how they
voted.

3. Now the color of the skin quote, now as Paul
Harvey would say here is the rest of the story
since most posters only quote the portion about
content of character and not color:


"....Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children...."

http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

People really should read the entire speech.

Just curious, how would posters address institutionalized unfairness based on color? I gave the examples of New Orleans and Miami so we are not just making this whites always discriminating. What are your solutions and can those solutions be applied across the board?

Posted by: WVH on July 24, 2007 09:55 PM
16. WVH, who said they couldn't be capitalists? Everyone here is a capitalist. I'm just asking what is the county paying for this use of the likeness? I think it an unecessary expenditure, considering that they surely weren't paying anything to use the crown. I wouldn't consider paying whopping sums each year to use King's likeness a good use of tax dollars (and it must be a whopping sum, or more outlets would be purchasing the likeness). If they could get it for free then that's different.

Posted by: Michele on July 24, 2007 11:36 PM
17. "institutionalized unfairness based on color"

haha.

That's a smokescreen. Post specific, concrete examples.

And by examples, I mean examples that haven't already been adjudicated.

Here in Seattle, it should run more along the lines of "institutionalized unfairness based on military service".

Posted by: Aaron on July 25, 2007 12:01 AM
18. Michelle:

I like to stir things up. This isn't my issue, I'd rather concentrate on education issues.
Let me comment on the logo change.

1. First, two legislative bodies voted on the
logo change. The legislature voted to
authorize it and the full Council voted.
There was a fiscal note and I assume that your
representatives voted for the change. The
issue you have is with how they voted.
Really, if they were concerned about licensing
fees, they should have voted no. That is a
legitimate reason. It might have pissed off
a lot of people and Sharpton/Jackson might
have picketed them, but you shouldn't be a
gutless wonder and be in office if one feels
that the better economic stewardship was to
vote no.

2. I am of neither party. In my opinion, the
pubbies in this state have a difficult time
getting elected because of the issue of
who defines what is negotiable and what is
nonnegotiable. What exactly are pubbies
willing to negotiate to build coalitions and
thus build winning majorities? Just asking,
is the focus on the logo worth the time and
effort spent here and there on it. I can't
remember whether I read it at Politico or
Huffington, but there was an excellent article
about Guiliani and how he basically refused
to deal with any Black leader, even a moderate
like Carl Mc Call because he didn't want to
be seen as caving into Sharpton. That legacy
will haunt him as he campaigns for votes
beyond the pubbie base.

3. The logo change was a symbol, it made a
lot of people feel good. In my mind, it was
harmless. Personally, I prefer substance over
symbols because often it detracts from the
true heavy lifting which in this case is
education and cultural change which supports
in tact and stable families. However, although
my priorities might focus on other issues,
for many people that is not the case.

This is a political minefield for conservatives as
they seek to build electoral majorities which is probably why your representatives voted for the logo change. The question I put to you pubbies is do you ever want to be a majority party in this state and what do consider to be negotiable or nonnegotiable? In the words of a Beatle song, when do you just let it be?

Posted by: WVH on July 25, 2007 12:09 AM
19. Aaron:

The military has members from both genders and all races who serve. Are you alleging that you specifically have been the target of discrimination? Based upon what- strictly your military service?

You said:

""institutionalized unfairness based on color"

haha.

That's a smokescreen. Post specific, concrete examples.

And by examples, I mean examples that haven't already been adjudicated."

If they haven't been adjudicated, how would a person know about them, unless they were involved in the particular situation. I gave the example of New Orleans and Miami because some forms of discrimination involve a particular group favoring their own group despite the qualities and competance of a particular individual or group. In these instances, individuals not of their group are excluded.

Sounds like you are incredibly bitter and the ha ha is not really laughter, but a cry of a great deal of anger.


Posted by: WVH on July 25, 2007 12:28 AM
20. WVH seems to be arguing that the GOP is not hypocritical enough to engage in the kind of racial pandering and demagoguery that have made the Dems successful. And she thinks that that is worth criticizing the Republicans for? Very strange thinking from a person who would purport to be be possess and be consistent in her principles.

I wonder if a change in the state logo, from George Washington, to say, George Washington Carver might equally inspire her approbation? Hey, cherry tree, peanut butter, close enough.

The true "poliitical minefield" here is the wholesale abandonment of objective truth for things that make ignorant people "feel good." Unless, of course, one has an utterly cynical view of human beings as animals who need to be manipulated and lied to in order to successfully guide them in them path of what the superior, wise ones know is best for them.

Frankly, if this (renaming King county to reflect political correctness and curry favor with a bamboozled and servile voting bloc) is not an "educational issue", I don't know what is.

"'You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time', but if you're a Seattle liberal, you get to lie to all of the people most of the time about most everything."

Heck of an educational philosophy, WVH.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 25, 2007 08:18 AM
21. The people that run the City of Seattle are sick bastards. They have prostituted the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr, as well as the US Constitution.

These fools have abandoned the concept of equal OPPORTUNITY, the concept that ML King gave his life for. They only wish for equality of OUTCOME, regardless of how feeble the person is, regardless of their abilities to do the job, but only to create a truly socialist society.

If you are lazy, you win. If you are responsible and work hard, you are screwed.

Posted by: big dawg on July 25, 2007 09:08 AM
22. The people that run the City of Seattle are sick bastards. They have prostituted the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr, as well as the US Constitution.

These fools have abandoned the concept of equal OPPORTUNITY, the concept that ML King gave his life for. They only wish for equality of OUTCOME, regardless of how feeble the person is, regardless of their abilities to do the job, but only to create a truly socialist society.

If you are lazy, you win. If you are responsible and work hard, you are screwed.

Posted by: big dawg on July 25, 2007 09:09 AM
23. Carl McCall, coming back to bite Rudy? Perhaps WVH, who knows it all, can tell me if McCall's the black man who was sandbagged at DNC by the Clintons so they could install their crony, Terry the Punk.

Toothmarks on Hillary Rodham's ample ass, perhaps?

Posted by: Hillary the Goldwater Girl on July 25, 2007 02:12 PM
24. Rey:

As always, your tiny little brain cell can't comprehend what I am saying. What an angry man you must be. You need to get out of Eastern Washington more.

This is what you said:

"WVH seems to be arguing that the GOP is not hypocritical enough to engage in the kind of racial pandering and demagoguery that have made the Dems successful. And she thinks that that is worth criticizing the Republicans for? Very strange thinking from a person who would purport to be be possess and be consistent in her principles."

Now this is what I said:

"What exactly are pubbies
willing to negotiate to build coalitions and
thus build winning majorities? Just asking,
is the focus on the logo worth the time and
effort spent here and there on it."

1. Frankly I don't care what your party does. I am just asking a question about whether this particular issue is worth the several threads spent on it especially since some pubbie legislators voted on it. Isn't your quarrel with them?.I assume in that empty cavity in your head you are familar with cost benefit analysis? Go ahead and flog this issue to death. Is it getting you where you want to go?

Let's see, how many state offices does your party currently have?

2. I recognize the importance of symbols, but this is what I said:

"Personally, I prefer substance over
symbols because often it detracts from the
true heavy lifting which in this case is
education and cultural change which supports
in tact and stable families. However, although
my priorities might focus on other issues,
for many people that is not the case."

I don't object to the renaming, personally there are other issues the I feel are more important.

Too bad you don't take a few courses at the Eastern Washington college where you work. Maybe you would get an education and be less of an idiot.

Posted by: WVH on July 25, 2007 02:26 PM
25. Hillary the Goldwater Girl,

You and Rey related? Now this is what I said:

"I can't
remember whether I read it at Politico or
Huffington, but there was an excellent article
about Guiliani and how he basically refused
to deal with any Black leader, even a moderate
like Carl Mc Call because he didn't want to
be seen as caving into Sharpton. That legacy
will haunt him as he campaigns for votes
beyond the pubbie base."

The point of the article was how good is Rudy at building coalitions across groups. According to the article, Mc Call is a politician who has worked with both parties and was Comptroller of the state. Whether you want to recognize that this could be an issue is entirely up to you. I suspect that those in the national offices of both parties see it as a potential issue.

So, Hillary or whatever. Rey works at a great college in Eastern Washington. Maybe you should stop by.

Posted by: WVH on July 25, 2007 02:32 PM
26. BigDawg,

I'm thinking Dear Lord make this idiot a Husky.
This is what you said:

"They have prostituted the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr, as well as the US Constitution."

Just curious, have you read enough of the papers of Dr. King to even know what his dreams were?

Posted by: WVH on July 25, 2007 02:37 PM
27. Dear WVH:

Thanks for the personal insults. Your readiness to use cheap ad hominem tactics confirms, as always, your fear of the truth. The fact remains that the renaming -- to which you, in your own words, "do not object" -- was nothing more than hypocritical pandering to the ignorant tools of the Democrat party.

Might I suggest that you are the one in need of education?

Come see us. In these times of affirmative action, we might even be willing to overlook your vulgar tendencies and let you enroll.

Conditionally, of course. On a pass/fail basis.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 25, 2007 05:59 PM
28. Hello Rey:

I did enroll and graduated with honors. What about you? Oh, my insults weren't vulgar, they were to the point. I doubt if you could get in even if they spotted you some points. So, mental midget let's talk the issues:

1. Even if you and all of your Eastern Washington
district voted and stuffed a few ballots your
district still isn't going to match the
electoral heft of the populations of King,
Pierce, and Thurstan. So, genius what is your
stragtegy for winning in these areas?

2. It is interesting that Rodney Tom is running
as a dem in a suburban district and has a
decent chance of winning. So, genius what is
your strategy for winning in toss-up
suburban districts?

3. The dems have Cindy Sheehan who is running
against Pelosi and the pubbies have people
like you. Now, here is the question to Stefan
and some of the more rational pubbies. Do
you want to win state-wide races and are you
so focused on minutiate that you are losing
sight of a bigger electoral picture? Ivan
may not be the most articulate spokesperson
for the dems, but I can assure he can count
even legimately casted ballots and is
willing to look at the bigger electoral
picture.

4. Finally, pubbies are going to have to develop
a strategy to win in Seattle. I say this
because a strong two party system, in my
opinion produces the best government.

Eastern Washington is a beautiful region of the
state and I was lucky enough to meet more wonderful people and fewer ignorant dolts than the poster here.

Posted by: WVH on July 25, 2007 09:47 PM
29. WVH: Nice spin, but no sale. The topic of this thread was the obvious pandering inherent in the renaming of King County, and the hook-line-and-sinker response of the sheeple who follow the Dems over cliffs of hypocrisy in pursuit of the elusive dream of equality.

Since you were unable to stay on point with such an elementary exercise in critical thinking, we must reluctantly withdraw your conditional admission.

Sincerely,

Rey Smith
Dean of Diversity
Whatsamatta U.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 26, 2007 08:32 AM
30. Hello Rey,

Am I to assume that your official real job title is custodian. There is nothing wrong with that, if that is your title.

OK, let's deal with the issues:

This is what you said:

"The topic of this thread was the obvious pandering inherent in the renaming of King County, and the hook-line-and-sinker response of the sheeple who follow the Dems over cliffs of hypocrisy in pursuit of the elusive dream of equality"

Since pubbies voted for this change at both the state legislature and Council. What do you think should happen to those legislators that voted for the change? Should the state party:

1. Censure them
2. Run candidates against them in the next election who would then revist the issue and rescind the decision.
What genius, would you do?

2. Now, let's get back to the cost-benefit analysis of your opposition to this decision and any other decision which might involve race.
You live in a hamlet in Eastern Washington, are there enough voters who think like you do to produce an electoral victory statewide?

Finally, just like the dems will eventually have to jetison Cindy Sheehan, pubbies will eventually have to jettison ignorant losers like you. They simply will not be able to win elections with baggage like you holding them back. Last I checked, custodians got a discount on classes.

Posted by: WVH on July 26, 2007 09:20 AM
31. WVH: Interesting that you should harp on custodial work -- as if that were an insult; almost as if an honest and honorable janitor were somehow less worthy than a hypocritical poitician. More and more, you strike me as a classist as well as a racist.

Who cares about parties when it comes to hypocrisy? The fact is that renaming the county to kowtow to political correctness, to honor a lie, and to curry favor with the ignorant is a dishonorable and disgraceful act.

I find it interesting and instructive that you are able to multitask your morality, by singling out Republicans for your criticism, while simultaneously crowing about the fact that the state government is dominated by Democrats...almost as if you were holding the GOP to a different standard. This is consistent with the intellectual gymnastics of those who favor affirmative action, of course: that one group, though inherently equal -- nay, superior -- is somehow inherently unable to compete unless the scales are weighted with a governmental thumb. Do I really need to remind you that that way lies permanent servitude, of the spirit as well as the body, and that trading one master for another does nothing to alter one's essentially inferior posture in the master's eyes?

Go on and give props to the clever liars in Olympia. I'll always prefer having a beer with the janitor who supports his family, who reminds his children of the difference between right and wrong, and who reminds them that what counts is not their race, nor their choice of jobs, but the content of their character.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 26, 2007 09:51 AM
32. Hello Rey:

Wrong on all counts. I really do judge by the content of a person's character and I don't care what your color or occupation is.

You obviously haven't been reading my posts, I single out both parties, just ask Ivan and Bruce.

Now, if you are so sure your position is correct, at least be honest and demand that those legislators who voted for the name change be censored. That is a totally impractical position to take, but at least it is honest.

I do however agree with you about this:

"I'll always prefer having a beer with the janitor who supports his family, who reminds his children of the difference between right and wrong, and who reminds them that what counts is not their race, nor their choice of jobs, but the content of their character."

You have essentially stated what I want for my tribe. People that educate their children, teach them values, work hard and are good citizens. I would much rather have that than Enron weasels who hurt so very very many people of all flavors.

Posted by: WVH on July 26, 2007 10:17 AM
33. If I'm "wrong on all counts", then why do you agree with my "essential" position?

You're right in one respect, though. I don't read all of your posts. Or anyone's, for that matter.

You see, I haven't time. I'm too busy with my custodial job over here in the boonies.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 26, 2007 12:24 PM
34. Hello Rey:

Eastern Washington is quite different in topography and demographic make-up. It is more rural and less densely populated. It is different. It doesn't have the concentration of
population and for that reason both parties are going to seek votes where the votes are. So, Eastern Washington is not going to have the impact on state government that Western Washington has just because of population.

Because one can recognize those differences and electoral reality doesn't equate to a dis of Eastern Washington. The Methow Valley and Lake Chelan are very beautiful.

Just like posters here who quote Dr. King on the basis of a bumper sticker slogan of a phrase that comes toward the end of a speech and have not read the full body of his work, to assert that I focus only on pubbies is in error.

Blogging is a hobby for most posters, so if your reading is selective may I suggest making your critiques more selective as well.

Finally, no matter your occupation, assuming you are not a hit person for the Mafia, it is honorable. I in fact applaud you for working hard for your family. It is my hope that all people in this society get the opportunity to do the same.

Posted by: WVH on July 26, 2007 09:51 PM
35. WVH:

1. Thank you for telling me about where I live. Otherwise, I would never have known that you thought that I wasn't already aware of these things. Speaking of selectivity.

2. Eveyone already HAS the opportunity to work hard for their family. Only fools or the terminally mendacious would argue otherwise.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 27, 2007 08:58 AM
36. Rey:

You know class and grace have nothing to do with occupation. No matter what your occupation is, you have neither. You are simply a bitter angry man that needs to feel superior to some group or some person. Your occupation, education or any other characteristics outside of you determine the internal person. You are simply as classless boob and yes that was an insult, whether you define it as vulgar or not is up to you.

Posted by: WVH on July 27, 2007 12:40 PM
37. Multitasking sometimes doesn't work.

It should read:.... neither education, occupation or other outside characterisitcs determine the real person. That really is the character that Dr. King was speaking about. True people of charcter do not need to demean or dismiss others simply on the basis or race, religion, creed or income. Small minded idiots that feel insecure need to diminish and deemean others. They are showing their personal insecurity and not demonstrating intellect.

Posted by: WVH on July 27, 2007 12:53 PM
38. I demean no one. You, apparently, cannot resist doing so.

Your motivation for this escapes me, as does the source of your bitterness and anger, which for some reason you feel compelled to displace upon others.

There is nothing in any of my posts with which you can honestly disagree, so you resort to insults and name-calling.

The sun is shining on all of us. Have a day.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 27, 2007 01:02 PM
39. Ok Rey, let's start at the beginning:

You said:

"WVH seems to be arguing that the GOP is not hypocritical enough to engage in the kind of racial pandering and demagoguery that have made the Dems successful. And she thinks that that is worth criticizing the Republicans for? Very strange thinking from a person who would purport to be be possess and be consistent in her principles."

1. I am not arguing that either party is hypocritical. In order to pass the name change resolution, it had to clear both the state legislature and the county council. Are you telling me that no republicans voted for either bill? The hypocracy is that if you are so darned p'o, then go after the pubbies that voted to pass both bills. You should at the next pubbie convention introduce a resolution to censor them for pandering. You should recruit candidates to run against them for not holding true to pubbie principles. Heck, you should even run in your own district.

2. Personally, I think the name change is harmless. Not all Black people think the same. I would have put my energy on other issues, but that is my choice of how to spend my time.

So, going back to the beginning, if you think this decision is so wrong, get off your a$$ets and do something other than carp about. Take on your party for malfeasance, misfesasance or whatever. Pubbies voted for this too. Believe it or not, I am about moving the ball down the field. If you decide to run for something, let me know what your issues are. I think you are a jerk, but if the issues are right, I might support you. I have voted for plenty of jerks in the past that didn't support my issues.

Posted by: WVH on July 27, 2007 04:33 PM
40. Sorry...did you say something new?

Let's see: WVH doesn't know the definition of hypocrisy....isn't bothered by the fatuous name change used to pacify the sheeple...and likes to call people jerks.

Ignorance, amorality, and ad hominem. Nope. Nothing new here.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 27, 2007 05:31 PM
41. Hello Rey:

You said:

"I demean no one. You, apparently, cannot resist doing so."

Then you said:

"Let's see: WVH doesn't know the definition of hypocrisy....isn't bothered by the fatuous name change used to pacify the sheeple...and likes to call people jerks.

Ignorance, amorality, and ad hominem. Nope. Nothing new here"

Now, if you are so po'd this was my challenge to you which you won't address:

if you think this decision is so wrong, get off your a$$ets and do something other than carp about. Take on your party for malfeasance, misfesasance or whatever. Pubbies voted for this too.

The reason you won't address this and put your concerns into a resolution at the next pubbie convention is that you would be shot down immediately. The pubbies that voted for the resolutions made a calculation that it was in their best interests.

Now, until you are willing to act on your convictions by challenging your party for what you believe are erroneous votes on their part and against what you feel is in the best interests of your party. Not only are you a jerk, but you are a coward.

Posted by: WVH on July 27, 2007 05:56 PM
42. PO'd, my dear? Not in the slightest. In fact, out of courtesy, I invite you to go first.

Tell Frank Chopp to his face that he's a race-baiting demagogue, and that he depends on the votes of tokenized house negroes to run this one-party plantation.

Be brave. Show some at-ti-tude. Dare to cause a ruckus. Choose an alternative cliche, if that boils your greens.

Failing that, just button it. The world will be a better place for your abject silence.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 27, 2007 08:24 PM
43. Hey Rey:

I have done that, not necessarily to Chopp, but to others. So I expect to see you on TVW and Youtube introducing your resolution at the next pubbie convention officially censoring the pubbie legislators and county council members for supporting the name change to Dr. Martin Luther King County. I'm really enjoying this and look forward to your resolution.
Remember to use spell check

Oh, one little point to help you at the convention with the presentation of your resolution.

You said:

"Tell Frank Chopp to his face that he's a race-baiting demagogue, and that he depends on the votes of tokenized house negroes to run this one-party plantation"

Really now, the use of the term "Negro" well that is so 1960s Bull Connor of you. Now, if you want to convince all those delegates that they should support your resolution, you are going to have to do better. Even David Duke cleaned up his language when he ran for governor of Louisiana.
So, to help you out you might want to look up an article by Dr. John Mc Whorter at the school library. I know the librarians will help you get it.


Why I'm Black, Not African American
September 8, 2004

By John H Mc Whorter

"So, we will have a name for ourselves - and it should be Black. "Colored" and "Negro" had their good points but carry a whiff of Plessy vs. Ferguson and Bull Connor about them, so we will let them lie. "Black" isn't perfect, but no term is...."


I'm getting a flat screen tv in the next couple of months and I can't wait to see you address the delegates.

Posted by: WVH on July 27, 2007 09:17 PM
44. I recommend that you not rely too heavily on McWhorter. He is one of the loudest voices calling for an end to black victimhood and white tokenism as a way of buying off A/A voters...which, though you may not recall it, was the reason for this thread: namely, the tokenism implicit in the false honoring of Dr. King. Mr. McWhorter would be firmly on my side in this discussion. He's into reality, as am I.

My use of "negro" as a way of highlighting the hypocrisy of the white Decocrat liberal phonies you so admire went over your head, of course. You jumped at the chance to make a cheap racism point, which you know is a lie...but you just couldn't resist, could you? Go back one square.

Sorry, WVH: no audience here to high-five your shallowness. Just two adult minds, at least one of whom is amused at your lack of self-knowledge...

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 28, 2007 02:30 PM
45. Rey:

You have got to be one of the dumbest people on the planet which is why I want you highlighted at the next pubbie convention. Parties have to build electoral coalitions, so if the pubbies want people like you as their poster child, let's put you front and center. Let's get you on Youtube and TVW. In fact, I am willing to help you draft the reolution roundly condemning all the pubbies who voted for the name change. Heck, let's take the subject of this thread, the county council. Why don't you and the rest of the posters condemn all the pubbies on the council who don't every chance they get condemn the name change?

The answer is the posters on this thread are not that stupid. However they may feel personally, they are astute enough to realize that any party has to build coalitions.

"I recommend that you not rely too heavily on McWhorter. He is one of the loudest voices calling for an end to black victimhood and white tokenism as a way of buying off A/A voters...which, though you may not recall it, was the reason for this thread: namely, the tokenism implicit in the false honoring of Dr. King. Mr. McWhorter would be firmly on my side in this discussion. He's into reality, as am I."

Mental midget, I was on to Mc Whorter long before you. He would be on your side? Pleeeze, do you happen to know the man personally, ever had a conversation with him? Thought, so.

You hear the word Black and shut down because you can't deal with race honestly. You sterotype and assume that all Blacks are dems. You can't read anything in its entirety by anyone Black.
So, you demonize.

OK, posters on this thread, let's draft resolutions for both the KIng County and state pubbie conventions. You should censor every pubbie legislator that voted at the state level and county level for the name change. You should recruit candidates to run against those still in office so that you could have candidates that stand for pubbie principles. For the pubbies on the county council that didn't condemn the report that is the subject of this thread, you should censor them and recruit candidates to run against all of them. Finally, you should make Rey the poster child for the state pubbie party. I can assure that Peltz and Ivan would be doing backflips of joy. Or, you idiots could get serious and try and build some winning coalitions.

Posted by: WVH on July 28, 2007 05:14 PM
46. Dear, I was reading McWhorter (and Shelby Steele and Stanley Crouch and a whole host of other folks) when you were still deciding whether to dye your cornrows.

With sheep like you, the Democrat gravy train, sadly, still has a few years to run.

Enjoy your ignorance. I hear it's bliss.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 28, 2007 06:25 PM
47. Hello Rey:

"Dear, I was reading McWhorter (and Shelby Steele and Stanley Crouch and a whole host of other folks) when you were still deciding whether to dye your cornrows."

How possitively Bull Connor of you. You really would be shocked to see me in person. But, since you have only one sterotype of Black people. So, my sterotype of you is a fat extremely unattractive pot bellied, I think male looking person? With body odor and bad breath. Barely made it through the sixth grade by the grace of a sympathetic teacher. Thank the Lord for sympathetic and compassionate teachers. Extremely insecure looking to feel superior to some one or anyone. Yup, thank the Lord for colleges that keep louts like you employed.

Oh, since you are best friends with all of the above, should you inform them of your comments or should I,

I look forward to your presentation of the resolution censoring all the pubbies who voted for the name change. That will never happen because you are a coward and even it you had the guts, the more rational members of the party don't want an ignorant idiot like you on Youtube and would quash it. So, for the pubbies out there, is Rey, the man?

Posted by: WVH on July 28, 2007 08:29 PM
48. I can't help chuckling at the hatred oozing out of your posts -- over little old me and my willingness to playfully bamboozle you. "There but for the grace of God", etc. Thanks for making me glad that I'm not you. (Even dissing my kissing-sweet breath, and rock-hard abs? tsk tsk tsk).

You're right about the inspirational sixth-grade teacher, anyway. A wonderful black woman named Joan Broy. She taught me about character being color-blind.

Too bad you weren't her student, too.

You have serious karma problems, ma'am.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 28, 2007 09:35 PM
49. Hello Rey:

"I can't help chuckling at the hatred oozing out of your posts -- over little old me and my willingness to playfully bamboozle you."

Now, I am glad Ms. Broy was your teacher. I don't know what era or decade you were privledged to have her as your teacher. I do know that I have dealt with many teachers of color and even those who do not accept the notion of multi-culturalism do not accept the notion of colorblindness. Are you trying to tell me you don't see green or red at a stop light, that is colorblind.

Now, I don't want to get my pal Pudge going, but generally the only people that claim colorblindness are those skating so close to bigotry they are almost over the line.

You don't make statements like:

"when you were still deciding whether to dye your cornrows."

if you were colorblind. That is a sterotype.

Since you have never seen me, I have as much right to sterotype you as a fat ignorant smelly punter as you do to describe another's appearance.

Now for this term, "tokenized house negroes"
If you had 10% of the comprehension of the writings of Mc Whorter, Steele, and Crouch that you claim, your use of that term wouldn't be an option.

No pal, I don't have serious karma problems, I think that I hit the mark with the ignorant part.
You have a serious problem with dealing with race, so you sterotype and then try to use the writings of conservative Black writers for cover. You are like those who have never read anything by Dr. King and lift two sentences from his "I have a Dream Speech" to justify all manner of injustice or bigotry. If you had 10% of the understanding of the writings of these truly great academics that you claim, you wouldn't be posting the garbage that you do. Because I have never seen you, I can't call you a fat, smelly punter. I can call you an ignorant bigot, I have enough of your writings to do that. Now, if the pubbies want clowns like you to be the face of their party, they will continue to enjoy minority status. If your thesis is this should be a colorblind society and according to your thesis, the way to do that is to challenge the re-naming of King County, then go to the republican convention and challenge the leadership to your point of view. Oh, don't use the conservative Black writers for cover without really examining their work in context. If the pubbies want you and your point of view to be the face of their party, they will embrace you with open arms. Should be a cakewalk, right?

Posted by: WVH on July 28, 2007 10:20 PM
50. Call me anything you wish, but call her Mrs. Broy, not MS. She was a lady, back when women cared about things like that.

The one with racial problems is you, and they are profound. In fact, they are all you talk about. Too bad. You might have made a good janitor.

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 29, 2007 07:05 PM
51. Oh, by the way -- what do you think of 'King County's "2008-2012 Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Plan"' (remember? The reference Stephen made to start this thread? Before you turned into Shirley Chisholm on the worst day she ever had?)?

Posted by: Rey Smith on July 29, 2007 07:08 PM
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