January 17, 2008
The People's Business is a Priority...

...in Olympia. I mean, when bills like this are given a hearing rather than placed in the file drawer it so richly deserves, how could one think otherwise?

Posted by Eric Earling at January 17, 2008 07:04 PM | Email This
Comments
1. Bush Derangement Syndrome.

Liberalism is a mental disorder!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Norm on January 17, 2008 06:49 PM
2. Every minute they spend on this is a minute they don't spend on spending.

Posted by: russell garrard on January 17, 2008 07:11 PM
3. Yep, a case of BDS so bad he has completely lost sight of how it looks to the average person. If this is soooo important to him, then Oemig should bag this waste of time and spend all that time and effort challenging Darcy Burner for the democrat congressional nomination in the 8th this year. Otherwise.....let's just say it's hard to take him seriously.

Posted by: Michele on January 17, 2008 07:32 PM
4. The " Usual Suspects" are at it again
Senators: Oemig, Regala, Kohl-Welles, Kline, Spanel, Fairley, Kauffman, Fraser, Prentice

Posted by: Green Lake Mark on January 17, 2008 08:51 PM
5. Postman had a good piece on this a couple days ago, and it spawned over 125 comments, a bunch of them mine. The pro-impeachment types - the imp imps - came out in force and spewed heavy and vile. I didn't have a lot of help fending them off, but I did it. When the enemy enters the battle of wits unarmed, the only thing you have to use is time to pick them off one by one.

BUT...don't diminish this issue as one that isn't significant. It will be used for years to gin up the liberal base. Dollars from netroots/DailyKus/MoveOn types will flow into Eric Oemig's coffers because he was "brave and noble."

So laughing it off isn't wise. What needs to happen is take the fight to him and them. Where ever it shows up, go there and do rhetorical battle; smite the heathen hip and thigh!

It's much more enjoyable to take on the libs than just say, "Me too!" all the time here.

The Piper

Posted by: Piper Scott on January 17, 2008 08:55 PM
6. There's no way to counteract these nutters with reason. But as noted above, they serve the useful purpose of distracting the legislature from other mindless legislation that will actually have a fiscal impact.

And BDS is the gift that will give well in to 2008. The more BDS the better. Smart Republican candidates at all levels will be able to point to the BDS and ask regular citizens if they feel represented by these nuts. For most ordinary citizens, the answer is no.

So I hope the Dems keep this up and make it a centerpiece of their campaigns, and I hope their nutty fans aspire to all kinds of violence, fiery effigies, screaming, disruptive rallies, etc. All of this helps the cause of those of us on the "adult" side of the political spectrum.


Posted by: Jeff B. on January 17, 2008 10:09 PM
7. Eric -

You may think the Constitution is a piece of toilet paper that you can wipe your ass with, like Bush. But others have a problem with that. It's pointless to argue on boards like this rationally because you can't argue with cult members. I know the rightie talk.
"Bush is my Man."
"Long Live George W Bush"
"George Bush is a Patriot"
"George Bush is a good man"

Every day, the stories of abuse of our military soldiers gets more and more pathetic.

Today there's a story in the Denver Post about soldiers being sent back to Iraq with Mental Health issues, torn groins, etc. Then after they get sent back to Iraq, the doctors in Iraq send them right back home. Then when they get home, the get punished for being sick, or have PTSD. It's too bad people like you don't give a rip about this.

From the story:
"Some soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder said they were punished, rather than treated, or thrown out of the Army for "personality" problems. "

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_7991922

Eric, you may celebrate such pathetic abuse of our volunteer soldiers. But many of us who want to take care of our military so it actually functions, will be demanding impeachment hearings to bring some accountability.

Posted by: Richard Borkowski on January 18, 2008 12:47 AM
8. I do like Russell's take on this: at least it doesn't cost us anything, and coming from those particular senators that is saying something.

Posted by: TLo on January 18, 2008 03:07 AM
9. Richard -

Your understanding of my thought process and that of many commenters here is so totally incorrect I'm not even going to waste my time correcting you other than to say Republicans don't actually believe everything you read about them on DailyKos and in the Nation. You sound like the crazies on the right who were out to get Bill Clinton over Mena airport and Vince Foster.

Posted by: Eric Earling on January 18, 2008 06:46 AM
10. Piper, I think half of those comments were yours. I went through about the first 30 of the posts.

You may say you are battling, but I say you are face to face against a door and banging your head against it over and over hoping it opens.

Orbusmax is also highlighting wild and crazy bills.

One of the OFM e-mails was the several million dollars every year for

"SB 6200 Creating the prescription drug professional education program has been introduced in the Senate. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers"

Posted by: swatter on January 18, 2008 06:55 AM
11. Well this bill doesn't raise taxes... LOL

What a bunch of losers.

Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on January 18, 2008 06:59 AM
12. I think the quality of the anti-Bush comments here speaks for itself. A Bunch of rhetoric empty of meaning.

(I mean come on. Sending soldier back to the battlefield after they've been hurt SOUNDS bad and I'm sure the left-wing reporter who covered it COULDN'T WAIT to stick it to the "man," but if you've ever been in a field hospital, you know that 99% percent of the soldiers there are asking how quick they can get back to the battlefield even if they've got half a leg and a bullet in their spine.)

Here's a question for the anti-Bush people out there. Democrats control both houses of congress. If the case for Bush being a dictator who has destroyed the constitution is so great:

1) How did the control of congress fall into the hands of dems in the first place?

- and -

2) Why don't your elected officials do anything about it?

On question 1, why would a "dictator" ever let the opposing team take so much power? I mean, Bush can rig elections, right? If things are so terrible, how did that happen?

On question 2, I think that the reason is that most major members of the democratic party were cheering - CHEERING - for an attack on Iraq before we got in there. They aren't anxious to see that brought up again and would really rather avoid the subject.

But I'm listening anti-Bush people.

Posted by: johnny on January 18, 2008 08:29 AM
13. Are you suggesting we sequester dissent? I mean it's a dumb bill, even if it does pass it's pretty meaningless.

I doubt you would have had a similar problem 10 years ago when a hypothetical GOP majority legislature introduced a similar styled bill calling for Clinton's impeachment. If fact you would make sure every Republican legislator was a co-sponsor.

Posted by: Cato on January 18, 2008 09:14 AM
14. Richard Borkowski:

Sorry, it is impossible for me to take claims of "unconstitutional!" seriously from a party that makes violating the Constitution one of the fundamental principles of its platform, pretending that major portions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, and Articles II and III, don't exist; completely ignoring the Second and Tenth Amendments; and believing that the Ninth Amendment only applies to new made-up rights instead of rights that existed at the time.

The Democratic Party stands for democracy over the Constitution. Rule of man over rule of law.

I have stood up, regularly, against actions by the Bush administration that I believed violated the Constitution (including, but not limited to, lack of due process for American citizens being held as enemy combatants, warrantless wiretapping, and No Child Left Behind). Can you say the same about the repeated, relentless, constitutional violations by the Democratic Party, such as all the proposals for universal health care, and federal funding of education?

Posted by: pudge on January 18, 2008 10:03 AM
15. @10...Swatter...

Not half, but a significant percentage...

Borkowski also was a copious poster, so you see the delusional lunacy with which I contend and with which I savor doing battle.

Known far and wide as a supporter of the Iraq war effort specifically and an aggressive pursuit of the War on Terror generally, I look at blogging on liberal sites the same way: take the fight to the enemy rather than wait for him to come to you. I'd rather the enemy have to defend his turf than me mine.

In fact it's gotten to the point in my posts at Horse's Ass that one of Goldy's chief lieutenants, Lee Rosenberg, now posts our debates at Effinunsound as The Crackpiper Chronicles. Of course since he's a self-confessed advocate of dope for the masses, he's proving himself to be a massive dope. All he's doing is giving me a wider platform and bigger audience than I otherwise would have.

I don't care what you say about me as long as you spell my name correctly.

The downside, though, is in who's controlling the agenda. Conservatives essentially own talk radio. We perfected the format, got in on the ground floor, and dominate it today. Air America, call the bank; you've bounced another check!

But in the blogosphere, the libs are alive, well, and reproducing like cockroaches. At the rate they breed, is there enough E-Raid! to go around?

That's why I prefer to go to where they are, take them on, make them defend their positions instead of me being on the defensive, sow seeds of discord among the true believers, challenge their hubris, and just have a good time doing it!

Will I convert the masses? Please! I have no illusions, alhough I have found some to be not without an ear. Geov Parrish is an all around honest and good egg with some good things to say.

It's not the hard-core I seek to reach, it's those who come out of curiosity, look, don't post, then leave knowing that what the HA Happy Hooligans blather on about doesn't go unchallenged.

Occasionally, I do go against them and wear them down through shear persistence and pluck. I can always make the last word mine. A guy like Borkowski, albeit not seen to my knowledge at HA but a dumper of tons of bits and bytes in re impeachment at Postman, isn't used to having his balloon burst, so he gets his knickers in a knot when it happens. Since all he's got to offer are cliches and pre-printed talking points from his ideological masters, to get him off-script is to master him.

Borkowski...sucks to be you!

I encourage more SP devoees to venture out and use your finally tuned and well honed skills to rhetorically smite the heathen hip and thigh. Ronaldus Magnus Reaganus wasn't content with mere containment - the Evil Empire had to be tossed upon the trash heap of history - so why should we? The trash heap has plenty of room left.

Come on in; the water is fine!

The Piper

Posted by: Piper Scott on January 18, 2008 11:08 AM
16. I just don't go to HA since Falwell had his first stroke about two years before he passed away. The moderator gleefully laughed and had a great time cheering a man's illness. I don't know but it just turned me off. Besides, every click makes money (pretty small, I must say) and I just can't support that site.

Posted by: swatter on January 18, 2008 11:18 AM
17. 12.Johnny Are you a Medic?
I was wondeing when you spoke of leg wounds and return to combat time?

Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on January 18, 2008 12:04 PM
18. Piper -

You crack me up!! You actually think you sound cogent while actually saying nothing. It's amazing how the far left and far right are able to rationalize and explain away anything and everything. It's fun to just observe. The far left will defend everything that Gregoire says and does. They live in this hyper-charged euphoria that I can only describe as a political Disneyland.

The far right (meaning you) will defend absolutely everything that George Bush has done or will ever do. I guess you have no identity beyond what G.W. says or tells you to say and think.

Both of these groups behave like a cult, however the GOP definitely takes the cake.

I will agree that the Democratic party is not a defender of the Constitution, although not a crime-ridden corporate mob like the Republican party is. But then neither is the Republican party. They're both just branches of corporations anymore, although the far lefties and far righties can't bring themselves to acknowledge that.

It's become nearly impossible to discuss any issue because the only thing people (either left or right) return with is 'moron', 'conspiracy theorist', 'lunatic' or other such words that indicate a pretty simple-minded, angry human being.

Me? Am I angry? Not at all. Last quarter, my small company was more profitable than Countrywide Credit, Washington Mutual, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley... COMBINED. But thanks for the character assasination anyway. I would expect no less from you.

Posted by: Richard Borkowski on January 18, 2008 01:00 PM
19. Richard.
This topic was suppose to be about Olympia and hatred of Bush. I do not see in the US Constitution that States can impeach the President of the United States. This alone is grounds for saying the Democrats are wasting time.
Where are the ferries that the 5 cent gas tax promised would be provided in 2008.
Where are the concerns about Maintenance of our Roads and Bridges (over a billion dollars in surplus budget money not one dime went to help our Transportation issues)
Education why are we doing so poorly at teaching the next generation. It is not only that they need more money we need teachers who teach learning not teach to pass a test.
The topics Olympia should be concerned about are local topics not a "I hate Bush Convention". As long as Democrats think they can do things like this and still be voted in again and again. Nothing will be accomplished. Democrats believe we can tax you now for something we may decied in a decade or two to do. BUt we will spend all the money now on our pet Special Interests to tell us how we can do what we need to do. Lets spend 5 or 10 years discussing how to fix the 520 bridge. The design phase can go for another Decade. When it sinks. We start the building of new one after we spend a decade cleaning and removing the debris from its remains from the bottom of the lake. Oh yes enviromental study to make certain that we are not killing any salmon when we remove each gram of the old bridge.
The bottom line this type of bill shows there is no leadership in Olympia. Priorities are to make certain they do not have to make any hard decisions that could cost them an election. Instead of the better good for the community the better good for my reelection.

Posted by: David Anfinrud on January 18, 2008 02:51 PM
20. Richard Borkowski @ 18:


You crack me up!! You actually think you sound cogent while actually saying nothing.

Back at you.


It's amazing how the far left and far right are able to rationalize and explain away anything and everything.

Back at you.


The far right (meaning you) will defend absolutely everything that George Bush has done or will ever do. I guess you have no identity beyond what G.W. says or tells you to say and think.

Oh come on. With such obvious straw man AND red herring fallacies, you're not even trying.


I will agree that the Democratic party is not a defender of the Constitution, although not a crime-ridden corporate mob like the Republican party is.

FAR more corporate money flows through the Democratic Party here in WA than the GOP. Just who do you think you're kidding?


They're both just branches of corporations anymore

As someone who knows the budgets of the county and state GOP well enough, I know that you have no idea what you are talking about.


It's become nearly impossible to discuss any issue because the only thing people (either left or right) return with is 'moron', 'conspiracy theorist', 'lunatic' or other such words that indicate a pretty simple-minded, angry human being.

Oh yeah, everyone else is to blame. Your posts filled with personal attacks and logical fallacies are not part of the problem at all.

It's astonishing that you would think anyone would care what you have to say when you chastise them for name-calling and irrational discourse, while you yourself engage in precisely the same.

Posted by: pudge on January 18, 2008 05:10 PM
21.
The Russ Feingold Saucer Squad is flying high!

Posted by: jabailo@texeme.com on January 18, 2008 07:30 PM
22. A spade calls a spade black. Attack-monger versus attack monger.

"It's become nearly impossible to discuss any issue because the only thing people (either left or right) return with is 'moron', 'conspiracy theorist', 'lunatic' or other such words that indicate a pretty simple-minded, angry human being.

Oh yeah, everyone else is to blame. Your posts filled with personal attacks and logical fallacies are not part of the problem at all.

It's astonishing that you would think anyone would care what you have to say when you chastise them for name-calling and irrational discourse, while you yourself engage in precisely the same.

Posted by pudge at January 18, 2008 05:10 PM

Keep it clean Pudge, you disappoint me.

Posted by: keeppudgehonest on January 22, 2008 10:52 AM
Post a comment
Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember info?