Cross posted at: RespectfullyRepublican.com

Seattle--On the main page, Stefan has an ongoing series called, "Sewer of Corruption." The series examines cases of questionable activity by players in the local and state political machine. Some cases may actually meet the definition of corruption; others merely have the appearance of it. A great new book highlights the "caucus of corruption" at the national level -- but here in Washington state, we only seem to get brief (though poignant) whiffs of questionable dealings by our pols.

Last week I wrote here about Governor Gregoire coming under fire in recent months. (Stefan has another post up today on how money from the Tribes ends up in Democratic hands.)

It seems the good Governor and her friends in the legislature haven't quit handing critics ammunition to use against them. Indeed, on a re-occurring basis, skeletons come out of the closet, but only long enough to dance a brief jig--before they're helped back into obscurity (sometimes by the media, sometimes by loyal supporters, or am I being redundant here?).

So why is it that these stories, with such a high degree of political significance and news value, rarely seem to make their way into our print and broadcast media?

A few months back, David Postman blogged about Gregoire's curious relationship with payday lenders. These are the same lenders who prey on low-income families, immigrants, our men and women in uniform, and other vulnerable communities. Of course, Postman was more concerned at the time with possible corruption in Alaska (see the post below the blog on Gregoire). As far as I can tell, his "reporting" on payday lenders advancing big sums to Gregoire's campaign coffers never left his blog. How convenient for the Governor that such information rarely garners ink, let alone a few minutes on the evening news.

Now, I'm not suggesting Postman, or other print and broadcast journalists for that matter, are the lapdogs of the local political machine. But they have their own cozy relationships with pols, and the party running the show. If they started to question the status quo, their prized access to important pols might quickly disappear. *Gasp* All of this brings me to a very sad conclusion: besides the efforts of a few bloggers on the right, no one is guarding the guardians!

In spite of all of the above, I still believe this tide is reversible. With the right candidates, and right message, we can change the Democrats business as usual agenda. We can clean up this state, and destroy the Democratic political machine and its ill effects.

But we can't rely on others to step forward and do the heavy lifting. If we do that, nothing will ever change. In the coming months, there will be many opportunities to help deliver the much needed change of which I speak. Will you be ready?