In keeping with the Columbian’s light hearted poke at elected officials recently, comparing them to Muppet characters, I made a little comparison of my own in regards to the editors of the paper. Lou Brancaccio was compared to Count von Count and he got a kick out of it. I was unable to find a Muppet character that adequately depicts acerbic editorial page editor John Laird, though, and ended up seeing he was very much like the cartoon character Gargamel from the Smurf’s.
Beyond some physical resemblance, He displays the same attributes of being “the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and the principal antagonist,” except in our community, he is the sworn enemy and main antagonist of conservatives.
In fact, as far as I’m concerned, he displays everything that is wrong in our political landscape today, as can be seen in his Sunday, June 26, 2011 column, Food fights, hounds, science and more.
Also refreshing is seeing some liberals waking up to his bombastic blasting of conservatives, as did local Democratic Party activist Temple Lentz.
Temple rightfully points out that Laird is “personally insulting and debasing people who disagree with him.” He has a history of doing this, labeling those who disagree with him on bringing light rail from Portland to Vancouver as “ankle biting hounds from Whinerville” and such.
Today’s column takes a vitriolic swipe at the effort of US Navy retiree and conservative activist Larry Patella’s effort to involve himself and others in the Democratic process of a petition drive calling for a vote on light rail. Laird says, “Gosh, with all that yelping from anti-light-rail hounds who claim to represent “the people,” it seemed like getting enough petition signatures for a ballot measure would be easy. Alas, the stampede is more like a crawl, and top dog Larry Patella confesses, ‘I think it’s a lost cause right now,’ for the second year in a row.”
Yet, Laird will not waste a single dot of ink calling for a county-wide vote on light rail to end the matter of just how many wish it to be brought over. Instead, he just blasts any who do.
He then takes a swipe at Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke saying “the jury is still out on the affects of second-hand smoke.” Although a majority of doctors claim it is a done deal, there are several clams and questions raised on studies making that claim. One simple question completely ignored is, if it is true that it is a done deal, shouldn’t most all of us baby boomers being dying off of cancer today instead of retiring? After all, most of our parents, aunts and uncles and the majority of people our families associated with smoked. Smoking was just about everywhere one went when we were children.
And no, I’m not saying there are no inherent dangers in smoking or second hand smoke, just that there are still questions.
Then too, where does Laird stand on legalizing the smoking of marijuana that is a big issue with many liberals today?
He then takes his swipe at oil company executives over several people’s call for drug testing of welfare recipients, saying “oil company executives who also receive tax dollars in the form of subsidies” are who should be drug tested, labeling those who call for welfare recipients to submit to the tests as “hypocrites.”
That oil companies, not executives, receive the same tax breaks as other business do and in the effort to demonize oil, Democrats label them as “subsidies” flies right past Laird. That “Green Energy” companies, that he supports, receive direct tax dollars to remain in business is ignored too.
Who’s the hypocrite, Gargamel, errr, John? How much a “subsidy” did the Columbian receive with other newspapers in the state to remain afloat? Sorry John, but I missed your blasting that in your Sunday screeds.
He lashes out at those people who don’t want a tax increase to pay for a Baseball Stadium, but will not call for a tax on the newspaper to help defray any costs of the stadium.
America is fractured along partisan lines and our country is being hurt by it. The nation was founded with much arguing and infighting as the founders were writing a constitution for us to follow. But, middle ground was found and we were given one of the most brilliant and liberating constitutions ever written.
Laird has found fault with that too as he has more than once blasted and called the Electoral College our founders gave us as outmoded and obsolete, calling instead for a national majority vote for president.
That smaller less populated states would be shut out of the process is of no consequence to Laird just that his preference is always in power. Missed by John and those advocating such a position is that the election of the president is the only vote where all states make a selection for an office. Unlike every other election where the majority rules, each state is given a representative voice in selecting a president.
A national majority vote will block and deny some states from that exercising that voice in an equal manner.
None of that matters to someone as hate-filled as John Laird, though. Only the partisan rancor he spews every Sunday in the local newspaper.
As I said earlier, John displays everything that is currently wrong in our political landscape. Partisanship comes before country. Insults and belittling of opposing views, not fact based refutation is his order of the day. No middle ground is acceptable to those like him.
Little wonder the country is falling apart and the Columbian remains in financial trouble.
Who wants to buy a newspaper just to repeatedly read what an ass you are for having your own views?
