A common theme I am seeing in Democrat hopefuls for office this year is their claimed desire to tackle “dysfunction” in our political representation, ignoring that it has been their party as large contributors of “dysfunction.”
Of course, the intent is to claim that having any part of the government under a Republican majority and the rest a Democrat majority, as we see in Olympia and back in Washington D.C., makes it “dysfunctional” in such a way that Democrats are being blocked in what they wish to do.
I was preparing to do a post pointing out how it isn’t “dysfunctional” at all, but is what our founders intended, competing thoughts and ideologies coming together somewhere in middle ground to give the best compromises possible. Such a compromising attitude is what gave us our constitution after some real knock-down, drag out fighting.
Of course, that middle ground no longer exists as each party is more interested in partisan power today and Democrats, still holding most of the majorities are hell bent on one-party rule under them.
So, they run around crying how “dysfunctional” it is and only they can do anything to cure it.
And I’ll be damned if Republicans aren’t doing everything they can to prove the Democrats right with their own disunity, infighting, grudges, feuds with each other and more, not to mention spineless acts much of the time.
Even though I have supported mostly Republican candidates, most have either forgotten or are unaware of my vocal parting of the ways with the Republican Party back in 2010, declaring myself an “Independent Conservative.”
Still, I have supported Republicans and finding only a few Democrats even slightly conservative, tried my best to support them and defend them, especially against assaults from the Lazy C, my efforts resulting in being barred from commenting there. No big loss, though.
But I have posted in strong support of County Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke, defending their choice of Sen. Don Benton (R 17th) as heading the County Department of the Environment.
I supported candidates running for Vancouver City Council, even the ones I felt were weak, seeing how the effort there was to create the rubber stamp council now seen. Most shocking to me was the reluctance of any to oppose Mayor Tim ‘the Liar’ Leavitt after so many complained about him.
I used to consider myself as one of Benton’s strongest supporters, even though I do not live in the 17th district and seeing how he has received nothing but grossly unfair coverage for nearly two decades from the Lazy C and was the Democrats main target in the 2012 election.
I’ve also been a strong supporter of Sen. Ann Rivers (R 18th) even though the Lazy C has taken a softer stance on her, a stance I suspect will soon change since they cannot shake her opposition to the CRC light rail project.
When the rift between these two Senators came to light and was being played to the hilt by the Lazy C, another Benton bashing party, I stuck my neck out here and here to show the Lazy C was making a mountain out of a molehill, believing that professionalism would overshadow the rift between the two and personal feelings would be put aside for the good of the people.
Apparently, I was wrong.
Fellow blogger Kelly Hinton and I both have let Don know such a fight will end badly for him as he will be seen as a bully in the court of public opinion. At the same time, we have let it be known Ann also must do her part for the good of the state, remembering the opposition is the Democrat agenda, not each other.
Last evening I received a scathing email against Sen. Rivers basically accusing her of not acting properly in her job by not signing off on four bills or not signing them due to some revenge against Sen. Benton, an allegation I simply cannot an will not accept.
Contacting Sen. Rivers, as expected I received a different version of events as well as a laundry list against Don Benton.
Not wanting to fan the flames any more, I decided against following suit with the recommendation of the email, “Who is Ann Rivers-really?” and “Lew, this story has to be told,” opting to instead remind both of how such grudges hurt everybody, especially hopefuls hoping to displace some current Democrats and how such conduct feeds right into the hands of the Lazy C’s Lou Brancaccio and Stephanie Rice, two who seem to live for bashing anything conservative in the media.
The allegations in the email and those I was told over the phone were to remain with me as I was going to once again try to get the matter soothed over with the least amount of exposure of the specifics I possibly could, again hoping professionalism would prevail.
I didn’t get that chance.
I had no idea the email was blind copied and don’t know who all received it, but early this morning I find it posted, in full on a facebook page frequented mostly by conservatives, but also by a few liberal Democrats by County Commissioner Tom Mielke.
Why he would do this, I don’t know, but it is out there now where it can be easily copied and sent on the Lazy C for another round of Benton bashing.
Personally, I don’t appreciate it too much that it was made public and this rift is once again out before the public as I sit here now with egg all over my face, having done my best to paint the past efforts of the Lazy C as making a mountain out of a molehill.
At the same time, I am being asked to post on the upcoming election of a new chair and vice-chair for the Clark County GOP, a battle of sorts brewing there between newcomers that have made some needed changes and an older establishment that would like to see a return to previous ways, neither of which has seen a lot of elections won.
Given the chance, you can bank on the Lazy C doing whatever it takes to demean the Republicans as “dysfunctional,” using this rift between the two Senators and the party leadership contest as proof.
I cannot continue covering for those who do not support my efforts and keep handing the left whatever they need to hit them back over the head with, leaving me holding the bag again.
It does no good for me to post how the Lazy C is so heavily biased against specific officials when that same official freely sits down with them for an hour video to use to paint them as unqualified and yes, “dysfunctional.”
I started this blog in June 2008 after seeing a need for conservative views to be aired fairly, realizing the Lazy C will make no effort to be objective. I have posted close to 2,000 times now doing just that and even earned a “Best Local Politics Blog” rating back in 2012 by Stateside Associates out of Virginia, unsolicited I might add, unlike the awards the Lazy C boasts of where they pay to enter.
I’ve taken everything thrown at me and even got past a Republican candidate taking a video I produced, removing all mention of my work to post as their own. It didn’t set well with me, but I accepted the apology and have supported them ever since.
But I can’t help but notice how once an election is over, those same ones staying in contact with me and asking me to support their candidacy, pretty much stop and begin once again dealing with the Lazy C while condemning them.
My wife tells me I should just quit and walk away but, I am not quite ready to throw in the towel. Yes, I am frustrated and my frustration grows with the infighting and grudges.
I was hoping these past few weeks of less posting would let me recharge, then I received the email against Ann Rivers and Tom Mielke had to go public with it.
Enough! You Republicans need to pull your collective heads out of your collective asses. We each have problems and no, we don’t agree on everything. Deal with it!
All you accomplish is fodder for the likes of Brancaccio and Stephanie Rice.
Don, Ann, I don’t care how you do it, but stop this nonsense now! If you cannot resolve your differences, stay the hell away from each other.
All you are doing is weakening the chances for others hoping to win office and wrest power from Democrats. With the help of media like the Lazy C, you paint all conservatives as “dysfunctional” and at least three Democrat candidates now have picked up on it and included it in their campaign issues.
You are proving Abraham Lincoln’s words, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Another good read on this is at Clark County Politics
