From the excitement and gleeful comments both under Lazy C articles and over on C3G2 concerning State Senator Don Benton’s announcement that he will not seek a 6th term, you might believe the man simply evaporated from the face of the earth, instead of just announcing not seeking another term.
Lefty Lou Brancaccio is predictably beside himself as he penned a special Press Talk editorial today, Monday February 1, 2016, the announcement coming out after his usual Saturday smearing of those “M&M Boys” or Benton.
Lefty Lou asks, “Why did Benton go down?”
Sorry Lefty, but Benton did not “go down,” far from it. He was not defeated nor was he ousted, he decided, for whatever reason, to not run for a 6th term after being in the legislature since the 1994 elections.
That in itself is a record to be proud of, not that it would end any of the hostility directed towards him by the Lazy C, also known as the daily newsletter for the Democrat Party.
We saw comments at the Lazy C article announcing Benton’s decision like, “Whoo hoo! Let’s make Clark County great again!” “In the immortal words of you-know-who, ‘Thank God! Yea Clark County’!” “As if he didn’t realize that his challenger was going to win anyway!” “…after some of his actions and stratagems, his chances of reelection were less than robust.” “Happy,Happy,Happy YAY!!!” “This guy is a political hack, corrupt to the core.” “Good riddance. You won’t be missed.” “We might see him doing end of term destruction Bills like Madoro.. Keep an eye out..” “Now if we can just boot his can out of the County, the sun will shine again!!!”
Moving over to C3G2 we find, “this little piggy went wee wee wee wee all the way home.” “Praise the lord…” “Don’t let the door hit on the way out.” “Benton a very mean man. No excuses for him.” “Good news for Vancouver and the state of Washington.” “This fellow must be one of the most unethical people in the county. Adieu Don.”
Especially striking was in Lefty’s latest hit piece where he posted a fairly acerbic call received from a citizen. The comment was answered by another commenter expressing concern with, “Your caller seems unstable. Did you get a caller id?” And, “Where are the manners these days?”
Obviously he missed all of the hateful rhetoric in comments towards Sen. Benton. Or, he sees no problem with vitriol, just as long as it is directed at conservatives.
In spite of the jubilant glee being spewed, Sen. Benton is going nowhere at this time. He is still serving as the State Senator for the 17th Legislative District and there has been no mention of him leaving his position with the Department of Environmental Services.
What the left is celebrating is beyond me as their faired haired boy, Tim Probst hasn’t won anything and he might have a much harder time winning given the importance of the seat to the Washington State Republican Party.
Even is the malcontents ruling the Clark County Republican Party decide to not support a candidate the WSRP feels is better, you can bank on the WSRP throwing a lot of support their way.
I’ve heard two names so far mentioned to run for the seat, both currently serving in the 17th, Representative Paul Harris, who has expressed he is not interested and Lynda Wilson who isn’t well thought of by the malcontents of the CCGOP since neither she nor her husband, Tracy jumped in behind the failed effort at writing in Rep. Liz Pike for the Clark County Council Chair position last year.
In the mean time, life goes on for all with little to nothing changed. Sooner or later the jubilation being expressed will be replaced by reality that people are still being played and manipulated by a Podunk newspaper editor over impressed with his own perception of power.
Sorry Lefty, I did see where you name dropped me in your editorial today, but that will not help your sagging subscription rate. He wrote;
“One of my right-wing blogger buddies — Lew Waters — apparently took the time to reread every one of my Press Talk columns so he could identify the ones that he determined were negative toward Clark County Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke, as well as Benton.”
“Apparently, my total is just under 100. Thanks, Lew, for the hard work!”
“What Lew is getting at, of course, is that The Columbian has been vigilant — some would argue relentless — when it came to stupid stuff being done by politicians.”
No, actually I was saying you are vindictive and hateful since you somehow fail to apply any resemblance of being “relentless” or “vigilant” when it comes to Democrats, any Democrat.
Objectivity might turn it around for you and help more than begging again for your taxes to be cut as you support middle class taxes to be increased.
Party on, enjoy your hate fest, while it lasts, that is.
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