Had a great time at the Revote Rally in Olympia today. The news reports say that there were 1,000 pro-revote protesters and 500 counter-protesters. I'd have to say they overestimated the number of counter-protesters.
Brian Crouch and I drove down with Rabbi Lapin, who is both an excellent conversationalist and an excellent driver.
I took two photographs of anti-revote protesters:
If I had to guess, I'd say the guy who wrote the "Facists" sign is probably an AFT member.
Most of the pro-Gregoire protesters appeared to be residents of Precinct 1823 .
And one picture of pro-revote protesters:
Vietnamese Immigrants for Freedom. I didn't see any refugees from Communism protesting against the revote.
I only had time to give the first third or so of my prepared speech. My remarks (as written, not as given) are in the extended entry.
UPDATE: Associated Press reporter Rebecca Cook e-mails to explain:
the original crowd estimates in the AP story was obviously wrong, as you noted. I estimated 200 in the Democrats' crowd, and the editor heard '500' -- probably the result of speaking into a cell phone while 1,800 people chant "revote!" at the top of their lungs. The original estimate of 1,000 in the revote crowd came from the State Patrol, and they later upped it to 2,000 (including the Dems), so I went with 1,800 in the story.Likewise, Rebecca! A revised article is here.I try not to get too defensive about this stuff, but I cringed when I saw the 500 estimate on the wire. So in the interest of MSM transparency. I just wanted to let you know how it happened and was corrected. Keep up the good work!
[my speech follows]
Good morning. My name is Stefan Sharkansky and I’ve been writing about the whole governor’s race at a blog called SoundPolitics.com
I’ve never given a speech to this large of a crowd before. Unlike most of the people up here who really are distinguished in their fields, I’m just an ordinary citizen; a husband, a father, a small business owner; a citizen with a computer and some opinions. But that can be pretty powerful, can’t it.
Because we really are in the middle of a kind of citizen’s revolution, aren’t we. No, it’s not of the scale of the American Revolution of 1776, or the current revolution in Ukraine. But if you use the word revolution to describe any exceptional change to the established order of things, then yes, this is something of a revolution. Because the established order of things is broken and we’re changing it. We can all see how our elections process, the core of our democracy, has broken down. It’s kind of a metaphor for all that ails our political institutions. Underperforming, untransparent, unaccountable. Is it really “good enough for government work” to have 3,500 or 2,000 or whatever is the number du jour more ballots than voters? The airlines figured out years ago how to count both boarding passes and the people sitting in the airplane and come up with the same number. Why can’t our elections officials figure out how to match the number of ballots cast with number of eligible voters who cast them?
It’s not a coincidence and it’s not just happy talk that Christine Gregoire says that this election was, and I quote “ a model to the rest of the nation and the world”. Because in Christine Gregoire’s mind the King County Elections office is her model for how she wants to run the State of Washington. And that might be good enough for their idea of government work, but it’s not good enough for ours. We have to take our state government back, so that this illegitimate pretend victory, with its margin of 129 double voters, felons, cemetery residents and imaginary playmates does not stand. So we can have a new election and know that the person who moves into the governor’s mansion deserves to be there and has a legitimate mandate from a majority of the eligible voters. And I believe that in a fair election Dino Rossi will win and will become our next governor.
But whether or not the judges allow a revote and whether or not Dino Rossi ultimately wins; no matter who is governor three months from now, this revolution for election reform that we’ve all started will go on. Because our democracy is not built on “elections”. It’s not built on contests with arbitrary rules and procedures. It is built on the principle that government is subservient to the will of the people. Elections are merely a tool for measuring the will of the people. If an election doesn’t measure the will of the people and is just a contest about counting pieces of paper, you might as well just let the candidates pick a winner by playing a game of Rock, Scissors, Paper. And if the elections system that we have today isn’t good enough to measure the will of the people within the margin of sloppiness, incompetence and illegal voting, then we don’t just suck it up for four years with a governor we don’t want. We say enough is enough, this will not stand, we fix the elections system and we measure the will of the people again so we can have the government that is our right to have.
And it’s only fitting that this citizen’s revolution for clean elections and a legitimate government is playing out not in the mainstream media, but in the alternative media. Not the one-way media of the big-haired pontificators of network TV news or the cocooned editorial boards. But the citizen’s media. Talk radio. Thank you, John, and Kirby and Mike and Dori . Rabbi Lapin. Stephanie Sandlin in Spokane. And their guests from all walks of life and the callers who talk back and every day teach the hosts and the listeners something new. And the blogs. And of course it’s not just me and my fellow Sound Politicians Brian, Andy, Matt, Jim, Marsha, Kevin, Tim, Ambra, Scott, Seth and Ron. You know I learned the other day that in certain parts of Seattle they call us the Dirty Dozen. And it’s not just the other local bloggers like Tim Goddard, privateradio.com, a guy named Mac who calls his blog “Pull on Superman’s Cape?”, or the indispensable OrbusMax. It’s our readers, who post comments and send us tips. You know it was our readers who helped us break the story of double voting. A “freeper” who uses the nickname Hanna sent us that tip. She also sent us the tip that found the first documented case of a ballot cast in the name of a deceased person. The Times and the P-I had to play catch-up two days later. And they still haven’t reported the double voter even though Norm Maleng’s office has referred it for prosecution. And there are lots more stories that we were able to bring to your attention largely through the efforts of our readers.
Because our establishment media has grown partisan and credulous and as lazy and complacent as the local government it’s supposed to be watching. “It’s in the P-I” When was the last time you looked in the P-I expecting to find something you both needed to know and didn’t know already. There’s very little in the P-I about how badly botched this election was, only how we should accept the result and move on. But we Americans are a resourceful people, an inventive people, a self-reliant people. When our institutions stop serving us well, we fix the ones we can and must fix, and create new institutions to supplant the ones we can’t fix.
And that’s where these two revolutions converge. The citizen’s revolution for clean elections and legitimate government and the revolution of citizen’s media. And each and every one of us is part of both. And we’re going to continue to work for election reform. And I don’t mean trusting Sam Reed, Frank Chopp and the Seattle Democrats to bring us some girly-man symbolic gesture they call election reform. I’m talking about a citizen’s initiative for real reforms. Like you can only register to vote if you have proof of citizenship. You can’t vote unless you have both a photo ID and a pulse. And you can’t certify an election unless the number of votes equals the number of voters.
I had the opportunity to observe the legislative session today. I know those on the floor saw is, everytime one person got up to leave, another entered to take their place (in the gallery). While sitting there, I thought to myself that this certification by the legislature may work for the good. The whole world will get to see her get dethroned. There is already precedent for such action to take place. Patience and perseverance my friends. As was recommended at the rally, make your cars a moving billboard for a revote.
I got to personally tell Mr. Berendt (as he was dodging another citizen's questions), "we'll see you in court."
Thanks Stefan, Brian, BIAW, etc.. we all owe you.
PS. my family that was there (my husband, myself, and two sons) were interviewed by a reporter from the Everett Herald. We'll have to see if she took good notes.
Posted by: Orange Robyn on January 11, 2005 03:35 PM"One of those challenges will be to improve the state's election process and I am committed to working with Secretary of State Sam Reed as well as Democrats and Republicans to make necessary changes."
Yeah, after you block the investigation of what actually happened and how you actually won.
Posted by: Mikey on January 11, 2005 03:39 PMThis shall not stand!
Posted by: smegma on January 11, 2005 03:47 PMLet's see more pictures. If the MSM is going to pretend the numbers were comparable, we need to be able to show that as another lie.
Posted by: Bostonian on January 11, 2005 04:00 PMWTG guys!
Posted by: South County on January 11, 2005 04:07 PMIsn't fascism the socia1ist economic system of ownership without control? Doesn't that just fit the KC critical areas ordinance to a tee. I wonder how the sign holder feels about the CAO?"
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 04:09 PM
It's now official. The apple orchard to the world has become a bananna republic.
Possession is 9/10th's folks. Your faith is not well placed in the political hacks who couldn't get an injunction to stop the certification.. either by Sam Reed or the Legislature. Bet they didn't even try.
Democrats control nearly every institution of government in this state and almost always have. Why do you figure that is?
Read the letters you're getting back from your democratic legislators. They're smug and not the least bit accomodating.. or even polite really. So you'll remember and vote against them next time around. Big deal. They'll likely win anyway because that's probably all you'll do.
Posted by: Jim on January 11, 2005 04:41 PMThe MoveOn's were the same tired old protestors they bring out and dust off for every liberal event!
Same script - same soap box..just change the cause..
(Most of them aren't even from this state!..They are from Oregon...)
-------------------------------------------------
Stefan - and those of you who attended the rally - YOU LOOKED GREAT!!
You made the people of this State proud! You gave us hope!
THANK YOU!!!
Posted by: Deborah on January 11, 2005 04:42 PMDear Mr. ??????,
We have no evidence of fraud in this election. It is of utmost importance to Secretary Reed that the integrity of the election process is maintained.
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with our office.
Amber Cervantes
Office of the Secretary of State
You shoulda told Cryin' Paul we'll see him in court several times...like when they lose, and when they lose again, and when they lose again, and when they lose that last appeal...and who knows, maybe more times after that (not that I am alleging fraud or anything like that...nope...not one bit...not here). Posted by: SnoCo Voter on January 11, 2005 04:52 PM
Watching with great interest from Nevada.
Are you prepared to fight the Supreme Court decision?
History has shown that in a democratic controlled state, the court system will get tainted too.
Florida, New Jersey and Nevada stand as examples of what you can expect and prepared for to fight against.
I told him several times "see you in court", no doubt he got the message, loud and clear. I hope you are all in for the long haul. This may take some time, but I do believe that the courts (if not state, then Federal) will look at all the evidence collectively and know that there is no way on God's green earth that there was a clear winner in this election. Press on!
Robyn
Posted by: Orange Robyn on January 11, 2005 04:56 PMOn a different note, a caller to KVI just suggested to John Carlson that the Republicans who bought tickets to the Inaugural Ball thinking that Rossi had won so now don't want to use them donate them to the homeless so that they can attend the ball. After all, they helped get her elected didn't they? That got me thinking, It may be too late, but I'd be willing to buy two tickets to the ball for homeless people so that they could attend. Do you think we could gather together and send a bunch of homeless to the Ball? I hear they still need to sell 1,000 tickets.
Posted by: Laura on January 11, 2005 05:03 PMThat would get their shredders going in Seattle.
Posted by: Norm Gilbertson on January 11, 2005 05:07 PMAs far as certifying or not certifying the election, I think in retrospect it was the best thing for Sec Reed to do because until that point the Rossi Campaign didn't have any recourse because they hadn't been "harmed." After certification, they can contest the results, which is was they did.
Posted by: Tucker on January 11, 2005 05:10 PMEven if one reserves uses the term "fraud" only to apply to illegal votes cast by people who could not vote legally because they were living impaired, done-it-already impaired, citizenship impaired, residency impaired, age impaired, species impaired, reality impaired, or otherwise ineligible, I don't think it's reasonable to assume that more than 90% of the people who voted illegally would have been eligible to vote legally.
Negligence and malfeasance (actions performed with, at best, a reckless disregard for the law) by King County officials make it impossible to know with any certainty the extent to which the election result has been unlawfully altered. It is clear, however, that the illegally-cast votes would not have had to be very far off-center to turn the election, and I see no reason to believe with any confidence whatsoever that they were not.
Whether or not there was fraud of the afforementioned types, there were certainly many anomolies which are indistinguishable from fraud; that the anomolies are indistinguishable from fraud is the result of King County officials' negligence and malfeasance.
Posted by: supercat on January 11, 2005 05:13 PMOh, wait. Maybe he meant "fascist"?
Posted by: Bleeding heart conservative on January 11, 2005 05:13 PMIf anyone wonders why the final vote on the (R) motion to defer certification 4 Gov was 65 Yes and 80 No; i.e.: Two legislators were missing:
A (D) legislator was excused because if I heard the report to the Speaker correctly that (D) was in the hospital recovering from surgery. Assume one of the (R)s paired off like they often do when a legislator is prevented by emergency from attending an important vote.
Special thanks to my 12th District Representative and Deputy Minority House Leader Mike Armstrong, who was kind enough to let a half-dozen of his constituents including the writer watch the joint session debate and vote via TVW from his leadership office just off the House floor. Not only that, he had GREAT munchies. :-]
Even more important, I thought Rep. Armstrong and the other (R)s AND (D) Sen. Tim Sheldon made an overwhelming, convincing, and logical case for deferring Gov. certification.... oops:
I forgot the (D) machine was (surprise, surprise) not interested in logic and common sense.
Chelan County Superior Count has first hearing on the Election Contest this Friday. Newly elected Supreme Court Justice James Johnson was quoted as saying "won't this be fun." I talked briefly to an experienced legal professional after the rally, and he expressed considerable confidence that the brief filed by the Rossi campaign + stuff that keeps piling up + discovery still to be done will carry the day; and we WILL get a ReVote. Fight's on....
Methow Ken
Posted by: Methow Ken on January 11, 2005 05:20 PM"There were more like 1700 revote supporters, and 300 Labor union members opposing the revote."
"AP revised their figure 1800 revote people 200 gregoire supporters."
"The lefties were tiny by comparison: NO WAY did the pro-G. bunch come anywhere near 500."
I can't be the only one getting a chuckle out of all the wild guesses at the size of each contingent of supporters, can I? I mean, with all that has been going on there wasn't an exact, machine counted (using turnstyles perhaps), mistake free, officially certified and ratified count of both camps of supporters? ;^)
Posted by: Daniel K on January 11, 2005 05:31 PMFor $5 he'll show up anywhere.
Posted by: Iguana on January 11, 2005 05:32 PMI knew there was something wrong with the sign, I just made the assumption that they were from the Teacher's Union...why correct it if they are the experts...
Posted by: smegma on January 11, 2005 05:37 PMI am from the 1st. Anybody that would like to form a group to remove the two rep's from our dist I am game. We need to do this while things are still steaming.
Posted by: Doug on January 11, 2005 05:39 PMPosted by: Doug on January 11, 2005 05:43 PM
Good point on the misspelling of fascist by the sign holder. He must have attended a government school.
Reminds me of the No Iraq War Seattle School sponsored protests. Salmon Middle School, I think it was, had such a get out of school protest at which a young girl made a sign that said NO WOR. It was corrected to say NO WAR, but obviously had read NO WAR initially. A photo of it made the Times.
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 05:48 PMJust got back to Vancouver....Enjoyed all the speeches and even decided to leave a note on our legislator's desk, signed by all of us(5 voters in the 17th Dist.)asking her to delay certification since our district went for Rossi and she is a D. We will all remember what she did and make sure alot of others remember it come election time again.
Posted by: Susu on January 11, 2005 05:54 PMHUZZA!!!
Posted by: Jeff H on January 11, 2005 06:01 PMHas anyone else been to www.horsesa**.org before? I must say I was shocked when I typed in the address and got a bunch of porno pop ups...only when I had finished closing all of them (frantically I might add) did the actual website come up.
Then, when I was trying to post it wouldn't let me and THEN when I tried to leave it wouldn't let me either. Just wouldn't do anything except stay on that site. Very weird and slightly disturbing.
Anyway, typical whining that I hear from trolls here so nothing new...although Christine G. is claiming she was banned from posting here. Funny...if she is banned, why isn't headless or torrid? Me thinks she misinforms.
Posted by: megs on January 11, 2005 06:08 PMWhat to do?
Posted by: Tim on January 11, 2005 06:18 PMI'm a troll?
I don't know who you are, but you don't know me.
I'm a Pat Buchanan conservative. I have NEVER voted for a democrat statewide or Federal office. I don't happen to adore or even really like the current White House occupant, but I still supported him in both 00 and 04. I like Dino Rossi just fine.
I don't 'troll' on websites. I go where the cause of enlightenment compells me. People like you compelled me to come here.
I don't believe either the Republican Party or most of you on this site are being realistic.
Here's what's going to happen in all likliehood..
the court in Chelan is going to order a revote and the State Supreme Court, which already rewrote the law once to benefit Fraudoire, is going to throw it out summarily.
The proper venue for this was the Federal District Court, and the proper time for petitioning was about seven weeks ago after those ballots in King County were 'enhanced'.
Posted by: Jim on January 11, 2005 06:20 PMRep. Cox, Republican of Colfax, was excused today because he is in the hospital with a serious illness. That's why the vote was 65-80.
Posted by: j.a. on January 11, 2005 06:29 PMI don't think you're a troll...I think that word might be thrown about too easily...now, Headless is one for sure.
And I hope you're wrong about the results that come from the USSC. I truly cannot see how any logical, down to earth person can rule any way except revote. There is just too much evidence showing (if not outright fraud) incompetence and illegalities.
Posted by: megs on January 11, 2005 06:31 PM"likliehood"...is actually 'likelihood' and I do not think you are the "jim" which most people refer to in this forum. First off, you capitalize your handle. Second, you seem intelligent (misspelling not-with-standing)...
I have some doubt about your assesment of the Rossi case, but you could be correct...
Posted by: smegma on January 11, 2005 06:38 PM===========================================
Rep. Cox, Republican of Colfax, was excused today because he is in the hospital with a serious illness. That's why the vote was 65-80.
===========================================
People were talking in the room we were in when that was mentioned; plus audio was a bit muted. Looks like I failed to hear that part correctly. Thank you for pointing out my mistake.
Methow Ken
Will the WA Supreme Court throw it out based on its merits, due to partisianship or just to save face?
If Dino went to court while he was ahead, he would of been lambasted in the media. I think early on Dino exercised excessive restraint in order to preserve the rules and legitimacy of the election. To sue or not to sue, that was indeed the big question. Dino was far far too generous. But, we as voters were far too niave in understanding King County. KC has repeatedly demonstrated they can't get it right. Two months later they still can't reconcile 1800 ballots to voters.
Some court has to eventually recognize the simple fact that KC screwed up enough that no can have confidence in any result.
Posted by: Mike J on January 11, 2005 06:49 PMMike..
they will throw it out because they're partisan liberal self-serving hacks.. just about all members of the bar in this state are.
Republicans back tort reform. Lawyers and judges married to lawyers or who envision whoring in the private sector again don't.
Remember what happened in Florida? It took a Federal jurisdiction to enforce state laws.
The Federal Courts are a better bet because the judges have lifetime tenure and are not subject to politics. They've also been out of private practice longer and have probably forgotten they were once useless frivolous lawsuit-filing skanks.
Chris Vance had nine district court judges he could have gone to.
I don't want to say he's getting bad legal advice, but I'm starting to feel like Scott Peterson.
Posted by: Jim on January 11, 2005 07:07 PMOf course, these are the same people who either have no interest in the law that applies to them, or refuse to believe it when it's placed in front of them. Any logical, down to earth person can surmise from the law that incompetence and illegality does overturn an election by itself.
Posted by: torridjoe on January 11, 2005 07:07 PMGood to see you're illiterate in history as well as in spelling.
"Fleeing Communism" would mean they left because the Communists took over after we abandoned our ally.
But thanks for the update on your feelings.
Posted by: steve miller on January 11, 2005 07:17 PMI'm not sure why I bother. I must have faith that one day you will open those kitten eyes.
:-)!
He said there was no constitutional basis for a revote and his job was to uphold the constitution. I'm looking for a little help in crafting a question back. It seems his job is to uphold the constitution AND the laws passed by the legislature, (since the constitution could not include all laws). Does the RCW I see referenced here provide for a revote process that this representative should have followed?
Thanks - SafeRB
Posted by: SafeRB on January 11, 2005 07:24 PMBut hey--more power to them. Unlike the site owners, I'm not into personal denigrations based on what someone looks like, where they live, who they work for, or who they voted for. Given the lack of reason being exhibited here over the last couple weeks, I suppose it's all they have to get by on.
If someone is holding a sign commemorating "Republic of South Viet Nam Armed Forces Day 2003," presumably that person or their relatives or friends served at some time in the South Vietnamese military. In 1975, when the Communist government of North Vietnam took over South Vietnam, people who had been in the South Vietnamese government or military were at great risk of persecution, and so many of them fled.
Thus, it is correct to say that many South Vietnamese are refugees from Communism -- the Communism that was instituted when the South Vietnamese government fell.
Posted by: Joshua on January 11, 2005 07:26 PMI wish Pastor Ken Hutcherson could have spoken a little longer. He's always fun to hear!
Posted by: Michele on January 11, 2005 07:26 PMTo all, it makes a lot of sense that a lot more revote people showed up than non-revote people.
After all, people yell and scream when they don't like the prevailing trend. They don't feel as motivated to show up if things are going they way they want.
Think about the last school board or city council meeting in your town...do people show up because they are thrilled with something or because they are upset about something.
Posted by: jim on January 11, 2005 07:30 PMHe's now outed himself as a troublemaking child.
Posted by: ScottM on January 11, 2005 07:30 PM"It's pretty funny to make fun of someone for not spelling fascist right, then post a picture about people from the former SOUTH VIETNAM, and make a comment about fleeing Communism. South Vietnam was not Communist; that's pretty much the reason we were "protecting" them from North Vietnam."
Where were you when South Vietnam fell? Do you have any clue as to what they suffered when the Communist regime took over? If it were not for our government taking the responsibility for our failed effort in Vietnam, those folks you see in the picture would either be in concentration camps or dead.
Stick to your mantra. At least that may actually draw a silly comment or two from us...as opposed to me spanking you for your ignorance...
Posted by: smegma on January 11, 2005 07:31 PMMy post about your South Vietnam comment was deleted due to content, but I am not sure why.
I see you were already taken to task on that.
But your answer was less than gracious, and certainly not logical.
Have you ever been wrong about anything?
I was at the rally this morning and standing a cross top two pictures posted at SoundPolitics.com.
I was holding a yellow sign:
" Every Vote Counts "
“Count Every Dead Person's Vote”
Any ways, the Democrats will never learn...Them always protests against their own country such as the U.S.
I was Fleeing Communism, [Democratic Cambodia] where government controlled all businesses, people at home and at work. Communism is very bad and they are bad people.
Look at the Democrats at the rally, did you see they are carrying that American flag? NO!
I am proud to be American...and be part of protecting the America. Because I owe to this country, give me second life.
Savun:
Appropriatley it will be the godless left and the government educated apathetic foolish mob that will dish out the lions share of lawlessness in this state.
Lawlessness by the pious will more likely be civil disobedience, which of course, is not lawlessness at all since it is subject to the Higher Law.
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 07:36 PMps. Does your name have a meaning? If so would you mind sharing it?
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 07:38 PMI did not know there is a meaning of it or not.
I did asked my father, but he did not tell what its means. SORRY!,
Savun
Posted by: Savun Neang on January 11, 2005 07:40 PMIf Democrats protest against their own country, what were the re-vote people doing?
Posted by: torridjoe on January 11, 2005 07:44 PMThe only thing I give Missy Chrisy credit for is that she hasn't played the feminist victim card ... yet.
She's using moves out of Hillary's playbook though, so don't be surprised when that one comes up.
Posted by: Iguana on January 11, 2005 07:46 PMYou are one cold man.
I bet a child molester could get pretty good rep from you...as long as the check cleared,
There were so many great analogies made to our current elections mess! I especially loved the one made (forgive me - I can't remember who it was!) about the votes taken to pass or fail the delay in certification.... (This was on Monday in the Senate debates..) The Republican Senator asked if a vote discrepency would be allowed because it was probably just an error and it wasn't really off by much....
He said something like this : "What if we held a secret vote to pass this request to delay the certification of the Governor? What if, in the tally of votes - it was discovered there were more ballots cast than there are Senators voting? Would we just accept it? It was probably just a mistake! But that extra ballot created the margin needed to pass the delay in certification... Would we just say - Oh well! We will just let it go but deal with it some day down the road?"
I thought it was great!
Posted by: Deborah on January 11, 2005 07:53 PM" If Democrats protest against their own country, what were the re-vote people doing? "
You can read this line " I was Fleeing Communism, [Democratic Cambodia] where government controlled all businesses, people at home and at work",
The re-vote people are doing, making sure that the Democrats do have all the power to controlls what I stated a bove. The Democrats are doing every things to controlls.
SAvun
Posted by: Savun Neang on January 11, 2005 07:54 PMLe Tran, Hon Hoen, Pen Nyueng...I remember, and stand for you and your surviving family here in the United States.
Posted by: smegma on January 11, 2005 07:55 PMActually, he likes the lower-case 'torridjoe,' and you are right, he remains clueless...a person who can cast aside an entire race of people as such...
"Of course, these are the same people who either have no interest in the law that applies to them, or refuse to believe it when it's placed in front of them."
I only assume he speaks of the valorous Vietnamese...
Posted by: smegma on January 11, 2005 08:14 PM(Not an exact parallel, but I hope the reasonable get the joke.)
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 08:18 PMIt was Sheldon....
Isn't it frightening to know that there is only ONE Democrat with bipartisan mental clarity in the ENTIRE legislature of Washington State??
Posted by: Deborah on January 11, 2005 08:28 PMhttp://www.4wethepeople.com/
Posted by: max on January 11, 2005 08:28 PMHow do you know she's not your governor? Did you personally count the votes and attest to knowing who got the most? Otherwise, I am at a loss to see how you would know.
Peter.
Unless you live outside of Washington, which of course makes her not your governor. Or you could play semantics and say since she hasn't been sworn in yet (that's tomorrow), she's not your governor. But I don't think either of these is what you meant.
Posted by: Peter on January 11, 2005 08:41 PMHey sorry, but your passive agressive kind of fighting is just real tiresome and a little cowardly.
I believe we have lost here. I think the Judicial branch will be about as honest and fair as Old Joe and the Dem Legislature. Lets start day 2 tomorrow by making the thieves pay.
Who suscribes to the Times or worse yet, the PI?
Lets reward this fine exhibit of journalism with a boycott. Let them sell papers to Joe and..Mr. sideburns. I figure Joe will pay, but Mr. Sideburns....Hmmmm.It might be tough to make a profit with this crew. Then go after these dems that claim to be moderates in our districts.
Hope/Pray for the best, but know who we are up against.
I'm waiting for you to start rhyming Ie.. Posted by: Brad on January 11, 2005 08:43 PM
Turn off all lights and turn off as much power as possible each Tuesday night from 9:00 to 9:30.
Washington will become a very dark place without the rule of law. Turn off lights and power for the next half hour. Yes that includes your computer. :-)!
As we wore orange in solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers now go dark in solidarity with our Iranian brothers.
Give me liberty or give me darkness.
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 08:55 PMTop 9 Ways to Discover That You are Not the Governor of Washington State
9. When you call a press conference, the camera man asks you to step aside.
8. Tobacco and BIAW lobbyists start calling you by your first name and talk about the good ol days.
7. The only calls you get anymore are from people asking you to show them a house in Bellevue.
6. Ellen Craswell is too busy to talk to you.
5. Mike Lowry calls and asks if you want to hang out.
4. When you salute the head of the Washington State Guard, he doesn't salute back but asks "may I help you."
3. President Bush calls and asks if you would like to be an assistance of an assistant to the Ambassador of Ghana.
2. You try to post a comment on a conservative blog but people accuse you of being a "troll."
And the number one reason you know you are not the governor of Washington :
1. You show up at the governor's ball dressed in a tux and people give you their coats to hang.
(just trying to have a little fun folks)
Posted by: Erik on January 11, 2005 08:56 PM"She sure got a small crowd compared to this side"
He turned around and pointed the camera in my face and said, "why do you think that is?"
"well, I think they are all union members getting paid to be here. look over here and see how many different kinds of people are on this side and look how many many more there are"
After wards we went into the capitol and sat in the house galley and watched the democrats make complete idiots of themselves by laughing at Tim Sheldon for standing with the Republicans.
I know my 2 reps Simpson and Sullivan both shouted NO and they will get a tongue lashing from me for sure.
Did any of you see the digital sign on I-5 near the Fife Searay Dealer? It was an awesome sight.
"dead people voted"
"military didn't"
"revotewa.com"
thank you to who ever owns that sign.
btw, will revotewa.com be comparing data of signatures to district legislators and the way they voted today. I for one like to see the number of signatures in comparrison to the elected officals margin of votes they won by.
nevertheless, the strong odor of arrogance with the dems today sends a very clear message of where they stand.
ScottM : "I apologize to the other readers and posters for ever having tried to have a serious conversation with torridjoe."
Apology accepted.
I apologize for the same reason.
I have heard of brainwashing techniques that are less painful than this. The novel "1984" comes to mind.
I think Headless Lucy makes more sense (am I really saying this?). At least she has a sense of humor, twisted though it may be.
I hereby take the pledge: I will not talk to or about torrid joe, aka tepid joe, aka joe knows all.
Please hit me if fail.
Posted by: JG on January 11, 2005 09:24 PMI received this email tonight.I know this is all the same rhetoric but I wanted to show you that all of the democratic leaders have essentially the same thing to say....that is that SOS Reed -who is republican-didn't seem to have a problem with the certification, why should we?? Why are we not hounding his office with this stuff??? He's the voice that everyone is following, including the supreme court. He's the one that should answer to us all!!!! the legislature will continue to hide behind him, until he takes charge of the situation, which he has yet to do since this began.. ...
"Thank you for writing to me about the gubernatorial race. I share your concern about the state of the elections system and agree that we have a lot of work to do this year to rebuild it to handle very close elections. Many, many of you wrote on both sides of this issue. I apologize for the impersonal nature of this response, but I wanted to send it out before I have to vote Tuesday.
I am sending this response to both sets of correspondents, as I try to say the same thing to everyone who writes in. I do not support the Legislature requiring a re-vote. I don’t believe this is a good long-term precedent, nor do I believe it is the right way to handle a contested election. We are a nation of laws, and election law is quite clear about the process to be followed.
An automatic, machine recount is done for very close races, and this one certainly qualified.
A second, hand recount was done at the request of the Democrats. They posted a large bond to cover the costs of this more detailed examination of the ballots. I observed the recount process at the King County facility and spoke to many of the people counting, of both parties. They all felt that the hand process was much more exact than the machine count was, as in many cases they were able to determine quite clearly for whom someone had voted when the machine failed to do so.
The Republican Secretary of State certified the results of this final recount. Secretary of State Sam Reed: “I feel that this election has been fair.” I agree.
The last step in the process is in court, and the Republican party has filed suit in Chelan county about the provisional vote situation in King County. I assume they will consider the same problem in all counties. For example, Benton county had proportionately more unverified provisional votes, and it went very strongly (68%) for Rossi. The courts typically do not allow “cherry picking” of jurisdictions in cases like this.
The legislature is not involved in this process, quite appropriately. It’s our job to create the law that governs the process. It is the job of the judicial system to determine if the law has been followed.
This morning I took my oath of office again. I pledged to uphold the constitution of the state of Washington, and I take this responsibility very seriously.
I have read the constitutional passages relevant to our role in the process. We are required to accept the results from the Secretary of State and announce the result. The constitution gives us little latitude in this, and I expect that we will do it. I do not believe the Republicans intend to raise an election contest in the Legislature. My understanding is that the motion we will see is to delay the announcement of the results, though I see little point in that.
I intend to vote to accept the results from the Secretary of State. The election was fair and followed the rules laid out in the law. There was no fraud, nor has the Republican party claimed any in their lawsuit. Washington has a relatively clean reputation, and rightly so. (I grew up in Philadelphia, and have seen “machine politics” at work.)
There has been a loud PR campaign from both sides that I am concerned about. Republican Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey called GOP hints at fraud based on discrepancies between incomplete voter lists “irresponsible.” [The Columbian, 1/5/05]. It is a very close election and well within the margin of measurement error of the system. This was anticipated when the law was written, and there is a process to follow to determine the results. The law does not provide for a re-vote, nor does the constitution.
The above does not mean that I think this was a good way to run an election. We have a lot of work to do to make sure that we are much more accurate in how we count the votes, and that we have more time between the primary and the general elections. Several members and the Secretary of State have made detailed proposals for packages of election reforms, and I am very supportive. In particular:
· I will work hard this year to make sure that we have a system that gets absentee ballots to overseas voters earlier, including our young men and women serving in the military. In 2003 I voted for an internet-based system administered by the DOD that allowed overseas military to vote electronically because I was concerned about the disenfranchisement that had happened due to the late delivery of absentee ballots in 2002. I have concerns about the security of the internet system, but at the time they were outweighed by my concern that our soldiers be able to vote. The military cancelled that system for a variety of their own reasons. There are many ways we can get blank ballots to voters, though how to do so in a combat zone is probably beyond our purview.
· We will look at all our options, including moving the primary to an earlier date, requiring return of absentee ballots by election day, and other changes to make it easier to count the results in close elections. Clearly counties should have consistent rules, and we should have a state-wide voter registration database so that we can eliminate voters registered in multiple counties.
Having an election system we can trust is incredibly important. I will work hard to improve ours during this legislative session.
Hunter, Rep. Ross [Hunter.Ross@leg.wa.gov]"
blah blah blah
Posted by: darcy on January 11, 2005 09:29 PMWhy can't we organize to boycott Co's that run adds in dem papers. It's not like Mr. Sideburns spends $500 at safeway every couple of weeks.
Who are these papers kissing up to?
It's us that pays the taxes and buys the goods advertised in the PI and Times.
Folks, we have been screwed here. No doubt about it. So...Why are we feeding the maching?
Let's get organized, just like the dems with Mr. Sideburns, only....We have jobs, and income to withhold from those that ripped us off.
Give me some COWBELL!!!!
Posted by: Brad on January 11, 2005 09:40 PM
Was that a rhetorical question?
The liberal mind is so esoteric one never knows for sure.
Posted by: JG on January 11, 2005 09:41 PMI was once a liberal, but I don't think that even then I could have swallowed what the Democrats are pushing.
This election has substantial anomolies that are indistinguishable from fraud. Democrat election officials have either destroyed, or prevented the collection of, evidence that would show whether these anomolies were deliberate and whether they wrongfully affected the outcome of the election. One need not be a conspiracy theorist to think it likely that the Democrats had a reason for not wanting evidence.
I would suggest that beyond the fact that a revote would help establish the legitimacy of a new governor, it would also mark perhaps the only way of discouraging malfeasance as shown by the Democrat officials. Unelection is not much of a threat when a majority of voters don't mind successful efforts by officials to 'bend' things in their favor. On the other hand, voters aren't apt to be too happy about malfeasance on the part of their officials that causes the election of their candidate to get thrown out.
Posted by: supercat on January 11, 2005 10:08 PMRemember to tell two friends about Dark Tuesday for Lawful Government before next Tuesday night. Turn off all lights and as much power as possible each Tuesday from 9:00-9:30pm until lawful government returns to our Republic.
Washington will be very dark until lawful government returns.
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 10:12 PM"King County Election Debacle 2004 - I voted, and so did I."
(maybe make the "I voted" look similar to the stickers they give at the polls)
Posted by: RookieRick on January 11, 2005 10:13 PMThink they will pay him to go to the ball too?
I'd like to see a photo of Mr. Sideburns in a tux.
Posted by: Iguana on January 11, 2005 10:14 PMI also liked the voter over-enfranchisement comment someone made earlier. And the comment about the "breathing challenged."
Posted by: Iguana on January 11, 2005 10:16 PM-Posted by CP at January 11, 2005 08:52 PM
Bon Marche... (or Macy... (or whatever it is this week)
Fred Meyers
Bartel
Michael
Target
THINK ANY COMPANY THAT HAS A FLYER IN THE PAPER ON WEDNESDAY OR SUNDAY
Do not buy gasoline on Fridays.
Do not drive if at all possible.
Car pool if you must.
Combine errand on Thursdays.
Walk to your errands. Jog to get that gallon on milk. Bike ride with the family to get that ice cream.
Empty the roads on Fridays in the State of Washington to protest for Lawful Government.
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 10:40 PMPatrick, dead on. That's where the left falls apart. The good people of this state want a revote because it's the right thing to do when the election was a failure. It has nothing to do with who we want to see win.
Why are the Dems afraid of a revote? Gregoire would have a legitimate chance just as Rossi would, and it would remove the cloud of doubt that hangs over her now.
The only reason they fear a revote is that they prefer that this whole thing be over so they can believe the ends justified the means.
Posted by: Jeff B. on January 11, 2005 10:47 PMThe last totals from King 5 news :
1700 Revote supporters at the rally !
300 MoveOn paid protestors....
(I wonder when these guys are going to MoveOn to Canada?)
Posted by: Deborah on January 11, 2005 10:49 PMOr will we hear 4 years of "illegimate" and "crooked court" complaints?
Posted by: jim on January 11, 2005 10:54 PMPosted by: MC on January 11, 2005 10:58 PM
Watching the whole session play out today made my stomach turn. Democracy in action is a lot uglier than I imagined. Even after all of the passionate presentations, and common sense logic presented, the Dems voted the party line.
It's time for a revolution in Washington! We need to organize now, meet often and make sure the wheels of change keep turning. Let's take Washington back!!!
Posted by: CR ACTIVIST on January 11, 2005 11:01 PMIt will be 'crooked courts.' Unlike you the pious do not worship at the 'temple of justice;' we worship at a Higher Temple.
What is right is right. It should be obvious to you, but it isn't because you refuse to open your eyes. We on the right need no court to tell us what is right. We hear the Truth very clearly whether in God's word, a preacher's sermon or a judges decision. Pick up the Good Book, the scriptures testify to this fact. I believe the relevant verse begins: "My sheep will hear my voice." Any decent concordance will lead you to the correct verse. (A concordance is a Bible index of sorts.)
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 11:07 PMBetter this be an economic and government revenue battle than a battle in the streets.
Posted by: Jericho on January 11, 2005 11:11 PM[John 10:27-28] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.
Posted by: supercat on January 11, 2005 11:15 PMBoth KIRO and KOMO revised their numbers according to Orbusmax
Posted by: Cheryl on January 11, 2005 11:21 PMI haven't seen him post much since this afternoon..
Posted by: Deborah on January 11, 2005 11:30 PMThis election has substantial anomolies that are indistinguishable from fraud. Democrat election officials have either destroyed, or prevented the collection of, evidence that would show whether these anomolies were deliberate and whether they wrongfully affected the outcome of the election.
Anomolies. The modern reluctancy to call a spade a spade is exactly what Gregoire is counting on to enable her to waltz at her inaugeral ball. He who hesitates is lost.
Posted by: jay bird on January 11, 2005 11:33 PMGreat job of uncovering the nasty underside of that giant outhouse called Kings County.
And great job of keeping us updated on happenings in what I call UKRAINE-ON-PUGET SOUND. I hope the revote demonstrators wore lots of orange.
Viktor Yushchenko would be proud of you. This Virginian certainly is.
~LS
Posted by: Lee Shore on January 11, 2005 11:37 PMWhen Dino gets in, (note the optimism) they could sell a few thousand more than that and probably have demand for more.
Posted by: Michele on January 11, 2005 11:39 PM‘You don't think that the state is going to be hurt by lawless government? You don't think lawless government will hurt small businesses?’
Wholly agree.
‘Every revolution ends because the burguoise snuggle their wealth close to their breast smothering the liberty that cries from deep within and when the burgoise caves so caves the revolution.’
This is not a revolution against capitalism but one versus government. I would only advocate a boycott against businesses (the bourgeois: capitalists) where legislators have a direct investment and hurting them in your ‘revolution’.
‘Better this be an economic and government revenue battle than a battle in the streets.’
Again, I agree. But hitting them directly (personally) will have a faster and greater impact.
I do not think Rossi was asking for a new election then, but I certainly know he was not asking for a new election two weeks ago, when he was ahead in the counts.
Another think: I think democrats are completely capable of cheating, but you want me to believe that republican are honest: HA HA HA !!!!! You made my day.
Sincerely your friend
Tom Delay
Ps) In Washington Republicans even faked a break in their headquarters. HA HA HA HA
It was great to be there (at the rally) today. I hope to have some pictures to share soon. It was snowing (Lewis County) by the time we got home (after running a few errands).
We saw many of the people and signs mentioned on this site. It's fun making the connections.
I have to say the "dead voter" (who voted in King County) looked pretty calm, cool and collected!
Posted by: TADD on January 12, 2005 12:09 AMIn the recent smoking war in Pierce County (another example of lawless government) 80% plus of the bars had an agreement that if one of them (the owners) who were willfully violating the smoking ban were arrested that they all would shut down immediately. This would have paralize city of Tacoma government and Pierce County government as they get enourmous amounts of revenue from the bars (drinks, smokes, lottery, pull tab revunue). They let the princes of Tacoma know this and guess what there were no arrests and the micro-tyrant Cruz Uribe lost in court and lawful government was restored. Would it have been very painful for the bars to shut down? Yes, for the owners, the workers and the governments? Would it have been more painful for the people at large to subject themselves to further errosion toward tyranny? Of course it would. So I would much prefer some short term economic pain to the alternatives - taking up arms agains the government or continued moves toward tyranny. The time to act is now while the iron is hot.
As for hitting dim legislators in their businesses by boycotting them directly - I suspect that few of them have businesses, but I would be interested in hearing of any that do.
For movements like this to work they need to be simple, easily accomplished, and have an effect which damages the tyrants more than the people - damaged prestige in combination with economic pain is very effective - think Montgomery Bus Boycott.
I would join a boycott if I could see the connection. Big Oil, after all, is one of the bogymen of the Democrats.
What would be more interesting, I think, would be to organize bus rides to malls in Oregon for shopping (and thus not paying state sales tax). The buses could have big banners making the point that we don't want to provide money to the tyrant.
If 50 people got on the bus - that would generate some media attention, I think. And, the idea of half the state working diligently to avoid the sales tax would scare the heck out of the totalitarians of Oylimpia.
Posted by: Iguana on January 12, 2005 02:01 AMthe bus trips to Oregon sound like a great idea! However, besides state sales tax, keep (King) county and local (i.e. Seattle) sales taxes in mind as well...
Posted by: Andreas on January 12, 2005 04:59 AMIn your post on Jan. 11th (6:38), you misspelled the word assessment. You left out the last "s". Posted by: Marshall Smith on January 12, 2005 12:17 PM
What's wrong, Headless? Can't get your mind around the idea of patriotism?
It isn't the flag, fan-boy. It's what it STANDS for. You know, those outdated and quaint concepts of freedom... social justice... the inalienable rights of ALL people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... and the willingness of the brave men and women who were willing to give their lives so that you and your liberal bedmates can enjoy bashing them without fear that somebody will come to your house in the night and slit your throat.
As neanderthal as you and your buddies may find it, the idea of a society governed by citizens still appeals to the millions who flood our country every year to find a new life. That is why they come here instead of us going over there.
And oh, by the way: if you really think that President Bush is responsible for getting us into war, you need to take a refresher course in civics and government. If you already have, then you must be a product of the Seattle public school system because from what I have seen of your comments, you have a knack for saying the most ill-advised and uninformed things.
Here is a lesson for you:
The most dangerous people to America are not those within our government at all levels who are standing up against terrorism and oppressive regimes.
The most dangerous people to Americas are not even the terrorist thugs and the countries that shelter them.
No: the most dangerous people in America are the ungrateful, overprivileged, snot-nosed leftist punks who think that the best way to bring about reform is through subversion and collusion with the enemy.
What we are doing is wresting control of our, repeat OUR government from the greedy claws of the elitists who have betrayed us.
And you have three choices in this issue, Headless Lucy:
(1) Lead.
(2) Follow.
(3) Get the hell out of the way.
Can you grasp the concept?
And I have one message for those who have threatened to leave for Canada because Americans have rejected that treasonous leftist coward John Kerry in favor of President Bush:
If you have not already figured out where Canada is in relation to the United States, buy a compass. The needle points North. North is where Canada is in relation to the United States.
As for the rest of us, we will work on restoring our form of government to the great thing it was before the liberals turned it into a French whore.
Buh-bye.
Posted by: AjalonVox on January 12, 2005 02:00 PMI want to say I am sorry for going off in my last post. I will try to be more objective and self-controlled in later posts.
Please accept my most humble apology.
Posted by: AjalonVox on January 12, 2005 02:27 PMSir, My hat is off to you your speech yesterday was a breath of fresh air, inspiring, truthful and to the point...Keep it up!!
Terry Busch Posted by: Terry Busch on January 12, 2005 03:55 PM
WTG Stefan, you started the ball rolling and there have been excellent articles on what you've found and done. Keep the pressure on.
Posted by: Gmac on January 14, 2005 10:39 AMHere in Wisconsin we are finding out that Milwaukee was just as fraudulent!
Hopefully we can some election reform passed too, although our Dem gov doesn't believe and has vetoed requiring photo ID!
Posted by: fuzzyjje on January 14, 2005 02:02 PM