Not since The Trashmen recorded their hit single has "The Bird" received this much attention. It's interesting that the local, and national, media have finally gotten around to covering this one issue that is on the minds of every voter in the Eighth Congressional District.
In the blessed final days of this campaign season it seems the final subject which will be spoken about in the Reichert-Burner race is whether an Issaquah school bus driver was rightfully terminated after flipping off the president in front of a bunch of middle school children.
National security? Transportation? Federal Budget? Immigration? Energy policy? Who cares. Lets fill up the pages with discussions about the one-finger salute. Did the driver utilize the hand-crank method? The space ship? Steeple and church? Or did she choose to just use the good old-fashioned "up yours" while paying her regards to Chimpybush. I sense another investigative series by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer here.
There's no need to rehash the details since they've been repeated elsewhere. At length. Often.
The incident happened in June during President George W. Bush's fundraising visit to the state. So naturally five months later the local press has finally gotten around to reporting about it. Heck, it's only been three months since the driver was fired.
This issue hasn't actually been a secret. I heard the story at least twice myself months ago during public events this summer. It would have been nice to read about it, I don't know, in August. Or September. Or October even.
It's amazing what a reporter learns when they actually get out from behind their computer, leave the office, hop in a car - or their choice of multi-modal transportation options - and then actually head out into an area in which they are supposed to be covering.
So why is this a news story now?
I'll leave the readers to fill in their own conspiracy theories. But it looks to this poor hicktown reporter that we're dealing with yet another example of lazy journalism.
Reporters are creatures often given to inertia. So what better way to fill up that 20-column inch editorial hole than using this lovely press release provided to us by the Washington State Democratic Party (or whomever). Interview a campaign spokesperson or two. Get the driver's union rep on the horn. It's Shake 'n Bake and I helped.
So is this a newsworthy event? It's a borderline yes. But it was newsworthy months ago. If folks were doing their jobs it would have been written about this summer leaving November free for covering worthwhile issues. Now a particular political campaign's supporters are trying to manipulate press coverage in order to benefit their candidate and tar their opponent who happens to be leading in the polls. And sadly it looks like a few media outlets have, once again, taken the bait. The real losers here are the readers and the public at large.
Do yourself a favor, vote Libertarian.
Posted by: Cato on November 3, 2006 05:33 PMNews is only "news" when it is "new." The sudden "importance" of this story to the media is politcal activism. Do I really need to list all the recent "news" stories that were older than stale bread, but with an upcoming election suddenly became the hot topic?
Posted by: JCM on November 3, 2006 05:45 PMBest part:
After Mr. Bush's 2000 election, with all power in Republicans' hands, many conservatives had expected to realize their dreams. Instead, says Joe Scarborough, a '94 classmate who now hosts MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," that's when the revolution really ended: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'"
A round of applause to cato for his commentary, which reinforces the incentive and the imperative to utterly destroy the Dhimmicrat party!
Posted by: alphabet soup on November 3, 2006 08:08 PM1) June 16, school bus driver flips off President.
2) Sometime in June, incumbent congressman informs school district.
3) Early August incumbent congressman relates story about getting driver fired.
4) Early September driver fired.
5) Early November story "breaks" right before election in which incumbent is running for reelection.
Sorry, just don't have the extra bandwidth to get worked up over this.
Posted by: SouthernRoots on November 3, 2006 09:55 PMhttp://www.shopspokane.com/mavica/bush_givingfinger.jpg
But wait... if she's a bus driver, and she's late, wouldn't that mean that either A) someone else would have to drive her route or B) she would be late getting out to her route causing the kids to either be later getting to school or getting home? That's not a minor problem.
Posted by: Mike H on November 3, 2006 11:03 PMSome leftists are calling the district apparently, and claiming that this woman was just exercising her 1st amendment rights. My foot, she was. 1st amendment is NOT the issue. Decency and respect for the kids you are transporting are. It does not MATTER that the left wants to coarsen the kids by saying that busdrivers should act crudely around kids, just to display their Bush Derangement Symdrome.
Personally, I would not feel safe leaving my kids with a bus driver who has such poor judgment and crude behavior. Many parents will hear this and be grateful that Sheriff Dave is still helping to look out for welfare of kids. Thank goodness we still have some REAL MEN out there.
you are a liar
Posted by: Janice on November 4, 2006 07:49 AMYOU are the liar...
Posted by: alphabet soup on November 4, 2006 08:14 AMReichert bragging about getting a single women fired. .... Wow what a big tough man he is!
Posted by: John McDonald on November 4, 2006 08:15 AMMaybe when Ron Sims gets on a bus to promote yet another tax increase for transportation the driver can give him the bird in the spirit of political free speech. Would Ronnie understand the motivation and appreciate the drivers "good home training". I doubt it.
Posted by: Huh? on November 4, 2006 08:16 AM
She acted inappropriately on the job. The district had every right to fire her, regardless of her personal life situation. Maybe she should have thought about the consequences of flipping off anyone (who cares who it was) while on duty and in front of children. Doesn't sound like a great role model for her children or the children she's responsible for at work.
Posted by: Megs on November 4, 2006 08:56 AMThe woman should have been told it was inappropriate behavior and to not let it happen again. That is how these things are normally handled. Flipping someone off is the equal to cussing at someone on the job. To take pleasure in getting a woman fired over something like this is Pathetic on the part of Dave. Dave seems to like picking on helpless women and letting mass murderers of women get off.
It is amazing at how efficient the White House and Dave Reichert are at getting a bus driver fired. Sr. Government officials targeting a bus driver ... how about they target terrorists ... no wonder we have lost Somali, S. Lebannon, Mauritania, N. Nigeria, etc. to the Islamic terrorists and they could not evacuate 20,000 people from a Super Dome for 5 days!
Apparently their self-esteem is what matters most to them and they seem very capable of defending it.
When it happens to a Democrat like Clinton the protester person should allowed to say their piece as well - this is a Democracy (Republic).
I think the person can be stopped after awhile if it is too distruptive but a couple of comments or flipping the bird is entirely okay. I think a lot of politicians turn elitist when they get into office, both Republican and Democrat.
I doubt Clinton got the "You Suck" lady fired.
Is it honorable to take someones salary because they expressed their opinion. Should this lady have been fired if she wave and got all exicted at seeing the president because that is a sign of support too.
Posted by: John McDonald on November 4, 2006 09:12 AMWhat readers?
Posted by: Jericho on November 4, 2006 09:15 AMCantwell making a questionable loan to her gentleman friend and partkaing in funding his lobbying projects = no news.
Hmmmm.
Posted by: Tyler Durden on November 4, 2006 10:13 AMA police officer should not flip off Clinton or Bush or Reichert. However, if they did I think a minor discipline would be in order like being written or a loss of a day's pay. A police officer should not lose their job over it.
This bus driver should have had a minor discipline action. It is completely childish and pathetic of Bush's team or Reichert team to get her fired.
Misty, if flipping someone off is a pattern of bad behavior then letting her go is the right thing. However, Dave Reichert and Bush's team trying to get her fired is Pathetic! We are fighting the war on terror and our guys are getting a single Mom fired over flipping the bird. I worry about leaders who are that sensitive and trivial. No wonder we are getting our butts kicked in the war.
You're correct: Monica wasn't fired--she quit.
Posted by: Organization Man on November 4, 2006 05:48 PMPerri, Reichert's own words completely contradict the story that the district is selling in its press release. Your beloved, supposedly-honorable congressman said: "So the very next day , you know what I did? I called the superintendent of that school district and that bus driver no longer works for that school. That's the old sheriff part of me still around."
Now what do you wish to believe? The self-serving press release from the district, or what Reichert proudly said about his role in getting the driver fired for the gesture? (And btw, the district has reason to be concerned that the reason Reichert lays out for the firing would be a violation of the driver's constitutional rights -- a nice motivation for the district to lie to protect themselves.)
If Reichert had said all along that he'd pushed for the driver to get fired for flipping off the president, we could have had a nice debate about whether the driver's gesture is protected political speech, whether she exposed the kids to obscenity (she claims the gesture was hidden from their view), etc.
Instead, we have Reichert taking the cowardly approach of telling his supporters one thing while refusing to take responsibility for his actions with the public. He's trying to hide behind a veil of lies on this thing.
Sad, really. Surely his supporters expected more of him. Heck, I'm not even a supporter, but I thought Reichert had some integrity until I saw this.
Posted by: Vonnegut on November 4, 2006 06:15 PMBut if she had been having other discipline problems then this was the last straw and I don't blame the district for firing her.
Posted by: Megs on November 4, 2006 07:24 PM