Fred Walser, a Democrat running for the Washington State Senate in the 39th Legislative District, pled guilty to a gross misdemeanor of providing false information this week. He had been charged last month.
A few things don't add up. He originally plead not guilty, but now he says he is guilty, and accepts all the responsibility for the "clerical error" that led to the criminal charge. But he still implies he isn't guilty: he says he couldn't afford a lengthy legal battle, and why say that if he is accepting responsibility, since he is pleading guilty anyway?
And if he can't afford the legal battle, how can he afford the $20,000 fine and 240 hours of community service? How much would the legal battle have cost?
And where will he come up with that $20,000? I think his potential Senate campaign donors have a right to know that their donations to his election bid won't go to pay off his debt to society.
Will he finish the 240 hours -- six weeks of full-time work -- of community service before the election? If not, does he plan on performing it while in office? It seems his community service would take a lot of time out of serving the community. Hm. I hope he isn't going to try to convince the judge to let him count being in office as community service.
At least he has decided to drop his $10 million lawsuit against Sultan, as "all he wanted" was "to clear his name," and his admission of guilt took care of that.
Perhaps the most puzzling question of all is: what makes Walser think the public should trust him again? He committed a crime, said he didn't do it, threatened to sue the taxpayers over it, then finally admitted he did it. All's well that ends well, right? No harm, no foul. Let bygones be bygones. Etc.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at June 06, 2008 01:15 AM | Email Thisfit-all, forgive-all bee balm for today's society; responsibility, character & gonads a thing of the past; forget the D or R--it's the bigger pattern;
Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on June 6, 2008 05:42 AMBTW
Did you see the story of the old man hit by a car in Hartford, Connecticut? Look at the compassion of the liberals in that community, or lack thereof. I think liberals are immature and self centered so I took a moment to see if my suspicions were true that Hartford is indeed a democrat town.
Mayor Eddie Perez (D)
City Council 9 (D)
1 (R)
2 (I) means D
Governor (R)
House 107 (D)
44 (R)
Senate 23 (D)
13 (R)
It seems their government reeks of lefties. So that would mean that their population reeks of lefties too. Hmm....
Posted by: REBEL on June 6, 2008 06:40 AMThe point is liberal men's inhumanity to man!!!
Posted by: REBEL on June 6, 2008 07:36 AMLast election cycle, there was a R who ran for City Council, but weird is how weird does, she pled guilty to shoplifting of all things.
She got hammered in the press and her opponent felt a need to use that in his "listen to the voters" tours.
Is Walser exempt? Time will tell.
Posted by: swatter on June 6, 2008 07:48 AMThis is the problem you libs have, no grip on reality. We blame, and we blamed Al Qaeda for 9/11. I have thought, in an effort to understand the liberal mind, about this. I still come up with that liberals are immature and self centered. They lack the ability to empathize with human beings yet seem to understand the emotional state of animals, trees and all things green. When that man was laying in the street and a few people stood looking at him and did nothing, in a state that overwhelmingly votes democrat, which has become a synonym for liberal, tells us a great deal about the way that liberals care about their fellow man.
Now Plato, go somewhere and sit with your hand on your chin and contemplate that.
Posted by: REBEL on June 6, 2008 08:57 AMhttp://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080606/NEWS01/173178874#Sultans.ex-chief.of.police.takes.plea
Posted by: GK360 on June 6, 2008 05:55 PMLooks like money management isn't the family's strong point!
Posted by: Monrovian on June 7, 2008 07:13 AMHe was tall, 'in charge,' and did work to make his community a better one where possible.
I was around once when we was asked about an active shooter situation in one of Sultan's schools. He stated convincingly that his officers were under standing orders to run in and take the bad guy out instead of waiting. Even if it meant certain death for them.
Despite other things, he was a good cop.
Posted by: Steve on June 7, 2008 01:19 PM