As I mentioned yesterday, Rick Larsen criticized John Koster for saying good things about the Tea Party, even though Larsen himself has recently gone to a Tea Party candidate forum to try to get their votes.
And Larsen has twice criticized Koster over oil -- once saying Sarah Palin's endorsement of Koster would bring in money from oil companies, and then attacking Koster for wanting to drill more -- even though Larsen's the only candidate in the race to receive money from an oil company: BP.
And this morning I noticed that, despite attacking a display of flags from our nation's history that included the Confederate flag (which, last I checked, is part of our nation's history), Rick Larsen was at a presentation of those exact flags last summer. He's sitting next to the presenter, 38th LD candidate Hugh Fleet, in the fourth image in the slideshow.
Did Larsen tell the veterans in attendance of his disdain for showing the Confederate flag in a historical context? Probably not, just like he didn't tell the Tea Party members of his disdain for them, nor tell BP how much he hated oil companies when he took their money.
OK, actually, I am being too hard on Rick: he certainly, as a smart and rational person, does not hate Tea Party members or oil companies, nor does he have any problem with showing the Confederate flag in a historical context. He just dishonestly implies otherwise when it comes time to attacking his opponent.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at August 04, 2010 06:59 AM | Email ThisPosted by: pudge on August 4, 2010 08:56 AM
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The 74-page report includes numerous projects, such as:
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said that before House members cast a vote for the Senate health care bill they should realize that nothing will be changed during reconciliation, which can happen only after the bill is signed into law by President Barack Obama. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
-- $554,763 for the National Forest Service to replace windows in a closed visitor center at Mount St. Helens;
-- $762,372 to create "Dance Draw" interactive dance software;
-- $1.9 million for international ant research;
-- $1.8 million for a road project that is threatening a pastor's home;
-- $308 million for a joint clean energy venture with BP, a highly unpopular firm since the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico;
-- $3.8 million for a "streetscaping" project that has reduced traffic and caused a business to fire two employees;
-- $16 million to help Boeing clean up an environmental mess it created in 2007;
You implying that Pastor's homes deserve special protection? How is the individual being a pastor relevant here?
> $308 million for a joint clean energy venture with BP, a highly unpopular firm since the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico;
Stimulus bill passed in Feb. of 2009, Deepwater Horizon happened April 2010. Med/Vet, are you implying that elected lawmakers should take into account the future actions of a reputable company that has a long record of clean energy research when awarding stimulus money?
> $554,763 for the National Forest Service to replace windows in a closed visitor center at Mount St. Helens;
The Visitor Center at MSH was open to the public when I was there last year.
> $16 million to help Boeing clean up an environmental mess it created in 2007;
How much has the American Public spent helping Iraq clean up that whole Saddam mess that President Bush (I) & Donald Rumsfeld created? I suspect it's somewhere in the trillions at this point.
Larsen is desperate. He was being transparent, wanting to have it both ways. He showed that he is part of the problem and working for the ruling/political class and not the common people. Vote the bum out - Koster is on the common people's side and will offer us push back from the expanding monster of Federal Government.
Posted by: KDS on August 5, 2010 08:26 AMBurn the Confederate Flag Day is a protest against the exploitation of racial prejudice for political gain. We urge you to burn the Confederate flag, a long-time symbol of racial hatred, on Sept 12, the date when the racially-divisive Tea Party holds its annual hate fest.
In fact, this is not a protest against racial prejudice for political gain. In fact, it is race-baiting for political gain. In your own words: "I can imagine people showing up at the tea parties, which I'll do at my local one, and the tea party backers will start explaining why [the flag] is about state's rights, not slavery, and all that and basically hang themselves." Your goal is not to protest racial prejudice, but to "hopefully disrupt the event."
Further, you lie when you say the Tea Party is "racially divisive." You are the one being racially divisive here.
Go away: you aren't fooling anyone. I am much smarter than you are, so go troll somewhere else.
For example, 2006 and 2008 were bad years for Republicans, no matter the candidate. In 2010, Doug Roulstone (who ran in 2006) might have been able to beat Larsen, but Koster would have lost in 2006 or 2008.
Also, 2002 was a good year, and Larsen only won by five points against a good candidate, Norma Smith (now a 10th LD State Rep).
In 2004 the GOP had a really weak candidate, and it wasn't a great year. With the Bush unpopularity in the Northwest, even a good candidate like Smith or Koster would've had a tough time.
So here we are with a great candidate and a great year: it is no surprise at all that Larsen could lose (and in my view, is very likely to lose).
Posted by: pudge on August 6, 2010 05:46 PM