So, while I have my head buried in legal briefs, providing the only media coverage of the dramatic constitutional showdown between Attorney General Rob McKenna and Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark, the Seattle Times is devoting column inches to an expose on Gov. Gregoire’s conference table.
But, you know, I just represent the Democrats’ “amen corner” of the blogosphere, so you can pretty much ignore everything I have to say.
Yeah, the TNT ran the conference table story as well. Newspapers would have to pay an experienced reporter a bunch of money to cover the DNR/AG story. Fluff like the conference table story is practically free.
I’m not arguing your basic point, but all of the local papers (Times, PI, Olympian) did post a short AP article about the fight back on the 8th.
Goldy, you ARE the amen corner. And you’re a tool, as well. In the two months after hurricane Katrina, you wrote over 50 posts criticizing the government’s slow and inept response to the disaster, but now that a Democrat’s President, we get nothing but silence from you over their mishandling of the Gulf disaster.
You’re nothing but a tool.
WWSD?
(what would Shrub do?)
Prevent BP from drilling that well?
What a laugh!
A white policeman beating a black woman?
“Fucking god-damned nigger bitch.”
Why am I not surprised?
@5: Thank you.
I’m glad that the local TV news is warning everyone about the ferry workers who are individually guilty of earning a good living for themselves.
@8 Ferry Workers
I do not want to oversimplify. “union” here is pretty broad in terms of job descriptions .. from ticket takers to engineers and pilots. Still …last time I looked, the salaries were really quite high, especially if one adds in benefits.
As I remember the base salary for a deckhand is 60k. This is not very skilled work but at that pay level the deckhand is being paid well above many UW faculty and, I suspect, more than such skilled workers as social workers and police/fire. Also, the pay is very regular, unlike pay for similarly skilled truck drivers or movers.
There may well be a generic conflict if interest when a socialist, state owned industry is manned by a union. That same union is able to mount a political campaign. Not such a simple issue.
good link http://crosscut.com/2009/02/09/ferries/18834/
@7
Does earning a good living include scamming the system?
@8
There may well be a generic conflict if interest when a socialist, state owned industry is manned by a union. That same union is able to mount a political campaign.
ya think?
sj @ 8: Wrong comparison. A Ferry Service deckhand is basically an “able-bodied seaman”. At any given time their duties might include relatively menial work, but they actually do have to know quite a bit about ship proceedures and safety, rescue operations, Coast Guard regulations, etc. They are subject to the same risks as any seaman on the sea, and their work hours (and assigned duty location) are often outside their control.
If you need to compare their wage rates with the private sector, a more apt comparison would be to compare wage rates with barge operaters along Alaska’s inland passage.
As for shipping companies, they have generally tried to avoid paying these rates by flagging their vessels offshore and hiring third-world crews who don’t mind working for a few bucks a day. But some of those third-world crewmen have also made additional money on the side by passing shipping manifest and routing information to pirates and dock mobsters.
Generally in life, you get what you pay for. If you pay low wages, you get a low level of employee services.
Of course, the Times thinks this is a newsworthy story because it thinks Dino Rossi is still running for governor against Gregoire.
Goldy,
“But, you know, I just represent the Democrats’ “amen corner” of the blogosphere, so you can pretty much ignore everything I have to say.”
Your problem with this story is the media niche into which you’ve placed yourself. After years of being a propagandist for the Democrat party you want to be taken as a serious journalist.
The unfortunate thing is, you may have a point with regard to McKenna on this issue. I don’t know. I haven’t read the same briefs you have. I’m not a trained attorney, so it wouldn’t make much difference if I had. The prospect of McKenna getting into serious legal trouble or losing his license to practice law over this is fairly remote, though. As an attorney his job is to represent something in the light he wants it seen in. I have no doubt that he first believes himself in the right, and second has prepared a line of defense against those who disagree with that belief.
At any rate, the mainstream media could assign journalists to research and work this story. It would require thoughtful analysis of a story not involving sex, drugs or violence from their audience. Readership or viewers would certainly not increase, and might actually decrease with this kind of cerebral story lacking in sensationalism.
Or they could print or show on TV what they know brings an audience, and therefore revenue. Which do you think they’ll do?
Goldy, since you’re not a real journalist or reporter, but rather a biased partisan muckracking hack, you by definition are not the press. Nice try.
Sorry your little ego is being damaged, but it’s high time you realize that you’re not even close to being as famous, relevant, or important as you think you are.
Good weekend all.
Lost @ 13: You might have seen such thoughtful analytical pieces in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or even (before it’s current ownership) in the Wall Street Journal. But it’s hard to get more than one good investigative piece of journalism a year from the Times, so they save it for something which is more emotionally compelling.
slipping further in irrelevancy…..
people who talk about what a big influence they are, generally have no influence.
RE 8 and 11
There’s a simple solution to both the ferry system and that of government as a whole.
Over some stated period have independent audits of every state governement program. Each manager would be required to provide a budget and the objectives that budget is designed to meet during the term of the budget. They would also provide a private sector cost comparison for meeting those objectives. If significantly less expensive, reasons for the disparity must be given. If objectives are either duplicated elswhere, not met at all, or could be done better privately the program would be terminated.
I bet in 4 years the size of government would diminish by 30% or more, services provided would stay constant or increase, and deficits would be a thing of the past.
But the unions have a stranglehold on government and would never permit this kind of auditing.
@14: I’m sure Goldy can defend himself, but just for the record, you’re not a real anything, just another anonymous loser who apparently thought enough of Goldy to post on his blog.
Re 17
Before someone mentions it-
Yes the auditing process would be expensive. How much more expensive are all the departments whose last useful act was undertaken in the late 60’s but which slip into the budget year after year? How much more expensive to have 3 departments overlapping in duties, none of which are met because no one ever asks if they are meeting them?
How much do we spend on ‘prevailing wage’ jobs which are 1 1/2 times or more the actual prevailing wages in their respective industries?
RE 15
“You might have seen such thoughtful analytical pieces in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or even (before it’s current ownership) in the Wall Street Journal.” And look what happened to them.
People would rather get their information from Wikipedia now, or a google search. Accuracy isn’t the goal, simply saying ‘I know this,’ even if one doesn’t, is.
I think the internet doomed print media and ruined televised media. The kind of money it takes to staff a competent newsroom simply isn’t there anymore. Why buy a paper when you can get questionable information on line for free? What it does is destroy the local watchdog, unfortunately. No beat journalist sits in City Hall and knows enough people to get the real scoops on what’s going on. No beat journalist sits in Olympia doing the same thing. Shame, but I don’t see any cure for it.
Ah Zotz, got your panties in a bunch did you? Since you know nary a thing about me I find it humorous that you think you do. I come here for entertainment and to kick around Libtards such as yourself. Thanks again for the laugh and have a good weekend.
Markie @ 21
We all know plenty about you. You are an arrogant, partisan shill, who never adds–nor even tries to add–anything of substance to the discourse, and who seems to have an anger problem. How am I doing so far?
@18
I find it mildly entertaining, but hardly newsworthy or influential.
@22
That description could fit 97% of the people here, including yourself.
24
Ah, man, you’ve hurt my feelings.
@25
then see a therapist.
Uh oh! Choadscrote!
Uh oh! Choadtaint!
re 9:
Maybe. Let’s ask the CEO of Goldman Sachs.
There’s no open thread tonight, so I’ll post this here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Broa.....d=10949786
Do any of you wingnuts out there get bothered that someone gets executed by state authorities 25 years after he committed his last crime? Moreover, might any of you be bothered by local law enforcement agents who would volunteer (that is what happened and who did it) to do the shooting?
Shoot, it seems our wingies are gone tonight. Unfortunately, they always seem to be gone when any conversation gets serious.
I’m here lefty. What are you queefing about now?
Oh, at 30: No, neither one bothers me a bit. That piece of shit got what he deserved, even 25 years later. And I would have volunteered for the deed as well. Now run along and weep and flail your tenderhands in the air in mourning for your buddy Mr. Gardner.