A couple months back I questioned how David Irons could possibly provide effective leadership in King County when he refused to take a stand on the most important issue on the November ballot: Initiative 912. While he had declined to publicly state his position, sources told me that he had privately assured members of the pro-business Alki Foundation that he opposed the anti-roads initiative.
That post started a week-long vigil that ended when the Seattle P-I took up the fight and finally got Irons on the record opposing I-912. Sort of. Irons’ statement was a muddled equivocation that ineptly attempted to straddle both sides of a barbed-wire fence. And so a couple days ago the P-I once again took a poke at Irons, demanding that he show some of those vaunted leadership skills he likes to tout… and this time Irons finally spoke somewhat clearly.
“After reading your paper’s editorial,” Irons e-mailed us, “I obviously have not succeeded in reaching everyone on the importance of defeating I-912. Transportation is a cornerstone of my campaign and passing I-912 would be a tragedy to our community.”
In a subsequent telephone interview, Irons reiterated that he has been “consistent” on the issue. “I oppose I-912, for a litany of reasons,” said Irons. He also says he’s encountering more people who understand the negative implications of the initiative.
Uh-huh. Yeah Dave… there are a lot of things you haven’t succeeded at in life (businesses, family relations, etc.), but I think I can help you pin down why you failed to communicate your position on I-912. It’s got something to do with this technical thing us writers like to call “words.” For example, take a look at the statement you originally gave the P-I.
“In principle, I believe all major tax increases should go to a vote of the people. Personally I am voting no on Initiative 912. This is not the package that I would have put together. I believe it should have done more to reduce congestion. That’s why we need new leadership in King County that will advocate for more congestion relief.”
Great campaign “cornerstone” Dave… it’s a crappy transportation package, but you’re voting against the initiative that would repeal it, because… um… I guess it would be a “tragedy” to repeal such a crappy package. You call that “consistent”…? Consistently muddled.
But then consistency has never really been your strong suit. The gas tax should go to a vote of the people, but it’s repeal would be a tragedy. You campaign against the Critical Areas Ordinance, yet as a councilmember you push for stronger enforcement. And you mail out campaign literature promising to kill Southwest’s “ridiculous proposal”, while e-mailing a proponent of the deal that you are “open to this concept.” And how did you defend that last piece of flip-floppery?
Irons, a county councilman, said yesterday he has been consistent on the issue. He’s willing to consider a Southwest operation at Boeing Field, but only if it pays for road improvements
Why the family comment Goldy?
Ironsic! I guess inconsistency is really this guy’s thing.
Jimmy @ 1
Some family members dislike Jr. He ran against a family friend and won. His sister has run a write-in campaign against Dave Jr. and has said she will vote against him.
See:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....oni29.html
Interestingly:
“The candidate’s dad is a Republican likely to vote for Sims because of the vague term, veracity, or in his view, his son’s lack of it.”
Whew … when you go public (and cross political lines) against your own son (and a son sharing your name but for the Sr., Jr. tags) and call your son a liar, something is seriously wrong.
Thanks dj. I wasn’t sure if it was a personal thing or what but that is actually wide open for criticism. At first I was like whoa!!!! I hadn’t read that about him yet. East side ignorance! Ahhh heaven…er..oh yea, we got Doc.
Regarding the comment…
“Uh-huh. Yeah Dave… there are a lot of things you haven’t succeeded at in life (businesses, family relations, etc.), ”
I’ve always thought you were an absolute piece of shit Goldy, but this takes the cake.
Stefans got pretty much the same bit on his blog, posted by Matt Rosenberg.
Seems to me that Iron’s is going to have to NOT support 912 if he has a chance of getting the better of Sims. KC is the bluest of the blue when it comes to Washington counties, so a guy like Irons needs to find a way to connect with moderate Dems in KC.
What is the obsession with how Republican candidates feel about an initiative? Gary Locke was against every single one of Eyeman’s initiatives which mostly won by large margins, but still managed to win his own campigns by landslides. Haven’t you learned yet that peoples’ positions on initiatives have no relation to how they vote on candidates?
prr @5,
I’m just following the rules set down by your guys. Don’t like it? Then take a cold, hard look in the mirror.
The R’s have spent the better part of a year trashing Ron Sims and Dean Logan… falsely accusing them of being crooks and liars, of being steeped in corruption… attempting to turn a close election into a political advantage by sowing distrust in our electoral system… an electoral system that is astonishingly honest, nonpartisan and transparent by national standards. How many times did the EFF’s Bob Williams go on the air and demand that Logan be jailed? How many times did that racist over at (u)SP call Sims the “Robert Mugabe of WA politics” or accuse him of having vote cheats in his own household?
But the fact that Irons own father and mother and sister won’t vote for him… reporting that is dirty? The allegation that he’s a pathological liar who falsified his resume and beat up his own mother… that’s not pertinent as to whether he has the character to lead this county?
You don’t like this post, prr? Well you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Michael @ 7
“What is the obsession with how Republican candidates feel about an initiative?”
I suppose it’s because I-912 is so anti-business! The State GOP party apparently cannot “get past” the election thing, so they are going to abandon their principles and sit in a corner and pout.
It is important for pro-business voters (and this likely includes all of us to some extent) to find out whether their own GOP candidate will join the collective sulk-fest, or will have the balls to stick to principles.
In the mean time, the PI reports that the 6 month hold-up in construction resulting from I-912 will eat away $66 million through rising construction costs.
Nice going, assholes.
An excellent argument for a republic. I only wish our Founding Fathers had thought of it. Oh, wait. They did. Unfortunately most states were not founded with such foresight or intelligence.
Great Goldy,
Then if that’s the case I am certain that your kids will grow up to be absolute fuck-ups.
I would hazard a guess of hard drugs and turning tricks by the time the are in their early teens, all of which will be learned from their mother.
Or is bring family into these discussions suddenly bad taste?
Goldy,
So what was the explanation of Sims nephew voting from Sims address despite not living there?
prr @11,
The difference is, I’m talking about what Irons’ own family is saying about him, while you’re making up fantasies about what might happen to my kids. I’m not bringing Irons’ daughters into this… I’m talking about Irons, a grown man, whose own parents won’t vote for because they think he is untrustworthy, unqualified, and has a violent temper.
Hate Ron Sims if you want, but your party put up a deeply flawed candidate who is a deeply flawed human being. And voters deserve to know it.
Goldy,
Are you at all concerned that the GOP was able to find over two thousand duplicate registered voters after Sims and Logan cleaned the rolls?
Just wondering…
Goldy @ 13
“And voters deserve to know it.”
Does your statement apply to the issues raised in the following Stranger Article or not?
http://www.thestranger.com/sea.....?oid=23500
2 cents: It might be significant if its true. Still the only person making this claim is a documented liar. You probably ought to stick to moonshine rather than read that guys crap, its safer and just as entertaining.
2 Cents @15,
If the Stranger article was written by a journalist, rather than a partisan political operative, I might take it more seriously. But it wasn’t, so I don’t.
Stefan has absolutely no credibility. He takes information out of context, strings it together, and comes up with unsupported conclusions. He was proven wrong in a court of law.
As to whether voters deserve to know his allegations, that’s rather a moot point since they’re already in print.
Goldy @ 13,
Bullshit, your bring peoples families into your fucked up agenda, which is croossing a line.
Suddenly, you want to draw disctinctions on what is appropriate?
Godly writes: If the Stranger article was written by a journalist, rather than a partisan political operative, I might take it more seriously. But it wasn’t, so I don’t.
Stefan has absolutely no credibility. He takes information out of context, strings it together, and comes up with unsupported conclusions. He was proven wrong in a court of law.
——
So what are you? Not a partisan political operative ? Give me a break. You are as partisan as Stefan is, he just uses less foul language. Quoting out of context…you’ve never done that ?
And where was he proven wrong in a court of law? You mean his predition that the judge would overturn the election “proved” to be wrong ? Come on, get real…If I think of someone proven wrong at a court of law, I don’t think of a bet/prediction but of a person actually standing in front of the judge.
And so what if Iron’s parents don’t vote for him…I wouldn’t vote for some of my brothers-in-law or sisters either, that is no indication of ability or not.
But on the other hand, Ron has people voting for him who don’t even live in our state. :-)
Goldy @ 17….
“Stefan has absolutely no credibility”
Hey shitbird, the only difference between you and Stefan is the political slant (oh, and he gets published more frequently)
David Irons is a man of selfless courage and patriotism, a warfighter for our times.
Besides, do you really trust Ron Sims and “Governor Dean” Logan?!?!?
Or are you just going to hope fatal pends are… fatal.
Goldy@13
“And voters deserve to know it.”
Just like you being an accussed child molester?
My 2 cents @ 14
“Are you at all concerned that the GOP was able to find over two thousand duplicate registered voters after Sims and Logan cleaned the rolls?”
Having duplicate registrations in the voter roles is pretty common everywhere—voter roll cleaning is a never-ending task. Obviously, it is against the law (a felony) to vote twice whether you have one registration in your name, or fourteen.
So, unless voters decide to break the law and vote twice, it isn’t really an issue. And, when somebody does make use of double-registration in KC, the information is turned over to prosecutors, as we know from the handful of double-voters in the last general election cycle.
What concerns me most about this is that the fucked-up asshole Republican party refused to cooperate with KC while they were cleaning the registration files (and KC invited the GOP to help by providing information). Instead, the Republicans sat on their list of double registrations until after the voter roles were locked. This is simply the panicle of duplicity and hypocrisy. The Republican party has, once again, shown that they are more about pouting and crying than doing anything useful for KC or Washington.
So, prr, we know you dislike the inclusion of the phrase family relations in relation to succedding at life, but what about the other x hundred words there? You know, the basic theme of the article? Did you read it or scan for something to object to? You know, the whole Irons is against 912 thing? Do you have an opinion, or are you waiting for John Carlson to tell you what to say?
prr @ 18
“your bring peoples families into your fucked up agenda, which is croossing a line.”
You fucking moron, the mainstream media brought Irons’ disgruntled family into the mix. And, with help and cooperation from Irons family (like running a campaign against him).
Are you suggesting that Iron’s family does not have a right to speak out against Jr. and have it picked up by the mainstream media and the blogosphere?
Goldy @ 13
“Hate Ron Sims if you want, but your party put up a deeply flawed candidate who is a deeply flawed human being. And voters deserve to know it.”
I’m not sure someone is a “deeply flawed human being” because their dad disagrees with their political beliefs. I’m not sure Irons is a “deeply flawed candidate”, (flawed, definitely) but he certainly doesn’t seem to be energizing the Republican base in King County. Lack of name recognition hurts him as well. King County is generally liberal, so Dems can run a flawed candidate like Sims (or McDermott) and still win. Republicans don’t have that luxury.
prr @ 22
Or the rumors that you pulling the “killing women and children” line on a Vietnam veteran????
Oh…wait. You actually did that!
DJ & Bill,
Fuck you,
Goldy is using this guys family as a form of character assassination, it’s a bullshit, cheap move.
as to 912, It’s going to pass, deal with it you punks.
DJ @ 27
It’s not a rumor, Rabbit actually killed women and children.
prr @ 22
I heard that you molest children.
Shit! Now YOU are an accused child molester, too. Maybe you and Goldy can form some sort of support group?
DJ @ 30,
here’s the difference,
Goldys has actually been investingated for it.
prr @18,
Irons own family brought themselves into this, not me… they want to go public, and the MSM has for the most part ignored them.
prr @22,
The difference is, I was anonymously accused by somebody who provided no details or evidence, while the attacks on Irons are publicly coming from his own mother! (Not to mention his father and his sister.)
prr @ 28
“Goldy is using this guys family as a form of character assassination, it’s a bullshit, cheap move.”
I know that this is a difficult and subtle point for you to understand, prr, but here goes:
Irons’ family is using themselves as “a form of character assassination.”
This topic has been bandied about in the media for quite awhile. Try to keep up.
What a load of shit, stop trying to justify Goldy being a punk.
rabbitwho @19,
Maybe you’re new here, but I’ve always been perfectly honest about being a partisan propagandist. That’s what political blogs do.
At yesterday’s press conference, Stefan was in front of the microphone with his fellow Republicans, conducting the press conference, not behind the microphone with the real journalists covering it.
And you know what… even with all my foul language, I bet if you took a poll of the WA media as to which one of us is perceived as being more credible, it wouldn’t even be close. Stefan has misled and abused reporters so many times, they simply don’t trust him anymore.
prr @ 31
here’s the difference,
Goldys has actually been investingated for it.
The difference is just one phone call or email away.
Goldy,
“I was anonymously accused”
Are you aware that most molestation victims have a hard tie confronting their attackers?
Possibly you just intimidated some kid into keeping quiet or bribed them with a candy bar
DJ
“The difference is just one phone call or email away.”
Go ahead and do it, now that have you on the record, I would love to be contacted by the local police. I’ll sue you for every cent you have.
BTW, don’t give too much credence to the anonymity of the internet, your sorry butt is very easy to track down
prr @ 37
I also heard that you just intimidated the boy into keeping quiet by threatening to kill him.
prr @ 34
“What a load of shit, stop trying to justify Goldy being a punk.”
Huh? I gave a link to a recent Seattle Times article with the information and you call it a “load of shit?” How about the King County Journal last March saying the same thing?
http://www.mcgladrey-family.us.....s_vs_irons
Hmmm…Goldy MAY be a punk (Hey Goldy, would you consider yourself a punk?), but at least he is an honest punk. What Goldy has said about Irons’ family comes right from his family.
You, on the other hand, are an un-American asshole of a punk who makes up lies about Vietnam vets.
Goldy @ 35
To quote the mighty Paul, “Polls Schmolls”
prr, No, it was not character assassination. Your feeble attempts at implying child abuse is character assassination, but the fact that Irons has not entirely succeded in family relations is just that, a matter of public fact.
It is not, however, relevant to the issues that you’ve shifted focus off of, Irons supports defeating 912. Has the great John still not told you what to think about this?
“You, on the other hand, are an un-American asshole of a punk who….”
Go back and read John kerrys own words on Vietnam vets…..
That is who i am quoting, so who is making shit up and who is un-American?
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/ke.....=Testimony
Bill @ 42,
Give it a break
Goldy is out of line for even mentioning the guys family, end of subject, no that it’s been brought around, suddently it’s off topic?
Again, Fuck you
prr @ 43
“Go back and read John kerrys own words on Vietnam vets…..”
I didn’t find anything about Roger Rabbit killing women and children in there. Are you sure you aren’t just making up shit and pegging it on somebody because he happens to be a Vietnam vet?
Please, what about the fact I will vote NO on 912.
Dino Rossi on KVI the other day: “If she [Gregoire] needs me to bail her out, she can give me a call”.
I think a Rossi v. Irons post might be good…
prr, did you bother to read that congressional record you posted? It doesnt say what you just said it did. There is very little criticizm of veterans or soldiers in vietnam, but a heaping of criticizm for the government that was not supporting those soldiers.
Once again, you are ignoring the main theme of the article. Its still not working.
Yes, you heard right – NO on 912.
If Heavy Irons says NO, then good enough. And all those whiny Repugs can return to the Republican Party and support Irons.
DJ @ 23
Interesting Post. First you downplay the seriousness of duplicate records in the database and then you go off on a tantrum about evil republicans – won’t give us THEIR list of duplicate records created directly from Sims & Logan data.
The whole point of my post is that the GOP shouldn’t have the opportunity to do Sims and Logan’s job better or faster than they can.
Bill @ 47
As to a collective statement of the adverage soldier in vietnam, Kerry States, under oath
“I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command….
They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.”
They told the stories at times . . . as you yourself said last week, reporting what someone is saying is not the same as saying it yourself. Further, he was talking on the behalf of those soldiers, giving congress a distilled report of what they were asking him to say. That all got explained in the part you so ingeniously cut out.
Keep reading, you’re still in the introduction there, try getting into the bits where he is talking about his own opinion and experiences.
You know the bits like this:
“I would like to talk to you a little bit about what the result is of the feelings these men carry with them after coming back from Vietnam. The country doesn’t know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence, and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history; men who have returned With a sense of anger and a sense of betrayal which no one has yet grasped.
As a veteran and one who feels this anger, I would like to talk about it. We are angry because we feel we have been used in the worst fashion by the administration of this country.”
Or this bit:
“Finally, this administration has done us the ultimate dishonor. They have attempted to disown us and the sacrifice we made for this country. In their blindness and fear they have tried to deny that we are veterans or that we served in Nam. We do not need their testimony. Our own scars and stumps of limbs are witnesses enough for others and for ourselves.”
As I said, you really need to read the whole thing before you comment.
By the way your statement
As to a collective statement of the adverage soldier in vietnam is a damn lie. He never claimed to represent all vietnam veterans, he claimed to represent the veterans in the orgainzation “Vietnam Veterans Against the War”.
Do you really hate people who tell the true, I mean with 30 years of hindsight, its clear that he was telling the truth that day. Mostly because the press that he was complaining were not reporting on that day finaly did start some time after this testimony.
You are a little uncomfortable because you got a moment of cognative dissonance so, ‘fuck him’, right?
But you’d rather have what you already ‘know’ to be true that to find out truth. And anyone who actually proves that something that you think you know is wrong is just a jerk, right?
Still steaming about the Kerry soldier facade? Look at the bright side – At least Hillary wasn’t in the service when she blasted the soldiers.
your 2 cents @ 49
“Interesting Post. First you downplay the seriousness of duplicate records in the database and then you go off on a tantrum about evil republicans – won’t give us THEIR list of duplicate records created directly from Sims & Logan data.”
Would it have helped you if I had posted two separate comments?
Comment 1: Voting twice is a crime, having a duplicate registration is not. Voter registration is a book-keeping process that is alway a behind—people die, change names, move and forget that they were previously registered, etc.
Comment 2: The Republicans suck because they were invited to help clean the roles (like other groups were). The Republicans had information to help but withheld it until after the close date, and then made a big stink about the fact that there were duplicates in the registrations. Apparently the Republicans don’t give a shit about helping the election process along, they just wanted to milk the data they had to complain about KC. Their behavior was absolutely shameless.
The whole point of my post is that the GOP shouldn’t have the opportunity to do Sims and Logan’s job better or faster than they can.
Oh … let’s see. You are saying that the GOP doesn’t have to be a good citizen. Right … they have certainly demonstrated that they are unwilling to do so.
Kerry was a real soldier … were you?
55……Kerry was a real soldier … were you?
Comment by Roger Rabbit— 10/13/05 @ 7:55 pm
[It seems the Swifties disagree!!!…….JCH LT, USN, 76-84]
54Still steaming about the Kerry soldier facade? Look at the bright side – At least Hillary wasn’t in the service when she blasted the soldiers.
Comment by mulesass— 10/13/05 @ 5:07 pm
[Remember when Hillary said she tried to join the USMC? Classic Democrat Hillary bullshit. Just classic!]
54Still steaming about the Kerry soldier facade? Look at the bright side – At least Hillary wasn’t in the service when she blasted the soldiers.
Comment by mulesass— 10/13/05 @ 5:07 pm
[Remember when Hillary said she tried to join the USMC? Classic Democrat Hillary bullshit. Just classic!]
56
I hear you JCH- I would take the word of one swifty over the whole lot of lying leftist assholes on HA.
Hey Goldy,
I believe it is very important for voters to know the character of a little known quantity (and with little substance) like Irons.
Please keep up the good work in providing information about him. I hope you will be able to dig even deeper into this story. I mean, like what you did for Michael Brown.
Undecided voters will be ever grateful to you for your efforts.
…the people most in favor of war are those who benefit from it and are least likely to have to fight in it.
headless lucy-62 ‘…the people most in favor of war are those who benefit from it and are least likely to have to fight in it.’
The people most in favor of public schools are those who benefit from it and are least likely to have their own kids in it.
Are we having separate elections somewhere?
I ask only because the polls are indicating passage and failing of initiatives, and in the articles, we are seeing some interesting things. In one of the local rags this week, the reporter was gleeful and salutory to the citizenry for their forward thinking in banning smoking. Couldn’t say enough great things about how wonderful it is to live in such a state that the people would rise up and take back the air.
Yet, in another part of the paper, doom spread over the region with all the selfish people, probably evil right wingers and Eyman zombies, were going to vote away gas taxes.
I guess the only way we show our respect for the citizens of this state is when they agree with us. Last I checked, neither initiative could pass without a majority, and therefore these are the same people being nominated for sainthood and cast into hell.
Ridiculous that partisan nonsense such as this makes it into the news. “Sends a message.”
How many people agree politically with all their relatives? No body I know. If Irons has parents that don’t support him, and are VERY public about it, don’t you think that reflects on the parents, not the candidate? And he apparently does have lots of support within his family – check out recent articles citing aunts, uncles, sisters, etc – but that really isn’t the point either. Consider this: when a campaign turns to attacking the opposing candidate on non-sense issues it shows desperation. Sims doesn’t talk about the election department, computer budgets spent with nothing to show for it, spending weeks debating an idiotic proposal Sims’ backed for SWA to move to Boeing field….but he says nothing about the REAL issues. Compare the candidates based on their OWN statements and make a rational decision. The rest if garbage.