Posts of mine occasionally get mentioned in the Seattle Times, with and without attribution, but it’s been quite a while since they’ve printed the full name of my blog in their print edition, and actually threw me a link from anywhere but their blogs:
DelBene will try to capitalize on a gaffe Reichert made this month, when he told a gathering of Republican precinct-committee leaders that some of his pro-environment votes were an effort to prevent environmentalists from trying to unseat him. Reichert thought he was speaking in confidence, but a recording of the meeting was leaked to the political website HorsesAss.org.
Huh. Must’ve slipped past the editors.
And in case any visitors from the Times are wondering, this is the leaked audio the reporter is talking about.
Washington Conservative Voters should rescind their endorsement of Reichert.
In order for Republicans to retake control of Congress, they need to hold onto every incumbent. If they are successful regaining the majority, BP sycophant/apologizer Joe Barton (TX-06) will become chair of the Energy & Commerce Committee. That’s right, with help from the WCV, Joe Barton could become the most powerful person in Congress on environmental policy. How would that scenario sit with the WCV?
The WCV should un-endorse, and then endorse Democrat Suzan DelBene.
syc·o·phant [sik-uh-fuhnt, -fant, sahy-kuh-] Show IPA
–noun
a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.
Ummm, sarge @1, I know it’s too late for an edit, but…
@3) Thanks. Freudian slip. Tried to post a correction, but It didn’t take. Maybe you can’t post three comments in a row?
To be clear: The “conservative” voters should endorse Reichert. The “conservation” voters should endorse DelBene.
@3 and 4: Damn! I was sure it was clever snark!
Washington Conservative Voters is quite apt.
I often shake my head at how inept the enviro community is at politics and particularly WCV (who’s supposed to do politics for chrissakes!). And I say this as an unabashed enviro.
There’s almost no such thing as an R that should ever be endorsed by WCV.
The few exceptions shouldn’t get an endorsement either since that just ends up empowering the greedheads and bigots that run the R party.
It’d be good to know who at WCV (by name) made the actual decision(s) to endorse — WCV needs a good strong dose of public accountability or I predict major “issues” with it’s purported constituency this fall.
Rescind the endorsement and then let’s have some accountability, WCV.
I think every Democratic candidate running for office should be playing the following commercial in the late summer/early fall of 2010:
(Shot of oil on beaches and dead pelicans, fish…)
Voiceover: “The catastrophic BP oil spill has caused billions of dollars of losses to Gulf Coast beachers, tourism, and fishing industries. The long-term ecological consequences are too great to be measured….”
(Cut to still shot of Rep. Joe Barton, R-Tex, about to apologize to B.P.)
Voiceover: “But Republican Congressman Joe Barton wasn’t interested in B.P.’s apologies for it’s role in the spill. He apologized TO B.P. for efforts to make sure that B.P. paid for the damages it had caused.”
(Run Video of Joe Barton apologizing to B.P. for the “shakedown”).
(Cut to another picture of Joe Barton at a hearing on the House Energy Committee…)
Voiceover: “Joe Barton is the lead Republican on the House Engergy Committee, which is responsible for making sure that the oil companies are regulated and operate in a safe manner.”
(Cut to picture of Joe Barton on friendly terms with oil industry executives)
Voiceover: “If Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives, Joe Barton will be the man in charge of all legislation affecting the oil industry”
(Cut to image of Democratic Candidate)
Final voiceover: “It is too dangerous for the House of Representatives to be given back to the Republicans. Vote for (insert name of Democratic candidate here) for Congress instad. They will make sure B.P. lives up to it’s obligations in this crisis, and work to prevent similar disasters in the future.”
@Zots: I agree. Dave Reichert was part of the Republican apparatus that gave us Bush/Cheney for 8 years. He has held party fundraisers – money that has been used to help elect people like Michele Bachmann, Eric Cantor, and Joe Barton. Allies like George Bush and Dick Cheney have travelled to Washington state to host fundraisers for Reichert.
You can tell a man by his friends. Reichert’s voting record is almost irrelevant. A vote for Reichert is a vote for the Republican agenda of obstructing everything that we elected Obama to do, more deficit building tax-breaks for the richest individuals and biggest corporations, and callous disregard for the environment.
And every single time, without exception, when the Republicans need Reichert on close vote, where his vote actually matters, they get unwavering loyalty.
Dave Reichert has friends?
Daddy Love @8:
Maybe his spotters at the gym?
He has all the friends that the Republican leaders tell him he should have.
I might have my facts wrong (again!) WCV has not endorsed yet in this race (i’m told). I’m on the road now, will look into later.
@6, rhp: Friendly amendment…
Joe Barton was quoting a Republican Study Committee position memo published the day before.
117 of the House R caucus (about 2/3rds of the total) are members.
Hence, despite his smarmy “apologies” and that he’s big oil’s congressman (Houston), it’s critical to emphasize that Joe Barton was repeating official R policy.
It’s not just Joe, it’s all of them.
@11: I believe Goldy proffered a scan of an invitation to a Reichert fundraiser. “Hosts” included Tagney-Jones and Fritts as I recall.
Zotz @ 12: I’ve always expected as much, but I didn’t have any hard evidence, other than Bachman and the wingnut talk radio guys saying the same thing.
Of course, Barton’s comments remind me of the uncle we don’t like to talk about. You know, just about everybody has one. He gets together with his buddies and they tell racist jokes to one another and have a good laugh. But then he forgets himself and repeats one of the jokes in public, to resounding silence, and then criticism. He’s left with a puzzled expression on his face, saying “What’d I say? What’d I say?”.
Upon further review, I cannot find a WCV endorsement for Reichert, I was confused because, as #13 Zots pointed out, the Executive Director and other board members hosted a fundraiser for Reichert. Gee, why would I think hosting a fundraiser was the same as an endorsement? Oh, wait, functionally it is. So I stand by my earlier comments, just want to correct the record to reflect that they merely hosted a fundraiser for Reichert, which isn’t technically the same thing as an endorsement. My bad, but especially theirs!
his website. Do some of them embarrass? Does anyone have a complete list?
So, I apologize and take back everything I said about Washington Conservation Voters.
My bad.
(If only Fox News would do the same when they get it wrong)
Okay, once again I did a butch edit job. Please pretend I deleted everything after “but especially theirs!”.
If someone thinks they’re speaking in confidence, why don’t they check to see if it’s being recorded? That stupidity alone should disqualify someone from holding office. Not that we needed any more evidence on Reichert.
Just watch the 8th send the most useless member of congress back! Three cheers for the fake moderate that votes against party leadership when they let him!!!
Republicans Are A Disease