[NWPT48]There was a consistent theme to my appearances on The John Carlson Show. Each day both John and Stefan saw a series of Republican victories, while I remained nonplussed. Much of their legal optimism — manufactured or not — was based on the fact that Rossi’s attorneys won nearly every ruling or objection; Judge Bridges is clearly intent on allowing Rossi to present his entire case, such as it may be.
But as David Postman points out in his rather measured analysis in Sunday’s Seattle Times, looks can be deceiving.
There’s no question that Bridges’ rulings through the first five days of trial have almost exclusively benefited Republicans. But that may not be good news for Republicans.
There’s a belief among attorneys that a judge who thinks one side is likely to win will rule in favor of the other on evidentiary and procedural motions. That’s to reduce the likelihood that the case will be reversed due to a technical error, said University of Washington Law School professor Robert Aronson.
“But decisions like that have been known to backfire,” he said. The trial judge could be swayed if enough unfavorable evidence gets in, including some that should have been excluded.
Aronson said that’s more likely to happen with a jury trial. A judge in a bench trial
I thought Postman did an excellent job.
I guess that they hand-picked a Judge who was a little too smart for them. And I seriously doubt that Judge Bridges wants to spend the rest of his career volleying this case back and forth to the Supreme Court. By letting everything in, he knows that he might be handing the Dems a bunch of appeal issues, but (and as you said) he apparently isn’t worried too much about a Dem appeal. The Repubs can hardly claim that the Judge erred in admitting their own evidence.
lots of screw-ups and hopefully a lot of changes on the horizon for KC election division but I (a staunch Rossi supporter) don’t see any reason to overturn this election.
That doesn’t mean I like it..cos so far Chrissy has been everything she said she wouldn’t be. And it’s not playing well across the state.
Gregoire will be re-elected by a solid percentage because she’s pulled state government out of stagnation and is getting things done in transportation, education, and health care.
The Repubs, by comparison, have no answers — just “no, no, no.” Voters want results, not naysaying. In Nov. 2008 they will reject the Party of No.
Goldy, your analysis is correct. Bridges understands that in a case like this you have to let the evidence in and decide on the facts, not on a procedural motion. He has already signaled in unmistakable terms that the law sets the bar high on overturning an election and that he found the GOP’s statistical arguments underwhelming. Doesn’t look good for Rossi.
So in other words…”Chicken Little” (WA State GOP) will be served fried…with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.
Good.
Goldy–
I find it remarkably ignorant that you conclude the Republicans have shown NOTHING. NOTHING???? Illegal votes are NOTHING???
It appears Goldy that you condone ILLEGAL VOTES if you refer to them as NOTHING. NOTHING??
Mr. Cyn, you seem to be have stepped into a smelly pile of Non Sequitor.
“It appears Goldy that you condone ILLEGAL VOTES if you refer to them as NOTHING.”
I certainly refer to you as nothing, but I certainly don’t condone you!
“she’s pulled state government out of stagnation and is getting things done in transportation, education, and health care.”
Oh yeah she and the Dem’s are really helping in transportation. Let’s see they raised the gass tax to only fund part of the projects and then want us to locally raise taxes even higher to finish paying for them. Why didnt they just use the increase in taxes to completely fund some of the projects and then leave it up to local communities to decide whether they wanted the rest of the projects and how to pay for them? As for the election, you may have chosen not to notice the statement Judge Bridges made about how this trial is this case is largely about “what the citizens of the state of Washington expect when there is an election contest filed and what they deserve when a contest is filed”. Last time I checked all the poll’s show that the People of this state believe that Rossi one and would vote for him if there was a revote held.
TrueSoldier,
I am not about to slam a soldier, but you should take orders…
Goldy,
There’s no question that Bridges’ rulings through the first five days of trial have almost exclusively benefited Republicans. But that may not be good news for Republicans.
Hmmm…I have to say once again that it is not likely the WASC will allow this to stand (Gregoire getting kicked to the curb, deserved or not). As for Judge Bridges, I would guess he likes to cover the bases as much as possible during the rain. You don’t want the players to get injured running headlong into them during a downpour.
Having said that, I am preparing a proper Latin Requiem for each party, just in case…of course my Latin is as cogent as your legal opinion, so I apologize ahead of time…
Reply to 9
“they raised the gass tax to only fund part of the projects and then want us to locally raise taxes even higher to finish paying for them. Why didnt they just use the increase in taxes to completely fund some of the projects and then leave it up to local communities to decide whether they wanted the rest of the projects and how to pay for them?”
Reason #1: The Alaska Way Viaduct and 520 bridge BOTH have to be replaced for safety reasons;
Reason #2: It’s fairer to taxpayers in the rest of the state to make Seattle commuters pay part of the cost of these projects through local taxes;
Reason #3: The gas tax increase DOES completely fund a number of other projects scattered around the state.
The arguments for the gas tax increase assume that money could not be taken from other parts of the state budget. There is plenty of money there for things that people like Gregoire like to call “essential services.” Much of those essential services are give aways to special interests. In addition, the state government is held to no standard of efficiencty.
Correct those two problems and I will be happy to support a gas tax increase – if one is still needed.
Iggy@12–
You are righton about the so-called “priorities of government”. Remember how Gary Locke repeated those magic “responsible” words over and over again as he walked out the door??? Locke never actually did prioritize effectively….but he sure liked uttering those words.
The rest of the state does not want to pay for Seattle’s “astheticly pleasing waterfront project” aka The Alaskan Way Viaduct. Like I suggested before, have the LEFTIST PINHEADS take turns holding the damn thing up…they do little anyway. Besides, they can get into their endless process mode planning and talking…talking and planning until all the money is gone WHILE HOLDING THE VIADUCT UP!!!!!! At least they would at long last show some work product!
Reply to 12
You’re in la-la-land now, Bananaland. Pop quiz: What percentage of the state budget goes to education?
I notice Banana Brain (aka Reptile) posted on Sound Pisspot that he hopes Judge Bridges orders that KC elections department “be changed in some way.”
Sorry, Lizard, but you obviously know nothing about legal jurisdiction. That’s beyond the judge’s authority or the scope of the election contest statute.
I find it amusing, though, to see a winger hoping a judge micromanages a county executive branch department. That’s … er … a bit judicially activist for ordinary conservative tastes, isn’t it?
thatPrick@16–
Nice to know that you finally pulled your head out of your hole.
The LEFTIST PINHEADS get might edgy when they see mounting resentment of state government spending….they see the “gravy train” drying up.
The bottom-line is LEFTIST thrive on regulations. They create more bureaucracy in almost every case.
People are now more interested in PRODUCT than PROCESS.
The LEFTIST PINHEADS too often mistake motion for action.
When this election is set aside…Rossi WILL end the Civil Service life of EVERY at-will State employee. That’s a good thing!
Patrick doesn’t have much of an argument to make other than calling me a banana head. Typical appeal to emotions from today’s victim obsessed Democratic party hacks.
So why is it a good thing to terminate every at will employee? Are you certain that they all should be gone? Is there no experience of value? Or is it better to simply disrupt for the sake of disrupting?
Hey armadillo-dick, I admit I’m a Democratic Party hack!
Hey Cynical, I’m 100% FOR eliminating government waste, starting with the L & I money being siphoned off by BIAW and used for political slush funds!
Raising the price of gas is how a federal administration that claims to be cutting taxes is actually raising them— at the expense of the little guy, naturally.
Mr. Cynical’s comments are alarmingly oriented toward the anus. If I had to be around the guy for any amount of time, I’d definately put a hardback copy of “Tom SAwyer” in the back of my Levis.
Goldy. Do you pay to dig up these morons?
Righton: You’re an opinionated, loudmouthed jackass and there is no substance to your sorry and feeble pronunciamentos. I would love to tell you this to your face as you sputtered and fumed because verbal bullies like yourself don’t know how to react when someone stands up to you. No normal person wants to be in the same room with you. Your body is probably covered with little round bruises from all the ten foot poles poking at you.
Cyn @ 17 “The bottom-line is LEFTIST thrive on regulations. ”
Actually most regulation is written by corporations in order to protect their self interest.
When will Cheney release the meeting minutes for the Energy Bill meetings?
A: Never. Kenny Boy Bush would never allow it. He doesn’t like Prison grey.
Also: Righton, I have drizzly craps that make more sense than you.
Comment on 22
You didn’t think Shrub would let you KEEP that tax cut, did you?
Dr. Quest @ 25
You forgot to mention his lice.
Dummy @ 17
“Rossi WILL end the Civil Service life of EVERY at-will State employee.”
This is the dumbest statement in this thread. Civil Service jobs are NOT terminable at will, or vice versa! Geez, Cynical sure is mixed up.
You are worried about the price of gas? You don’t take the bus?
Wow! I just discovered this blog. Can’t believe I didn’t find it before.
I agree with you, Rossi is dead meat on a stick. Even Bridges, one of those east WA KKK types, is going to have to let the election stand.
Stefan Sharkansky is a political whore. Up until a few years ago he was a leftist blogger in SF. What, besides cold cash, could have effected such a complete transformation of the “sea-monkey”? Someone set this blog of his up. There is dirty money behind this thing.
Goldy–
This truly is one of your weaker efforts (in a huge dungheap of weak efforts).
Keep believing Judge Bridges will do absolutely nothing with the ILLEGAL VOTES. Clearly, Bridges will evaluate the evidence of illegal votes (felon et al) to a certain standard. He will select a reasonable remedy and do the math.
I do not buy your implication that their is no reasonable remedy when their are clearly ILLEGAL VOTES COMINGLED WITH LEGAL VOTES.
Now, after Bridges does the math, will it change the vote count?? You bet. Remember, the SOS has made it clear they need a final vote count in order to qualify future Initiatives. I’ll bet you the vote count POST-BRIDGES DECISION is different than the present vote count. Will it be enough to change the result??? Hard to say. But Bridges will not allow clearly ILLEGAL VOTES to not have a reasonable remedy. As Bridges said, future elections will be impacted by this Court Case.
Goldy thinks Bridges legacy will be
ILLEGAL VOTES YES….REMEDY NO
I doubt that seriously.
Mr Cynical: You are a fat, late middle aged pig with nothing better to do than try to promote your moronic views on the internet. Whyu don’t you stick to posting on SP where your brand of small-minded hypocrisy can be appreciated? YOU”RE a pinheaded neo-con Trotskyite!
Stefan Sharkansky is a political whore. Up until a few years ago he was a leftist blogger in SF. What, besides cold cash, could have effected such a complete transformation of the “sea-monkey”? Someone set this blog of his up. There is dirty money behind this thing.
Comment by Dr Quest— 5/30/05 @ 7:57 am
Dr Quest there is still hope for you, remember love and pease, don’t forget to take a long drag on that Canada bud.
Dr Quest@35
Assuming your statement is true, which I doubt, it only goes to prove that as our eyes open and we mature we see through conservative glasses. But some of us never grow up, like the the murderous Ted Kennedy.
How many people died in a bogus war started by Ted Kennedy? Zero. Shove it Cheese….
Commen on 31
Let’s be fair — Bridges isn’t the right wing stooge you make him out to be. The Repubs’ hand-picked judge had to recuse himself — and that’s their whole problem! The case is being heard by an honest judge, and they can’t cope with that.
There’s no KKK problem in Wenatchee, or at least, not a visible one. Wenatchee, despite its Republican leaning, is not Butthole Montana or Lynchingburg Tennessee. What we do have in Eastern Washington is self-styled militia types, although they tend to keep a fairly low profile. If you don’t know anything about posse comitatus-type militias, there’s lots of info on an excellent web site called Militia Watchdog. These are the wackos who refuse mail with zip codes on it, put cardboard license plates on their cars, and organize rump courts to sentence public officials to death. Alabama executed a militiawoman a few years ago for gunning down a cop who stopped her for having a fake license plate on her car.
Comment on 32
I suspect you’re exactly right about (a) Stefan being a mercenary and (b) dirty money being behind it. How about that, Mr. Cynical, is BIAW bankrolling Stefan?
Mr. Cynical isn’t really cynical. He’s an innocent right wing idealist whose just not the brightest bulb.
Reply to 33
While you cogitate on that, Mr. Cynical, here’s more food for your feeble thought process. Betcha Bridges thinks like a lawyer. To really know how a lawyer thinks, you hafta to be one, so just trust me on this one. When a judge doesn’t know the answer to a question, he looks for an analogy elsewhere in the law. It’s interesting that you use the term “commingling” to describe what happened to the illegal ballots. I hope the Repub lawyers use it too, because here’s what will pop into Bridges’ mind.
The word “commingling” has the same effect on anyone who has ever attended a Washington law school or practiced law in this state as the little bell that signals “lunch time” to a lab rat. The lawyer/judge instantly thinks of “community property.” I’m sure you all know what community property is, and that Washington is a community property state. What happens to separate property when it is commingled with community property? It becomes community property, that’s what happens.
So, if you say “illegal votes were commingled with legal votes,” Judge Bridges will go “aha!” and his brain, having been indoctrinated with Washington community property law, will automatically respond, “illegal votes commingled with legal votes must be counted as legal votes.” Somewhere in the subterranean recesses of his subconscious lurks old professor Harry Cross with his ruler (for rapping knuckles) and perpetual frown. I remember one time when the Court of Appeals got it wrong on a community property issue and old professor Cross chewed them out in a scholarly article. I think the old bird is departed now, but every lawyer and judge in this state still lives in terror that professor Cross’s ghost might come back. The only safe thing to do is remember that when you commingle dog food and dog shit, it’s all dog shit. Easy to remember.
So, Mr. Cynical, you are barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. The problem with your “commingling” argument is that it leads to the opposite result you want. I can’t help you out of this blind alley. You got yourself in, so you gotta get yourself out.
If you hadn’t whacked off so much after eating the whole bottle of your Viagra prescription at once, you wouldn’t have gone blind.
[Goldy and DON stay just a little too long in Ill….Read on!!!] GENEVA, Ill. — A 46-year-old man allegedly set his own home on fire in order to get two visitors to leave, police said. Dean Craig was charged with felony arson after allegedly splashing rubbing alcohol on the floor of the two-story home in Aurora Township and using a lighter to ignite the fire around 1 a.m. Sunday, the Kane County Sheriff’s office said.
Cheesy Chuckie @ 36
The older I get, the more liberal I become. All my friends do, too. This is the natural reaction of people who still have a functioning brain capable of realizing that conservatism is a crock of bullshit.
Reply to 40
You’re wrong about Mr. Cynical being innocent. He doesn’t have an innocent bone in his shrunken, hunchbacked, bald-headed, forked-tongued, disgusting evil little troll body.
And FURTHERMORE, if Stefan Sharkansky likes stirring the pot so much on the internet, I suggest we find out who’s bankrolling this guy. How could anyone blog like crazy twenty-four seven and still hold down a job? It’s not possible. Someone has to be paying this guy to do what he does. I’d sure like to know. This guy thinks he’s so aggressive and on top of things. Let’s unmask him. He wants to yell fraud at innocent people. Well, I,m calling him a fraud.
cynical @ 33
why buy Goldy’s interpretation when you can rely on Bridges? He has clearly cited three things:
1) using Hill v Howell, illegal votes that cannot be attributed to a candidate are presumed LEGAL.
2) a similar presumption of innocence exists with respect to official activitiy–meaning that errors are presumed innocent without evidence of intent to change the results.
3) Foulkes v Hays only allowed an uncertain tally of illegal votes because fraud had been determined. Absent fraud, the statutory requirements on identifying illegal ballots stands (for one thing, because that part of the RCW postdates Foulkes).
On the last, I found it particularly amusing that Korrell tried to tell Bridges he was wrong in his view of Foulkes. I know he may have been thinking ahead to the appeal, but it looks mighty desperate.
Cynical, you keep saying that he can’t just IGNORE illegal ballots. He certainly can and will if he doesn’t believe evidence has been presented to allow them into the record–and Rossi didn’t even try. Handcock’s notation of the PA case where felons were called to testify, makes them look utterly foolish.
Don/Alan/DubyaSux/thatPricketcetcetc
Now you are Dr. Quest??
Wow…you must be having phun.
I’m afraid you are starting to take this Blogging stuff a bit too seriously. Do you really believe pholks are inphluenced by your oral phlatulating???
I suppose this is representative of your work as a 30-year government attorney….hassling good people in the name of DSHS. You are the ultimate scumbag. You worked their even though you knew much of the stuff was a waste of taxpayer dollars….but now ya got yer government pension.
YOUR LIVIN’ THE DREAM Don/Alan/thatPrick/Dr. Quest.
LIVIN’ THE DREAM!!!
I find it amusing that thatPrick.Dr. Quest is the same person responding back-and-forth to himself.
I just got back from a Memorial Day service…
How many of you LEFTIST PINHEADS would upset your busy days of doing next to nothing to do the same???
NONE OF YOU…just as I thought.
Why don’t you go to Iraq and “support our troops”? Cynical? No one’s stopping you. A 28 year old young woman did and got blown up for her trouble. Oh, but YOU went to a memorial day service! Ain’t that swell?
When Stefan and I make our final appearance on the Carlson Show to discuss the court’s verdict, he and John will be unable to claim that the Democrats won on some sort of technicality.
oh c’mon!!! Of course they will… I challenge you to cite 1 example… just 1 ****ing example, where these guys let reality based barriers ever creep into their monologues?
(Reminds me of Judge Bridge’s “Fair and Balanced” joke from the bench on Friday.)
Dr. Q @ 43
You forgot to mention Stefan’s $800,000 Greenlake house.
I’m not Dr. Quest but I’ll be happy to take credit for his posts! :D
Reply to 45
At least I wasn’t sucking up public money through a BIAW straw like you.
Reply to 46
Just to be fair, I think Mr. Cynical should be given an opportunity to tell us what HIS military service was.
Comment on 48
You don’t need to be shy, JDM. No need to use asterisks on HorsesAss. Goldy is judgment proof, so he’ll never have to pay the FCC fines piling up on his desk. You can call them “fucking Republicans” if you want to, although I think that statement is somewhat misleading because who wants to fuck an ugly little troll? That’s why there’s such a big market for Viagra, and so many of the trolls are going blind!
REgarding Stefan Sharkanski and SP: “There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark!” That’s a Shakespearian reference O’ Cynical genius—NOT! I’ll just keep hammering away at this theme until I get some results. If I get attacked I’ll attack even harder because I’ll Know I’ve hit a nerve.
Donnageddon @26
When will Cheney release the meeting minutes for the Energy Bill meetings?
Probably around the same time Kerry allows all of his military records to be released.
Patrick @29
Civil Service jobs are NOT terminable at will
I had always suspected they were interminable…
marks-
OK…what military records is Kerry still withholding. BTW where are AWOL’s records?
C’mon…the hard right has sold a bill of goods with NOTHING behind it. Don’t like the message…smear the messenger. Lie, cheat, steal with impugnity. Manipulte Public process and discourse to achieve the narrow aims of the few.
Be proud while you can wingers…the covers are starting to come off.
DonSux/Alan/thatPrick/Dr.Quest/JDM/Rujax206–
Isn’t America a great Country…where the same person can carry on a conversation with himself ad infinitum using a variety of names….then claim that Goldy has a more successful Blog than Sharkansky. Gotta love that…
LEFTIST PINHEADS like you who have sucked up taxdollars at the trough, attacked families in the name of DSHS and are clearly bitter towards everyone who works for a living in the real world deserves pity. How many people did you innocently accuse of child abuse Don/Alan/thatPrick etal??? How many families did you hurt Don?? Pretend you didn’t a$$hole!
Mr. Cynical – Don and all his demented personalities are very comfortable with the hell on earth he has created. The suffering of honest people just isn’t his concern. His deviancy precludes conscience or just actions. It’s far less than likely that he will seek redemption or good works because he has been bottom-feeding, spewing propaganda, and fooling himself for so long. Playing head games with multiple fragmented, demented personalities is just icing on the cake for him.
Reply to 56
So, I take it then, your answer is you didn’t serve in the military.
Reply to 57
I take it from your post that you didn’t serve in the military either.
I’m kind of surprised you guys forgot to mention all the Vietnamese babies I killed.
What I mean is, weren’t you two the guys who met me at the gate throwing baggies of dog shit and yelling “Baby Killer!” at me 35 years ago? They sure looked like you.
Why would anyone say they’re a lawyer, if they’re not? That’s like bragging you’re an insurance salesman or a congressman.
Mr. Non-Sensicle-
If I really was Patrick, I’d be smart and accomplished. But alas, I’m neither. I know who I am, and I’m me…no one else.
And fortunately, I’m NOT you either. I would hate to be so ignorant and plain stupid. If I knew how ignorant and stupid I was. Which I guess I wouldn’t…’cause you sure don’t.
Mr. Cyn, time for your meds. When you get as oddly paranoid as you are, it may be time to consider going with the nice gentlemen in the white coats.
60……Oh Patrick……..You’re an idiot. JCH [LT USN, 76-84]
That dirtbag Rossi is stinky road kill on platter with some poodle vomit as a side dish. Repugnants are eating it like fondo-do. They are washing it down with swine urine and wiping their face with a used tampon.
And, then, they talk about how rosey and wonderful their case is going.
Since we are in charge of all aspects of government, perhaps we should outlaw them. Make them leave or have them serve as our fanny wipers.
Then, we could set things up the way we want them.
Reply to 57
Were you expecting Mother Teresa?
To suggest that the taxpayers who live outside of the Seattle metro area do now or ever have subsidized King County in any way is absoute baloney. The fact is that the tax base of the state is not only heavily based in the King/Snohomish/Pierce corridor, but it is extraordinarily lopsided in terms of revenue compared to the rest of the state. People who do not live in metro Seattle are in fact the ones who are being subsidized. For the record, it is a verifiable fact that Eastern Washington in particular is one of the most highly subsidized regions of the entire country – the folks outside of the three urban counties receive *more* than they contribute, while the folks in Seattle receive a fraction of each tax dollar in return. The myth that has Washingtonians saying, “why should the rest of the state pay for King County or Seattle” is a colossal joke. I might also add that the entire state benefits greatly from the transportation and public infrastructure of the Puget Sound Corridor (not just the local ‘Seattle commuters’) – the economic life of the state as a whole would grind to a halt without it. And before you accuse me of being a crazy Seattle liberal, let me tell you that I was born and raised in Eastern Washington (Ellensburg) and the good folks where I come from like to get our facts straight. I suggest some of you do the same.
We all know this race was stuffed. Bridges decision allows free rain to vote fraud, which has been part of the Dem party stategy for years. To hell with democracy, let the best criminal win. Mayor dailey said it best; “the cemetary is my best precinct.”
Come on John (#71)… get a grip. Just step back for a moment and try to put yourself in the other sides shoes. I can tell you are a passionate righty,just as me and all my friends are on the left. Man dont let it get to you.
Patrick- Cell Block 5
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