More idiocy from Laird: Cheers & Jeers, March 28

It takes a real uber-leftist scumbag to fail to admit that Governor Jindal's mention of the $140 million in the porkulus package as "waste" was directly on target. There was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING related to that earmark (You know... that earmark that the lying Speaker of the House said didn't exist?) that was in the LEAST "stimulative."

However, if you're a "Special Olympian" editorial page editor, however, your obsessive leftist crapping on your page every chance you get, knowing that the object of your derision can't answer you (The true mark of a coward) and knowing that you're lying in your efforts to belittle your political target makes you juuuuust a tiny part of the scum of the earth.

This is the kind of garbage spew that got this worthless rag into trouble in the first place. Deliberate distortion; deliberate arrogance, deliberate falsehood... those are the hallmarks of a steaming pile like The Columbian, one of the most arrogant, cowardly publications in the history of free press.

Laird's toilet product?

Jeers: Remember the way Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal mocked "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring'" on Feb. 24 when he delivered the Republicans' response to President Obama's address to Congress? Jindal's classic goofball comment is hard to forget, for a couple of reasons. First, there's the governor's startling absence of scientific knowledge, which we described in an editorial as "volcanic ignorance." Second, there are the not-so-subtle reminders that Mother Nature keeps delivering. Thanks to "something called 'volcano monitoring,'" we were prepared this week when Alaska's Mount Redoubt continued its repeated eruptions, sending ash clouds 32,000 feet above sea level. On Thursday afternoon Alaska Airlines suspended all flights in and out of Anchorage, about 110 miles northeast of Mount Redoubt.

That might not mean much to the Louisiana governor as he continues his partisan sniping at various federal funding efforts, but it's important to the people of the Pacific Northwest.

Never mind that not one dime of the money in question had been spent on the observatory in question; meaning, of course, that the wasted $140 million played no role, one way or the other.

As I pointed out here, it takes a totally moronic and completely biased worm to deliberately ignore these facts and to deliberately twist and distort the actions of others when they are not around to defend themselves.

Odd, isn't it? The idiots down in Columbianville have no trouble attacking Jindal over a remark he made concerning $140 million... but they've managed to keep their mouths shut over the massive waste of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars with $1.4 TRILLION in interest alone at the national level... while they roboticly go ON, and ON, and ON about the massive $4 BILLION I-5 Bridge Replacement that we do not want and do not need as if that WASN'T the most massive single waste of money in this nation's history.

One day, this stain on our community will become just another unpleasant footnote... much like Pravda or Das Reich.

And they will not be missed.

Is this the future of our local fishwrapper?

For quite a while now, our local daily has been circling the drain. It started with their over-extension on the new Columbian Building, built based on a theory that flew in the face of reality in a location akin to a ghost town... the heart of the Downtown Vancouver Mafia.

Our local rag's inability to innovate, inflexibility on a far-left perspective, insistence on an-ignore-the-people-to-the-point-of-suing-them-into-silence agenda, the many times they've lied or exaggerated concerning the massive waste of an unwanted and unneeded bridge complete with loot rail that no one wants around here... combined with a complete lack of incentive for anyone but a union hack or fringe left-nut job to actually buy this newspaper and consider it's contents to be anything but fiction.

They are so desperate that they've gone, hat-in-hand, to our own legislature, stuck in the doldrums of a soon-to-be $10 BILLION deficit, and are in the midst of attempting to persuade them that as a business, newspapers are somehow worthy of special consideration and tax breaks that, for example, MY business does not rate.

Newspapers generally, and ultra-leftist rags particularly, are in their death throws. The competition of the Internet and a failure to adapt, a complete lack of fairness, a total inability to grasp the pulse of the entirety of the community they're alleged to serve. All of these things combine to hammer this newspaper like a nail.

So, what happens today?

The Leftist Payback Bill is introduced in the US Senate, so that newspapers may CONTINUE to further the leftist cause... and to do so on the taxpayer dime.

This leads me to a quote from a columnist at crosscut.com:

What if a newspaper folded and nobody cared?

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's print edition dies, and while it's a shock to Seattle's sense of specialness, a new study shows that most people don't really care whether their local daily lives or dies. The real buzz is about what's next.

By Knute Berger

No one likes to see the underdog get beaten, but the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, long the David against the Seattle Times newspaper Goliath, just got clobbered. The Blethens are the last men standing in this long-time grudge match, but they're staggering too.

Seattle likes to regard itself as an exceptional place, and staying a two-newspaper town fed our sense that we're something special, a literate, world-class city that could buck the trend that saw most major cities become one-daily burgs. We buy more books, we have more education, we're paragons of the creative class. Members of
Committee for a Two Newspaper Town often made it sound as if having two
daily newspapers was somehow the Platonic ideal of civic enlightenment.

More:

Those obsessing on continuing a failed business model need to get a reality check. Using taxpayer dollars... resulting in an editorial policy set by government loons is not going to appreciably do anything but increase our massive waste of dollars as it is.

Nevertheless, A US Senator (Benjamin Cardin?) that, frankly, I've never heard of, introduced just such a bill.

Lyingly code-named the "Newspaper Revitalization Act," it has zero co-sponsors, which tends to show this as a trial balloon by a back-bencher, just to gauge public reaction... which will be, for the most part, condemnatory.

Newspapers are a business. They've been superseded by a new paradigm, much like buggy manufacturers were superseded by those building automobiles.

In the overall scheme of things, vehicle manufacturers are much more important than newspaper publishers. And neither one of them should receive a damned dime in bailouts from the taxpayers.

*I* don't WANT ANY of MY money to go to The Columbian. And based on their abysmal circulation figures, most in this community agree with me.

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible.

More:

Columbian Cheers and Jeers March 21 blows the call:Jeers: To the Washington Legislature for failing to act on at least two key changes.

Typically,The Columbian just goes along with whatever our disgrace of a Secretary of State wants, although God alone knows why.

For reasons detailed in many other places, Sam Reed is an embarrassment, both to this state and to the Republican party he allegedly claims.

While our electoral system is burning from an utter lack of due diligence about those voting, in that there is no requirement to prove citizenship, address or eligibility, Sam and the Columbian fiddle by bitching over the cutlery in first class on the Titanic.

Today's snivel fest includes their effort to reduce the number of votes in a given election (and, given the hard-right break of late ballots, this one actually surprised me) by not allowing votes to be counted that aren't TURNED IN by close of business on Election Day (I really would have thought that Sam's democrat masters would have shoved this through with all the rest of Sam's eyewash-disguised-as-election-reform) instead of counting those votes postmarked BY Election Day.

There reasoning? Well, like all of the other "reforms" introduced by our excuse-for-a-Secretary-of-State, it would make it "easier."

"That's unfortunate because the change could have expedited the counting and reporting of election results."

Amazing, that. "Expediting the count" is SO much more important than getting as many legal votes in... particularly, military votes, as possible.

Yeah... these guys REALLY know what's important.

Meanwhile, illegal aliens infest out voting roles, felons who have not completed their sentences infest our voting roles (Ol' Sam, purely make a mistake, sent felon voters THOUSANDS of ballots in the last election in one of his MANY "whoops-as-long-as-its-aligned-with-my-agenda" moments he's famous for.) people are claiming fake addresses because no LEGAL ID is required either to vote... or even to register to vote continue to be a problem for O' Sam.

I mean, after all, Ol' Sam HAS ONLY BEEN IN OFFICE FOR EIGHT FRICKING YEARS... HOW COULD WE HAVE POSSIBLY EXPECTED HIM TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS IN ONLY THE BETTER PART OF A DECADE?????

So, thanks again to the local fishwrapper for handling Sam's Sniveling. How our election system works at all with this moron in charge is a mystery to me... but then, based on his incompetence in 2004, maybe it DOESN'T work.


Jeers: To the Washington Legislature for failing to act on at least two key changes. First, a bill that would require voters to return ballots to the counties' elections offices by Election Day, rather than to simply postmark them by that day, stalled in committee. That's unfortunate because the change could have expedited the counting and reporting of election results. Washington is one of only five states that use this type of ballot deadline. Most other states, including Oregon, require ballots to arrive on or before Election Day.

No accountability at the Columbian: I was kind of hoping that all stories, comments, columns and photos wouldn't end up back in an I-5 conversation...

Lou Brancaccio's column was typically entertaining this morning.

The upshot is that it was a column bouncing off the Obama-Geithner-Dodd AIG debacle. Lou was using it as an opportunity to brag about how great the Columbian is at uncovering waste in certain segments of local government (I, for one, can't WAIT for their expose' on the massive and complete waste of the 10's of millions in down-the-tube CRC expenditures... but then, I actually DO expect to live forever... which is how long everyone is going to have to wait before this newspaper actually gives a critical look at anyone or anything THEY want.) while they let those they support completely off the hook and under the radar.

Lou's efforts, complete with links to all the EXCEPTIONAL work this newspaper has done ferreting out wastes of, relatively speaking, the chump change of a whole $173,000 plus a few other dollars for some retreat; deliberately ignores the much bigger picture... in size, of, say, the- planet-Earth-to-the-Sun bigger picture.

Big whoop.

We are facing an ASTRONOMICAL, INCONCEIVABLE waste of BILLIONS of dollars here locally, a project that has already consumed TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in waste... and Lou remains silent.

Why?

Because unfathomable waste in the name of a COMPLETE vaporization of BILLIONS on a project that the Columbian supports is perfectly OK.

So, when he's nailed over his continuing failure to address that waste or the massive opposition to this project... not to mention the "symbolism" of ignoring the people of this community and what WE want... what's his response?

I was kind of hoping that all stories, comments, columns and photos wouldn't end
up back in an I-5 conversation... but we'll continue to move forward. ;-)

Of COURSE Lou doesn't want to talk about the bridge.

Why would he possibly be responsive to the questions from someone who will have to pay the thousands in tolls over the years just to go to work... that LOU won't have to pay?

I really DO wonder how supportive the many clowns in government and business in our community would be if they had to pay the tolls they intend to ram down our throats.

Would Lou be so all fired up for this steaming pile if $1200 or more a year was coming out of HIS pocket... just to go to work?

So... he was asked that question. What did he do?

He ignored it.

And that, it appears, is an answer unto itself.

But his phrase just leaped off the page at me:

by No I-5 Bridge : 3/21/09 1:01pm - Report Abuse

Lou wrote in his article: "Still, when times are tough, we all should be sensitive to what the heck we are doing. Especially when you're spending my money. Taxpayers' money."

There's a certain rank hypocrisy about this phrase, Lou. You're hot and bothered when they spend YOUR money.

But when you do everything you can to get them to spend MY money?

Not so much.

Email Print Local News
Press talk: Symbolism counts in tough times
Friday, March 20 11:48 p.m.
BY LOU BRANCACCIO

COLUMBIAN EDITOR

This entire AIG thing is quite the mess. Sick, really.

I think AIG stands for Always Into Greed or something like that. Anyway it's some sort of big insurance company and it is somehow connected to this entire bank, housing, economic collapse that's making all of us, well, as mentioned, sick.

Everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else, and our political leaders are trying to out-outrage the next guy — in between trying to blame the other guy.

Some of these folks throw around million-dollar bonuses like it's chump change.

But don't get me wrong. I don't have the "Hey, no one should be making a million bucks" thing going on. Frankly, I plead guilty to million-dollar envy. Or even a small fraction of that.

In this country, everyone should have the opportunity to succeed, and if that success is defined by being rich, more power to you. America: What a country!

Still, when times are tough, we all should be sensitive to what the heck we are doing. Especially when you're spending my money. Taxpayers' money.

So The Columbian has been doing stories pretty regularly on how bureaucrats are spending our money.

When the Battle Ground school board planned a resort retreat, we were on it. When the district hired a $100,000 communications guy, we did a story on it.

Heck, we looked into those governments that still were supplying bottled water to employees — at taxpayers' expense.

We've also looked at some training the Evergreen School District did in Denver that had a $73,000 price tag....

by NO I-5 Bridge : 3/21/09 11:02am - Report Abuse

Yet, you and your newspaper support sucking $72,000,000 or more per year out of our local economy to pay for a bridge and light rail that YOU will not HAVE to use every day to go to work. WHat about THAT "symbolism?"

So, in that regard, you're quite right. You and those others behind this massive and complete w a s t e of money have shown that you really don't give a damn how it plays east of I-5 or north of 39th.

So, I find this column somewhat hypocritical when you keep urging the wasteful spending of BILLIONS and the economic damage caused by $10's of millions taken away from our working families every year for tolls that YOU and the vast majority of OTHER bridge/light rail supporters will not have to pay to get to and from work.

Of course, you and the other supporters could always join the tens of thousands of us you've set out to screw. What say you start another editorial crusade... you know, one that will require any public figure using their office or their business to pay a year's worth of tolls, every year, forever. You know, like those of us you're ramming the tolls down our throats? Like that?

Whatdaya say, Lou? You gonna have $1200 or more taken out of YOUR pay every year like you're demanding to take it out of MINE? How about you, Royce? Steve? Jim? The entirety of the Ctrans board?

by Omahkohkiaayo I'poyi : 3/21/09 11:08am - Report Abuse

Your central thesis I believe is correct. It is hard to wrap one's mind around the arguments and data in vast tomes like The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith or Das Kapital by Karl Marx, but particular micro examples, symbols, metaphors or even whole allegories like Gulliver's Travels, can take the mind quickly from a micro example to realization of a macro crises and some of the reasons for them. And no I did not take your piece as a defense of Obama at all. Your point, is that in rhetoric, it is not so much the dollar amount involved that makes a given example appear so egregious and thus its use as an example so effective, but the nature of the example--as perhaps a microcosm or a broader macrocosm--itself. The conventional definition of "chutzpah" for example, is killing one's parents and then pleading mercy on the court on the grounds that one is an orphan. These AIG execs might give chutzpah a whole new meaning. The points being made about Congress and both parties are correct. This is is but one of many examples of the unbridled greed celebrated by the conventional textbooks in economics as well as the character Gordon Gekko in Wall Street that the Republicans celebrated and facilitated, aided and abetted by all sorts of triangulating Dems, at work, and this is what greed really produces. Now, as for suggestions? How about taking a look locally at some of our most favored politicians, local institutions and personalities, and do the 5 Ws of journalism on them and their own AIG-like behaviors? And finally Lou, how is the narrow, parochial and totally unsupported Columbian endorsement of Baird earmarks, because they bring home some alleged local pork, and yet represent anti-Constitutional forms of appropriations, any different than the behavior of the AIG execs who put narrow, parochial and selfish interests above the common good or even the U.S. Constitution itself?

by Lou Brancaccio : 3/21/09 12:05pm - Report Abuse

I was kind of hoping that all stories, comments, columns and photos wouldn't end up back in an I-5 conversation... but we'll continue to move forward. ;-)

by R Frog : 3/21/09 12:10pm - Report Abuse

You're right about the symbolism, Lou. That's why the seeming small donation (or investment, as some say) by the city of Vancouver to help build a private development on the waterfront has raised so much stink. Or why wasteful (or righteous, as some say) earmarks are nothing more than just spending without oversight (like the bridge for Microsoft up in Redmond). Or how promises for ample time to review legislation and lack of lobbyists in the White House are symbolic, since our new President seems unwilling to keep his promises for less than a month. Or how about the symbolism of our pledge of allegiance, destroyed by P.C. action groups and atheists, turning into something new under the "Change" by a group running under the assistance of the DNC, called Organizing for America (OFA), which asks you to pledge support for Obama, not the office. Worshiping false idols.

Symbolism is critical. And it runs both ways. But we cannot pick and choose what makes a good news story. AIG get bonuses, politicians get pork. I don't see a lot of difference.

by R Frog : 3/21/09 12:12pm - Report Abuse

"I was kind of hoping that all stories, comments, columns and photos wouldn't end up back in an I-5 conversation..."

Maybe because they are related to the issue at hand. Let's spend countless dollars, tax the citizens excessively, tax them again with both tolls and subsidized light rail, and then spend additional money to add nice artistic features like water and wind turbines, artwork, tiled pedestrian walkways. How is that not symbolic of waste?

by NO I-5 Bridge : 3/21/09 12:29pm - Report Abuse

Lou, I appreciate your position in avoiding uncomfortable discussions. But you insist on addressing literal drops in the bucket, primarily for your paper's self-aggrandizement.

All of the expenses you're patting yourself on the back for exposing COMBINED wouldn't pay for one WEEK'S worth of consultants and other leeches on the CRC rip off.

You concern yourself over thousands here locally when unwanted and unneeded BILLIONS are at stake here and you do absolutely nothing about that.

The problem is that the unbelievable massive w a s t e of money you support and the many negative impacts of that support dwarf everything you've written here in importance and impact.

I bring up this issue in an effort to do the one thing you refuse to do, and that is to hold you and those who support this colossal w a s t e of money accountable as you act against the wishes of those who live here and who will actually be given no choice about paying the bills you're forcing down our throats.

I find it much more than odd that you're willing to address the "symbolism" of these, relatively speaking, parking ticket expenses while you not only turn a blind eye to the serial murderer expenses you advocate, but then fail to address the issue when directly confronted.

There's a word for that, Lou. And that word is "cowardice."

by R Frog : 3/21/09 12:37pm - Report Abuse

@I-5: I was just going to say "elitist", but sometimes it's hard to differentiate the two.

by No I-5 Bridge : 3/21/09 1:01pm - Report Abuse

"Still, when times are tough, we all should be sensitive to what the heck we are doing. Especially when you're spending my money. Taxpayers' money."

There's a certain rank hypocrisy about this phrase, Lou. You're hot and bothered when they spend YOUR money.

But when you do everything you can to get them to spend MY money?

Not so much.

by Coleah Penley-Ayers : 3/21/09 1:01pm - Report Abuse

I was initially upset at the AIG bonus issue, until I heard that the bonuses were not for doing a 'good job', but rather were 'retention bonuses', it got me to thinking. A retention bonus is meant to keep contract employees around and aren't conditional on their future personal 'performance' or the overall 'success' of a company. I though immediately of the military's 'reenlistment bonus' contract and wondered if we lost a war if the public would want our service people to payback their promised bonus. Same issue, differing perspectives.

It isn't always what it looks like on the surface, and I can see why it could be a legal battle if the AIG employees stand on principle. Had I ever risen to a level of commanding a retention bonus similar to the 73 AIG employees (an average of appx $136,000 each), people would be hard pressed to get me to pay it back just because the company overall took a dump.

I do note that a Senator did try to raise the issue of the AIG bonuses before the bailout was rushed through. He was ignored. Having only three days to digest an 1,100 page proposal before getting a bum's rush to vote just shows how insane our legislators mode of operation has become. So much for government transparency.

In my opinion Obama has turned our country into chaos in short order by his squared-chin bullying toward a rush to judgment. I don't know of many who voted for him who are still mindlessly chanting 'Obama, Obama, Obama' or 'yes we can'.

But alas they wanted 'change', and mindless fast change is what they got.

More:

Liars, damned liars, and then, the Columbian: In our view March 18: ‘Righteous’? Really?

Though circling the drain, the partisan spew and cover for democrats continues unabated.

We have massive public backlash mounting against Baird, Obama and all the Congress that is making all of this AIG and bailout garbage possible.

So what does this abortion of a newspaper do? What do they chose to write about?

They go to work to engage in damage control for Brian Baird. Baird, who carries the downtown Mafia's water like Gunga Din, is getting hammered; not only for his idiotic earmarks (and these are not the only stupid moves he's made in the earmark arena) but for the Columbian's despicable press coverage and his outright PRIDE in molesting the taxpayers in the midst of this horrific recession.

Let's remember that this despicable waste of pulp endorsed the empty suit currently in the process of destroying this county's economy... and that Brian Baird has supported every financial move this moron has made.

The Columbian is drawing the wagons in a circle around our embattled Congressman, because he is taking almost universal heat from all corners on being proud of his continuing financial rape of his constituents specifically and all Americans generally. As far back as February, this shame of a newspaper had started to provide cover for Baird's despicable votes for Obama's porkulus, with yet another fawning article that covers the malfeasance this clown has engaged in.

Baird has had his problems with earmarks before... earmarks that returned tens of thousands in campaign contributions for his "favors." Baird's corruption on earmarks is well known. The Seattle Times spent a considerable amount of time on the issue where Braid (among others) wasted millions on earmarks for the military that the military did not want.

So, the Columbian rises to the defense of their lackey, doing all they can to make sure he keeps shoveling MORE wasted millions into the steaming pile known as downtown Vancouver.

They start with a lie:

"Baird’s description of federal earmark offends his critics, but he speaks the truth"

And sprint downhill from there.

Baird's molestation of the taxpayer doesn't just "offend his critics," it also offends his supporters, because it's not being done for any reason but to enrich his "friends."

The most laughable among the many lies contained in this pork feces published by this rag today is THIS beaut:

"...You get a 30-to-1 return on our investment. Bash us for that earmark, Bobby Jindal."

"Baird got that 30-to-1 ratio from a City of Vancouver Web site description of the project"

Gee. That's akin to going to a Nazi Party website and believing their descriptions of one of their more scenic concentration camps.

In other words, then, like the City of Vancouver, Baird has NO FRICKING IDEA WHAT, IF ANY, RETURN THERE WILL BE.

Because as we all know, like the Columbian, the City of Vancouver would NEVER lie to get what IT wanted.

Except for downtown redevelopment, a $ 4 BILLION waste of money on an unneeded I-5 Bridge replacement and loot rail... and suing the voters into silence, I mean.

Now, I'm sure that Governor Jindal would have no problem shredding Baird's idiocy on this issue. Hell, I can do it right here:

If, in fact, this project would have ANY return of "30-to-1" anywhere in it...

...DON'T YOU THINK THAT PRIVATE BUSINESS WOULD BE DOING IT, INSTEAD OF WASTING OUR TAX MONEY ON THIS?

There ya go, Congressman. Keep the change.

As usual, this editorial is rife with false, pie-in-the-sky, made up on the spot numbers, printed by a bunch of kool aid-drinking, self-interested liars who want this redevelopment tax money like a heroin junkie wants their next fix.

There is nothing righteous in voting for hundreds of billions of dollars of unneeded pork. But then. Baird has a track record of doing that very thing, so maybe it's because he's so out of touch with his constituency that he's left only to rely on his partisan bent... and screw the voters and taxpayers.

After all, the empty suit in the White House and this massive waste of space newspaper wouldn't have it any other way.



In our view March 18: ‘Righteous’? Really?
Baird’s description of federal earmark offends his critics, but he speaks the truth
Wednesday, March 18 1:00 a.m.

Brian Baird seldom passes up the chance to be blunt. Sometimes the Vancouver congressman's outspokenness is not the best approach. Three years ago, for example, when replying to a letter writer who had thanked him for a scholarship, Baird fired back with a seething, undiplomatic indictment of the student's poor writing skills.

Usually, though, Baird is spot on with his perceptions and frank expressions. Such was the case last Friday when he described as "a righteous earmark" the combined $5.59 million in new federal funding for Vancouver's waterfront redevelopment project. As Jeffrey Mize reported in Saturday's Columbian, that funding includes $2.5 million in stimulus money plus $3.09 million from the 2009 spending bill that President Obama signed last week.

Predictably, Baird's comment elicited quick and severe opposition among bloggers and other critics of both Baird and Obama. He noted after a formal Friday gathering at the old Boise Cascade site: "Everyone bashes us for earmarks. This is a righteous earmark. You get a 30-to-1 return on our investment. Bash us for that earmark, Bobby Jindal." Baird got that 30-to-1 ratio from a City of Vancouver Web site description of the project, which estimates how much every public dollar spent is expected to yield in projected higher tax revenues.

Yes, the return on investment would take years to realize. And yes, the "dividends" are estimates. But the data are compiled by informed researchers, and besides, the only certain way to eliminate estimates is to abandon the project and accept the status quo: an abandoned paper-mill site on prime waterfront property.

Here are key questions for local residents to ponder when assessing this righteous earmark:

More:
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The Seattle Post Intelligencer: RIP 1863 - 2009

The future of the Columbian as foretold by the Seattle Post Intelligencer?

There are many reasons for the death of this newspaper... reasons that I cannot help but think our local newspaper SHOULD have noticed... but have chosen to ignore.

Newspapers are essentially an outmoded method of news delivery. They cannot be updated; they waste resources (trees), they're a huge cause of pollutants, and a logistical, time consuming and expensive item to deliver.

That leaves the electronic medium. The obvious problem with that strategy is simple: newspapers are already competing with well-established electronic media... and the now omnipresent internet.

How do you charge for providing something that is provided, essentially, for free?

You don't.

The Seattle PI has been reduced, essentially, to a blog. One can see the effectiveness of a blog because, after all, you're reading this one.

Now, I don't have a staff of writers or researchers available. Nor do I have the brand name awareness of the Seattle PI which has, after all, been around 3 times more than I have.

And this brings me to what I believe is the most critical reason why the PI failed... why the Seattle Times SEEMS to be failing, and why the Columbian is failing... and these are reasons in addition to issues of technology and finances... because not every newspaper is teetering on the brink.

That reason?

Bias.

Newspapers have had a place in our communities and our societies. They've played a role in developing this country as tools of democracy. They've served as tools to hold our leaders accountable. They've sometimes been positive forces for change... but more recently, negative forces for change.

The critical element for newspapers has been under attack for years. Our local newspaper had a reporter that was prescient in expressing his concerns, a quote I reproduce here:

NEWSPAPERS TRY TO REGAIN CREDIBILITY WITH READERS
From: The Columbian Date: July 28, 1997 Author: MIKE FEINSILBER

The Columbian 07-28-1997

WASHINGTON -- Would you believe this? A lot of editors worry that you wouldn't - that people are less willing these days to believe what they read in the newspapers. They fear that, for a variety of reasons, newspapers are suffering a crisis in credibility, losing the irreplaceable asset of believability. The press has a lot to worry about these days: stagnant circulation, too few young readers, the Internet's ...

I stopped paying to read the Columbian over 13 years ago. They attacked people they disagreed with unmercifully, using exaggeration, lies, bias and gallons of ink to attack individuals wise enough to understand that while this newspaper is a PART of our community, it does not RUN our community.

In Seattle, in what appears to be an increasingly leftist area that I am FROM (And, in the interests of full disclosure, point out that I used to be an employee of the PI a LOOOOONG time ago) those who aligned themselves with the left wing a-men choir that the PI had unabashedly and unashamedly become have now accessed all of those technologies and other sources for free that the PI charged for.

Why read the PI if you can get the latest leftist pap from Kos, or Horse's Ass... for what amounts to free?

Loyalty is a fine thing... until it starts reaching into your wallet.

The PI attacks Congressman Dave Reichert because he was smart enough to vote against the Empty Suits "Generational Indebtedness Act," telling us it was a "partisan" move. They failed to mention the 11 democrats who also voted against it. Were they "partisan? The PI lost their collective minds over the Gas Tax... and kept silent when we were screwed by WADOT who then cut the project list by 30%; an obvious fraud... in supporting the idea of a death tax... and on, and on... and on.

This represents something of the Chinese water torture approach to anyone to the right of Lenin.

If a newspaper beats the hell out of a large segment of the public they depend on to support them financially... what's the incentive to give them money if you're a part of that segment?

Well, based on the PI going under, it would appear their isn't one.

Here, we have a completely leftist newspaper, one that only endorsed democrats for any open seat in the last election, with an editorial page editor apparently PAID to beat the hell out of anyone to the right of Stalin. He uses insults, slams, lies and libel towards those he doesn't agree with... and that typically means those wise enough to avoid the leftist Kool Aid drinking he's so enamored of.

Why on earth would anyone not a fringe-left whack job buy the Columbian when this clown writes most of his columns as if the very idea of conservatism is a personal affront, and he needs to use his soap box to kick the hell out of those he disagrees with?

Now... that is not to say that *I* don't do precisely the same thing: I do, and I admit it. Unlike the two newspapers under discussion, how ever, I don't hide anything from anyone in the realm of news. And part of the reason why I spend time doing this is to provide SOME counterpoint to the lie-driven, agenda driven morons that spew their lies as if they were God's own truth.

But the MAIN difference between us is.... YOU DON'T PAY ME TO READ ME. For the thousands who've stopped by my blog, there is absolutely no charge. I refuse to have the google ad set here for a variety of reasons, so I don't even make any money off of THAT.

And those issues, of course, just go to politics.

The other main issue is one of agendas.

For several years now, the Columbian uses itself as a club to literally BEAT on those opposed to their agenda.

In the alternative, they go out of their way to ignore those opposed to their Orwellian vision of what they want us to become.

They have a track history of this type of arrogance and community damaging garbage: The current issue is their utterly absurd and nonsensical lies and exaggeration in support of their demand that we get light rail into Vancouver... and oh yeah, let's waste $4 BIOLLION to make that happen... all the while, typically writing as if tens of thousands of us are not completely opposed to their moronic idea... going so far as to elect an anti-light rail, anti-bridge replacement county commissioner this past November.

Some at the Columbian have come right out and attacked those who oppose their massive black hole of precious and increasingly fewer transportation dollars as they do their damnedest to force US to pay hundreds of dollars a year in tolls THEY will not have to pay.

There have been other episodes of Columbian idiocy besides their rampant lies about the bridge replacement; there support of gerrymandered elections for tax increases, their support of the city of Vancouver actually suing the voters into silence for downtown redevelopment? their support of the overwhelmingly rejected Port tax increase, the biggest increase in our history.

Their relative silence on the destruction our prtesident is causing this country (of course, they endorsed him... and once they endorse you, you can do no wrong) their failure to hold our congressman accountable for his earmarks and for voting to bury us under an additional trillion in debt... because HIS earmarks are RIGHTEOUS. There attacks... repeated attacks... against a couple trying to build a house in the Gorge... their idiotic demands that a state representative, now a re-elected county commissioner, "resign before the people do it for him," right before he won his first of four re-elections to the House and his subsiquent re-election as a county commissioner.

This goes directly to the point brought out by Feinsilber, above.

If the people believe you've abbrogated your responsibility by putting your politics or your agenda ahead ofwhat's right for the people... well, guess what?

You become the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

When a newspaper lies, distorts, exaggerates, attacks and loses sight of their primary responsibility of telling the unvarnishede truth, they become an increasing stain on democracy; and people like me become increasingly less likely to want to pay to be abused by tonedeaf idiots like many of those writing for this newspaper today.

There are lessons to be learned in the demise of the PI. As of now, the Columbian maintains their blinders... and continue to circle the drain.

Seattle P-I to publish last edition Tuesday

By DAN RICHMAN AND ANDREA JAMES
P-I REPORTERS

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will roll off the presses for the last time Tuesday.

· Seattlepi.com to continue as local news, opinion site
· Letter to readers
· More about the new seattlepi.com

The Hearst Corp. announced Monday that it would stop publishing the 146-year old newspaper, Seattle's oldest business, and cease delivery to more than 117,600 weekday readers.

The company, however, said it would maintain seattlepi.com, making it the nation's largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.

"Tonight we'll be putting the paper to bed for the last time," Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby told a silent newsroom Monday morning. "But the bloodline will live on."

In a news release, Hearst CEO Frank Bennack Jr. said, "Our goal now is to turn seattlepi.com into the leading news and information portal in the region."

The new operation will be more than a newspaper online, Steven Swartz, president of Hearst Newspapers, said. The so-called "community platform" will feature breaking news, columns from prominent Seattle residents, community databases, photo galleries, 150 citizen bloggers and links to other journalistic outlets.

On Jan. 9, New York-based Hearst put the Seattle P-I up for sale and said that the paper would stop printing if a buyer were not found within 60 days.

Despite community concern, no buyer emerged. The P-I lost $14 million last year.

"The thing that should not be missed here is that the P-I is not going away. The P-I is going online," Oglesby said in an interview. "Nobody is happy about the newspaper going away. That's a sad thing. The editorial voice is still going to be here."

About 20 news gatherers and Web producers will stay on with seattlepi.com, plus another 20 newly hired advertising sales staff. The publisher will stick around through the transition period, but does not expect to be part of the ongoing online operation.

"Our goal is to just let the quality of the Web site speak for itself," Swartz said in an interview. "We're very excited that the people who are staying with us will continue to evolve and experiment and innovate. The newspaper industry needs more innovation, needs more experimentation, and I think the new seattlepi.com is an innovative experiment and I think that the eyes of the country and this industry are going to be on what we do in Seattle."

More:

Baird sells us out on another earmark: The Columbian is positively giddy

So, Brian Baird and this fishwrapper are just all bubbly about how they screwed the taxpayers with millions in earmarks.

The article makes me want to blow chunks... and here's a few well chosen words in response to the headline:

Baird is proud of ‘righteous earmark’

It's at LEAST as "righteous" as the millions he wasted on the "Boat that nobody wanted" in return for the $14,277 in campaign contributions Baird got from Guardian Marine in return for shilling out $17.65 million in THOSE earmarks.

It seems that Mr. Baird is simply incapable of grasping the enormity of his stupidity and the colossal waste of money he's so proud of.

"Bash" this earmark? I don't need Jindal or anyone else to "bash" this earmark when I can beat hell out of it all by myself.

Being in the pocket of the Downtown Vancouver Mafia is nothing to be proud of, Mr. Baird. Cementing your alliances with corruption isn't worthy of a press release, Mr. Baird. This slobbering coverage from this rag because they're all about jacking up their property values using taxpayer dollars isn't the thing that town hall meetings should focus on, Mr. Baird.

At the end of the day, you helped the empty suit to bury this economy in yet additional TRILLIONS of dollars of debt with your pork-laden garbage.

And that's nothing to be proud of, Mr. Baird.

See? It was easy. And Gov. Jindal didn't even need to break a sweat.

Your corruption and that of this newspaper are despicable, Mr. Baird.

Baird stands behind the earmarks. "We didn't just say, 'Oh, a company in our district wants an earmark — let's get it for them.' We looked at the mission, we looked at the history of the boat, and we looked at the alternatives out there," he said. "And I think that's pretty good work, frankly."

...And Rep. Baird still wants to get patrol boats like Guardian Marine's (That the Navy can't use and like the ones we ALREADY own that are tied up at a dock in Seattle's Portage Bay (except for yearly maintenance runs)) into Coast Guard hands. During a congressional hearing earlier this year, Baird asked an admiral if they could "chat" about "other alternatives that are available on the marketplace" to the Coast Guard's slower, 87-foot patrol boats.

"Might we do that?" Baird asked.

"Happy to do that, sir," the admiral replied.

Yeah. It's just coincidence that these people gave you $15,000 for your campaign... right, Brian?

No, dammit. I will condemn this earmark and the corruption it speaks to and the debt it assigns with all of my might.

Mr. Baird, you and this democrat lackey newspaper ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Poster by Omahkohkiaayo I'poyi does an amazing job of calling Baird's perfidy out. It's worthy of reproduction here, and I do it here in it's entirety:

by Omahkohkiaayo I'poyi : 3/14/09 9:45am - Report Abuse

It is called "triangulation". The apex of the triangle stands "above" the "left" or "right" ends of the base. Give a little to the "left" on their most important issues, they will hold their noses, vote for you, even after what you feed to the "right". Same thing on the "right": feed them a little on their pet issues, they will vote for you, often as the "lesser of evils" (when what we often have is the evil of lessers) while they hold their noses for what you give to the "left". All the while you appear not even "centrist", but at some imperial and etherial level above it all. Of course what you "give" to the left, right and center is what is not really yours to "give" especially when there is nothing to give without robbing future generations of a chance your generation had: taxpayer dollars going where they are most needed and fiscal solvency. This concept was articulated by Dick Morris, a political operative, who worked mostly the Republican side but also worked for Dems like Clinton as well. But blaming these politicians can be like blaming a rabid dog for biting. These types, as Plato noted in his famous dictum "Those who seek power are invariably the least fit to hold and wield it", are typically narcissists, megalomaniacs, manipulators and many are outright psychopaths (see the book "Snakes in Suits When Psychopaths Go to Work" by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare) So it is up to us to stop trading away our liberty and tax dollars by supporting those who cynically pander to our baser instincts, selfishness, myopia and narrow single-issue or identity politics. We are also to blame. It is time to relentlessly out them, drag them out of the subterranean power cliques they operate through, and with hard-core and rigorous facts, the law, and contradictions in their own rhetoric expose them to the accountability they eschew. I have been up close with these types and they are nothing and cannot debate when pressed; that is why they hide and every two years come around counting on our short memories.

by Omahkohkiaayo I'poyi : 3/14/09 10:00am - Report Abuse

Here is an article in the Seattle Times called "The Favor Factory" with links to look up any Congressperson and see for any given year, how much in earmarks they got, to whom the earmarks went, and from whom they got campaign contributions. You will see an amazing correspondence between who gave and who got (sometimes literally within days of getting an earmark a campaign contribution given and vice versa). And every one of these types will look straight into the camera and say "But I assure you than in my mind there was no connection between the campaign contribution and the earmark--previous or subsequent--for the person who gave it." What else are they going to say? That does not settle it and it shows their own arrogance and contempt for the trust placed with them that that is all they have to say. Earmarks are about escaping transparency, scrutiny, accountability and the normal appropriations processes mandated by the U.S. Constitution. There is no way around it as President Obama himself noted. Now go check out Mr. Baird or whomever you wish. By the way, in the U.S. Constitution, only two crimes are explicitly mentioned as "High Crimes and Misdemeanors": Treason and Bribery.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008257178_favorfactory12.html

by Omahkohkiaayo I'poyi : 3/14/09 10:07am - Report Abuse

Mr. Baird's record on earmarks for 2008:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/favorfactory/favorfactory_2008/lawmaker.php?id=H6WA03135

Baird, Brian N.

(House, D-WA) Totals
2008 Defense earmarks: $13,600,000
2003-08 Campaign contributions from earmark recipients: $68,800

Campaign contributions from earmark recipients
Recipient Amount
Gencorp, Inc. (HQ) $2,000
General Electric Co. (HQ) $11,000
Caterpillar, Inc. (HQ) $2,000
Battelle Memorial Institute, Inc. (HQ) $500
Oregon Iron Works, Inc. $17,500
Boeing Co. (HQ) $9,500
Accenture, Inc. (HQ) $500
Northrop Grumman Corp. (HQ) $1,000
Cassidy & Associates $500
SILVER EAGLE MANUFACTURING CO $2,000
Outdoor Research, Inc. $2,000
CASCADE DESIGNS, Inc. $4,000
Armor Systems International, Inc. $2,000
Honeywell International, Inc. (HQ) $5,000
Rice University $250
Nlight Photonics Corp. $6,550
Lockheed Martin Corp. (HQ) $2,000
Insitu, Inc. (HQ) $500

Has anyone ever heard of "conflict of interest" and recusing oneself from a vote in which one has even the appearance of one as a matter of honor?

Unlike our local waste of paper, the information provided above tells the REAL story about the despicable use of earmarks... earmarks the Empty Suit repeatedly campaigned AGAINST.

Email | Print |

Local News

Baird is proud of ‘righteous earmark’

Friday, March 13 | 11:23 p.m.

BY JEFFREY MIZE
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Twist Architecture and Design Redevelopment of the former Boise Cascade site could include a series of high-rise buildings with hotels, condos, offices, hotels, shops and restaurants, along with parks and trails.

Congressman Brian Baird had finished the polite introductions and obligatory thanks.

Then, the Vancouver Democrat moved closer to a clay model depicting the high-rise waterfront community that Gramor Development and its local investors want to build on the Columbia River waterfront.

"The infrastructure money leverages so much more," Baird told Gramor President Barry Cain late Friday morning as he examined the model. "They’re not building waterfront. They’re not building Columbia Rivers anywhere."

The waterfront project, proposed for a barren former industrial site west of the Interstate 5 Bridge, will benefit from two federal contributions: $2.5 million in stimulus money and another $3.09 million from the 2009 spending bill President Barack Obama signed this week.

"Everyone bashes us for earmarks," Baird said, standing where a cluster of office buildings, condominiums, apartments, stores and restaurants could pop up in the next 10 to 15 years. "This is a righteous earmark. You get a 30-to-1 return on our investment. Bash us for that earmark, Bobby Jindal."

Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, delivered the GOP’s response to Obama’s Feb. 24 joint address before Congress and criticized federal officials for what he called an "eruption of spending in Washington, D.C."

As for the 30-to-1 figure, Baird used an estimate developed by the city of Vancouver of how much every public dollar — city, state and federal — spent on infrastructure will return in higher tax revenues.

Baird attended a Friday gathering with representatives of Gramor and its investors, along with city, Port of Vancouver and Clark County representatives, to show his support for the project and boost its community standing. A push pin in the clay model indicated where organizers had set a small tent, chairs and podium for the event.

More:

More Columbian Bridge propaganda that ignores the massive opposition: Bridge designers search for function and beauty

Yup... bridge designers are searching for an ever-increasing way to make this turd in a punch bowl as expensive as possible.

Unfortunately, as usual, this is yet another in the massive series of propaganda pieces that would have made Herr Goebbels blush with pride from our own, circling the drain Columbian.

See, the designers that have attached themselves like a leech to the neck of a water buffalo for the millions they're ripping off from us taxpayers aren't concerned with the fact that we don't want this thing... they're the modern-day equivalent of Concentration Camp Guards.

You know... orders are orders and all that rot?

Of course, that didn't work in Nuremberg, and it ain't doing to well in Clark County, either.

A poster in the thread says it best:

I desperately want these supporters like Royce and the C-Trans mob to come out and defend this garbage heap.

They have no courage, or they would willingly put this thing to a vote. In this instance, they're doing absolutely everything they can to AVOID a vote... because they already know the outcome... and GOD forbid that the people forced to PAY this despicable bill should ACTUALLY HAVE A SAY!

These are the same embarrassments to democracy that actually SUED the voters into silence over the organized crime activity known as "downtown redevelopment."

There is no lie they won't tell... no effort to avoid dealing with the massive opposition to this project... no amount of OUR money (now already exceeding $100 million for a "study" with a pre-ordained outcome ("Oh, gee... the ONLY option we can POSSIBLY do is to replace a perfectly serviceable bridge for FOUR BILLION DOLLARS so we can bring loot rail into Vancouver!")Like anyone breathing didn't know, several months in advance, that such was the ONLY outcome the Downtown Mafia and this newspaper would EVER accept.) they won't spend to convince us that everything is sweetness and light... and no worries, mate... we're not only going to SCREW the commuter... but THEY ARE GOING TO ENJOY IT!

Bridge designers search for function and beauty

Matching gateways could be posited at different ends of I-5 crossing

Friday, March 13 11:35 a.m.

BY JEFFREY MIZE
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Touchstone Architects and Columbia River Crossing Bridge designers are paying particular attention to piers and pile caps, using lighting to illuminate the supports from the inside out. Another feature could be artwork panels reflecting the region’s history or natural resources.

Touchstone Architects and Columbia River Crossing A 25-foot-wide path for pedestrians and cyclists could feature mosaic tile or other features and provide expansive views looking east toward Mount Hood.

Touchstone Architects and Columbia River Crossing One possible design for a new Interstate 5 bridge from Oregon looking north on the east side of the bridge.

Touchstone Architects and Columbia River Crossing One possible design for a new Interstate 5 bridge from Oregon looking north.

Touchstone Architects and Columbia River Crossing Large gateways could greet drivers as they enter and exit the primary crossing, providing doorways to Vancouver and Portland.

1 of 5

Dramatic lighting would illuminate double V-style piers that support a new Interstate 5 bridge.

Matching blue gateways on each side of the crossing would welcome drivers as they enter Vancouver and Portland.

A 25-foot-wide path for pedestrians and cyclists would feature mosaic tile and provide expansive views looking east toward Mount Hood.

The Columbia River Crossing’s Urban Design Advisory Group got a glimpse of these concepts Friday as it examined the latest work of two design consultants, bridge architect Bradley Touchstone of Tallahassee, Fla., and illumination expert Faith Baum of Bloomfield, N.J.

The crossing office hired the two last fall, largely in response to criticism from Portland officials and others who felt the proposed bridge was flat, unimaginative and drab.

Touchstone has been working to provide a signature design for a project that could cost $3.5 billion or more for bridge, freeway and transit improvements.

Preserving views, providing a meaningful nighttime experience and making the crossing environmentally sustainable are among his design priorities, along with creating a project that both stands out and fits in.

"That iconic form should be something that is absolutely unique to this place," Touchstone said.

Baum said preliminary plans call for using white light, not different colors, to illuminate the structure from the inside out.

The goal is to juxtapose white light to provide a more subtle context and to enhance the environment’s natural color while still providing a lighting system that is easy to maintain and affordable to operate, she said.

"We want this bridge to look as beautiful 10 years from opening day as it does on opening day," Baum said.

Gee... a leftwing polling outfit, paid for by democrat interests that want to jack up our taxes, tells us that we SUPPORT tax increases.

Are you stunned?

I'm stunned.

A leftist pollster, paid for leftists, concludes thaty the people of this state actually would support tax increases to make up for leftist, out of control spending.

And for some reason, this birdcage liner sees that as news.

Nah.... no bias HERE, I tell ya!

AP Source: Poll: Wash. voters open to "sin" taxes

Saturday, March 7 2:45 p.m. BY CURT WOODWARD - ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Voters might support higher "sin taxes" to take the edge off deep state budget cuts, but they seem to recoil at tax hikes for businesses, according to polling by political interest groups pushing for a statewide tax referendum.

Washingtonians also prefer a temporary tax increase that "sunsets" after helping the state get through its present budget crisis, according to the poll of about 800 likely voters across the state.
An across-the-board sales tax increase of 1 percent was initially unpopular, but voters seemed more willing to accept sales tax increases if they were presented as an average monthly cost of around $20 or less, the polling showed.

The research, conducted earlier this month by Goodwin Simon Victoria Research, a national Democratic polling firm, is part of a growing effort among left-leaning political interests to blunt the effects of the state's budget deficit, presently about $8 billion and growing through mid-2011.
The data was provided to The Associated Press by a person who had been briefed on the results. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the research.

More:

'LIBTARD LUNACY DELIVERED WITH CLUELESS VEHEMENCE' just doesn't sell...

I wish I could take credit for that nifty catch phrase, but it's more an apt description of what's happening to newspapers generally and the Seattle PI in particular.

This effort from poster jaundos at Sound Politics sums up the current newsprint publication of the Seattle PI (A former employer of mine, I might add) which is, fortunately for this region of the country, doomed to extinction as a viable entity.

Yet, our own newspaper of record, the Vancouver Columbian, insists on following the same, clueless, libtard editorial model; a place where facts are twisted or ignored, and it's the agenda, the agenda, the agenda... all day, every day.... delivered with clueless vehemence.

Their current embarrassment is their deliberate efforts to ignore the massive opposition in Clark County to the disgrace known as the I-5 Bridge replacement and light rail project.

In keeping with their policy of lies, they refer to this bridge as having "12 lanes."

This bridge has 3 thru lanes in each direction, precisely like the bridge they would have us unnecessarily replace.

So, any time any of the 5 people or so who agree to replace this bridge achieve yet another agreement on anything, it gets the front page, golly gosh gee-wiz treatment by this rotten excuse of a newspaper.

The tens of thousands who oppose this colossal waste of billions of dollars?

Not one word.

So, we continue to be confronted with an effort that has included a study that has wasted in excess of $90,000,000 to arrive at a pre-ordained outcome; the continuation of a project that nobody wants, the giant sucking sound of $72,000,000 or more in tolls being sucked out of our economy and away from our families... and all of it ENTIRELY done to bring in light rail to Vancouver, at a cost of $4 BILLION... not including interest and cost overruns that will add additional billions in costs... but a minimum of about $10,000 for every man, woman and child in Clark County... not including the over $1,000 per year per commuter in additional taxes in the form of tolls... taxes that are not needed, not wanted and not asked for by those who have to pay it.

Local government lacks the courage to ask us the question: Do you, the people, want this?

Oddly, I never thought that a former soldier... a holder of the Combat Infantry Badge, could be a coward. But he is. And that shames me, as it should shame everyone in our community.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the critical issue of a county wide vote on the issue of this project, neither Pollard nor his only announced opponent, City Councilman Tim Leavitt have or will pledge to allow democracy have it's way with this situation, and they both fully intend to ram this project down our throats.

There is no money for this. We do not need this. We do not want this. Yet we have an out of control government that is forcing us to take it whether we want it or not.

And for that, there is no excuse.

There is simply no lie this newspaper will not tell to further their agenda.

The unconscionable lies of the Columbian are part and parcel of why I, and thousands of others refuse to by this colossal waste of space... a crime of the First Amendment's freedom of the press, because they are left to actually LIE in support of their agenda. And that makes them no better then scum

Today's lie?

-- A bill allowing C-Tran to designate a subdistrict for light rail funding advanced out of the House Transportation Committee on Friday. It moved out of the Senate committee earlier.

This would be a significant development for light rail in Vancouver, and it should appeal to all Clark County residents — in or out of the subdistrict — because it would advance the user-pay concept. Taxes would increase only in the area directly affected by light rail, and only residents who are directly served by light rail would vote on such an increase. The increase, likely a small boost in sales tax, would fund maintenance and operation of light rail, which could be built with up to $750 million in federal transit funds.

And here are two more good things about a transit subdistrict: It would be an option, and voters are the ones who decide.

Words fail me... almost.

To call this a lie is to do disservice to the term "lie."

If the people of Clark County, who will be denied the right to vote on this entire project, actually SUPPORTED this garbage, then we wouldn't NEED a "taxing district."

These scumbags would just put the whole thing up for a vote county wide, and then live with the consequences of that vote.

But the little worms supporting this are doing so,not BECAUSE we want it... but because THEY know we don't.

And along comes The Columbian, who lies over and over and over in ways that would make either the Nazi's or even that empty-suited clown Obama blush, and he's lied more in one month then the last 5 presidents put together in 30 years.

From a comment on this utter lie of an editorial:

Clark County residents are appalled at the notion that you can keep us from having a voice on a tax while you force us to pay it. Clark County residents view that as a stain on democracy, a kind of organized crime that would make Al Capone blush with envy. And Clark County residents view those who support such a concept as scum. And yes, that includes this newspaper.

Like the C-Tran scam you were so wild about, "voters" will NOT get to "decide."

SOME voters will make that decision, but not ALL voters. ALL voters will just be given the privilege of being forced to PAY this tax. And that is as despicable now as it was when you supported the last worthless effort.

The demise of this newspaper simply cannot come soon enough. Minister Goebbels could learn a thing or two from you.

It is of note to point out this paragraph:

SOME voters will make that decision, but not ALL voters. ALL voters will just be given the privilege of being forced to PAY this tax. And that is as despicable now as it was when you supported the last worthless effort.

The Columbian knew when they printed this sewage that the lines will be drawn precisely like they were drawn for the C-Trans crime. That is, they will be gerrymandered to maximize revenue, and minimize participation by the very voting public that should be, according to this excuse for a newspaper, glad that this disaster... this mass screwing of the people of this county is taking place.

It's time to organize a boycott of this despicable rag and anyone who advertises in it. This cancer has got to go... for they have long since lost any legitimacy when they are reduced to lying to the public... just like their Nazi and Communist predecessors.

In My View March 3: Moronic Ignorance

As noted, The Columbian is totally in the tank for the left. Their now-legendary support of democrats and ONLY democrats for every open seat up and down the ticket in 2008 will stand the test of time as acting as a stealth propaganda sheet for the left.

Today's blithering idiocy is no different.

Like a petulant punk, the paper deliberately twisted Gov. Jindal's response to the messiah's State of the Union Address a few days back.

They started the process with obvious Goebellian propaganda puff pieces that, among other things, allowed their candidate of choice, the ubiquitous "No Choice" Royce Pollard to shoot off his mouth on the subject as if what he had to say had any greater importance then what I have to say... or, for that matter, what my pet Cocker Spaniel has to say.

It doesn't... but those "in-kind" contributions start early when they newspaper perceives a solid threat to their boy.

So, the rag pushed out two puff pieces designed both to smack around yet another Republican AND to let the whole world in on the "wit and wisdom" of the Commissar of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Vancouver.

He had nothing of any value to say (when does he?) but the newspaper, in their continuing effort to go out of business, couldn't pass on the opportunity to actually act like the pearls of wisdom oozing from his mouth were, somehow, newsworthy.

That said, today the newspaper attacked Jindal over his declaration that $140 million was scheduled as part of the porkulus bill to be wasted on volcano monitoring.

Whether the moron who wrote the editorial (And it sounds like Laird, who has them common sense and leftist tendencies of a rock ape) is simply a moron... or if he needs to increase his dosage, the fact is that again, the Columbian deliberately missed the point of the exercise.

Odd, isn't it? The idiots down in Columbianville have no trouble attacking Jindal over a remark he made concerning $140 million... but they've managed to keep their mouths shut over the massive waste of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars with $1.4 TRILLION in interest alone at the national level... while they robotically go ON, and ON, and ON about the massive $4 BILLION I-5 Bridge Replacement that we do not want and do not need as if that WASN'T the most massive single waste of money in this nation's history.

What Pollard has to say... what this rag of a newspaper that bears only a passing and accidental resemblance to journalism has to say... is meaningless. And with each and every one of their continuing violations of journalistic tenets, it becomes, if possible, more so with each edition.




In our view, March 3: Volcanic Ignorance
Offense taken by scientists, N.W. residents as Jindal mocks volcano monitoring

Tuesday, March 3 | 1:00 a.m.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has turned a primitive ritual into some sort of political self-sacrifice. Last week, Jindal tossed a heaping helping of his own political credibility into a figurative volcano.

As Jindal presented the Republican counterpoint on Tuesday evening to President Obama's address to Congress, he was complaining about government waste when he condescendingly belched forth with "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.' Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C."

Oh, dear. We'll get to the response from the more respected sources — the scientists — later. First, though, allow us to reverse the circumstances. Suppose Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire went on national TV and decried wasteful spending on hurricane monitoring? She would rightly incur the wrath of every resident on the Gulf and East coasts. Studying hurricanes is more than playtime for scientists. It's the business of saving lives and property.

Admittedly, we've got a dog in this fight. Oops, wrong metaphor. We've got a volcano in our backyard. "Does (Jindal) have a volcano in his backyard?" Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard asked in a Sunday Columbian story. "We have a volcano that we are told could go off any time. And it would be nice to get a little warning." Mount St. Helens in Skamania County is less than 10 miles from the northeast corner of Clark County. As the crow flies — no, as the ash blows — this volcano is less than 50 miles from the Vancouver-Portland metropolitan area with 2 million-plus residents.

For Jindal's enlightenment, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens killed 57 people, including Columbian photographer Reid Blackburn, and destroyed 250 homes, 47 bridges and more than 150 miles of road. We'd like Jindal to know that Mount St. Helens is less than 100 miles from the Seattle area, which has several million residents who face their own volcano peril with nearby Mount Rainier, arguably and potentially the deadliest volcano in the nation.

These facts define in horrifying terms a danger that should not be mocked or trifled with by politicians, especially governors who are struggling to recover from their own natural disasters.

As for the more respected opinion of scientists, we yield the floor:

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