Washington's Thief Executive

Well, Christine Gregoire was inaugurated as the state of Washington's governor this afternoon. I'm dubbing her the "Thief Executive" of Washington, since she and the Washington State Democratic party have ripped off the voters of Washington with their illegal and corrupt shenanigans. Go peruse Sound Politics for lots of well-researched information on how the gubernatorial election was completely botched, especially in King County, one of the foremost hotbeds of fuzzy-headed liberalism in our entire country. (I liked the fuzzy liberal moniker so much that I shamelessly stole it from Matt Rosenberg, writing in this post over at Sound Politics).

Here's my own personal example of how the Democrats aren't interested in what the voters really want.

In my state legislative district, Dino Rossi handily won, with nearly 54% of the vote. My state representative is Dawn Morrell, a Democrat. Her job is to represent the will of the voters in our district in the state legislature, so I wrote her an email expressing my concerns about certification of the election:

Representative Morrell:

I am a long-time resident of the Puyallup area and a graduate
(Bachelor's and Master's degrees) from Pacific Lutheran University,
writing to you with serious concerns about certification of the election
for governor of the state.

Given the closeness of the election and what appear to be very serious
questions about the processing of uncontrolled ballots, the legality of
some votes, and the fairness of some of the decisions made by the King
County canvassing board, I would urge you not to vote in favor of
certifying the election.

Although we are on opposite sides of the political fence, and you no
doubt support Christine Gregoire, I hope you will agree that there are
serious and unresolved questions about the procedures that were used,
especially in the hand recount, which cast doubt on the fairness and
accuracy of the election. I am very concerned about the legitimacy of
the results and feel very strongly that a re-vote is essential at this
point and is the only way to establish an unambiguous winner.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Peter R. Nelson, MSCS

Representative Morrell took the time to respond, which I appreciate. I wrote essentially the same email to Jim Kastama, my state senator, but got nothing at all back in return - not even a form letter saying my email was received. So much for being responsive to the citizens of the state, I suppose. Anyway, here is Dawn Morrell's response:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the governor's race.  I
have been collecting information because what we are being asked to do
is very serious and requires serious discussion for me to decide and
then carry through what I perceive my duty to be.

The Republicans are not calling for a revote but they will ask on
January 11 to delay the acceptance of the certification of the statewide
election results.  I don't understand the deferral because I believe it
would be more beneficial if the Republicans make their case now.  The
courts are the place to make these arguments, not the legislature.
Partisan parties should not make a rash decision on incomplete facts.

64 years ago, the Legislature found itself in the same situation we face
today.  The House and Senate - both controlled by Democrats - met on the
second day of session in 1941 to confirm the election of the Governor.
Arthur Langley, a Republican, received the most votes in the election.
Some Democrats challenged the decision based on allegations of fraud. 

You might assume that the Democrats in control would honor the challenge
to put their candidate in the Governor's office.  But that didn't
happen.  After much debate, the Legislature as a whole did the right
thing.  They confirmed Arthur Langley as Governor for the simple reason
that he received the most votes.

Lawyers from both sides are arguing to see if we can even have a revote.
Basically, what I plan to do is to accept the certification by the
Secretary of State Sam Reed.  We don't certify the election, we just
accept the certification and record it.   The rest will play out in
court.  If fraud indeed happened then the courts can order a
re-election.

No election will ever be perfect but we do need election reform to make
sure that the inconsistencies are taken care of the best we can.   I am
already working with other legislators on such legislation.

Thanks again,

Dawn

Representative Morrell says several things in her response that make no sense:

• She says, "I don't understand the deferral because I believe it would be more beneficial if the Republicans make their case now."
  
  Well, Ms. Morrell, let me explain it to you. They asked for the deferral to give the Legislature time to consider the matter carefully. The Democrats pushed forward so as to present the Republicans with a fait accompli. It was partisan politics of the worst kind on the part of the Democrats. Utterly despicable.
   
• She says in the close race 64 years ago, the Democrats "confirmed Arthur Langley as Governor for the simple reason that he received the most votes."
  
  Yes, they did. But, Representative Morrell, we don't know who received the most votes in this election! The errors in King County alone prevent that, even ignoring the shocking evidence of out-and-out fraud. How many dead people have to vote before you think that the election was ruined? How many felons voting? How many illegally-counted provisional ballots? How many ballots not matched with voters? How many disenfranchised soldiers?
  
  The Democrats' ridiculous efforts to portray this election as the most accurate ever are an insult to the citizens of the state of Washington. This election was a fiasco, and the Democrats are whitewashing the whole mess because they "won" the final, fraudulent, flawed hand recount. If the tables were turned, you can be sure that the hue and cry from the Democrats would be deafening, and I believe that the Democrat-controlled Washington state legislature would not have certified Dino Rossi as governor.
   
• "No election will ever be perfect but we do need election reform to make sure that the inconsistencies are taken care of the best we can.   I am already working with other legislators on such legislation."
  
  In other words, this was the most accurate count ever, but we need reform to take care of "inconsistencies."
  
  Horse. Puckey. If the count was so accurate, why do we need reform, Representative Morrell? And if the election was "inconsistent," why did you vote to "accept" the certification? Why don't you just admit that you are playing partisan politics and not representing your district?
   
• "If fraud indeed happened then the courts can order a re-election."
  
  Well, Ms. Morrell, you are wrong here, too. The courts don't need to find fraud to order a re-election, they just need to find that more votes are in question than the size of the margin of victory. Any honest look at the evidence will find that this standard has been easily met. I won't predict that a re-vote will be ordered, but I can't see any other fair way to resolve this election.

For now, Christine Gregoire is the Thief Executive of the state of Washington, but this isn't over yet, and no matter the outcome of the court challenges, she won't get my support. The only way I'll support her at all is if she wins a clear victory in a re-vote.

And Representative Morrell, you and Senator Kastama can count on not getting my vote in the next election. Since you chose not to represent the will of the voters in our legislative district, I will do what I can to ensure that you are not re-elected.

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