Posted on 12/08/2004 12:38:49 PM PST by JosefK
Okay, below is latest the Rossi campaign press release:
Gregoire & the memo: Attorney General claims ignorance
Bellevue, WA – Christine Gregoire is trying to shrug off responsibility for a 1996 memo that puts her own Attorney General’s office at odds with her efforts now to change the rules of the recount in the governor’s race.
Yesterday, a November 1996 memo from then-Secretary of State Ralph Munro regarding a manual recount in a state legislative race was made public. It included the following statement:
“Challenge of Ballots Not Allowed. We are advised by the Attorney General that state law makes no provision for the challenge of ballots or voters (as provided in RCW 29.10.125) during the recount. The recount procedure provided for by statute is a mechanical function of re-tallying the ballots cast and accepted as valid by the precinct election officers or the canvassing board during the canvass of the election. The decision of the canvassing board with respect to the inclusion or exclusion of a particular ballot during the canvass is not open to question during the recount.”
Gregoire was Attorney General at the time of this memo; she was elected in 1992.
Now, however, Gregoire says that the opinion in the memo was an old one and that she was never personally asked for her advice. Governor-elect Dino Rossi’s office says Gregoire’s excuse sidesteps the issue.
If Gregoire disagreed with the opinion in 1996, she shouldn’t have allowed it to be included in a public document from a state agency. Instead, if she thought the opinion was wrong, Gregoire should have issued a new opinion. But she didn’t, and the standing rule remained as-is.
“Once again, Christine Gregoire is trying to pass the buck and claim it wasn’t her fault,” said Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane. “It’s hard to believe that at the time of this memo, when she had already been Attorney General for four years, she let stand an opinion she didn’t agree with. If she did fail to correct an opinion she thought was wrong, then she was derelict in her duty as Attorney General.
“The fact that Christine Gregoire can’t deny is that for 12 years as Attorney General, she did nothing to change the rule that you don’t bring previously rejected ballots back into a hand recount. It’s only now that she’s lost the election twice that she wants to change the rules.”
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------- (Cross posted at http://josef-a-k.blogspot.com.)
You'll get no argument from me about that.
Thanks. Cantwell's strong on national security and I heard the same from Timothy Goddard - one of your better bloggers on your side of the aisle.
Like the good senator, I believe in working across party lines for the common good whenever possible.
Too funny. But we all know that a Democrats perception of what 'the law' is depends on who's on top.
Hmmmm...
Look, there's another side to the story. You'll hear it in good time.
And I - in genuine protest - voted J. Mills for Senate as the Libertarian. Besides, I think we shoud let ONE of them into the Senate and force those upstarts to tackle real issues...
Republicans too - Tom Delay ring a bell?
Then you wonder why I'm a Dinocrat - I despise ideological traitors within the party that can't live and govern by the principles of the party.
To The Editor:
What kind of "moral values" include corporate monopolies, control over the airwaves, manipulation of what would otherwise have been democratic elections?
We know that the moral values of the Democrats include helping people, and that' exactly why the Democrats give us Social Security, minimum wage laws, worker safety regulations, child labor laws, overtime pay, water pollution control, air pollution controls, the Endangered Species Act, funding for and support of public education, and the preservation of millions of acres of national (public) land.
The "values" of the right-wing Republican Party is to disenfranchise, to privatize, to control, to elevate the lives of the very wealthy at the expense of the very poor, to legislate lifestyles, to promote hatred, especially hatred of anyone different from the way "they" life their lives (publicly at least), to the invading of privacy, to telling women what they are allowed to do with their own bodies, of self-centeredness, and of catering to the irrational right-wing religious bigots.
Republicans want to privatize "Social Security, steal public school money Giving it to private schools via vouchers), ignore and fight to dismantle the clean air, clean water and Endangered Species Acts. They've opposed the above when proposed. Mr. Bush tried to get rid of overtime pay altogether and that was in his first term.
When a Republican whines "moral values," its translation is "bigotry of the bullies." They have no morality and their "values" are in the minus column. Would Jesus match lockstep with the baneful Republican Party?
Melody Good
Camas, WA
If you are supportive of and believe such things you are not long for this site.
Good catch. However, this is what I also said:
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Free advice for Governor-elect Dino Rossi and Attorney General-elect Rob McKenna: Don't be a "Melody Good Republican". Just be moderates and privatize with caution and you'll keep my support. The latter's opposed some Eyman initiatives and both are pro-environment. Sometimes I wonder what they are doing in the GOP!!!
But then again, Christine Gregoire wants to "disenfranchise" by denying access to public records and to hurt the environment by defending fast ferries going at full speed in Rich Passage. I could go on. I'm not interested in tirades and I think this letter to the editor left a few things out. Like civil liberties, tax restraint, etcetera.
That said, if you believe Melody Good or I are being unfair - please opine.
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We had an interesting debate at http://www.horsesass.org/index.php?p=269 regarding the letter.
Here's a snippet:
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Well, I did some good in posting that letter, eh?
Got some discussion and debate and definition going.
I like the “We need a Compromise Party in America!” line - sounds like me.
I also want to reply to “What is unfortunate is the attitude of many on the left. Many seem to think their values are superior and their policies flow from their values. If you don?t support their particular policy then you don?t support the value behind it. There is almost an ?elite? or ?condescending? attitude that if you disagree with their policy or advocate another way you are uncaring, mean spirited or just plain evil.”
Well, I’ve had that problem in opposing I-884. I felt it would wreck the state economy, do horrendous damage to my county (Skagit) and any other that’s a border economy (like Whatcom and Spokane for starters), the “accountability” was anything but, and it would give the Educrats holding my alma mater Skagit Valley College hostage more power. So because I opposed it - I got branded “anti-education.”
Again, this is a lively debate we need to have. And unlike another lively debate at SoundPolitics about immigration - we’re being relatively civil.
Comment by Josef — 11/26/04 @ 8:58 pm
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Of course there's a new forum at http://www.permanentdefense.com/forum for you to participate (Please retain some self-control. And kindly blame Marsha Richards for me being in her wake wash...)
You all - if you want to debate the letter and ask politely, I will post the letter on its own.
Let's try to refocus on the press release and e-mail it to all our friends. Doubly so to the press...
The Republicans: Easily defined in the era of Rush & Rove into the me-me-me-me-me (my faith, my gun, my tax cut, my worldview, my agenda, me before all, etcetera) party. That’s what they’re about, essentially. If you doubt that, then just remember that Republicans opposed The New Deal, opposed the Great Society, propose more religious intermingling with government, and propose Individual Retirement Accounts to supplant Social Security – the latter being the means of our parents taxing us for their needs (and rightfully so, although I remain open to Social Security reform ideas). Moreover, unlike the last big war presidents FDR and Truman – this one will not mobilize the national economy nor crack down on government procurement abuse (which is how a U.S. Senator named Harry S. Truman rose to national prominence). That's the GOP way... me-me-me-me-me (and accountability politics when it suits them).
>>Dino's father was a "Scoop" Democrat, <<
DINO's father was a DINO? THat's hysterical!
Full formatting is at http://josef-a-k.blogspot.com/2004/11/defining-democrats-republicans-and.html
I mentioned this to Dino when I lunched with him last February, and he agreed. His late father, being a blue collar Catholic, classified himself as a "Scoop Jackson" Democrat.
Friendly PING
Good point. I hear Dan Evans isn't liked by Republicans - I wonder why.
Paul Wolfowitz and John Lehman were on Scoop's staff. Interesting to see where they ended up.
There are a number of "Dan Evans" Republicans in the legislature, just as there are a number of "Scoop Jackson" Democrats. Both groups like to avoid ideology, think outside the box, and come up workable solutions. I've had dealings with both groups and prefer to work with them, rather than with the ideologues.
Well, then that is who I am. I also admit to erring a bit about posting about Melody Good, but the extreme tilt of the GOP lately got me into the "me-me-me" mode...
I mean look at how John McCain has been treated... while Tom Delay isn't being held accountable by his own grassroots.
Okay, I admit I shouldn't talk too much - look at how I've been treated and how Christine Gregoire is only being held accountable by Dinocrat ballots.
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