“Now, first of all, are there any reporters in the room? Does anybody recognize… are there any people in here that you recognize as strangers? So we know that all of us in here are family, right?"
(photo: the package is misleading)
Then Rep. “Transparency Dave” Reichert (WA-8) totally busts himself, bragging to a roomful of Republican PCO’s that his pro-environment votes have all been tactical to keep environmentalists and their money off his back in his swing-y district.It’s all in a piece of clear, but damning audio leaked to David Goldstein at Horsesass.org last week.
The National Journal picked up the story today, it hit the front page of Daily Kos Friday. Locally, The Stranger, Publicola, P-I.com and The News Tribune ran with it.
The local exceptions? The Seattle Times, and local broadcast news. We get broadcast: commercial radio and teevee cover few politics except elections, and big events rip & read from the AP or Fox News. They figure their low-information audiences don't care (and besides, there are puppies dying somewhere in the world, and kittens being adorable on YouTube). Public radio's KUOW and KPLU are too timid and stodgy to go with a story like that unless someone as mainstream as themselves (like the Times) goes first.
So much for the "dominant liberal media." Certainly no local talk radio host in this market would bring it up. (They're nearly 100% conservatively fair and balanced, so we had no expectations).
Hell, what's not to love about this story? It's a politician's embarrassing, cynical hypocrisy from his own lips, and there's audio! It's so 2010! Incumbents are loudly being held foots du flambé across the board. Why wouldn't The Times go with it?
Could it be the messenger?
It's true The Times has long supported the 8th District GOP haircut and lauded his “conscience-driven independent streak.” That could be embarrassing for them, but that Goldy broke the story was probably its kiss of death.
Going back at least to the era of now-retired publisher Frank Blethen, there’s been a vindictive, judge-the-message-by-its-messenger streak to the Times, and Goldy frequently pulls their stiff old tail. Guess that's reason enough for to commit an act of journalistic malpractice and to ignore a significant, and very newsy political story.
The magnificently coiffed and ineffective Reichert (known to local cops as "Sheriff Hairspray") is again facing a tough election, this time against Democrat Suzan DelBene. His strategy has always been to duck challenging debates, and interviewers who ask hard policy questions; to allow himself to be fellated by "friendly media" (Dori Monson, John Carlson, Dave Boze). We now see another tactic: mollification of tree-huggers by a few easy yes votes.
Will it work again? Probably- as we've said, his hair is marvelous and he can count on the endorsement of The Times.
(Note: we admit it, we added the word 'sex' to the headline to get your attention. We were going to change it but we forgot and the blog went off to the printer. Sorry.)
That's it?
Jeez, I was worried as I delved into this story.
Looks like he is trying to represent the views of his district. And the fact that a politician -big surprise here- actually will triangulate on issues and make votes against his own personal preferences to appease a certain faction of his district. Sheesh.
Where's the beef?
The only real surprise will be if the Dems decide to bring a stronger candidate to oppose him this election. One who can do more than lose during the Obama wave. This being a traditional off year for the incumbent it doesn't bode well for the Candidate going up against Congressman Reichart.
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 22, 2010 at 04:22 PM
Dave Ross would probably go with it but he would just be accused of sour grapes. When we get closer to the election, it will come out. If the Tribune picked it up..residents of east Pierce County will read it.
Posted by: sparky | May 22, 2010 at 04:29 PM
I hope that Dave Ross goes with 'it.'
But exactly what is the 'it' in this story?
Reichart represents a district that requires him to cast votes to appease elements of it.
Reichart makes strategic votes to make as many people in his district happy even though the vote may not be one he would make in a perfect world.
And the issue is exactly what?
Anyone want to show a politician that doesn't occasionally cast votes to keep him or her in office that go against their preferences?
Looks like this former Sheriff understands what it takes to be electable.
As far as a hit piece, this thing falls so far short it reminds one of the time that Andrew made the mistake of going after G G. Ouch, now that was a mistake. Here's
poor Andy...
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 22, 2010 at 04:40 PM
This is a non-story - yawn.... Let Goldstein blow it out his orifice ! If there was sex involved like the headline insinuated, it would have been a bigger story and a gift to the Democrats.
Reichert is a hard one to figure out, stubborn and not in my district. I am still pissed off at him for his vote on Cap and Tax last year. He could have made a difference between pass and no-pass. He has changed his positions since then. He voted against Obama-losi care like all of the rest of the Repubs. He'll be reelected in November as will Adam Smith.
Posted by: KS | May 22, 2010 at 04:54 PM
Agreed. Handsome Dave knows how to go along to get along. This tea-bagger bullshit about holding politicians accountable is really just anti-Obama, Republican partisanship to be heaped on Democrats. When this fake conservative "revolution" gets down to the nut-cutting, it's just the same-old-same old R's vs D's. If the teabaggers were who they say they are, they'd run somebody against ol' Dave. They got nothin'.
Posted by: Chief Wetblanket | May 22, 2010 at 05:09 PM
Yeah, least they could do is come up with someone on the order of that guru of economics, Darcy Burner. [BTW: Has Darcy moved out of the District?] I need to have lunch with her...I keep getting E-Mail's from her, but haven't bothered to read any of them yet...something 'bout raising moo-la. LMAO
Posted by: Duffman | May 22, 2010 at 05:19 PM
Dave's interview with Reichert, after the 2004 election was similar to what you say Dori's interview was, so with all due respect to Mr. Ross, but Ross interviewing Reichert would be a little like our Mariners batting against Roy Holiday.
Posted by: Mike Barer | May 22, 2010 at 05:28 PM
You mean like last nite's game where they scored 15 RUNS.
Posted by: Duffman | May 22, 2010 at 05:33 PM
There were not batting against Roy Holiday!
Posted by: Mike Barer | May 22, 2010 at 05:44 PM
Lucky for him...could have 20! :)
Posted by: Duffman | May 22, 2010 at 05:55 PM
Tight races against Ross and Burner do not bode well for Reichert if this gets play . . . and Suzan will give it play.
Posted by: Dori | May 22, 2010 at 07:25 PM
Hey 'Dori' --you on a 'twisty road?'
Burner should have won walking away in 'the year of Obama' that saw a massive number of Democrats go to the House.
I can't opine on Suzan ? but she'll have a harder time than Burner did. And Ross had real name recognition going for him and still couldn't do it.
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 22, 2010 at 07:31 PM
Politicians ALL have crosses to bear, obviously some more than others. THIS will not equate to a Reichert defeat. UNless they can come up with a more juicy tidbit (ala: the way he sits in airport restrooms, etc, et al) this will be a 'non-event'. Sorry to quash your excitement but GET REAL!
Posted by: Duffman | May 22, 2010 at 07:36 PM
Tight races against Ross and Burner do not bode well for Reichert if this gets play . . . and Suzan will give it play.
Posted by: Dori |
Bring it on, Delusional Dori. That has about as much chance of happening as Adam Smith losing in Nov.
Posted by: KS | May 22, 2010 at 07:36 PM
Puts bought it hook, line and sinker when GG claimed he was in high school, and scolded joanie and me for not treating him nicely.
Posted by: sparky | May 22, 2010 at 10:34 PM
I must wait for Joanie to tell me how I should feel about this breaking news. She says she is smart (modest though, she hides her smart so well).
Who the hell can trust some politician that votes some way just because that is what his constituents want? He must be out of his mind. Doing what the people that elected him want him to do? Disgusting.
Posted by: Pharm Rep | May 22, 2010 at 11:41 PM
Puts bought it hook, line and sinker when GG claimed he was in high school, and scolded joanie and me for not treating him nicely.
Posted by: sparky | May 22, 2010 at 10:34 PM
what gg was doing to your 'arguments' isn't legal in some states.
besides, the meme of having a '17' year old schooling the 'teachers' was kind of funny so kept it going.
but hey, you believed 'rozscat' and the hawaii adventures and 'msteele' gave you all hope for awhile...
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 02:40 AM
Anyone have a better name for this than "tapegate"?
Posted by: Mike Barer | May 23, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Well, pharm rep, since you need help thinking, here goes:
check out (if you dare) the whole conversation and make up your own mind. McCarter credits Goldy here.
My thinking in a nutshell: I agree that it is the environment that is important and I don't care why he votes for it when he does. I'm just glad he does.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 01:08 PM
In that regard, can you tell me:
why our POTUS & Admin are slow in processing permits for the Gulf disaster that is happening as we speak. This could be the worst environmental travesty ever perpetrated on this earth EVER, and on this President's watch. This IS UNbelievable!
Posted by: Duffman | May 23, 2010 at 01:14 PM
Yes. It is stupid. Where' bobby jindal? I wouldn't listen to the feds. I'd get the barriers he's talking about up as fast as possible. Anything to prevent the oil from reading the wetlands. But, it is now the Dead Sea Gulf of Mexico. Wanna bet?
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 01:34 PM
Sadly, I think you may be correct.
Posted by: Duffman | May 23, 2010 at 01:36 PM
not too worry, duff
it will be all blamed on george bush, dick cheney, haliburton, blackwater, etc etc etc.
joanie is the only one of the usual suspects speak the obvious:
not so much Hope and very little Change.
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 01:38 PM
Hey Coils
How's that Hope and Change a working for ya?
I love this interview today on Meet the Press. Can you say 'AWK-ward...'
"Comedy gold from “"Meet the Press," polished off by DNC Chair Tim Kaine grudgingly admitting that it might be time for the White House to come clean. If you need your memory jogged about this, I don't blame you: Sestak first dropped the bombshell that the White House tried to bribe him out of the primary against Specter more than three months ago. A month after that, pieces were already appearing about how absurd Gibbs’s stonewalling had become; two months later, he’s STILL stonewalling, refusing this morning to tell Bob Schieffer anything about it except that nothing "inappropriate" happened. Which is probably true:
Handing Sestak a briefcase full of money to get out of the race would be indictment-worthy, but handing him the same cash in the form of a paycheck plus the prestige that comes with the title of Secretary of the Navy is just good ol' horse-trading. No wonder "Washington" is a curse word."
Now compare that to Congressman Reichart actions the usual suspects are getting so hot and bothered about. LMAO.
November is going to be soooo easy.
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 01:46 PM
Not to worry? That's why nobody takes you seriously.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 01:48 PM
ah, the 'grammar cop' is back on the beat i see.
pot meet kettle vis a vi posting grammar.
funny, you don't seem to care for cops so much when you're driving those 'twisty roads.'
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 02:01 PM
Grammar? Cops? Twisty roads? WTF? I don't think anybody knows what you're talking about. Least of all me.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 02:05 PM
vis a vis
putsie, you are often unintentionally hilarious.
Posted by: sparky | May 23, 2010 at 02:06 PM
i know, yawn.
i was just a baiting the wannabe grammar cops...sometimes it is too easy!
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 02:08 PM
Grammar? Cops? Twisty roads? WTF? I don't think anybody knows what you're talking about. Least of all me.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 02:05 PM
the careful reader understands it.
but yeah, no surprise you don't get it.
now be a friendly drunk and tell sparkles not to bother reving up the phoney poster machine...
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 02:12 PM
yes, Puts, maybe someday you will share your "secret' that Duffman told me about, that "proves" that Coiler and I are the same person. We are dying to know how you figured that out?
Posted by: sparky | May 23, 2010 at 02:17 PM
You don't have any careful readers. The only thing you're an expert in is hate speech. Reread yourself. Then start talking like a grown up.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 02:20 PM
Now 'sparkles' please don't bring me into it...as I know, you know that I know. LMAO
Posted by: Duffman | May 23, 2010 at 02:41 PM
hate speech?
isn't that what you normally accuse tommy 008 of engaging in?
nothing more hateful than making fun of people who have lost a job or trying to get others in trouble.
typical bully, you smack at others but get a little bit back and you run off the playground and home to momma.
just a bully is all you are.
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 02:48 PM
You got it. I bully the bullies. And I enjoy it. And if Ryder had one ounce of integrity, he'd tell you I've never said a word against him and I've been three times more sensitive to his situation.
You're still an idiot who talks like a juvenile and has never posted a single word about radio. You just like to call people names and lie about them. That's what bullies do. I'm pleased to bully you and will continue.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 03:00 PM
ryder has plenty of integrity.
and i guess now you'll also claim you haven't been making fun of the fact that chucks lost his job or trying to get ks in trouble, eh?
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 03:19 PM
"Gee, chucks, hard not to sound gleeful when you're a salesman ("who can always get a job"-where did I hear that before?) who makes his wad gambling his life's savings and wins, isn't it?
Posted by: joanie | January 19, 2009 at 12:29 PM"
actually, it's pretty easy for most of us. when someone loses a job they use to support their family you don't kick 'em. you just don't.
at least that is the way most of us were raised.
even if YOU lost your job i wouldn't be crowing or throwing poo at ya. it just stinks.
Posted by: Puget Sound | January 19, 2009 at 05:39 PM
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 23, 2010 at 03:29 PM
Chux is another bully who disrespects everybody on the planet except his little monied circle and who used bankruptcy when he could to get out of his bills and takes unempl insurance when he doesn't believe in it but thinks everybody is supposed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. He was born twenty years too early. I'd love to see him supporting a family today. Especially on RV sales. He's a bully. And I said - I bully bullies. Can't you read?
KS? how would I get him in trouble? See, you're an idiot. A certifiable idiot. Grow up.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 03:35 PM
Grammar? Cops? Twisty roads? WTF? I don't think anybody knows what you're talking about. Least of all me.
Posted by: joanie | May 23, 2010 at 02:05 PM
Ph(J)oanie has perfected the art of selective amnesia or maybe its real symptoms of amnesia. Twisty roads came from one of her drunken rages because I disagreed with her about taxes in light of wasteful government spending. She doesn't care about wasteful spending, wheras I do. I see the big picture - all she sees in that condition is a chance to score points and claim she can bully bullies in only her mind. First off, we aren't bullies - we are bullshit detectors that all sound off at certain times when Joanie posts her distorted spin of the facts and she likes self-flagellation. Like many others - I say WTF ? Ph(J)oanie's just blowing more smoke from her orifice (keepin in civil). When she says she doesn't know what Puts was talking about, you can bet she does - trademark of a skilled liar.
Watch for Obama and his minions to start to receive more blame as the oil washes up and damages the marshes along the LA coast. Last week, he was able to skate through his demagoguery on the AZ law, the oil spill, defending his indefensible big government and spending schemes. He has the part of Benedict Arnold down. To consider re-electing this out of control, incompetent and the most (not post) racial and dangerous politician would be retarded.
Posted by: KS | May 23, 2010 at 08:37 PM
Sestak-Gate
What did Pres Obama know and when did he know it?
Offering a congressman a bribe -ie a prestigious appointment- to do something is wrong. Who in the administration did this? Who had the power to make the offer? Who would have to approve of it -ie an Executive Branch appointment such as Sec. of the Navy.
Right now, nothing can be done. But come November, I can see that the Republicans will be taking advantage of their power and let the investigations begin in part because it is easier than taking on the more difficult problems we have facing us.
Who in the Whitehouse had the power to make a credible offer on this?
Note the quiet on the Left on this issue of corruption. Why isn't Nancy Pelosi calling for an investigation on who tried to bribe her congressman? Henry Waxman is sooooo silent.
Same with the usual suspects on this blog. (WTF Coils?)
And the Reichart tape got people all ginned up? Jeez.
LMAO.
Posted by: Puget Sound | May 24, 2010 at 04:33 AM
"Right now, nothing can be done. But come November, I can see that the Republicans will be taking advantage of their power and let the investigations begin in part because it is easier than taking on the more difficult problems we have facing us. "
It depends how big of an issue is made by the GOP leadership, who I have little confidence in. In the face of all of the problems with this administration, if it weren't for the Tea Party movement, it would be business as usual in the most corrupt White House ever, bar none - lead by Benedict Arnold Obama, once the people's choice. Don't rely on the shills from the left like Waxman and Pelosi - they are symptoms of how broken and corrupt the system is and how much DC needs an enema to purge all of the toxic waste in DC - especially incumbents particularly those of the party in power. If the GOP does not get control of the House, which is a distinct possibility, a lot of the stonewalling will continue. Someone needs to light a fire under the loyal oppostion (GOP, independents, Tea Parties) to affect change for the better - may be easier said than done.
Posted by: KS | May 24, 2010 at 08:34 AM
disgruntled tea baggers usually don't mention their shills on the right.
Posted by: Othello | May 24, 2010 at 08:43 AM
Does anyone else feel like we are watching the Seattle Times die a slow death? I have mixed emotions, too. It was never a great paper, but it is our last one. AND WE NEED NEWSPAPERS!
The ascendancy of that intellectual firebrand, who never managed to graduate from journalism school, Ryan Blethen, has got to be the coup de grâce.
While primogeniture is only destroying the business side of The New York Times, it's still an outstanding paper because grown-ups and real jounralists control the editorial side. Does anything illustrate that Mr. Blethen is damaged goods and out of touch more than his ringing endorsment of Susan Hutchison over Dow? Well, maybe their support of repealing progressive taxes on estates >$3M (like the Belthens!), and consequently taking $100M+ more away from education.
They are just ridiculous and irrelevant, but their paper is our last. It's says something, too, that our 2 alt-weeklies are nowadays about the only print in town that's doing real edgy, bold investigative jounrnalism.
Posted by: Jason Andersen | May 24, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Othello - the shills on the right are not relevant now, until they are back in power. Right now, its the shills on the left who are affecting our lives. and your point is ?
BTW - do you like teabagging ? (the act of)
Posted by: KS | May 24, 2010 at 12:14 PM