Expect a blatherstorm of self-righteousness on the radio today after County Councilwoman Julia Patterson accused talk radio Monday of disseminating lies about fraud in the King County Elections Dep't.
There's not one shred of evidence proving fraud or malfeasance in King County. Patterson said Republican officials and their attorneys admit that, but talk radio, she said, irresponsibly fans the flames by repeating the lie.
No one in the MSM picked up her accusation, nor the demogoging of it by the GOP through their defacto TR mouthpieces.
Lame Republican Councilman Steve Hammond made the rounds Tuesday sucking up to Travis "Squawk" Bawks filling in for Carlson Monday and to Mike Siegel Tues morning. Hammond heard Patterson's remarks and was just makin' sure listeners knew all about it and that everybody knew he was on the bandwagon of outrage.
(Rage is key these days with local exurban Republicans--they're always looking for ways to ride it home.)
You don't have to listen long to John Carlson (KVI m-f, 3-6p) Mike Siegel (KTTH m-f, 6-9a) Kirby Wilbur (KVI m-f, 6-9a) to hear King Co elections guy Dean Logan called a crook who should be jailed (Bob Williams said it this morning on Siegel); Seattle accused of encouraging felonious punks, Mexicans, indigents, liberal Dems, and other lowlife who want to steal the state so they can be amoral, promiscuous layabouts and make it legal to marry the livestock.
Geriatric KIRO fill-in Gary Ryan said a few weeks ago that Sec. of State Sam Reed should be thrown in prison.
Chris Vance and the GOP can't say anything like these things. So they float like grubby archangels above the fray while the talk radio surrogates do the down-and-dirty. They're not only stirring up the base, but also alarming numbers of regular people who aren't getting the rest of the story.
Republicans probably won't win in court...but as always, they're looking ahead. At the end of all this sleaziness, we'll have a very damaged governor in Christine Gregoire, and a tragically degraded faith in the entire process.
Patterson was on Dori Monson's show, and of course Dori was all indignant. "I never said there was fraud," he whined, "I just say that I don't know if there is or not." (neglecting the fact that when a caller brings up fraud he never corrects them). Then, further demonstrating his idiocy, he asked for proof of a negative. "Nobody proved to me that there WAS no fraud."
Somehow he thought that this in no way fans the flame. Okay, Dori. Let's use your crack debate skills back at ya:
Is Dori Monson a rapist and a child molester? I don't know. But no one has proven that he's not a rapist and a child molester.
Using Dori's twisted logic, if that were repeated every day on the radio, over and over, that would in no way impugn his character. Right.
Posted by: Lazy Murrow | March 15, 2005 at 04:01 PM