Ah yes, we remember Shawna Forde... she's the peppy, flirty, blonde, anti-immigration, Everett activist charged last week with 2 counts of first degree murder in Arizona.
On assignment for The Stranger, we talked to her in 2007 at an Everett anti-immigration rally she helped organize billed as "The Great Gringo Awakens From Siesta," featuring Jim Gilchrist, the disreputable founder of the Minuteman Project.
Well-known in right-wing circles in nearby Snohomish County, Forde is the founder of her very own minuteperson cabal, Minutemen American Defense.
(Minutemen are the geezerly, self-appointed guardians of America who commandeer lawn chairs and binoculars to try to bust Mexicans coming over the borders illegally. Some are sincere, but the badly-splintered groups are rife with white supremacists and other racists.They're really vigilantes).
Seems Forde, 41, has taken her reputation as a loose cannon to its most brutal extreme. She and her wing-men Jason Eugene Bush, 34, and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42, were charged with dressing-up as law enforcement and forcing their way into a home near the Mexico border killing a 9-year-old girl and her father with shotguns, then critically wounding the mother.
Officials allege the home invasion and killings were planned by Forde as part of a scheme to get drugs and money to fund MAD. The crew has also been linked to a home invasion in Shasta Lake, CA shortly after the Arizona robbery attempt that went terribly wrong. Jason Bush has long ties to Idaho white supremacy groups, and has been charged with a racially-motivated stabbing/stomping murder of a Latino laborer in 1997.
Add this to your list of right-wing extremists pushed over the edge in the age of Obama.
The Everett Herald's Scott North has been doing a terrific job covering this crime and Shawna Forde's strange life which has recently included a run for Everett City Council, a shoplifting conviction, being found mysteriously shot in an Everett alley; a now-debunked claim of being raped by the Mexican mafia, and her ex-husband shot in his own home.
In her recent bizarre, violent downward spiral, she's given lengthy interviews to the Herald, and letting herself be video-taped. Despite she's a serial liar, thief, a convicted felon since age
11, a racist, con-woman and schizophrenic with plenty to hide, she
has the sound-bite gene and the persistence that made her hard to ignore
for anyone covering the Minuteman movement.
Forde, and her media savvy/whorishness stood out in that 2007 crowd out of mostly exurban, mid-20th century, white males. Straw-blonde, tattooed, and sporting that tight t-shirt w/cleavage look, she played a diva role that has served her well: Despite being declaimed by all the other Minutemen organizations, Forde has sat down with PBS, Reuters, and AP and any reporter she could push her decolletage in front of to represent the Minuteman movement.
Introduced as a "former Seattle Grunge Rock promoter," she told the sparsely attended rally, "I was in my mall one day and, IThey—nobody's speaking English! I realized we had a serious problem. I just got tired of pushing '1' for English.' I decided to do something about it."
The crowd of pissed off seniors, unused to having someone so female and blonde sucking up to them like this were enthusiastic.
We later asked her exactly which mall she was talking about and she said, Actually, it was in Yakima. A man she introduced as her husband, said, "You sit at an intersection over there," he said, "and six cars full of them will go by before you see one full of Americans."
Mainly Shawna Forde was interested in talking about getting The Stranger or someone to do a cover- story on ... Shawna Forde.
"Hey," she said pushing up and out, "I'm great copy!
Any one keeping a running list of these cracked right wingers?
Shawna Forde
James von Brunn
Scott Roeder
Posted by: M.Steele | June 15, 2009 at 02:57 PM
Posted by: ouch | June 22, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Ah yes, Everett...cultural capital of Snohomish County......I am remembering why I left up north...
I sorta miss Fnu Lnu...
Posted by: sparky sees America | June 22, 2009 at 06:56 AM
Dont feel like you have to continually report in cause we really could care less.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 06:59 AM
Yet, you read every word, and are compelled to reply... hee hee...
Posted by: sparky sees America | June 22, 2009 at 07:30 AM
Oh, and it's "couldn't care less."
Gramatically incorrect insults lose their punch!
Posted by: sparky sees America | June 22, 2009 at 07:32 AM
This topic is about Shawna Ford not sparky sees america, so quit being so full of yourself.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 07:42 AM
In my view Shawna is very typical of the current Republican party.
They are seething at being defeated and frustrated by not being able to do anything or advance their cause. Some (like her) will go over the edge and the rest while not as radical still support the same stuff for the most part.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 08:17 AM
Some whacked out hose beast that robs and kills innocent families has not a fucking thing to do with the Republican party and you are a fucking moron to think it, let again promote it.
How low will you idiots sink?
But we are arming ourselves. Not to kill wet backs or any other poor minority victim of circumstance. We just refuse to be like those poor folks in Iran that are fighting for their lives and freedoms with rocks and sticks against a corrupt and controling government.
Posted by: buzzard barf | June 22, 2009 at 09:11 AM
'wetbacks',you stay classy republicans...
Posted by: Coiler | June 22, 2009 at 09:21 AM
If we happen to take a few wetbacks along with the gov't thugs, won't hurt.
Posted by: Mack's dad | June 22, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Buzz, you’d be surprised by the fire power of the American military war machine. Your reason sounds silly.
“We just refuse to be like those poor folks in Iran that are fighting for their lives and freedoms with rocks and sticks against a corrupt and controling government.”
Posted by: buzzard barf | June 22, 2009 at 09:11 AMThere are many folks that sacrificed much for you and me to have a free country. Not just military men and women, but the peace corp, volunteer originations that help the poor, civil rights originations and many more. None of them need guns. Some of the most compelling video from Iran, in my point of view, is the peaceful protest. We don’t need rocks and sticks; we have our vote and the rule of law. You who think you need a gun to protect your right to vote are deluded. This kind of thinking attracts other deluded people like Shawna Forde, James von Brunn and Scott Roeder. They to believe their rights need to be defended by guns.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Have you seen what the official reaction to peaceful protest is in Iran? Those people are being crushed by "thier" government. Their government is escalating the response to as much violence as needed to kill the momentum of the civilian unrest.
They may die fighting for their freedom, unarmed at the hands of their own government.
Sorry, but as long as ACORN and people like Ron Sims, Dean Logan and those folks Joanie was posting about exist, we the people have to be prepared to defend our freedoms. Our freedom is at risk. Hopefully, it will never come to that and probably won't.
Posted by: buzzard barf | June 22, 2009 at 11:11 AM
ACORN, Ron Sims and Iran are not related. Please stop with the pretext. It's a bouquet of stoopid.
Posted by: Coiler | June 22, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Corrupt government is the connection that links the three.
Posted by: buzzard barf | June 22, 2009 at 11:44 AM
I’ll say it again Buzz, the most compelling element of the civil unrest in Iran is the peaceful protest. The violent reaction by the government becomes a showcase to the world. People of peace have a dignified courage that would not attract followers like Shawna Forde, James von Brunn and Scott Roeder.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Besides, the most effective weapon in this conflict is the communications devices.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 12:07 PM
The fact that a Democratic President is in office is what you are really pissed about, not your illusion of a dangerously corrupt government. Buzz, if you were truly honest about this, where was all this concern from you during the last administration? You were obediently silent then.
The topic is Shawna Forde, and she's one of yours.
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Steele- didn't the U.S. State Dept ask the techies at Twitter if they could postpone their routine weekend maintenance shutdown, in order to keep some lines of communication open to the outside world?
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 12:55 PM
"wetbacks',you stay classy republicans..says coiler.
The same coiler who called Sarah Palin a MILF?
Classy?
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 01:01 PM
What do Sarah Palin and Shawna Forde have in common? Did they attend the same sorority?
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Drew, not just Twitter
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 01:17 PM
Putz is defending the right to use wetback, ya know?
Posted by: Coiler | June 22, 2009 at 01:24 PM
Steele- thanks for that link. My computer is running slow today, and I think Barney Rubble just got his new job at Tech Support. At least it sounded like him. Actually, come to think of it, he also sounded like one of the "republican strategist" types you see on Fixed News. Had to be the same guy. Hate it when the GOP cleans house, and turn those people loose on society.
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 01:47 PM
Drew, you are a bad man.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 02:24 PM
Well, ya ask him a question, and his answer was always the same, "Duh, I dunno, Fred!" I'll bet it was one of Thompson's former campaign advisors.
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 02:32 PM
Drew, I was pretty silent onlt here. I didn't really know about this place during the era of being Bushed.
Bush is another fucking liberal assed RINO.
And Coiler, when you eat your salad at supper tonight, ah ha, you are using wet backs your own self. The reason it is so cheap is because the farmers won't pay enough in wages to get a white or black guy to do the work.
If you would just pay another few bucks for produce, the farmer could pay a living wage.
You cheap creap.
Posted by: buzzard barf | June 22, 2009 at 02:38 PM
What we're witnessing here is the current method for republicans to throw their own under the bus- The "he was never really one of us" argument. He couldn't have been more of a con: scuttling the Constitution, deregulating big biz at the expense of small business, crushing unions (including the efforts of the United Farm Workers), and stifling politcal dissent.
Yes, Bush and Cheney were conservatives, belonging to the republican't party. Hell, Cheney's still one of many de facto spokesliars for the GOP, and there is not one conservative voice willing to stand up to him and say "You don't speak for us"
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Come on Buzz, your mention of not shooting a South American is far sight from eating produce picked by illegal immigrants. This is the difference between the rhetoric of the right and the left. We understand the issues surrounding gun violence and illegal immigration. When you conflate the two issues your communication breaks down. Once communication breaks down between the left and the right, suddenly you are communicating among yourselves. This is the environment the likes of Shawna Forde, James von Brunn and Scott Roeder get their empowerment. Think Rush, he doesn’t speak to me; he’s speaking to the fringe.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 03:32 PM
sparky sees America, Keep em commin'
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 04:44 PM
But only if Blathering Michael makes it a topic, otherwise we really don't give a shit so stay on topic.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 05:05 PM
I'm looking for Sparky to be on an episode of Ice Road Truckers, spreading liberal values in the Great White North.
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 05:07 PM
And I'm looking for posters to stick to the topic of advancing liberal progressive ideas relative to the topic that our host establishes as a topic. This blog tends to ramble too much.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 05:18 PM
If the world traveler Sparky goes to AK, may she run in to a real woman named Sarah Palin.
Maybe Sarah will take pity on the poor progressive and teach her to hunt and fish and be a bit more self sufficent.
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 05:44 PM
Mikey, I was going to write something snarky but it looks you was trying to join the debate.
In my view Shawna is very typical of the current Republican party. They are seething at being defeated and frustrated by not being able to do anything or advance their cause. Some (like her) will go over the edge and the rest while not as radical still support the same stuff for the most part.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 08:17 AMI don’t think I’d go as far as you. Shawna Forde, James von Brunn and Scott Roeder are the extreme right. I do think the republicans are stung due to the loss, but I don’t think a loss alone would trigger the cons to commit murder. Their party has embraced “righteous” politics. In other words they are right and everyone else is wrong. Even those that are the most upstanding republicans find themselves on the outside if they disagree. This echo chamber finds fault then condemns in a furious rage. No talking, no debate, just action. This is where the loons come in. I figure you know where I’m going.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 06:00 PM
uh yeah, like Alaska is the largest recipient of earmarks.
Posted by: Coiler | June 22, 2009 at 06:01 PM
oh stop whining Mikey..
and Queenie, I was fishing when you were still messing your diapers.
Back in the Pacific Northwest..in the Gorge. Summer again! What a lot of conservative bullshit on ALL the radio stations..ugh..glad I brought CDs! Going to go eat some dinner now, and when I return, I will report more.
Posted by: sparky sees America | June 22, 2009 at 06:01 PM
Umm, doubt she'd meet Palin, unless sparky is somewhere other than Alaska. Palin knows her career is limited, and she doesn't spend a lot of time in the state where she is employed by the taxpayers as Governor, instead choosing to be a world traveler and celebrity.
If Shawna Forde was a resident of Alaska, no doubt she'd vote for Palin.
Posted by: Phil | June 22, 2009 at 06:08 PM
So you are older-so what? I was born in the gorge.
I would like to sit and trade life stories with you sometime.
Maybe we both would be surprised-but I doubt I would be.
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 06:18 PM
Hey Buzz, I’m watching Rachel Maddow tonight. The rock throwing masses ran off the gun toting government officials. Huh, whoud ‘ave thunk it?
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 06:22 PM
M Steele.
Congress exempt-more success from obummer. Isnt the caste system great?
Last September Sen. Barack Obama promised that under his health-care proposal "you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves." On Monday, President Obama repeated that promise in a speech to the American Medical Association. It's not true.
The president is barnstorming the nation, urging swift approval of legislation that is taking shape in Congress. This legislation -- the Affordable Health Choices Act that's being drafted by Sen. Edward Kennedy's staff and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- will push Americans into stingy insurance plans with tight, HMO-style controls. It specifically exempts members of Congress (along with federal employees; the exemptions are in section 3116).
Members of Congress "enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country," according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. They "can choose from among consumer-driven and high deductible plans that offer catastrophic risk protection with higher deductibles, health saving/reimbursable accounts and lower premiums, or fee-for-service (FFS) plans, and their preferred provider organizations (PPO), or health maintenance organizations (HMO)." These choices would be nice for all of us, but they're not in the offing. Instead, if you don't enroll in a "qualified" health plan and submit proof of enrollment to the federal government, you'll be tracked down and fined (sections 3101 and 6055).
For a health plan to count as "qualified," it has to meet all the restrictions listed in the legislation and whatever criteria the Secretary of Health and Human Services imposes after the bill becomes law. You may think you're in a "qualified" plan, but the language suggests that only plans with managed-care controls such as the "medical home" will meet the definition (sections 3101 and 2707).
"Medical home" is this decade's version of HMO-style insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office, with a primary-care provider to manage your access to costly services such as visits to specialists and diagnostic tests. Medical home providers in "qualified" plans, states the Kennedy bill, will have a "payment structure" based on "incentives" rather than payments for each doctor visit or procedure (section 3101).
These requirements are reminiscent of the unpopular controls HMOs imposed two decades ago that caused public outrage and led to state laws reining in abuses. In December 2008, a Congressional Budget Office report evaluating early drafts of major federal health insurance proposals noted that "medical homes" were likely to resemble the HMO gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control is a priority.
That report specifically referred to a payment incentive called the "withhold." When HMOs became dominant in the early 1990s, they would withhold 10% or more of physicians' fees until the end of the year and give it back only to the physicians who met targets for limiting how many referrals to specialists or diagnostic tests their patients used.
The targets were so stringent that, if they were exceeded, what a doctor prescribed for you came out of your doctor's own pocket at the end of the year. This set up a conflict of interest between you and your doctor.
Mr. Obama tried to put a positive spin on such cost controls in his June 13 weekly radio address. He said "if doctors have incentives to provide the best care, instead of more care, we can help Americans avoid unnecessary hospital stays, treatments and tests that drive up costs." Fair enough -- if you want your doctor paid to police your care and to be financially penalized for that extra test or referral you get.
It is reasonable to require that people who accept a government subsidy for health insurance tolerate cost controls to protect taxpayers. But according to the terms of the Kennedy bill, you must enroll in a "qualified" plan or face a fine, even if you and your employer are paying the entire cost of the plan you already have (section 161).
The president has promised that if you like your plan you can keep it. Mr. Kennedy's bill says that too. It's doubletalk, as the consequences of nonenrollment make clear. How big a fine will you face? The bill doesn't specify or set a limit. It says the fine will be enough to "accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage" (section 161).
If legislation similar to the Kennedy bill lands on Mr. Obama's desk, he has an obligation to keep his promises to the American people and veto it. And whatever health-insurance law is passed should apply to members of Congress. If it isn't good enough for them, it shouldn't be imposed on the rest of us.
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 06:28 PM
Mikey sez,
And I'm looking for posters to stick to the topic of advancing liberal progressive ideas relative to the topic that our host establishes as a topic. This blog tends to ramble too much.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 05:18 PMPosted by: Goofy | June 22, 2009 at 06:36 PM
Goofy-it is a progressive website and rambling comes with the turf. As a lib you know that.
Progressive ideals are starting to crumble from within-ie healthcare. The train wreck in DC tonight is indicative of the obummer administration lofty goals.
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 06:48 PM
The subway train wrect in DC was nothing more than a tragic and terrible accident. That you would choose to associate it in any way with our President and his administration is tantamount to your obvious association with the subject of this topic. Pretty low.
Posted by: Mikey | June 22, 2009 at 07:09 PM
There is a new slogan from the conservative blogosphere (ie. Powerline), which seems appropriate and will seem even more so during the Obama regime; Progressive - Marxism with a happy face. Many over here are clueless (spelled with a c, Joanie).
I predict there will be a number of future train wrecks in DC, with the prez who resembles Alfred E. Neuman and has about as much genuine concern about the future generations that he is mortgaging with his programs. Peace out.
Posted by: KS | June 22, 2009 at 07:13 PM
So now we're blaming the commuter train wreck where 2 people died tonight on Obama? Geeeez, these cons are really getting desperate.
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 07:17 PM
It is hilaroius how you progressives cant understand an analogy (train wreck) with linking it directly to the obummer admin. programs.
Past Seattle School District pupils no doubt. I would say grads but the rate is so low I wouldnt want to scar you any further.
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 07:33 PM
Allusion, antonomasia, chleuasmos, ellipsis and more. I don’t think they are aware of the rhetorical devices they use here but they are here in abundance.
Posted by: M.Steele | June 22, 2009 at 07:33 PM
Well, Queenie, my dad was born in the Gorge as well and I have spent many a summer here....so that we probably have in common. But Sarah Palin is still a poor excuse for a leader. But, the times I have been to Alaska...I would expect her to be working in the Bird Bar, if it still existed...
Posted by: sparky sees America | June 22, 2009 at 07:41 PM
Analogy Queenie? Then you made a very poor choice to use it tonight. But sympathy and compassion are not something we expect from the republican enabling machine.
Posted by: Drew | June 22, 2009 at 07:43 PM
I am not a repub Drew.
Posted by: Queens Hunter | June 22, 2009 at 07:52 PM