Where In The World Is Christine Gregoire?

Yesterday, her whereabouts were unknown, with speculation simmering that she was about to accept an appointment with the Obama Administration, possibly at the Commerce Department where the disgraced Bill Richardson had to withdraw his nomination.

Gov. Chris Gregoire is out of state and has practically disappeared, but her office won't say where she is.

She has scheduled one-on-one interviews with local media Tuesday, but won't say what the announcement is.

Gregoire was set to be the keynote speaker Tuesday at a pre-legislative session forum sponsored by The Associated Press, but her office canceled Monday afternoon. Legislative director Marty Brown will stand in for Gregoire at the forum.

Today we learn that she is in Washington DC.

If she resigns as governor to reignite her insatiable political ambition, then who would be governor. It's too bad that it can't be Dino Rossi. After all, after the votes were counted, she submitted his budget to the legislature.

Gregroire Democrats - Pettiness On Steroids

Is the governor of Washington a man? Or, more to the point, is the governor trying to deceive the voters into believing that she is a man? Why else would Christine Gregoire insist upon being called “Chris” and why does she appear under that name on the ballot and on her campaign posters?

I ask this question because the Washington state Democratic Party is suing to force her general election opponent, Dino Rossi, to identify himself as “Republican” rather than “prefers GOP” on the ballot. According to the Democrats, Rossi is attempting to conceal his real party identification to deceive the voters who loathe Republicans, but don’t know what this GOP thing is all about.

Now I will concede that it is an established fact that Democrats are less educated and less well informed on the issues than Republicans. And it is remotely possible that here and there in Seattle one might find an occasional soul, sleeping on a grate or inside a cardboard box, who is unaware that GOP and Republican Party are one and the same. And it is even possible that Obama’s former employer, The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), has registered a few of these people to vote, perhaps more than once. But many of these people have already promised to trade their vote to Democrats for a pint of whiskey and aren’t going to be influenced by the opponent’s party affiliation. And so I find it highly unlikely that there will be even a small number of unpurchased voters showing up at the polls who will be confused by the substitution of “prefers GOP” for “Republican.” Would anyone who knows the location of their polling station cast a vote for a new third party calling itself the Gops?

Supposedly, the Democrats have data showing that Dino Rossi polls significantly better as “GOP” rather than “Republican.” But I find it hard to believe that even the Seattle Public School System could turn out voters that ignorant.

But, if the Democrats persist in this childish endeavor, then I would encourage the Republicans to file a lawsuit of their own requiring Christine Gregoire’s full name to appear on the ballot. What’s she trying to hide with this silly “Chris” business? Her attempt to conceal her gender is far more objectionable that the late Helen Chenoweth’s insistence that she be called a “congressman.”

I can still recall the fulminating fury of the left when she asked to be addressed in that strictly formal manner.

The state’s Democratic Party is the trained pet of Christine Gregoire, and if it has gone to the trouble of determining if Dino Rossi’s appeal is influenced by whether or not he labels his party affiliation as GOP or Republican, then you can be certain that they’ve done the same with Governor Gregoire’s first name. And personally, I would not be at all surprised to learn that voters would prefer a male-sounding name over a female-sounding name, especially when one considers what airheads both of Washington’s US senators have turned out to be. That pair has got to be bad for the brand name. Perhaps Ms. Gregoire should try to convince those two to rename themselves “Patrick” and “Mario.”

Washington’s Secretary of State, Sam Reed, argues that the time for these sorts of challenges has passed: “The time to object was before candidate filings in the first week of June,” he said. “Now counties have actually sent their ballots to the printers. The timing is really bad for an issue we thought had been pretty well resolved earlier.”

Washington’s Democratic Party chairman is the snarky Dwight Pelz. He answers that the issue is more important than a few ballots printed in Washington’s backwaters.

Forcing this change is more “important than whether two to three small counties have started to print their ballot. I know they haven't started to print in King County.”

So sorry Dwight. As it turns out, King County is one of those insignificant backwaters. According to King County elections officials, the county has already printed several thousand ballots. One would think that as a King County Councilman, Dwight Pelz would have known that, but he’s already had more important items on his agenda than the affairs of the county he was elected to govern.

And besides, he should be taking the long view on this one. Once the truth about the financial meltdown finally emerges, he might want the freedom to choose a new name for his own party affiliation.

Gregoire: Pay No Attention To That Deficit Behind The Curtain

What does Washington governor Christine Gregoire know that no one else in state government knows? All throughout the gubernatorial campaign her Republican opponent, Dino Rossi, has accused the governor of a profligate spending spree that has driven the state’s balance sheet deep into the red with deeper shades of crimson on the horizon. But, at a campaign stop last week called “Drinking Liberally, held at the Montlake Ale House in Seattle, Ms Gregoire denied that the state is facing a budget deficit.

Answering a question from a blogger who inquired about that supposed deficit, Madam Governor insisted that all was well. “Thirty states are now sitting on a deficit: we are one of the few in surplus. We are the envy of the country.”

Well, if wishes were fishes and all that... But, it’s not as though Dino Rossi is cooking the books with some like-minded Republicans who wish to embarrass the governor in an election year. The prediction of a deficit comes from the Democrat-controlled Senate Ways and Means Committee. While Washington may yet emerge from the current biennium with a small surplus (although that’s unlikely), the Senate Ways and Means Committee predicts a $2.7 billion deficit for the next biennium and a $5.5 billion deficit in the next.

The prediction that this biennium will end with a small surplus will probably have to be revised sharply downward soon as the state was counting on revenues derived from a sizzling real estate market that the state was hoping would stay hot indefinitely. Has anyone heard of the real estate bubble or the subprime lending crisis? Perhaps Governor Gregoire has been too busy campaigning to pick up a newspaper in the last year or so.

Current events have been a common problem with northwest Democrats lately. About three days into Russia’s invasion of the Georgian Republic, Oregon’s Democratic US Senate candidate Jeff Merkley was asked for his opinion on the matter. He seemed quite surprised to learn that a state in the southeastern United States had been invaded and only after some clarification did he realize that it was that other Georgia. While the rest of the world had been watching it on television and reading about it in the newspapers, the invasion was news to him. It’s fitting that Oregon might elect Merkley to serve alongside Ron Wyden who couldn’t find Bosnia on a globe after the US went to war on that country’s behalf.

But, I digress.

If Ms. Gregoire did read newspapers, then she might have picked up the July 20th edition of the Seattle Times, which had a lengthy article detailing the irresponsible spending increases under her leadership. In just four years, the state’s budget has soared by 8 billion dollars as she shoveled money into the pockets of the special interest groups who helped underwrite her 2004 election and whom she’s counting on this year.

In addition, Ms Gregoire turned away revenues that rightly belonged to the state when she signed a pact with Indian gambling interests that excused them from having to share their profits with the state, as tribes elsewhere in the country must. That deal cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, but reaped millions in political contributions to her campaign and the Washington Democratic party.
But, even if the unthinkable occurs and the predicted deficit does appear, she’s already chosen her scapegoats – Dino Rossi and George Bush.

It’s Dino Rossi’s fault because when he was Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, he and Gregoire’s predecessor, Gary Locke, closed a looming deficit by trimming spending. But, while the handouts were withdrawn the hands were still out when Gregoire took office.

“What I got was past-due bills — bills that were not paid by the previous budget, that came due,” Gregoire complained.

In other words, all those special interest groups who paid for the recounts that eventually put her in office wanted their payback. And they got it. And like the tribes, they’ve shown their gratitude by opening their checkbooks for her.

I’m more than a little curious about that visit to the bar where she had her séance with other flat Earth types who choose to live in worlds of their own creation. I have no doubt that she spends as much time as possible in the fantasy land where the only deficits are those that can be blamed on others. And, I’d like to know what it was that Ms Gregoire was drinking so liberally in that bar. Kool Aid perhaps?

Christine Gregoire: Four More Year!!! Of What?

I'm just wondering, does Christine Gregoire have a governing philosophy other than pandering to her biggest political donors and allies?

Barack Obama: Hanford, Never Heard of It.

We might never know what negotiations take place when Democratic presidential candidates woo the party’s superdelegates for their votes. The ironically misnamed Democratic Party goes to some lengths to insulate its nominating process from the great unwashed, in part by reserving 20% of its national convention delegates to unelected so-called “superdelegates.” These superdelegates are free to choose whom to support for their party’s nomination independent of the votes cast by the little people. They may cut whatever deal with the candidate that they wish in exchange for a vote at the national convention. This mutual back scratching would probably not rise to the dignity of Otto Von Bismark’s sausage making analogy. But thanks to what was revealed in response to an innocent question Monday, we can eliminate from consideration any conversations regarding issues critical to the state of Washington.
Just before the Oregon Democratic primary Tuesday, Barack Obama was floundering in his most unnatural element, extemporaneous speaking during a question and answer period, when he was asked what he intended to do about cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
“Here's something that you will rarely hear from a politician, and that is that I'm not familiar with the Hanford site, so I don't know exactly what's going on there. Now, having said that, I promise you I'll learn about it by the time I leave here on the ride back to the airport.”
While it’s refreshing to hear a politician admit that there’s something out there about which he is not the world’s foremost authority, Obama’s ignorance on this issue is really quite unforgivable because of what it says about him and for what it reveals about Washington’s governor and the rest of Washington’s Democratic superdelegates.
Hanford is the site where plutonium for the second of the two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan, ending World War II, was made. It is considered one of the nation’s most contaminated environmental sites. Currently, the federal government spends about $2 billion dollars per year on cleanup efforts. Even so, the site remains the stuff of a comic book nightmare. The only thing missing is Blinky, the three-eyed fish of Simpsons cartoon fame. He probably died of radiation poisoning.
Supposedly, Hanford cleanup has been a top priority with Washington’s Congressional delegation, all of whom from the Democratic side of the aisle are superdelegates, as is King County Executive Ron Sims, former Speaker of the House Tom Foley, state party chairman Dwight Pelz, along with several other party hacks, and Washington Governor Christine Gregoire. Ms. Gregoire has announced her intention to support Barack Obama at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.
It is well known that considerable horse trading occurs as the candidates try to entice superdelegates to commit their vote. From all I can tell, there are no rules. One can even purchase a superdelegate’s vote for straight up cash. Hillary Clinton even sent her daughter out on a date with a pimple-faced 21-year old superdelegate.
So, what did Christine Gregoire discuss with Barack Obama before committing her vote to his candidacy? Well, judging by his response in Oregon Monday, it was not the state’s number one environmental issue. Not only was Barack Obama unaware of the issue, the videotape of his response indicates that he seems never to have heard of the place. Clearly, whatever sweet promises Governor Gregoire extracted from Barack Obama before publicly committing to his candidacy had nothing to do with Hanford. And considering how high the Hanford cleanup ranks on most Washingtonian’s agendas, one wonders if any other issues of interest to the state came up. It’s more likely that Gregoire’s political ambitions were at the top of her wish list.
I anticipate that Barack Obama’s side of the bargain will consist of several trips to Washington this fall to help Christine Gregoire raise campaign cash.
Other Washington politicians who have committed to Barack Obama without raising the issue of the Hanford cleanup are US representatives Adam Smith, Brian Baird, Rick Larsen and Jim McDermott, along with the aforementioned Dwight Pelz and Democratic National Committee member Pat Notter.
I suspect that we could imagine a long list of issues that are of critical importance to Washingtonians and to the state of Washington that were never raised as these practitioners of the oldest profession auctioned off their virtue. This certainly gives the lie to any notion that politicians are in there sacrificing themselves for our interests. The promises they make are just another means to achieving their own selfish ambitions.