Island Guardian

Tuesday, March 29th

Gathering Storm

Olympia was stormy. Trees were blown down and thousands of homes were without power. The phone in my hotel room didn¹t work. There were 7 pillows on the bed. Not one of them was comfortable. I had a hard time sleeping. I woke up at 4 am with a sore back. I got in my pick-up truck and drove around town. It was just getting light and the streets were deserted.

I found the McCleary Mansion right where they said it would be. It was an old brick house shaded by big trees. I walked up the steps and looked through the darkened windowpane. To my surprise there was a human skeleton hanging from the ceiling holding a sign that said, "I Voted". The problem was obvious. Too many dead people, felons, and forged ballots have created a spooky situation in our blustery State Capitol.

I explored the grounds of the State Capitol campus and walked around the Governor¹s Mansion. I noticed that Christine Gregoire has moved in and squatted there. It was Monday, March 21st.

She unveiled her new budget that day. Reporters were huddled around calling in reports on cell phones and standing in front of cameras. I overheard them say that she has plans to raise taxes to help cover a 1.6 billion-budget shortfall.

During the 2004 campaign candidate Gregoire had repeatedly told voters that "now is not the time to talk about taxes" because the economy was still fragile (Spokesman-Review, 2/16/2005). But she started talking about raising taxes in record time. In her first budget she plans to bring back the "death tax" which only increases the grief of family members¹ when they see their inheritance disappear into the general fund (she got the dead to vote for her why not take their money too). Smokers will also pay more taxes for their addiction under her plan. The question is will she still be governor when the budget is approved? I have some new insight into this. My friend Tom McCabe dwells in the McCleary Mansion. It is the home office of the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). He showed me a list of over 1,100 felons who voted illegally (mostly in King County). There is a story to tell in each case. (BREAKING NEWS) Some stories will make future headlines. He told me about one guy who embezzled several hundred thousand dollars from elderly victims. He was convicted of a felony (lost his right to vote) and did time in the "big house". When he came out he became a campaign consultant and manager for several well-known democrats. He should have known better than to vote but he did anyway. His story will be in the headlines soon. KING 5 NEWS

Out of the hundreds of provisional ballots that were cast illegally there is another emerging story. Do you remember the judge in King County who gave activist democrat poll workers 48 hours to collect signed affidavits from "provisional ballot" voters? They came back with signatures for about 300 ballots. Some of the signatures were forgeries. I saw the evidence. Tom McCabe has hired forensic handwriting experts to testify about these forged signatures. This will be big news at the upcoming trial.

If you add up the felon votes, the forged signature votes, the dead voters, and the voters who voted more than once, there is most likely enough evidence to call the results of the governors race into question and trigger a re-vote. According to recent polls a super majority of the people want more accountability in the election process. You might think that lawmakers in Olympia would be working hard on election reform but that could not be farther from the truth.

Republican proposals for election reform have gone nowhere. Democrats have said NO to some obvious common sense solutions like these. Should we require Counties to make sure that only a registered voter can vote? NO! How about tightening registration requirements? NO! Should we clean up the voter rolls and make sure only U.S. citizens may vote in our elections? NO! What about requiring identification at the polls? NO WAY! Does it make sense to print the "provisional ballots" on a different color of paper so we can tell them apart? NO! Should we build-in a re-vote clause? NO! Shouldn¹t we at least increase the penalties for voter fraud? Absolutely not!

I don¹t know about you but I am appalled at this "in your face" spiteful behavior on the part of lawmakers regardless of political party. It is disgraceful. The people of Washington need to have confidence in their election process. Voter rolls should be purged of the felons, the deceased, and all the illegal voters. Our right to vote has cost too much to allow it to be undermined by elected leaders acting like spoiled children.

The next big storm is gathering. It could bring changes soon. I hope it brings a Governor that will not break his promise and raise taxes, a leader who will bring election reform to our State, and who actually won the race for Governor 2 out of 3 times.

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Saturday, March 12th

CAN'T LET NATURE GO WILD

Some things are best left alone. Take "nature" for example. Like Michael Jackson's face you can ruin it by fixing it too many times. Why can't we just leave nature alone?

In the spotlight of National TV, Former Alaskan Governor Walter Hickel made this classic statement, "You just can't let nature run wild". Do you remember the infamous "Aerial Wolf Kill"? Alaskan wildlife experts decided that there were too many wolves and not enough Moose and Caribou. The solution was to shoot wolves from helicopters. There were nationwide protests and threats to boycott Alaska. Many foreheads were furrowed in consternation when it turned out that one of the wildlife "experts" was a woman who manufactured fur bikinis out of wolf skin. They just couldn't let nature go wild.

The instinct to mess with nature may be hard-wired into the Brain. We could be genetically prone to thinking we are superior and smart enough to control all things scientifically. As long as we believe this our fooling around with nature will continue.

Leaving nature alone is impossible for our species. Biologists around the state have been saving the salmon for over 50 years. Now Salmon and the forage fish they feed on are all threatened species. Rangers have tried to balance animal herd populations in national parks for decades. Almost every example of these programs have had unintended negative consequences.

We spend millions trying to reunite rogue whales with their family pods. I'm not sure that the whales are impressed with our good intentions. We have shut down entire communities to save an insignificant species that may have been better off left alone. When we fool around with natural forces we often make things worse.

So it is ironic that our own San Juan County Land Bank is asking for help to pull up Douglas- Fir seedlings that they claim "if allowed to grow will destroy the potential for the land to be maintained as "a remnant of an ancient prairie ecosystem". Then we are lectured about man¹s deficiencies as the quote continues, "As is so often the case with man's involvement and influence on the environment, there is once again, an unintended consequence of efforts to control fires that in the past would have helped to keep the area clear of the trees and brush that are now hampering the efforts to keep this area as a grass land."

I guess we screwed-up by preventing the "natural" forest fires that could have helped turn that part of the island to toast. Anyway, as a result of our fire fighting efforts nature has been going wild there. We can't have that now can we?

What is wrong with a prairie evolving "naturally" into a forest? Since time began millions of species have survived without the protection of our laws. Cataclysmic events have left mass destruction but nature has rebounded. So why can't we let nature run wild?

I think it is because we presume to know too much. Even though some people think everything we do causes harm to the universe the evidence does not support this theory. We have a puny little role in the cosmos and our actions well intended or not, will continue to be an integral part of it.

So if you volunteer to go pull up "naturally" seeded Douglas fir trees that are invading the "ancient prairie ecosystem" count me out. I prefer to let nature go wild.

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Monday, March 7th

YOU MIGHT BE A GREENER ISLANDER

I am not a typical islander. I am unorthodox. I thought I was green but other islanders are much greener. It is hard to define this "greener than thou" mentality. But it is pervasive. It is like religious zealotry. Devotees of the teachings of modern environmentalism have this sanctimonious attitude. I call it "greener than thou" or "greener" for short. This is my attempt to define and demystify the orthodoxy of this religious worldview by example. This format worked on rednecks like me, so I use it here in the spirit of fun.

YOU MIGHT BE A GREENER ISLANDER

If you have a plan to save the islands from humans you might be a greener islander.
If you have a log house in the woods off the grid and you don¹t want your neighbor to build his cabin so you turn him in to the Department of Natural Resources for cutting firewood you might be a greener islander.
You belong to Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Sea Shepherd Society, and the Whale Museum but you got a ticket for littering when you tossed the butt of a hand-rolled cigarette out of your pick-up on the way to the recycling center, you are greener than me.
If you are a hypocrite you might be a greener islander.
If you know what is best for everyone else and you want to use government to make-up and enforce your rules to save everything you are a potential dictator and a "greener than thou" islander.
If you freak-out about changes in the weather and think we are all going to die from global warming or that an ice age is imminent you might be a greener islander.
If you feel the urge to rip ice cream cones out of the hands of tourists as they walk down Main Street you might get elected as a Commissioner and you are a greener islander.
If you drive a hybrid car with a "Regime Change!" bumper sticker on the rear you could be a greener islander.
If you have ever called the building enforcement officer on your neighbors for building a chicken coop without doing an Environmental Impact Statement you might be a greener islander.
If you have ever said "I¹ve got mine the hell with yours", you could be a greener islander.
If you let loose a herd of turtles to stop the police from crossing the street to break up your WTO protest rally you are probably a green zealot.
If you have ever filed a nuisance lawsuit to stop a neighbor from building a dock but you have the biggest waterfront house with largest private dock on your island you are a greener islander.
If you are a hypocrite you might be a greener islander.
If you have ever spiked a tree to hurt a logger you are a green zealot.
If you have ever sabotaged heavy construction equipment by pouring sugar in the fuel tanks and slashing the tires you are a green zealot.
If you have ever worn a silly tin foil hat at a sit-in to protest the construction of cell towers you are most likely a greener islander.
If you went on a bummer after running over a rabbit on the way to the march for world peace on Earth Day you might be a greener islander.
If you thought the Una-bomber¹s Manifesto is a good starting point for your local political party¹s platform you might be a greener islander.
You had a salmon barbecue at the fundraiser concert to save the whales". You are probably all "greener than thou" hypocrites.
If you ever lay down in the street to stop a bulldozer from breaking ground on the new affordable housing project and the operator can¹t see you because you are in his blind spot you were a greener islander.

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