Seattle has long been burdened with having one of the most liberal members of Congress in Jim McDermott. While some would consider that kind of representation a blessing, McDermott has been so far-off-the-scales to the Left that he has been a largely ineffective Congressman for nearly three decades.
There was a chance that would change, with the election of a new Representative in the Seattle-dominated 7th Congressional District, since McDermott is retiring. But, alas, that appears not to be a possibility, assuming that the results from the primary hold true in the general election, and State Senator Pramila Jayapal wins.
The freshman state legislator, who finished first in the primary with nearly 40% of the vote despite not even living in the district, got a bit of national ink today with an interview with Roll Call, the so-called newspaper of Congress. And the attention certainly showed how out of touch Jayapal is with reality, as she even expressed “respect” for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick for not standing for the Star Spangled Banner, saying “he is a very public figure who has decided to use his platform to highlight some of the injustices he sees.”
I’m sure Seahawk fans everywhere were just as thrilled to know what “injustices” Kaepernick “sees” in the world, beyond the fact that he is now a backup quarterback on a lousy team.
Even more distressing was her online explanation of why she has the support of Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders: “I had the pleasure of meeting Sen. Sanders back in August of last year when we both were to speak at a rally on expanding Social Security and Medicare. I spoke just before him & he said to me ‘You just said everything I was going to say!’ ”
I’m not sure that every Seattle voter would consider it a point of pride that their likely new Congresswoman can channel Sen. Sanders so completely, though I’m sure that it pleases fellow former Sanders supporter and socialist (and Seattle City Councilwoman) Kshama Sawant.
Also troubling was Jayapal’s complete lack of understanding about the importance of international trade to her district and our state. Instead of economics being at the “center” of trade deals, she panders to her special interest campaign donors by suggesting other priorities: “On trade, I am absolutely against the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal being pushed by President Obama) as written. We can’t stop trade anymore than we can stop migration. But it MUST be fair trade that puts workers and environmental concerns at the center.”
Given the other items on Jayapal’s priority list from the interview – with out-of-control government spending, our national debt, and national security nowhere to be found – evidently the retirement of McDermott will have little impact on Seattle sending a new member to the Loony Left Caucus to Congress, rather than someone who will actually be effective.
