Once again the Seattle Times has its extreme partisan bias on display, this time in its coverage of both the Democrat and Republican state parties electing their party chairs. The Democrats elected the former Chair of the King County Democrats Shasti Conrad on Saturday to lead their state party organization and the Washington State Republicans re-elected Caleb Heimlich the previous weekend. The hardcore Socialist/Bernie Sanders wing of the Democrat Party has completed its takeover of the state Democrats, though that perspective was missing from the story.

The reporter for the Seattle Times (David Gutman) goes out of his way to portray the Democrats’ Conrad in the best possible light.  The article provided Conrad’s full resume of working for (at low and mid-level positions) President Barrack Obama and Socialist Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns and stating she was endorsed by all the Democrats’ major Washington State elected officials. Yet not once did the Times mention that under her leadership, the King County Democrats strongly supported Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, the extreme candidate for Seattle City Attorney who multiple times tweeted her support of political violence and once posted that police officers should “Eat COVID-laced sh*t.”

Meanwhile for the Republicans, the Times’ mentions only one factor for why Heimlich was re-elected – that he was endorsed by Donald Trump.   The Times fails to mention that Heimlich was also endorsed by nearly all Republican elected officials, many of whom have been extremely critical of the actions of the former president.  The Times fails to mention that while Conrad endorsed the violent views of NTK, Heimlich was among the many Washington State Republican leaders who tweeted their outrage over the January 6^th riots – while the violence was taking place.

It is worth noting that the Times is so unconcerned with reporting accurately about Republicans that the paper printed the wrong date for when the GOP elections took place. The article incorrectly stated it was last Monday, when in fact the elections took place on Saturday, January 22^nd.  (Seattle Times, King County Democrats 2021 General Election endorsements, NTKforCrime, Heimlich Twitter, and Washington State Republican Party Twitter)

U.S. Navy Veteran and Republican State Representative Travis Couture (Allyn) has introduced a bill which would make it a $50,000 fine for a Washington lawmaker or candidate to misrepresent/falsely claim military service.  This legislation (HB 1671)  is the result of Democrat Representative Clyde Shavers repeatedly lying to voters last year about his military service (along with not being truthful about his work experience, his family’s history, and where he resides) to help him get elected last fall.   According to Everett Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield the legislation is being called the “Clyde Shavers Bill.” Let’s see if any Democrat has the courage – and respect for our state’s veteran population – to demand the bill be given a hearing.  (Jerry Cornfield Twitter, Washington Legislature Bill Summary, and Shift Article)

There will be a legislative public hearing this Thursday for a Republican proposal to provide more options for public school students from low-income communities, those stuck in failing schools, or students requiring special educational services.  The “Students First” legislation (HB 1615) was introduced by Representative Carolyn Eslick (R – Sultan) and would give to parents the funds (more than $10,600) which school districts receive from the state for each student enrolled. The parents could then use the money for private school tuition, home schooling, tutoring, education therapies, books, and supplies.  Representative Eslick stated, “This program would empower parents to do what is best for their child regardless of income level or zip code while meeting the state’s moral and constitutional obligation to put students first.” The hearing will be held this Thursday, February 2, at 8:00 AM.  See the media release for details on how to testify or view the bill’s public hearing. (Republican House Caucus media release and Washington Legislature Bill Summary)

We encourage Shift readers to also subscribe to “The Current” a weekly newsletter posted by the Washington State House Republican Caucus.  Every Monday, the caucus communication staff provides an update on issues before the legislature and provides a brief but rational perspective on news from Olympia.  (The Current)

Seattle City Council President Debora Juarez provides a very interesting excuse for her departure from city government in a Seattle Times article on the mass exodus from the council.  The seven district-based council positions are to be voted on this November, and thus far four of the incumbent councilmembers (West Seattle’s Lisa Herbold, Northeast Seattle’s Alex Pedersen, Capitol Hill’s Kshama Sawant, and North Seattle’s Juarez) have each stated they will not seek re-election this November.  While Councilmember Juarez gave some legitimate concerns about her family’s safety (mostly due to violent liberal activists), she also claimed she is often treated rudely and that “I’m not seen as a person by some people.”

This is a curious statement coming from the current council president, given how she once treated a senior citizen who spoke before the council about his safety concerns with a new bike path.  When the man spoke he noticed that all the councilmembers were ignoring him by playing games on their phones and looking at their computer screens.  When the man asked if the councilmembers could pay attention to his comments, Councilmember Juarez could be herd sighing and she demanded that he wrap up his comments.  Most observers saw this action as a very disrespectful way to treat another person.  (Seattle Times and YouTube clip of the Seattle City Council)

Liberal organizations are seeking to eliminate ballot signature verification in King County in an attempt to make it easier for massive voter fraud to take place.  Three liberal special interest groups quietly filed a lawsuit last November against the county’s election department, alleging that ballots from certain minorities (and younger voters) were rejected by the signature verification process at a higher rate than those rejected from other ethnic groups.  A King County Elections Department’s spokesperson stated that if the lawsuit is successful, it could do away with the primary method of making sure a ballot was filled out by the registered voter it was issued to.  The lawsuit was filed by attorneys at the Perkins Coie law firm which also represents the National Democrat Party.  (MyNorthwest)

Liberal soft-on-crime policies have resulted in an incredible 71% jump in the number of armed robberies in Pierce County.  This figure is based on the number of armed thefts that have taken place during the five years between 2018 – 2022, compared to the previous five years.  A spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department stated that it is usually a major concern when there is a 5% leap in a crime and that this huge increase has everyone seeking answers. Everyone that is except the Democrat legislators who have caused the increase in crime.

Unfortunately many of the Democrat “leaders” in Olympia (such as Senator Manka Dhingra, who represents extremist from Seattle from her Eastside district) appear unconcerned with the number of victims being created by their anti-police laws. So, the Democrats are blocking legislation which many local officials and most law enforcement agencies say is desperately needed to protect more citizens from becoming victims of crimes.  (KING5 News, Q13 Fox News, and Snohomish County Sherriff’s/YouTube video)

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told a congressional committee chaired by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R – Spokane) there has been a 1,200% increase in the number of fentanyl overdoses in his county, and that secret messaging methods used on social media have made it more difficult for law enforcement to identify the sources of the deadly synthetic drugs.  In one of Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers first public hearings as the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, she asked for testimony on the impact of social media on the use of illegal drugs by children.

Sheriff Nowels stated, “We are finding as time goes on that there are more and more online ways to communicate and distribute drugs than we can even keep up with.  Our drug dealers are all too often allowed to operate in secrecy. This is a significant issue in every community in this country. We need help to hold people accountable who are poisoning our children.”

Representative McMorris Rodgers declared that the impact of social media on our children will be a major issue for the committee. “We’ve seen numerous reports detailing how big tech encourages addictive behaviors in our children to keep them glued to their screens and fails to protect their users from malicious actors on their platforms like drug dealers, targeting vulnerable populations with counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.” (Spokesman Review)

Our Newsmaker Interview was with second-term Republican Representative Cyndy Jacobsen who serves the 25^th Legislative District (East Pierce County).  She is a former Puyallup City Councilmember, schoolteacher, home school parent, and small business owner. She is the mother of seven children.

The representative discussed her bill to allow the state to rehire the workers who were unfairly fired when Governor Inslee abused his emergency powers by terminating the employment of state employees who were unvaccinated for COVID.  Representative Jacobsen also discussed her bill to improve safety in our schools and the proposal to provide more educational options to families by having the state fund the student and not the schools. She called the Democrats’ 2021 restrictions on police pursuit a “disastrous policy” and she is strongly supporting legislative efforts to repeal the law. She stated that Governor Inslee’s $4 billion bond measure for the state to purchase affordable housing is unwise fiscal policy and believes the housing crisis could be addressed better through lifting many of the bureaucratic restrictions Democrats have placed on development. (Click to read full Newsmaker Interview)

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