The crack squad that Jay Inslee has put in charge of counting COVID cases in Washington State seems to be a bit challenged by all those pesky numbers.
Newsmaker Interview
We normally feature a Q&A session with a state leader on Fridays, but events of this week have caused a few changes in routine. So here are some excerpts of questions asked by other publications (with some editing to fit a Q&A format) of a state leader who will be much missed, Senator Slade Gorton.
Peggy Noonan, former presidential speechwriter: “All the talk of advice prompted me to call Slade and ask if he had a secret (for giving advice)?
Slade: “You try to put yourself in exactly the circumstances that that person faces, and you think of what would be best for them to do under those circumstances. Not necessarily what you would do yourself, but what they should do themselves. I try not to be Slade Gorton, with his philosophy and circumstances, but to be a particularly thoughtful Joe Shmoe.”
Noonan: “What (was your) biggest achievement was in those 18 years (in the Senate)?
Slade: “If I did one thing that had a profound impact on a significant number of lives that changed people’s lives it was after Tiananmen Square. It was the bill that allowed Chinese students and other Chinese nationals to stay in the U.S. and not be required to go home, to stay permanently if they wished.”
John Hughes, biographer: “(You were) asked to be a character witness (in a libel trial brought by a fellow legislator accused of being a communist) – what did your conscience tell you?
Slade: “I knew that if I said yes it would cost me. And I knew that if I said no I’d be a coward. Looking back, that may have been the pivotal moment of my career in politics. There had been no incident in those first three terms in the Legislature that had really tested my character. I said yes.”
Hughes: (At the end of our last interview for the biography) Do you have any final thoughts?
Slade: (He smiled broadly and instantly declared) “I’ve had an absolutely marvelous life!”
State
When numbers matter, is it too much to ask that Gov. Inslee’s administration learn how to count? The day after Gov. Inslee is being quoted as saying he is “cautiously pleased” with the state’s COVID testing numbers, the Seattle Times points out that the governor doesn’t likely know what the actual numbers are, since his administration has math problems. Among the challenges with Jay’s Department of Health highlighted by the Times are “doesn’t track how many people have recovered;” “DOH has stopped releasing the number of tests that have come back negative;” and finally, “Washington state has had various technical hiccups in reporting data about the pandemic — most recently, in counting tests that have come back negative.” That’s right, at the exact time when we are counting on Gov. Inslee to have accurate information – since he has taken it on himself to be the only person in the state to make decisions on which businesses are allowed to be open – the Times identifies this inconvenient truth: “This also means the DOH has been unable to calculate the statewide positivity rate: the percentage of total tests that have come back positive. That’s a key metric used by public-health officials and Gov. Jay Inslee’s office to evaluate the virus’s spread.” It all adds up to breathtaking incompetence. (Seattle Times)
Can the Sierra Club overcome the racism of its founder in a Black Lives Matter era? Hypocrisy on the Left is often featured in Shift, but it’s pretty rare to see anyone in the mainstream media call out high-profile liberal special interest groups for their shortcomings. But in these riotous times, new rules apply. That’s what we learned from a Crosscut piece, which points out that the Sierra Club has been reeling from the (long known) revelations that founder John Muir was a racist, and the greenies are trying to step away from his legacy. Yet, the writer points out that the Sierra Club’s mini-mea culpa is not enough and just exposes the green movement’s massive hypocrisy: “the toppling of Muir further pulls back the curtain on the tone-deaf and patronizing culture that pervades a green ecosystem dominated by giant, branded collections of white, pseudo-social-justice warriors.” (Crosscut)
More numbers, and more Inslee Administration incompetence. It seems that even a shot of good news comes with a bad news chaser, like this story lead item where the Seattle Times points out that “Unemployment claims in Washington state dropped for the fifth consecutive week — but the number of people filing remains at historic levels and many of those seeking benefits still haven’t received any weeks and even months after losing their jobs.” So, even though Jay doesn’t take any responsibility for the mess at his beleaguered ESD, the facts can’t be ignored: “Nearly 60,000 workers who have filed for jobless benefits are waiting for the state Employment Security Department (ESD) to resolve those claims.” Maybe if some of Gov. Inslee’s donors were among those waiting for their checks the state would be moving a bit faster. (Seattle Times)
Western Washington
Job cuts are coming in Snohomish County, says executive Dave Somers. Tax revenues are way down and the state’s mismanagement of the state’s economy during the COVID crisis continues, so “the county might have to slash the roughly $250 million general fund by 10% in preparation for next year.” That reality may not sit well with those who want more money from the county, as the Herald reports that a “group of public defenders — in step with a nationwide movement to “defund the police” and put more money into programs that promote community well-being — called on the council to redistribute half of the Sheriff’s Office budget to housing, counseling and other social services.” Watch for the fireworks coming in that debate. (Everett Herald)
Instead of taking down Eastern Washington dams to help Puget Sound salmon, Skagit County officials remove a culvert to provide access to spawning grounds. When folks from the Sierra Club are not running away from their past (see story above), they are often telling the rest of us what we must do without, like dams which provide us with most productive hydroelectric system in the world. Skagit County officials took a different approach, and “the removal of a culvert at Bonnie Rae Park in Mount Vernon is expected to improve habitat for fish, including coho salmon and cutthroat trout.” Unfortunately for the extreme greens, however, it’s harder to raise money for their organization by doing simple things that work, so better to go after dam removal and ruining people’s lives! (Skagit Valley Herald)
Black activists call out “agitators” who helped the Seattle City Council drive out Police Chief Carmen Best. The disrespect which caused the city’s first Black woman police chief to resign her position rather than continue to put up with the abuse does not sit well with leaders who have been active in the Black community for more than a few protests. As one of the leaders told KUOW, “We’re not just fighting as Black women for our voices, we are fighting for our existence. It’s like the complete erasure and silence of Black women in positions of power can just be pushed out because of some small group of agitators who feel that that’s what’s best.” And it wasn’t just the contempt shown Best which bothers these leaders, as Andre Taylor, the brother of a Black man killed by police in 2016, pointed out that “What concerns me about the protest of agitation is that there is an allowance of certain violence in the protest of agitation. Because they believe this is a part of it, right? And I’ve never thought that the protest of agitation is anything that is sustainable.” We can only hope that the terms of the current members of the city council are not sustainable either. (KUOW)
Eastern Washington
Benton County Sheriff remains in recall crosshairs. A Walla Walla County judge has ruled that “all eight counts of an effort to recall” Sheriff Jerry Hatcher, setting up another appeal before signature gathering effort can begin to remove him from office. The recall petition was filed by one of Hatcher’s officers, and is supported by most of the members of the Benton County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild. Sheriff Hatcher’s attorney calls the charges politically motivated, and is “confident that the recall effort will fail and when it does he plans to ask for significant sanctions against the people involved.” (Tri-City Herald)
State House candidate forgets he isn’t running to represent Seattle. A candidate in Central Washington’s 13th Legislative District has decided that Seattle solutions will work throughout the state, and “wants Washington state to stop assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” Castaneda Diaz is the Democrat calling for this radical step, because “he’s consumed by a recent ordeal” of a man in the process of being deported. ICE pointed out to him the person in question was a convicted rapist and “repeat immigration violator”. Sorta sounds like ICE is doing its job. (Columbia Basin Herald)
Heard on the Internets
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