Today marks the beginning of Year Three of Governor Jay Inslee’s undemocratic abuse of emergency powers and of his Democrats in the legislature abdicating their constitutional responsibility to be the branch of government which writes, debates, and votes on the laws which govern our state.   This leads to the question: if both the governor and the Democrat legislators believe that the Democrat-controlled legislature is still incapable of reassuming its constitutional duties, then why should voters support these Democrats in November?

Sadly, the governor once again refused to provide to Washington residents with a timeline for when he will end his abuse of emergency authority when he was asked for one during his media event on Monday.  When pressed, the governor did what he has often done during the past 731 days of his one-man rule over Washington, he used divisive and false political rhetoric to divert attention away from his own actions.  While Republican proposals to amend the state’s emergency orders have focused on making our state laws similar to those in nearly every other state, the governor chose to insult the intentions of the lawmakers by saying “They just want to follow Donald Trump.”

Then the governor’s comments became totally unhinged and he either knowingly told a lie or demonstrated how isolated he is from reality when he said Republicans in Washington State “refuse to stand up to (Trump’s) coup attempt.”  Yet the facts don’t back the governor’s outrageous claim.  As opposed to Governor Inslee and every elected Democrat in Washington who has yet to condemn the political violence conducted by liberal activists (including by the radical group Antifa) in Seattle during 2020, the Chair of the Washington State Republicans, all GOP members of the Washington congressional delegation, and the Washington GOP’s legislative leadership all condemned the violence by Trump supporters on January 6th AS IT WAS TAKING PLACE.  Not only have the Democrats (including Governor Inslee) still refused to condemn the political violence conducted by their supporters, but they have also caved into the demands of Antifa and passed reckless “police reform” laws which have resulted in skyrocketing crime rates as the state has become a more comfortable place for criminals.

Republican leaders stated their outrage over the governor’s hyper-partisan insults.  Representative Andrew Barkis (R – Olympia) immediately tweeted, “I had thought I’d heard it all! Until now. (Governor Inslee) has lost all credibility. His angry, incoherent accusations to justify retaining his 2 years of control.”  Republican Senate Leader John Braun said, “If the governor had been more inclusive during the past two years, instead of meeting only with Democratic legislators regarding his proclamations, he might actually understand what Republican leaders view as important. Maybe he would then be less inclined to cast political aspersions in a random and divisive way.”

There are many who are equating Governor Inslee’s rant to that of his fellow Democrat Senator Marko Liias (Everett), who last week made unhinged comments about Democrat Oregon Governor Kate Brown.  While the senator later somewhat redeemed himself by apologizing for his comments, history shows that the governor will not do the same and that no one in the media will call him out for his obvious false rhetoric. (Governor Inslee media release, Brandi Kruse Twitter, Chair Heimlich Twitter, Representative McMorris Rodgers Twitter, House Leader JT Wilcox Twitter, Rebecca Perry Twitter, Representative Andrew Barkis Twitter, Senate Republican Caucus, WA State GOP Twitter, Shift Article, and The Olympian)

Discriminatory practices continue at the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) as the state fires one unvaccinated employee (who received a religious exemption) from a telecommuting position and then hires another vaccinated person who is told the “position will be remote in a telework capacity full-time.”  The fired employee was told that the reason for his termination was because his job description had suddenly changed and that the meetings he had been conducting via Zoom were now to be conducted in-person.  Yet, this explanation was not true.

This follows a Washington Policy Center investigative report which revealed last month that only 11% of WSDOT employees who received “religious” exemptions from Governor Inslee’s vaccine mandate were “accommodated” by the department and allowed to keep their jobs, while 87% of those who received “medical” exemptions were accommodated and thus kept their state jobs. (Washington Policy Center)

Every week Democrat legislative leaders and Republican legislative leaders each hold a media availability so members of the media can ask questions of the lawmakers regarding bills that are before them in Olympia.  The Republican caucus leaders (Senator John Braun and Representative JT Wilcox) along with one or two other Republican members who have pending legislation usually attend the GOP media availabilities.  The same is generally true with the Democrats.  Yet, with just 10 days remaining in the 2022 legislative session, House Democrat caucus leaders decided against answering any questions by not having a single one of their 57 members appear on their Zoom call.  Only Senate Democrat Leader Andy Billig and Senate Democrat Deputy Leader Manka Dhingra appeared on the call.  If there was a scheduling conflict for the House members, then it was of their own doing since it is the House Democrat leadership which controls the House schedule. So, it must have been fear of having to answer for their failed policies that caused their absence. (TVW and YouTube)

While more than 17,000 fans have been allowed to attend hockey games and concerts at Seattle’s Climate Change Arena for many months, the Democrats within the Washington State Legislature have forbidden any member of the public from entering the Senate or House galleries.  The House Democrats have finally realized the silliness of their fake precautions and eased restrictions for the last 10 days of the legislative session.  Starting today, a limited number of masked individuals will be allowed into the House’s North gallery.  Also, the Democrats have slightly increased the number of House members (from 27 to 45) who will be allowed on the House floor at any time.  Since there are 98 House members, more than half of the representatives will still be unable to fully represent their constituents thanks to the Democrats’ paranoia.. (KIRO Radio)

In yet another example of Bellevue’s functionality vs. Seattle’s dysfunctionality, the Eastside city swore in its newest police chief last week, while Seattle has yet to present a plan for how and when it will select a new leader for its embattled police department.  It took Bellevue just six months to select Wendell Shirley as the new chief, after former Police Chief Steve Mylett announced his resignation last summer. Meanwhile the Seattle Police Department is still led by Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz almost 20 months after former Chief Carmen Best announced her resignation due to lack of support from the Seattle City Council.

Bellevue Police Chief Shirley came out of retirement in 2021 to accept a position as the department’s assistant chief. He almost immediately became the acting chief after Chief Mylett’s announcement that he had accepted a position with the Akron Police Department. Chief Shirley is a native of Watts, California, and served for 26 years with the Santa Monica police.  He said he came out of retirement due to the nationwide call for police reform. (Q13 Fox News)

King County businesses will no longer be required to obtain proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test from customers starting today.  Since October, the county burdened businesses by mandating that all restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues, and large outdoor events deny service to those who could not provide vaccination proof or a negative test.  While the government will no longer put this burden on private employers, businesses will still have the option of requiring customers provide proof of their vaccination status.  (MyNorthwest)

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward believes Governor Inslee should follow the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines and drop the facemask mandates now, instead of waiting two more weeks.  The mayor asserted, “If we’ve been following the CDC all along in this pandemic, let’s continue to follow their guidelines and their updated protocols and lift the mask mandate now for Spokane County, if you’re healthy.”  The mayor said if the governor is unwilling to follow the science presented by the CDC to remove the mask mandate immediately, then he should act as he has throughout the pandemic and remove the requirement in counties where there are currently low hospitalization rates.  “It would be great if it was by county because then maybe then we could make the decisions for ourselves,” Mayor Woodward said. “I like having some control locally as opposed to statewide.” (KXLY)

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