What a difference!

FIRST: Do Your Homework

If you’re a Washington State voter, do your homework, vote, and urge like-minded friends to do the same. Democratic ballot turn-in (deadline next Tuesday, August 6) is key to setting up our choices for the November General Election ballot. All the attention on the news at the moment seems to be on the presidential election—but we dare not skip the Primary or we could be condemned to choosing between unpalatable candidates in November. Emphasize to anyone who will listen that voting in this primary is essential, even though, to many, the choices might seem obscure.

The Progressive Voters Guide is an excellent resource that cuts to the chase, unlike, for example, an article by Ellen Dennis in the Spokesman yesterdaythat drones on about all the details of four candidates who are challenging the well-liked incumbent Washington State Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck. Ms. Dennis fails to mention a massive fund-raising disparity that suggests that none of these challengers has the wherewithal to actually mount a campaign.

Some followup

Many of my readers and I attended “White Dudes for Harris,” a three hour plus online forum that raised nearly four million dollars in support of Kamala Harris. The tone was serious, but upbeat, illustrating the marked change in tone of the Democratic campaign over the last couple weeks. 

The New York Times did a fair job of covering the event (that should be paywall-free if you want to read it). The article added that:

Before the White Dudes call on Monday, there was some predictable backlash from the Trump camp. “They should give it a more fitting name like: Cucks for Kamala,” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X, using a term popular in some far-right circles for a weak or submissive man.

(Mr. Morales Rocketto [one of the calls organizers] sighed. “For whatever reason, the Republican Party has really leaned into being creeps.”)

It dawned on me that I’ve never seen or heard of the Donald or Junior ever cracking a smile. Apparently, Junior, if he is even smart enough to understand the etymology of “cuck” from cuckold, is so uncertain of his own masculinity that he must attempt to demean men who value the women in their lives. How small, weird, and twisted. As further illustration of Junior’s weirdness, check out this video of Junior “interviewing” JD Vance. Meth, anyone?

The White Dudes for Harris gathering provided welcome relief from the mean-spirited lying vitriol that oozes from Trump’s Republican Party. Robert Reich yesterday morning totally captured the tone in a Substack post I’ve pasted below. Let us rejoice in Kamala’s genuine laughter! What a relief.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

Kamala and the politics of joy

Versus Trump’s politics of grimness

ROBERT REICH

JUL 30

READ IN APP

Friends,

The last few years have been so bleak — Trump’s disastrous four years in the White House, the police murders of George Floyd and other Black men and women, COVID deaths, climate crises, Trump’s big lie, Biden’s declining health — that I had almost forgotten politics can be joyful.

And then Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic candidate for president.

She’s filling politics with a hope and exuberance I haven’t seen since John F. Kennedy ran for president. Her smile is spreading cheer. Her laugh projects joy. Her joyfulness is igniting excitement and enthusiasm.

She is still deadly serious about what America is up against. But she’s combining it with a jubilance that tells us we can triumph.

Instead of wasting her energy responding to Republican attacks, she continues to prosecute Trump rhetorically. She knows that the more the upcoming election is a referendum on him, the more likely it is she wins.

In her stump speech, she gets a big response from saying, “I have taken on perpetrators of all kinds” — and then delivers her punch line with a muffled laugh: “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Audiences hoot.

She doesn’t communicate this in a nasty or mean-spirited way. She communicates it with satisfaction. She takes pleasure in the fact that she was a prosecutor — and often of men who share many of Trump’s traits.

She also uses laughter to show affection. Her now-viral line quoting her mother saying, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” is followed by Kamala’s guffaw.

Laughter is based on connection. You laugh with other people. TV sitcoms used to have laugh tracks because it was easier for viewers to laugh along with everyone else, even imaginary others.

Laughing together is one of the important signs of humanity.

Contrast this with Trump, who never laughs. For him, it’s all anger, hate, and grievance.

Bullies don’t laugh with. They laugh at. Trump’s jokes are always at someone else’s expense. He ridicules disabled people. He’s nasty toward immigrants. He’s snide when he talks about liberals.

Bullies don’t laugh with because they have no compassion for other people. They don’t know how to laugh with others because they don’t know how to connect with others.

Trump criticizes Kamala’s laughter. “I call her laughing Kamala,” Trump said at a recent rally. “Have you seen her laughing? She is crazy.”

“You can tell a lot by a laugh,” he told supporters the other day. “She is nuts.”

One of Trump’s pals, Fox News host Sean Hannity, said on his show that voters “seem to detest” Harris on account of her readiness to laugh.

Republican compilations of her laughing are circulating online. Opposition research from the National Republican Senatorial Committee included “inappropriate laughter” as a way to criticize her.

Trump and his sycophants just don’t get it. In fact, they have it exactly backward. Americans love cheerfulness. We celebrate joyfulness.

Ronald Reagan understood this better than anyone. He always had a twinkle in his eye. It was always morning in America.

The most memorable moment in Reagan’s second presidential debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980 occurred when he chuckled and said, “There you go again.” The chuckle turned the comment from what might otherwise be seen as anger into a good-natured rebuke.

When Americans are asked to choose between the politics of joy and the politics of grimness, guess what? They’ll choose joy.

Refute J.D. Vance

This evening at 5P PDT a new group (with 80,000 signups already) called “White Dudes for Harris” is hosting what promises to be an epic fundraising, organizing, campaign kickoff call for the Harris campaign. Here’s the signup link:

I don’t usually respond to this sort of thing—and, until 2016, I had never sent even one thin dime to a political campaign. One of the many Republican talking-point lies put on the airways and in my email inboxes is, “Oh yeah, the Harris campaign hauled in a lot of donations [since Harris’ candidacy announcement]—but…”, “JD Vance” asserted to me in an email yesterday that “she’s raised over 100 million” [spoiler alert, it’s now over 200 million]. Here’s his (the Republican Party’s) desperate formulation:

NOW – Shadow Billionaires unfroze TENS of MILLIONS of dollars to bankroll Kamala to the finish line

In fact, the New York Times reports that two thirds of the donors to the Harris campaign in the last week are new donors. Vance’s “Shadow Billionaires” is right in line with the time in 2017 that Cathy McMorris Rodgers stood right in front of me and invoked “George Soros” as the evil money behind Democrats. That was a bald-faced lie then just like Vance’s “Shadow Billionaires” is now. (And never mind the $20 million from billionaire libertarian Peter Thiel that bought Vance’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022—but then, I suppose, Peter Thiel isn’t a “shadow” donor. )

At five o’clock (Pacific Daylight Time) this evening is the “White Dudes for Harris kickoff call”. You can sign up here:

Yes, they’ll ask you for money (contributed through ActBlue). Contribute what you can, if only $5. The point is in the number of people who join in—not so much the individual dollar donations. And, yes, you’ll probably be sent “White Dudes for Harris” emails for your trouble. All of that said, I urge you to join me in signing up. 

I’m not one for social media, but I’m thrilled with the involvement of young people energized and hopeful over the Harris candidacy. Below is just one of the previews and ads (this one on TikTok) for this evening’s call.

Here’s the link.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

And…did he really say that? Yes, he did.

Vote. Don’t wait until the last minute. Ballots are due in by 8PM August 6th, a week from tomorrow. The Progressive Voters Guide is very useful. Once you vote, urge other like-minded people to do their homework and vote as well. Many of our choices on the November General Election Ballot are determined by this Primary. Don’t sit this out or, thanks to our “top two” primary system in Washington State, you could be presented with two entirely unpalatable choices in November in some races. 

For more details about registering, voting, and ballot turn-in in Spokane County click here. A day or two after you turn in your ballot check at the VoteWA.gov portal to confirm that your ballot has been received and accepted. If you haven’t received your ballot by now (or it is lost in piles of junk mail), you can still vote using a “Replacement Ballot” accessible at VoteWA.gov. Don’t delay. 

And on the topic of voting:

Did he really say that?

Speaking at the Turning Point USA’s “The Believers Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida, last Friday, July 26th, Donald Trump said the authoritarian quiet part out loud. Near the end of his hour long rambling presentation to an assemblage of his adoring true believers of outright lies, insults, fabrications, and general horse manure Trump uttered these words:

“And again, Christians get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, y’know what. It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I’m not(?) Christian. I love you. Get out. Ya gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not gonna have to vote.”

Many of you have seen this quote presented by other Substack writers. I first saw it (with commentary) in Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From an American the next morning. Trump is blatantly announcing his intent, if he returns to power, to either dismantle or rig subsequent elections. As an admirer of Orban, Putin, and Xi we had best believe what he is plainly saying. 

You can watch the whole speech here on YouTube. I watched the whole sordid presentation to make sure the quote wasn’t somehow taken out of context. It was not. The quote appears near the end of the speech at 54:28. 

This quote should have been a headline in every major newspaper in the U.S. and the world—but, alas, if covered at all, it was mostly dismissed as “Trump being Trump”. No doubt Trumps surrogates, when asked, will downplay Trump’s plain words as Trumpian exaggeration. Think back to January 6th—and forward to the plans laid out by Project 2025 and the Supreme Court’s immunity decision. 

Spread this quote and the video link. We must not let this man back into the White House. 

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

Vote like your freedom depended on it–because it does

Sorry. cancer treatment yesterday addled my brain so I didn’t get this posted at the usual 5AM. But here it is now! 

Post: By now if you’re a Washington registered voter, you should have received your ballot for the August 6 Primary Election. Make note that your now former right to make your own reproductive healthcare decisions is up for election on this ballot and every ballot. Vote accordingly.

For much of the last half century we all thought it was marginally safe to vote for a Republican for state or local office. We believed that our rights to reproductive freedom, to obtain and use contraception, and to love whom we wished, were all guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights (as extended to the states under the 14th Amendment) and by Supreme Court precedent. Sure, Republicans made a lot of noise about things like fetal personhood, but they only managed to assault those rights around what we thought were the margins (e.g. the Hyde Amendment). Republicans elected officials could and did grandstand by enacting state laws that were (at the time) unenforceable or by, in the City of Spokane, looking the other way as The Church at Planned Parenthood harassed women seeking healthcare, Still, one could feel secure that the big question—our overall freedom on these issues—was secure and would remain so.

The Dobbs decision in 2022 stripped away that security (and Supreme Court precedent) like a wet bandaid. Republicans remain beholden to voters bent on taking us back to the “good old days” when women were second class citizens that weren’t trusted to manage their own reproductive health care. No Republican elected official in a legislative, executive, or judicial office will—if forced to vote or decide—will go against this reactionary minority of voters who wish to impose their sanctimonious will over the freedom of the majority. 

Your freedom is on your ballot. Vote for preservation of your rights to manage your life without government intrusion in its most private events. 

Below I have pasted an entry from Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse Substack on this issue that lays out this issue starkly. It is mostly focused on the Presidential race—but this issue is now a part of every down ballot race as well.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

Things That Matter, Desperately

JOYCE VANCE [no relation to the Republican VP candidate]

JUL 23

Often, we use the language of games when we describe politics: match-ups and races, finish lines, Hail Mary passes, and front runners. But this time, the game is deadly serious, especially if you’re a woman, someone who loves or cares about a woman, or just someone who cares about women in general.

Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s pick to be his vice president this go-round, is even more accommodating than Mike Pence was—hard to imagine. He’s said he would have blocked the certification of the Electoral College vote if it had been up to him on January 6, 2021. In addition to his willingness to abandon democracy, he’s completely comfortable sacrificing women’s rights. There is no doubt about where he stands on abortion. It’s so clear that he is essentially Trump’s guarantee to the most conservative parts of his base that he will support a national ban on abortion if reelected, no matter what comes out of his mouth in the meantime.

Vance’s position has long been that he’s “100% Pro-Life.” He scrubbed that off of his website recently, but you can still find it on the Way Back Machine. When he was on Face the Nation in May, Vance said that his view was the same as Trump’s, that abortion should be up to the states. But he conveniently hedged his bets, saying “the gross majority” of policy, whatever that means, would be set by the states. He also said, “I wanna save as many babies as possible,” and that he thought it was “totally reasonable to say that late-term abortions should not happen, with reasonable exceptions.” 

Even those recently adopted views would permit states to outright ban abortion and exclude exceptions that protect victims of rape and incest or the mother’s health. But it’s clear that these are Johnny-come-lately statements of convenience. In a debate while he was running for the Senate in 2022, Vance said that he was personally opposed to abortion rights and insinuated that a national ban on abortion would be welcome.

It’s reminiscent of the Supreme Court Justices who promised under oath at their confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade and women’s abortion rights were unchangeable law and then promptly overturned them. Do you believe what J.D. Vance said before he got the vice presidential gig or what he said before that? More importantly, what do the people who helped him land the vice presidential nomination with Trump believe he will do if he gets into office?

We all know where Vance stands. To confirm it, when Ohio’s Constitutional amendment codifying the right to abortion and contraception passed last November, Vance tweeted that it was a “gut punch.”

Now Vance is preparing to win that war, and we must not let that happen.

Donald Trump is the oldest presidential candidate in our history. That script he’s been using against Biden? It all applies to him. Unlike Biden, as a candidate, he hasn’t made important medical results like bloodwork or even his weight public. We still haven’t seen a report from a doctor with a valid medical license about his injuries during the shooting.

If Trump is elected, J.D. Vance is only a heartbeat away from the presidency. He’s the guarantor of support for a national abortion ban, and possibly more—Vance supports, or at least he still did publicly last year, the enforcement of the Comstock Act. As we discussed during the debate over the abortion drug mifepristone, Republicans have suggested enforcing the Comstock Act in an effort to prohibit the drug’s shipment in the mail, along with prohibiting any shipment of materials about abortion or equipment that could be used to perform one, even if it has dual purposes.

Back in April 2023, I wrote about the Act:

“In 1996 then-Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) tried to convince the House to take the Comstock Act off the books. They didn’t. But her floor speech has resonance today. She explained that the Act was named for a man named Anthony Comstock, who ‘was one of these people who decided only he knew what was virtuous and right, and somehow he managed to convince all sorts of people that this was correct.’ That sounds familiar.

She continued, ‘Anthony Comstock was a religious fanatic who spent his life in a personal crusade for moral purity—as defined, of course, by himself. This crusade resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of a multitude of Americans whose only crime was to exercise their constitutional right of free speech in ways that offended Anthony Comstock. Women seemed to particularly offend Anthony Comstock, most particularly women who believed in the right to plan their families through the use of contraceptives, or in the right of women to engage in discussions and debate about matters involving sexuality, including contraception and abortion.’”

Whether it’s Anthony Comstock, Donald Trump, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, or J.D. Vance, women don’t need men to tell them what they can do. They just don’t.

It’s hard to stay focused on just one issue in the times we live in, but abortion is a big deal. It’s important in and of itself—it’s health care, it’s the right to determine your own future, it’s the ability to preserve fertility or choose when it’s the right time to have a family. But it’s also a marker of the larger issue of whether women are first-class citizens with the same rights as men. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance don’t think so.

Kamala Harris is not officially in yet, but as of tonight, enough delegates have committed to her for her to become the Democratic nominee. She campaigned in earnest today, telling Americans, “I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”

We know what Trump thinks about women. He tells us all the time. Whether it’s the way he treats his wives, the sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels, the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll, or the grotesque way he’s talked about he own daughter Ivanka. Women are sexualized. And women are stupid in his view. He did that today with Kamala Harris, calling her “dumb as a rock.”

Today, it’s all fun and games, and we’re entitled to enjoy it, but we know what’s coming. So, get ready to vote. Democrats must make sure that neither Trump nor Vance has the chance to impose a national abortion ban. Democrats must win sufficient majorities in both houses of Congress if they intend to restore protections for abortion. Women and their allies need to vote like their lives depend on it this year, because quite literally, they do.

Remember the ad? Two young women are in a car, they’re racing to get out of state. “We’re almost there, you’re going to make it,” one says to the other, just as a police siren goes off behind them. A Trooper pulls them over. “Miss, I’m going to need you to get out of the vehicle,” he says in an Alabama accent, “and take a pregnancy test.” It seems far-fetched. But then, doesn’t everything about the rollback of women’s rights these days seem a little surreal? Take it seriously. Make it a reason you commit to vote and to help others understand the importance of voting in this election. Women’s rights to make their own decisions are on the line, and it matters desperately.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

Cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face

In the last pages of the August Primary Election’s “Your Spokane County Official Local Voters’ Pamphlet” you might have noticed (and wondered about) three “Propositions” from Fire Protection Districts (Nos. 4, 9, and 13) each asking for approval of a moderate property tax levy to support the District. (For orientation click this county map of Spokane County fire districts. FDs 4, 9, and 13 are all in the NE quadrant of the county.)

Voters living within the municipal boundary of the City of Spokane (just south of Fire District 9) never see a fire protection district levy plea on an election ballot. That’s because the City of Spokane Fire Department is funded through the budget of the City of Spokane municipal government. Most (perhaps all) of the rest of the overall Spokane County system of fire protection and emergency services comes under thirteen separate fire districts. All these districts, along with the City of Spokane Fire Department, work, mostly out of sight and out of mind, to provide emergency services and deal with the increasing threat of fire. Taken together they represent a major community service that I fear we take too much for granted.

In Spokane we just broke the all time record for the number of consecutive days of over 90 degree high temperatures. The ground is dry. The risk of wildfire, especially in the WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface) is high. When I last checked, today and tomorrow the wind was predicted to increase into the 10-20 mph range. All of this underlines the need for a rapid response to fire.

Home insurance rates are calculated not only on the manifestly rising risk of fire thanks to climate change, but also on the perceived fire response times based on factors like proximity to and staffing of the closest fire station. Fire Protection Districts are specified by Washington State law (RCW Title 52). Districts are managed by an elected board of fire commissioners (three to seven) serving with only per diem compensation. The districts are staffed by some combination of volunteers and paid professionals. It is a fair bet that all of this is managed—and the community’s needs are served—well beyond the awareness of the vast majority of voters. When a fire protection district goes to the trouble to submit a levy increase or replacement levy to a vote it seems to me a fair bet that there is a good reason—especially in our drying and heating climate (and in an inflationary monetary environment). 

If you are served by Fire Protection Districts 4, 9, or 13 (or you know someone who lives within those districts), vote yes on your levy and encourage others to do the same. In the long run you’re protecting yourself and your community, and, whether you can calculate it or not, you just might be curtailing the rate of rise of your home insurance bill. 

By now you should have your August Primary ballot in hand. Don’t wait. Vote! Don’t let a low ballot turn-in degrade your fire protection. 

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

P.S. For the rest of your August Primary Election ballot contests I recommend the Progressive Voters Guide. You can read a few more comments in last week’s post, Washington State Primary!! As of last Monday, my favorite negative voting guide, WeBelieveWeVote.com, was asking for readers to “Please pray for us as we work to resolve our technological issues,” The WBWV website recommends you check out the iVoterGuide.com. If you have time, it is educational to find a candidate, click on “View Candidate Profile” below the name and photo and scroll or click down to the Questionnaire. For the most part, only the most right wing of the candidates responded to the Questionnaire, perhaps on the theory that only similar right wingers would visit this website. Some of the responses are illuminating–and, from my view point, toxic. “iVoterGuide” doesn’t attempt to cover any race in Washington State any more local than state legislative candidates. 

French: “Climate Change is a political [sic] driven agenda”

Spokane County Commission Al French wants there to be a “clear record” that, although he recognizes “that the climate is changing,” “climate change is a political [sic] driven agenda.” Acknowledging that the climate is changing while claiming that it is misguided to address the cause of climate change is a familiar modern-day Republican talking point. Mr. French could only be more clear about his stance if he proclaimed that “climate change is a hoax.”

In direct contradiction of Mr. French, scientists who conspicuously lacked any “political agenda” have understood for one hundred and seventy years that atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (like methane) are major regulators of the earth’s temperature—and therefore its climate. This is not speculation, this is physics. Furthermore, we have direct measurements of the level of carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere since 1958 from the Mauna Loa observatory on the big island of Hawaii. (“The Mauna Loa Observatory has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Monitoring Laboratory’s Baseline Observatory network since 1972.” 1972 was back when Republicans and Republican administrations still believed in science.) Since 1958 levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have risen from 310 ppm to a new record this year [2024] of 425.22 ppm. For the 10,000 years leading up to the mid 1800s (the industrial revolution) atmospheric CO2 was nearly constant at 280 ppm. The striking rise of CO2 concentrations directly correlates with the striking rise in average global temperature and the ever-more-frequent extreme weather events global heating generates.

Mr. French asserts that efforts to lesson our dependence on the burning of fossil fuels will have “a negative impact on communities of color and low income” (see P.S. below). This is total nonsense. His “negative impact” assumes that converting to energy sources that require less burning of carbon fuels will cost builders more and that the cost will inevitably be passed on to home buyers and renters. He rejects (or is intentionally blind to) the long term savings of greater energy efficiency, the possibility of programs to help bridge the gap, and the severe negative effects—especially “to communities of color and low income”—of continuing to fuel global heating. 

The bedrock of Mr. French’s belief that climate change is a “political agenda” is a rejection of settled science. His projection is tantamount to the more plain assertion that climate science is a hoax. For Mr. French any official who supports lessening our dependence on burning fossil fuels is at best deluded or, at worst, cynically engaging in “politics” rather than engaging in a good faith effort to maintain a habitable planet. 

Molly Marshall, candidate for Spokane County Commissioner District 5 to replace Mr. French, understands climate science—as well as the dangers of wildfires and sharply rising insurance rates in response to climate-fueled environmental threats. Vote for Molly Marshall in August and in November. We cannot afford to keep science deniers like Mr. French in office.

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry

P.S. Here’s the story of the context of the Al French quote: Commissioner Chris Jordan, in a recorded meeting in November 2023, proposed to add the words “to help address climate change” to “Spokane County’s 2024 Legislative Agenda.” When a vote on the proposed amendment was taken, Commissioner Amber Waldref voted in favor along with Commissioner Jordan, while Commissioners Al French, Josh Kerns, and Mary Kuney voted “nay.” Following this vote that rejected Jordan’s amendment, Commissioner French felt the need to clarify his position. Commissioners Kerns and Kuney made no statement about their “nay” votes.

Here, in brackets, is Jordan’s proposed added language in context:

Spokane County’s 2024 Legislative Agenda

6. Public Building Energy Standards – Spokane County seeks legislative relief from House Bill 1257 known as The Clean Buildings Act. While Spokane County supports expanding affordable, reliable, clean energy sources [to help address climate change] the County requests that the Legislature provide financial assistance to facilitate compliance with The Clean Buildings Act. Spokane County also supports expanding flexibility of compliance pathways to include innovative, cost-effective technologies and strategies, consistent with climate pollution reduction goals.

What follows is a transcript of Al French’s comments on climate change, lest anyone suspect that his words “climate change is a political agenda” are taken out of context: 

“Since we want to continue to beat this horse, I will speak a little bit about why I did not vote to support the language with climate change. It’s because many of its policies are discriminatory in nature and disadvantage communities of color and low income with regard to access to housing and also are inflationary. Again negative impact, communities of color and low income. Not only through the actions that try and harmonize construction techniques in the state of Washington that clearly favor western Washington and disadvantage eastern Washington. The elimination of natural gas is just one example of bad policy created under the banner of climate change. So we have to be more thoughtful about how we take actions and so it’s not as though we’re not in favor of trying to be smart about how we develop alternative energy sources and how we become more efficient, but as I said this morning the banner of climate change is a political banner that bad policy is adopted underneath. And just so that there is a clear record, I recognize that the climate is changing. I recognize that there are things that we can do, but the banner of climate change is a political driven agenda that I do not support because it has a negative impact on communities of color and low income in this community, which is one of my priorities. Thank you.”

Taken from the youtube video of the November 7, 2023 Spokane County Commission’s 2PM Legislative Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/Gt4jyNXIkX8 . The discussion of Jordan’s motion to amend starts at around 20:26, French’s statement at 28:20.

A key chance for you to be heard

The August 6th Washington State Primary Election ballots are being mailed this week and should be in your mailbox in the next few days. Watch for it. Do your homework early, then encourage like-minded friends and neighbors to do the same. (I know that focusing on state and local elections while the presidential campaigns are drawing all the headlines is challenging—but it is essential. See below.)

This Primary is of paramount importance to setting up the choices that you will have in November General Election. For races on your ballot with more than two candidates our votes in the Primary will determine the choices we have on the November General Election ballot. Do not ignore the Primary!

For most of the choices on your ballot I encourage you to check out the Progressive Voters Guide. Click that link and then enter your address after clicking Click here to choose your customized guide. The Progressive Voters Guide is very helpful in sorting out the rhetoric, but it does not cover Superior Court Judge races, nor does it make the choice among progressive candidates for Congressional District 5. That’s understandable, but a potential problem (see below). (My favorite negative voters’ guide, WeBelieveWeVote.com, wasn’t up and running yet as of yesterday. I’ll keep watch.)

Congressional District 5

Eastern Washington’s federal Congressional District (CD) 5 is an “open” seat. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who held this seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for twenty years, is retiring at the end of 2024. There are eleven candidates for this office on your ballot, five “Prefers Democratic Party” and six “Prefers Republican Party.” Based on the results of the Primary, only two will appear on the November General Election Ballot. (This is thanks to our “top two” or “jungle”primary system—as opposed to ranked choice voting.) If too many Democratic voters fail to vote in this Primary—or vote but evenly split among the Democratic candidates—the choice we have in November could be between two entirely unpalatable MAGA Republicans. This is especially true if Republican voters turn out and are convinced to vote for the two “Prefers Republicans” who have amassed the biggest war chests. 

As a Democratic voter, how to choose? Money is certainly not everything, but these days in the U.S. it is a significant indicator of a candidate’s support and of their ability to mount a successful General Election campaign. Sadly, there is no point in voting for a candidate who has attracted very little money to spend on their campaign. Campaign finance data is available to us, the general public, (complete through June 30)—but accessing it requires a bit of diligence. Campaign data for candidates for federal offices (U.S. Senate and U.S. House) is found at fec.gov (that’s Federal Election Commission). The pulldown menu “Campaign finance data” offers “Find elections, search by state or zip code”. Enter your zip code. This link should take you to the webpage listing all the CD5 candidates (including some who are no longer in the race). 

Let me be clear. I know and I like the personality and the values of all four of the most active “Prefers Democratic Party” candidates. (Bennet-Wolcott has little money, no effective campaign, and has not appeared at any campaign event of which I’m aware. Mr. Welde is well-spoken, has appeared at campaign events, but has attracted minimal campaign funds.) I am hopelessly torn among the other three, Carmela Conroy, Dr. Bernie Bank, and Ann-Marie Danimus. I personally believe that Carmela Conroy is the best equipped (by her long experience in the Foreign Service) to get things done in Congress, but I would be delighted to have any one of these three advance to the November General Election ballot. Of course, it would be lovely if two of them advanced to November—but that is a pipe dream at best. The key here is to get as many people who value women’s rights, truth, and democracy to pay attention and cast their ballot in the Primary. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment.

A Quick Note on Superior Court Judges

There are thirteen judgeships in Spokane County Superior Court. Although all of them are technically up for election this year, only two of them have drawn challengers, Judges Marla Polin and Timothy Fennessy—and only Judge Fennessy appears on the August Primary ballot—because he has drawn more than one challenger (three). (Judge Polin and her single challenger will advance to the November General Election automatically.) Earlier this year there were some rumblings that Judge Fennessy planned to retire, leaving an open seat. Clearly, this is a major part of the reason for his drawing three challengers. In April (according to a very confusing article in the Spokesman) several of the other judges on the Spokane County Superior Court bench asked Judge Fennessy to stay on, as a judge with greater experience than any of the five other judges that have been appointed since 2022. (Judge Fennessy has served since 2017.) I have briefly met Judge Fennessy, I have read several of his opinions, and of the people in the legal profession whom I know all have high regard for him. I will cast a vote for Judge Fennessy. As an aside, there is a rumor among some with whom I have talked that a measure of the enthusiasm for challenging Judge Fennessy is based on his writing the opinions in favor of Planned Parenthood in the case against “Pastors” Matt Shea’s and Ken Peters’ “The Church at Planned Parenthood (TCAPP).” I haven’t the stomach to search out and listen Shea’s and Peter’s judicial recommendations, so take this rumor as you will. 

Vote and remind your friends to do the same!!!

Keep to the high ground,

Jerry