*** ORBUSMAX GUEST OP/ED ***

'LEAVING WASHINGTON': Too tired of the extreme left and inept government = Adios - By 'Jack Frost'

April 6, 2004


We're leaving Washington State - which will, no doubt, be greeted with joy by an assortment of spoil-sports who lack the prime prerequisite needed in this world, humor - something we found too little of after sailing south from Alaska. Too many people seeming to take themselves too seriously? Guess so. It probably began with that sickly first impression; Washington has the absolute worst drivers in the country. Seems understandable - even the driving instructors mope down the middle, clogging up the outer passing lanes. Students apparently are never taught the rules of the road: Keep Right Except To Pass -- Slower Traffic Keep Right. Seems they were never properly taught: KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS. That pathetic bunch becomes even worse when the cell phone becomes attached to the ear. And verrrry dangerous.

And, seriously, they're driving on the worst highways imaginable while a group of misfits holding office in Seattle and Olympia struggle to maintain the Sound Transit abortion, the crummiest boondoggle imaginable. They've built, what, 70 or so highway miles in the last decade or so, while the mileage traveled increased by over 2-1/2 million? In the meantime, the transportation bureaucracy is about twice that of Michigan, which has, ironically, about double the highway miles. And the cost to build each highway mile in Washington is, I read, something like 40% above the national average? If those numbers are accurate, that's ugly. Very!

So, whom should we hold accountable?

The totally inept governor, the attorney general or maybe the legislature? They've all kept us from having the much needed Performance Audit, something every other state has to check on where money's wasted; where it's being properly spent/invested. Candidly, I don't think there's very much of the latter. Ethics either.

The public votes on car license tabs. The public's ignored; they're raised regardless. Don't like the "light-rail" fiasco? Screw 'em, they say, build it anyway. The public votes "no" on a stadium. The city fathers and mothers build one anyway. Their contempt for us, the unmitigated gall, is thoroughly sickening.

And, on that topic, symptomatic of the whole Washington fiscal and political scene, the late Kingdome was built for 55-mil, right? But when it was knocked down 25 years later, what was owed? Something like $127 million, correct? And who admits responsibility? Or doesn't the apathetic public give a damn? And, if they did care, would anything change? Doubtful. Aside from three on the Seattle City Council, removed for strip-club silliness, I don't believe anyone's been kicked out of office. In fact, you continually elect/re-elect/re-appoint these nitwits.

One might have thought that those in the Offices of Such Importance (Locke, Gregoire, Sims, et al) might have learned something from those upsetting nuclear plant financial disasters of a few decades ago. But no wonder there's so much discontent among the area businesses, large and small - a completely disreputable state government, which, if it's not actually corrupt, has definitely gone bonkers in terms of efficiency - or the lack thereof. Safeco would leave if it feasibly could; Boeing has - despite the goofy governor's belated attempts to foster some "semblance of understanding." Or, perhaps that masquerades as a bribe. Or, bribes, plural? Certainly hasn't worked. And we haven't even touched on the bureaucratic red tape, licenses and over-regulation that make this such an Unfriendly To Business state of affairs. Businesses have only begun to leave Washington.

But there's so much more - the sum of its parts makes Washington intolerable. The sum of only some of its parts makes it laughable. Almost. It's so very frustrating!

Like, a felon with a rap sheet a mile long tries to run over a cop. He's shot. His sympathizers tie up traffic on the freeway for hours. No one arrested.

Car thieves have to be nabbed seven times before they face any "serious time?" They seem to forget: If You Commit A Crime, You're Guilty. Period.

People do Mardi Gras partying downtown and some thugs beat up some people. One young man gets killed by a creep who is, appropriately, named Slaughter, right? A young woman battered by a bunch of punks, clobbered. No one wants to admit that they're racially motivated - wouldn't be Politically Correct. The police are afraid to inflame emotions? Or something. And a bunch of criminals get away with it! Despite brass knuckles, a judge releases Slaughter so he can beat up someone else a short time later at The Gorge. Other weird or warped judges release convicted rapists, while a drunken member of the State Supremes skates after a hit-and-run "mishap" - no jail time either.

That sucks!

And all along we thought that a little jail time was mandatory. Not if you're Bobbie Bridges. Other so-called prosecutors want to cut-a-deal/plea-bargain rather than do their jobs. So sad.

Annnd, lest we forget, that same Supreme Court in a virtual plethora of other loony decisions, 'most all in favor of larger government and higher taxation. Or letting murderers off. Shameful.

Then, Judy, Heidi, Lacata and the other supercilious souls on the Seattle City Council were a tad more concerned with salmon on the Snake River than solving the city's multitude of problems. Resolutions on the Iraqi war and circus animals were among their other priorities; too little of any real or positive substance. Seattle, Ron Sims-and-friends want to build an expensive new flop-house allowing drunks to drink in a city run "refuge" for alcoholics. Unfathomable! $600,000 blown on some portable toilets, subsidized art in garbage transfer stations; and the driving-without-a-license law becomes less than a misdemeanor; not even a slap on the wrist. The cops' hands are tied - they can't even ask if the driver is in our country legally! Or illegally. It might be laughable if it weren't so damned tragic.

Still, other questions come to mind.

When will Bill Gates (1) get his tax-increasing - big government, semi-socialist pop to shut-the-hell-up or move to France? And (2) might he refuse to accept a paycheck until he's able to solve that idiotic "You've Conducted An Illegal Operation/you're Shut Down" problem? A pox upon his operation.

But, seriously, again --

Why were there defenders of those totally dishonest high school "counselors" who inflated grades? They should have been axed. Yet they're defended?

About 60% of the high school graduates require remedial work when they step into junior college - often "A" and "B" students who were conned by their teachers to believe that they'd actually been taught something are amazed to find out that they're ill equipped to handle real work (but, wow, their self-esteem is outstanding!). Hell, over 30% of Seattle parents were so dissatisfied they reportedly pulled their kids from public schools to get them educated in private schools, afford it or no - even before vouchers were approved! One teachers' union, the hideously misnamed Maryville Education Association, owns that sad little town; the kids are the victims. In fact, unions have such a disproportionate share of influence statewide, no wonder Washington is failing to attract new business. They've priced the state out of business, and there's no "right to work" law. Again, sad.

One could thank God that Gary Locke's not running again, but consider the alternatives: Christine Gregoire's mishandling of the Boys Ranch mess, and the tobacco loot, among other things (like not insisting that striking teachers return to work, be fined or fired as they were in violation of the law) - and she expects you to elect her governor?

Strange thing is, you probably will. Her, or Ron Sims. What a dismal choice. If that's the best you can choose from, the state of Washington is in mighty serious trouble! Incidentally, to prove a lack of party prejudice, thought Slade Gorton was unprincipled as well - his lobbying for Sound Transit destroyed any semblance of good judgment.

That said, if one takes a step back to reflect on the national view - you might ask, what was Dubya thinking when he OK'd the leasing of Boeing 767 refueling planes. Costs us taxpayers a bundle in excess of what should have been the legitimate cost - almost makes Patty Murray appear as if she actually knows what she's doing. For a change. Fortunately, it's "under review," being reconsidered.

Oh, and on the subject of embarrassments, haven't even mentioned demented Jim McDermott. Or the ungodly department of so-called Health & Human Services. 'Til now. 'Nuff said.

And on the subject of politics, while I'm no Republican and didn't vote for George W. Bush (nor Gore!), I've never witnessed such unbridled hate as I've observed here in Western Washington, directed toward Dubya. Lies, misstatements, exaggerations. Unhealthy? Yeah. But the extreme left has pulled the plug of good taste. Marginal taste, even. Can you say disgusting? Placed in context, it's like a bad dream - enough to make an optimist like me cringe. Or move.

Unfortunately, I have very little hope for the region; there are limited media folks who have any semblance of reality (Dori Monson is a very rare exception; the totally goofy Mike Webb and pompous/sanctimonious Fred Ebert constitute the "unhinged" factor in talk radio, dedicated disciples of the Marxist-Leninist contingency) and the newspapers read like Pradva and The Daily Worker; arrogant clowns like Joel Connelly would probably feel much more at home in Beijing, or Havana. Damned unfortunate.

So, leaving a sinking ship? Perhaps. But we're grossly outnumbered; we producers are a minority now - the socialists who want to redistribute my income (and yours, probably) to those too lazy to work? I've about had enough.

Maybe a final example will summarize and illustrate the sheer stupidity of what we're going to joyfully leave behind when we leave the area -- the totally repulsive waste of money "invested" by spendthrifts who purchased idiotic signs which can be noted in Everett (among other places, I'd wager): "You Are Now Entering A Drug Free Zone" -- as if, before crossing the street, we'd just been willingly hob-nobbing with cocaine dealers and assorted pot-heads? Political correctness run amuck, like proclaiming a "Nuclear-Free" zone? That'll do you a lot of good, I'm sure... Although those signs are only a small, penny-ante example, it's just too typical of the mindset, spending money on such lunacy is beyond dumb. How much did they cost, and who paid whom to write and design? Install, etc. It would appear as if some deranged bureaucrat or city-councilman proposed 'em. But somebody signed-off and approved them, right? Somebody you might vote out of office next time? Very doubtful -- it's ludicrous!

Anyway, if they were so determined to spend (AKA "waste") our taxpayer dollars to order some signs, it might have been a whole bunch better if they'd gotten the ones that read "Slower Traffic Keep Right" or "Keep Right Except To Pass," 'ay?

Sorry, gang, but I fear that Washington State is beyond repair. I'm not a sore loser, but I do admit lacking the patience to fight the multiple "City-Halls" and Olympia. It's a little too late. No, it's a lot too late. So, adios -- if, for no other reason, than to escape the 60s hippies culture in Seattle: like the balding, gray haired old guys with silly looking ponytails. So, Texas Gulf Coast, here we come - where the pony tails are on, you guessed it, ponies.

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"Jack Frost" is a retired broadcaster and all'round malcontent, married to a Ph.D. college professor of the non-watermelon persuasion.