This just in! Well not really. This news came in about two months ago, and I wasn’t blogging back then, but apparently John Ahern thinks the people of Spokane are idiots. If you read his press release from March 26th (found here), he has statements from “area residents,” who are none other then party leaders for the Spokane GOP. He mentions Curt Fackler “of Spokane” who just happens to be the Spokane County Republican Party Chair. Gee, that’s real concern in the Spokane area for Washington State’s budget, a partisan politician quoting concern from a partisan party leader. What comes next? Robin Ball, a gun store owner, who according to her employees (right before I got kicked out for mentioning Peter Goldmark) is personal friends with Cathy McMorris.
Curt Fackler, the aforementioned Spokane GOP chair, is so far out in right field that he invited the founder of the Minuteman Project, Jim Gilchrist, to Spokane for the local GOP Lincoln Day dinner. Gilchrist told local Repuglicans that “It’s OK to say ‘rapist,’ ‘robber’ and ‘murder,’ and it’s OK to say ‘illegal alien’ – not ‘undocumented worker.’” (Source: Spokesman Review). Who in their right mind tolerates this racist, hateful rhetoric?
Thanks Curt! Thanks for trying to make Spokane such a tolerant and nice place to live.
The comments Ms. Ball made however are so terribly inaccurate it’s sickening. Unfortunately, I think some of these poor folks have been so brainwashed that they can’t even form their own opinions. While Robin does mention the typical tax-and-spend Democratic mantra that Republicans love, she fails to mention that the REPUBLICANS for the last 6 years have allowed free-fall spending and budgeting in this country, putting the United States further into debt then it has ever been. So instead of “tax-and-spend Democrats” (which is a myth) we had borrow-and-spend Repuglicans.
So what do you take us for John Ahern? Idiots? Half-wits? All it takes is an occasional glance at the Spokesman Review to know who these people are. If you are trying to represent concern in the community regarding the state budget, try and use anonymous Republicans, not your own party big whigs. This will make you slightly more believable, but only slightly.
So, in the long run, which option is really better for this country?
**In an update Shannon Ball is also the former county GOP Chair, she served during the 2004 election cycle.**
June 13, 2007 at 11:22 pm
The City of Spokane is home to large groups of white Christian conservatives, something most liberals in this town already know. Fackler’s comments come as no surprise.
June 14, 2007 at 11:29 pm
This story’s pretty old. Controversial speakers like to draw controversy. I disagreed with the GOP’s decision to bring Gilchrist to town, but what if Churchill would have been the keynote speaker for the local Jefferson-Jackson Dinner (or what is the politically correct name for it now)?
Thank G_d (goodness) for the value of freedom of speech…
June 15, 2007 at 10:03 am
While I did want to bring up the situation (which like I said was prior to my blog starting) that was not the purpose. I was attempting to point out the fact that Ms. Ball and Mr. Fackler are not ordinary citizens of Spokane. They are leaders in the local GOP, and Ahern is treating people as idiots by presenting them as normal people.
June 15, 2007 at 1:00 pm
“Freedom of Speech” is also a cloak that racists, bigots, and anti-Semitic people hide behind. A wolf in sheeps clothing is still a wolf. Now, regarding John Ahern and the rose colored glasses he wears while scribbling down sound bites from his GOP buddies? Mr. Ahern needs to step out of his comfort zone and reach out to the working class (and there are PLENTY in his district) if he’s really concerned about the budget and Spokane.
June 15, 2007 at 2:39 pm
That’s true, many folks with controversial, bigoted, racist, and unorthodox opinions shield themselves with the First Amendment, but we as a liberal (in the classical sense of the word) American society believe that everyone should be free to air their views and hold it up to public scrutiny and debate. What’s disturbing is the knee-jerk reaction to a speech given on the effects of illegal immigration. How is this discussion automatically judged “racist?”
I believe that carelessly throwing around the “r-word” epithet to describe folks concerned with border security and the proper administration of federal law is a blatant attempt to dissuade people from exercising their First Amendment rights. How are we to have a civil discussion on the major issues of the day if we’re too busy calling each other names?
July 3, 2007 at 11:27 am
“Who wants to be an Idiot?”
You win. Thanks for playing.
January 28, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Thank you for pointing out the failed and racist mentality of the mentality of the Facklers and the Gilchrists of the world. I also enjoy how the “Friendly Neighborhood Council-man” (another courageous blogger hiding behind anonymity) who carelessly throw around the words “border security” and “proper administration of federal law” and every other manner of scare language to intimidate and — in the case of the fascists in power today — to shut people up post-911.