Jumping the gun
I figured Willamette Weed & Mushroom would wait until Labor Day to start their full-on assault against Betsy Johnson, so that their darling, that hideous Tina Kotek, can become governor and continue Oregon's current trajectory.
But heck no. The Weedies had their in-house Jack Ruby (with a "contribution" by his constant henchperson on this particular year-long hit job) jump in the week before Labor Day, playing a whole bunch of cards at once.
It's done in the usual Weed style: some positives to suck you in, but on balance brutally negative, always quoting "critics" but saying exactly what the Weed-meisters would have said if you asked them directly.
Johnson directed her ire not at the property owner who filled the wetlands, but at the agency that tried to enforce the law to reverse the damage....
“Everything she actually does is aimed at undermining the land use system for the benefit of land speculators,” she says....
“She is also a study in crony capitalism.”...
Each of McCall’s legacies favored the broader public over the narrower interests of a few. Critics say Johnson often does the reverse.
You get the picture. And if you didn't, don't worry. They'll take six or eight more runs at it until you do. The ballots get mailed out around October 19.
The fact remains that Kotek is Hillary 2.0. I didn't vote for 1.0, and although I would never vote for a Republican, for anything, I am finished with "holding my nose." Deez Nuts was fine with me. Yes, with a third-party candidate on the ballot, we got Trump, and Bush Jr., both of which were holy hell. But I'm still me. Maybe the Democratic Party establishment should have learned a lesson, rather than expecting me to give in.
Anyway, the only thing the Weed's hit pieces are going to convince me to do is laugh at the obviousness of their bias. It really is amusing sometimes.
They're not wrong. Rigging the system for cronies and reflexive opposition to regulations that constrain 'property rights' is her brand.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the crony part. But opposition to regulations coming out of Salem is actually a plus for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, clean air, clean water, and having protection from being hosed down with aerial pesticide spray is a luxury this state just can't afford any more. Reflexive opposition to regulations without regard to what, when why, where, and how is nihilism. I thought you were a big proponent of gun regulations.
DeleteYou know, you're kind of into troll territory here. Take a week or two off or you will be banned.
DeleteI had a different reaction to the WW Johnson article. If anything, it kind of opened me up a bit more to considering her seriously. Her tactics on getting things done seemed more reasonable than Kotek's, and I took the negative statements with a big grain of salt based on the context of the person making them (generally had a particular bone to pick). My biggest red flags on Johnson are her stance on abortion and gun control. I need to better understand what she'll do around these two items. If she supports right to choose and is willing to push for some basic gun controls, I could see voting for her.
ReplyDeleteIf you trust her, she says she's resigned to Oregon's current stance on abortion rights, and she's open to some tightening of gun laws. If you trust her.
Delete