Read All About It!

 This is all over MeWe and Gab already, but on the of chance you haven't sen it, Time Magazine just published what amounts to a SuperVillain Monologue that details how the presidential election of 2020 was rigged. 

Oh, wait. How the Presidential Election of 2020 was fortified to ensure that Democracy was saved! 

The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

Interestingly, that's the way the title on the web page reads, but the tab calls it "The Secret Bipartisan Campaign..."

There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy.

The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors. The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.

Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result. “The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program.

But's was okay, because Trump did it first by saying mail-in ballots were insecure. 

#MaidenGate

UPDATE: As of 1900 hours PST L's Twitter account @SomeBitchIKnow has been suspended for "violating the Twitter rules." Apparently, her quip about "Rumors of my death should be regarded as suspicious unless they involve a jet ski" were a cry for help.

 "L", (Twitter user @SomeBitchIKnow; homepage here. Her internet handle is some variation on that across platforms) has done some digging and learned that there was a concerted, organized effort across the nation to harvest votes by casting fraudulent second ballots in the maiden name of married women.

#MaidenGate is a viral hashtag uncovering a peculiar type of abuse in our elections. Some married women vote in one state, under their current name, while someone—a political predator—casts a vote in that same state or a state which the woman previously lived under a previous or maiden name. 

This same technique may affect adopted persons, the divorced, people who changed their names and/or transgendered persons. 

Here is L's #MaidenGate page. That page goes to a list of how to check your voter registration and ballot status in every state. (Note: Link is set to open in a new window. I am currently using the Brave browser, which does not like this page; it hangs up, and "runs out of memory." Works in Chrome, though.)

All those calls and texts Mrs. Drang was getting to check if  she was voting...? (By the way. the joke was on them: She is registered to vote under her maiden name...)

You can also use these to check voting status if you have moved a lot, but 

We are not looking for individuals who have registrations in multiple states. That’s a problem but not this problem. We are not even looking for individuals who are registered multiple times in the same state. Again, a problem but not the scope of this problem. We are looking for individuals who voted in this election (or chose not to) but also had another vote cast in a previous legal name of theirs at an address they previously occupied.

For this specific issue, if you determine that you have(or someone you know has) been a victim:

  ➡ What you must provide in order to file a complaint:

• Screenshot proof of where you currently are registered to vote and did you vote in this election
• Screenshot proof of your identity (be it under your name or a past name) registration in a place you no longer reside; and that a ballot was cast.
• You may be asked for a copy of your current identification or driver’s license 

If you are able to provide this evidence, you’ll be asked to sign an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, attesting that you believe someone committed a crime against you and that you, yourself, did not commit this voter fraud

IF YOU DISCOVER THAT YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS A VICTIM: 

Please, email stopthesteal@protonmail.com 

 

 

"Unity"

They're makin' a list, they're checkin' it twice...

 The Trump Accountability Project

 "We must never forget those who furthered the Trump agenda.

"We should welcome in our fellow Americans with whom we differ politically. 

"But those who took a paycheck from the Trump Administration should not profit from their efforts to tear our democracy apart. The world should never forget those who, when faced with a decision, chose to put their money, their time, and their reputations behind separating children from their families, encouraging racism and anti-Semitism, and negligently causing the unnecessary loss of life and economic devastation from our country's failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Coming together starts with acknowledging the truth: These individuals have shattered laws and norms that hurt our democracy, including right now, as they use the levers of government — DOJ, GSA and state officials — to subvert the fundamental underlying tenet that makes America what it is: The peaceful transfer of power from the loser of an election to the winner."

Because nothing says "progressive agenda" like an enemies list leading to a good Marxist purge.

Truth

One of my favorite parts of this is the people who spent the last four years insisting the 2016 election was rigged now demanding that after four days, in an election where we have demonstrated actual evidence of irregularities, @realDonaldTrump must concede.

No.

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) November 8, 2020

"Vote rigging: How to spot the tell-tale signs" + an Update

From Nitay Arbel at his blog Spin, Strangeness, Charm comes a link to this BBC item from 2016, on vote-rigging election fraud in Africa.

Or Detroit, Philadelphia, Wisconsin, Tucson...

Vote rigging: How to spot the tell-tale signs

(Should open in a new window.)

In his own post, Mr. Arbel offers this summary of the Beeb article:

• Anomalously high voter turnout. Even countries with mandatory voting (like Belgium or Australia, where you can get fined for not voting!) only reach 90-95% turnout.
• Conspicuously high turnouts in specific areas. “Why would one particular area, or one individual polling station, have a 90% turnout, while most other areas register less than 70%?”
• A large percentage of invalid votes/voided ballots. (I’d make an exception for countries with mandatory voting, like Belgium, where a certain percentage of voters would deliberately void their ballots by, e.g., writing helpful anatomical suggestions across it.)
• More votes than ballot papers issued
• Results that don’t match. (Even in Africa, citizen poll observers increasingly use cell phones to document vote counts.)
• Inordinate delay in announcing the result: this can often reflect the need to either manufacture more of the desired votes, or to go back and disqualify more of the undesired votes. 

UPDATE: Mr. Arbel has posted three "Videos Worth Seeing".

To me, the most astonishing thing about the blatant fraud is that it is so blatant. Plus, frankly, Larry Correia is right (as usual):

I am more offended by how ham fisted, clumsy, and audacious the fraud to elect him is than the idea of Joe Biden being president. I think Joe Biden is a corrupt idiot, however, I think America would survive him like we’ve survived previous idiot administrations. However, what is potentially fatal for America is half the populace believing that their elections are hopelessly rigged and they’re eternally fucked. And now, however this shakes out in court, that’s exactly what half the country is going to think.

I am sure you never would have thought anyone would tell you a blog post discussing the process of auditing the books would be interesting, but if you think about it, if anyone could make it so, Larry Correia is The Man, and the application to election fraud is pretty clear.

The Riot Makers

Currently reading The Riot Makers, by Eugene Methvin. 

(At Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yyg7c4kc Good luck!)

(At Archive.org: https://tinyurl.com/y4vnv2yc One hour or 14 day loan, updated/corrected. No print, copy, etc of e-book loaner.)

Published in 1970, and apparently only in one print run, it is an in-depth study of commie methods of inciting riots, based on the "disorder" of the 1960s, primarily in the United States, both on- and off-campus. 

I realize that in some corners the phrase "commie methods of inciting riots" makes the author (and me, I suppose) sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the evidence is pretty compelling.

The book opens with a description of the Newark, NJ, riot of July, 1967. 1967, of course, having been the "Long, Hot Summer".

The author then follows the history of social engineering from Lenin to Mao, with brief looks at the Gracchi brothers and Mark Antony, Sam Adams, the "Babouvists" of the French Revolution, and Karl Marx.

The history of Lenin and social engineering is detailed, as is the description of the social engineering process. 

One constant theme is they manner in which communications technology facilitates the organizing and incitement process; it takes absolutely no imagination at all to add the internet and cellular telephones to radio and television and see how that amplifies the effect. 

You have probably heard the saying that "History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme"; reading this book with an eye towards current events will certainly confirm the notion, if not, as I alluded to above, make you think about triple-layering your tin-foil hat. 

I got this book through an inter-library loan, courtesy the King County Library system. If you can find a copy, I strongly urge you to do so.

EDITED to add: The writing style and attitudes in this book may seem dated. Certainly, some of the psychological and sociological terminology used is out of date and/or obsolete. Also, this book was published back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, when I was growing up, and "Negro" was still the word used in polite company. Some may find that jarring, or even, this being 2020, offensive.

Here's a documentary based on the book:

Elections -- The Good, The Bad...

Today is the Presidential Primary in Washington State

The Good: Washington is 100% Paper Ballot.¹

The Bad: Washington is 100%¹ mail-in ballot, which degrades the integrity and security of paper ballots.

Neutral: In a Presidential Primary only the Democratic and Republican candidates appear.

The Ugly: Washington requires you to declare which party you're voting for²...

The Loathsome: ...on the outside of the mailing envelope. (Check a box and sign it, on the outside for all the world to see.)

1. It is possible to request an account to vote electronically. I have no idea how many have availed themselves of this.
2. We are not registered as members of that party, simply declaring on the primary ballot who we're voting for. 

Now, the Republican Party of Washington is fine with doing away with the declaration, and failing with their attempt to eliminate it, to make it a private thing.

The Democratic Party of Washington refused -- and the Democrats have solid control of Olympia.

The Secretary of State announced she would not be voting "due to privacy concerns."

And, since the ballots are printed with the list of candidates the party designates in early January or February, it may well be inaccurate by March. In the case of the Democratic roster this year, it still included all those candidates no one ever heard of, as well as the three who are still in the race.

Three? Why, yes, Hawaii's Tusli Gabbard has not dropped out yet. (Unless I missed a very recent development.)

And yet, all the DNC Mandarins and the Mainstream Media (but I repeat myself) are wailing because of the sexism which resulted in Elizabeth "Fauxcahontas" Warren, who couldn't even win her own home state, dropping out.

Do they hate Tulsi because she's young? Because she's a veteran? Because she's a Pacific Islander...?

WA - Repeal I-1639!

A petition is being circulated to put Ballot Initiative 1094 on the next ballot.

Ballot Initiative 1094 ("The People's Defense of the Second Amendment Act of 2020") would have the effect of repealing I-1639, that mish-mash of social justice virtue signalling and feel-good measures that make life ore difficult for the law-abiding, while doing nothing about crime, that was passed despite blatant illegal and unethical behavior.

Just another election in Seattle, in other words.

The text of I-1094 is here. (Opens as a .pdf.)

The website Washington State Gun Control has links to lists of "where to sign", in both map and spreadsheet format.

I walked over to my Friendly Local Gun Store, which is listed, and they said they were waiting on a fresh batch; the owner showed me a stack of completed petitions, and commented that they had been cautioned to only hand them to someone who is known to them as a representative of the organizers, as "the opposition" is known to have sent folks out to pick them up with promises to turn them in, although what they would turn them into, is another question.

Compost, no doubt.

I made the comment that it might be worthwhile to check ID, and preferably voters registration cards, of those signing: Given the shenanigans the backers of I-1639 got up to, it would not surprise me if they were to steal completed petitions, or send people out to deliberately make false entries, hoping to get them tossed out.I had my own voter's registration card out as I walked in, to make sure I put my address on the petition exactly as the state has it, to make sure my signature wouldn't be tossed out.

Recently, we had a rather egregious example of the kind of bull shit the left in this state gets up to: Olympia regularly ignores the wishes of the people, and passes various and sundry rate increases over our vote. It costs an absurd amount to register your vehicle in this state -- two hundred dollars or more to register a fairly new car in King County, most of which goes to the "Regional Transit Authority", to subsidize mass transit.

We keep passing initiatives to limit the cost of car tabs to $30, and they keep imposing these surtaxes.

A new initiative passed.

King County announced it was going to sue to have the initiative tossed out.

Apparently they feel subsidized bus rides are a Constitutional Right.

A Review Which Should Not Be Necessary

I hear Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to impose term limits on congresscritters.

Must be the beard.

Meanwhile, the ignorance on display daily among voters (or non-voters, if they make that choice) is bad enough, but the media should know better, and anyone in government, whether hired, appointed, or elected...!

Anyway.

So Nancy Pelosi claims that according to the Constitution, she is the equal of the President.



Meanwhile, I keep being told it's the President's fault that a Democratic senator filibustered the budget bill the House sent there, or that the house has since failed to send a clean bill to the Senate, so that body can send it to the President...



While we're at it...

WA: Court Rules For NRA in Legal Challenge to Ballot Title

As seen in The Clue Meter: WA: NRA Files Legal Challenge Against Misleading Ballot Title for Gun Control Initiative, a legal challenge was filed against a gun-grabbing ballot initiative here in Washington on the grounds that the title was illegally misleading.

This just in:
From NRA-ILA:

Yesterday, in a defeat for Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Initiative 1639 proponents, the Thurston County Superior Court sided in part with the NRA and found that certain parts of the ballot title were deceptive and misleading.  As a result, they ordered amendments to several key provisions of the initiative’s ballot title.  While the ballot title remains inadequate to inform voters of the real effects of the initiative, the outcome of yesterday’s hearings did result in clarifying changes that more accurately describe the sweeping provisions of the initiative’s text. With the title for Initiative 1639 now finalized, proponents of this 22-page initiative will have until July 6th to get 259,622 valid signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot. As previously reported, NRA filed a legal challenge in Thurston County Superior Court contesting the ballot title language as prepared by anti-gun Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.  Yesterday, the court held a hearing on the legal challenges filed by NRA and other petitioners.   Some of the changes included: Changing “enhanced” background checks to “increased”.  Initiative 1639 would require state background checks on all purchases and transfers of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms. Added “allows fees” to the description.  The proposed initiative would allow the Department of Licensing to charge a $25 purchase fee (GUN TAX) on transfers of semi-automatic rifles. Clarified the description for the storage mandate provision.  If passed, Initiative 1639 would criminalize firearm owners that store firearms in a non-compliant manner if they are accessed by a prohibited person or minor. Initiative 1639, filed by Michael Bloomberg’s front group, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, is an egregious attack on Second Amendment freedoms and comes just months after they failed to enact their gun ban agenda in Olympia. Your NRA-ILA will continue to keep you updated on the status of the initiative, so please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org .  Also, a couple more releases, after the jump...

WA: NRA Files Legal Challenge Against Misleading Ballot Title for Gun Control Initiative

This just in:
NRA-ILA | Washington: NRA Files Legal Challenge Against Misleading Ballot Title for Gun Control Initiative

Thursday, May 17, 2018 

Yesterday, NRA filed a legal challenge in the Thurston County Superior Court objecting to the misleading and inadequate ballot title for Initiative 1639, which seeks to further restrict the Second Amendment rights of Washington's law-abiding citizens.  The Thurston County Superior Court will review all legal challenges before the ballot title and summary can be finalized for the initiative.

Initiative 1639, filed by Michael Bloomberg’s front group, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, is an egregious attack on Second Amendment freedoms and comes just months after failing to enact their gun ban agenda in Olympia.  Proponents of this 22-page initiative will have until July 6^th to get 259,622 valid signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot.

Please spread the word to your family, friends, and fellow gun owners about this latest attack on self-defense rights in the Evergreen State!  Help protect Second Amendment rights in Washington and decline to sign this initiative petition.  

The proposed initiative, if passed, would do the following:

• Require a 10 Day Waiting Period for Commonly Owned Rifles.  All semi-automatic rifle purchases and transfers would be subjected to a waiting period of 10 business days.

• Establish a Government Registry of Firearms.  Current law states the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) “may” keep copies of pistol purchase applications.  The proposed initiative would instead require the DOL to keep copies of these purchase applications, and would expand this government registry to include semi-automatic rifle purchases.

• Require Completion of a Training Course to Purchase Rifles.  This initiative would also require all purchasers of semi-automatic rifles to show they have completed a firearm safety training course within the last five years in order to proceed with the sale.

• Impose up to a $25 Purchase Fee (GUN TAX) for Semi-Automatic Rifles.  The Washington Department of Licensing would be allowed to charge up to a $25 fee for each semi-automatic rifle purchase.  

• Require Gun Owners to Lock Up their Firearms or Face Criminal Charges.  Individuals would be required to lock up their firearms or potentially face a criminal charge of “Community Endangerment Due to Unsafe Storage of a Firearm” if the firearm is accessed by a prohibited person or minor.  This intrusive proposal invades people’s homes and forces them to render their firearms useless in a self-defense situation by locking them up.

• Restricts Adults Aged 18-20 from Acquiring Modern Rifles.  Adults aged 18-20 would be prohibited from purchasing semi-automatic rifles and would not be allowed to receive them through a transfer or loan.  The proposed initiative would deny a segment of law-abiding adults from access to the most modern and effective firearms for self-defense, thus depriving them of their constitutional rights. 

• Require “Warnings” for Firearm Purchases.  All firearm purchases would come with a notification about the “inherent risks” of firearm ownership as an attempt to further stigmatize firearms.

Again, please spread the word for your family, friends and fellow gun owners about the latest attack on Second Amendment rights in Washington.  Your NRA-ILA will continue to keep you updated on the status of the initiative, so please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org.

Eternal vigilance, etc.

Alabama

Expanded upon from elsewhere, because, as Tamara likes to say, why waste it at an away game?

I'm laughing at all the people acting like Roy Moore was the GOP-anointed candidate for Alabama's Senator.

They clearly paid no attention to this race until last week.

I have spent little time in Alabama, too little to parse these events from the POV of a resident of The Heart of Dixie, but I have some thoughts on what this means, (some supplied or inspired by others):

• The US Senate is now 51 (R) 49 (D). 
• Since Harry Reid introduced "The Nuclear Option", this means less than it might.
• Long will be a two-year Senator. Alabama is still the reddest of states
• The Ds cannot, now, accuse the Rs of harboring a pedophile. (Whether you believe those claims about Moore or not.) I expect Franken will be out in the coming days, not weeks.
• Steve Bannon's influence is much diminished, if not completely eliminated. He owns this.
• I've been seeing items to the effect that Mike Pence, not Donald Trump, is the head of the GOP. 
• Normally, the sitting president is considered the head of the party, but Obama had little or no interest (or was an even bigger SCOAMF than we thought) and Trump has little or no influence over the GOP, being an outsider. (Arguably, being an outsider is what got him elected.) 
• So the question is, can Mike Pence take the bull by the horns elephant by the tusks and force them into a coherent, effective strategy?
• The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution should be repealed. 
• Ironically, it was implemented in Alabama before it became national...
• Any suggestion that the mainstream media is even remotely impartial and unbiased should be met with derision and howls of laughter, followed by "...oh, wait. You're serious. Maybe you should get that looked at." 
• (Addendum)  Part of the objection to Roy Moore seems to be that he was removed from the bench for allowing his religious convictions to interfere with his judicial decisions.
• If Judicial activism is wrong for Conservative Christians, it is wrong for Progressive... Progressives. 
• Granted if it wasn't for double standards the left would have no standards at all.
• Time for a revival of A Man For All Seasons, perhaps. (I prefer the Charlton Heston version, for esthetic reasons. The Scoville version is probably more likely to get a hearing these days, though...)

I have no great love for Trump, but he is still a vast improvement over either Sanders or (shudder!) Clinton.

I have even less love for Roy Moore. His emails go directly to my spam folder, where they belong.

I don't know if his personal politics go over well in Alabama these days, but I do know they do not play well on the national stage. (FWIW, I noted that while in Alabama this past September on my way to Florida for a date with Irma, I saw only one sign for Judge Moore, and that was handmade.)

I'm not sure the fact that he has (or had) a habit of dating women young enough to be his daughters matters; I note that the "evidence" of his one alleged relationship with an underage woman is, to say the least, dubious. (And is now admitted to have been altered. Anyone who actually used the term "pedophile" should probably be leery of lawsuits, just sayin'...)

I do know that this election in and of itself is not a great victory for the left, and hardly spells the death knell for the right. There are aspects of this election, however, that could be symptoms of just what is wrong with politics in the USA.

I am glad I live in a country where we can hash these things out in public without resorting to wholesale violence.

So far.

Oh. Em. Gee.

Looking at Candidate Statements for the position of King County Executive, I just realized that the one that makes the most sense is...

...Perennial candidate GoodSpaceGuy.

(Do they have these guys where you live? Always running for something?)

EDIT, and FOLLOW-UP:
Of all the people running for a Port of Seattle Commissioner position, only two made a statement about making the port pay for itself, instead of constant, annual or biennial increases in property taxes.

Most of the candidates for the open seats are commies who support raising taxes to guarantee a "living family wage" and/or a $15.00 minimum wage.

Unfortunately, Richard Pope and Ken Rogers are both running for the same position.

Jeeze, guys.

Oh, and raising my property taxes again, this time to support "Cultural and Arts Programs"...?

Mayoral Race:
Mark Greene is a Marine who made a point of slamming two of Seattle's "Radical Left" city councilbeings by name in his statement.

Good enough for me.

GOAL Post2017-Special-Final?

Missed this one. 

On the subject of Seattle agenda and Seattle taxes, the Constitution of the State of Washington specifically bans income taxes, including those levied by municipalities. 

They're going for it anyway.

They're mandating that landlords give tenants voter registration cards. No mention if ensuring that the tenants are eligible to vote. 

Plus, RUMINT has it that the progressive super-rich are putting together a ballot initiative of  "common sense gun laws" which will include a requirement to register all "assault weapons" including  "high capacity" magazines, with a surtax on each item registered.

***

FROM: GOAL WA goalwa@cox.net (Joe Waldron)

TO: Undisclosed recipients

SENT: Fri 7/21/2017 2:04 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post2017-Special-Final?

Legislative Update from Olympia21 July 2017

·        THIRD SPECIAL SESSION ENDS

·        NO ACTION ON GUNS

·        GRIDLOCK PREVAILS

·        SPECIAL ELECTION UNDERWAY

·        GOAL ENDORSEMENTS FOR SENATE

There was no action taken on gun issues throughout the three special sessions.

The third special session of the legislature came to a close last night without passing a capital construction budget. The governor says he will not call them back into session until they have resolution on a capital (state construction) budget.

What is at dispute is control of water in rural areas. A year-old state Supreme Court decision that allows counties to block well water drilling on private property, thus limiting development. Easy access to water is crucial for rural development. But the Seattle gang that controls Olympia wants rural to stay rural, so they can drive out on the weekend and see the pretty greenery.

Primary ballots have already been mailed for a handful of special elections to be held this fall. Control of the state Senate is at stake, and with it control of your wallets. If Democrats take just one (of

three) Republican senate seats up for grabs, Governor Inslee will have total Democrat control of the legislature next January, and this year’s failed tax proposals (state income tax, capital gains tax, etc.) will sail through next January.

Our focus in this special election is on the critical state senate seats, which will; determine who prevails in Olympia next legislative session. GOAL has endorsed the following candidates:

7^th Legislative District Senator Shelly Short (R)

31^st Legislative District Senator Phil Fortunato (R)

45^th Legislative District Jinyoung Englund (R)

The 45^th is probably the most competitive race and places both gun owners and taxpayers at greatest risk. If ever there was a time to get involved in politics, it is now. Make a donation (the cost of a box of bullets… or more; some of your time to volunteer – campaigns survive on volunteer support). Or you can sit back and kick taxes in to support whatever cockamamie programs Seattleites come up with next year to buy votes.

Hopefully this is the final GOAL Post for the year – for legislative matters, anyway.

BILL STATUS/GOAL POSITION: Nothing to report.

GOAL Post 2017-Special 2

As Joe notes below, all 5 of the gun bills that passed the legislature during the regular session--all of which were "acceptable", if not "good", let alone "on our wish list"--have been signed by Governor Inslee.

There's a lot of talk about him running for President in 2020, and I predict he will try and use the signing of these bills to establish some sort of bona fides for his claimed support for the Second Amendment.

Do not be fooled. He's just another left coast progressive. 

Joe also notes issues with the reporting of NICS denials. The Feds are supposed to pursue this, but do so rarely. That, of course, assumes that the denial is not due to a paperwork mistake or technical error.

***

FROM: GOAL WA goalwa@cox.net

TO: undisclosed recipients

SENT: Fri 5/12/2017 5:28 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2017-Special 2

Legislative Update from Olympia12 May 2017

•   GOVERNORS SIGNS ALL GUN BILLS
•   SPECIAL SESSION CONTINUES

I reported last week that Governor Inslee signed HB 1100. That means that starting in late summer or early fall (it takes time to set up the system), CPL holders will receive a postcard renewal notice 90 days before their CPL expires.

On May 10^th, the governor signed the remaining four gun-related bills awaiting action. He signed HB 1501, HB 1612, SB 5268 and SB 5552.

HB 1501 requires licensed dealers to notify the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) within five days if an individual pops negative (denial) on a NICS test. Denials may then be reported to the county prosecutor for his/her action, if appropriate. And if a person has a protection or no contact court order against the attempted buyer, the protected person must be notified that the individual attempted to acquire a firearm. Three things here: first, false “denials” are common, either because of mistaken identity or incorrect court documents (especially true of decades-old misdemeanor convictions). Second, an appeal may be filed to correct the record, thus preventing prosecution. Third, prosecution for what? An intentional false answer on an ATF Form 4443 is a false official statement, which is a violation of FEDERAL law. Whether it’s prosecutable as a state offense remains to be seen.

HB 1612 is a continuation of last year’s suicide prevention education bill. Among other measures, the program attempts to educated dealers on the outward signs of suicidal intent by some individuals.(I don’t recall the state, but many, many moons ago an eastern state prohibited sale of a handgun with either one round of ammunition or one magazine/cylinder load of ammunition. The former as a suicide preventive measure, the latter to supposedly restrict workplace violence.

SB 5268 adds e-mail notification of CPL expiration/renewal date provided an e-mail address was provided.

SB 5552 is the bone Democrats threw to gun owners this session, after they killed several solidly pro-gun bills.SB 5552 adds a few exceptions to the background check requirement of I-594, most dealing with close family members (in-laws). It also adds language exempting individuals with federal Curio & Relic licenses from background checks (on C&R-eligible firearms only), taking firearms away from suicidal individuals, and exempting background checks on temporary transfer of firearms to armed security guards by their employer, and transfer of firearms to military honor guards for funeral ceremonies.

The bills take effect on 1 July. That should close out the 2017 regular legislative session.

There are 10 days left in the 30-day Special Session as I write this, ten more days for the House and Senate to agree on a biennial operating budget. As reported before, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a balanced budget, funding all required programs, while the House passed a budget asking for $8 BILLION in tax increases. It’s hard to imagine how the two can be reconciled. 2/3 of the way through the session it does not appear there are any breakthroughs.

Bill Number	Topic	Sponsor	Status
SHB 1100	CPL renewal notice	Blake (D-19)	Governor signed
HB 1501	Illegal purchase of firearms	Hansen (D-23)	Governor signed
2SHB 1612	Suicide prevention	Orwall (D-33)	Governor signed
SB 5268	CPL renewal notice	Takko (D-19)	Governor signed
SB 5552	Certain exemptions to I-594	Pedersen (D-43)	Governor signed

WA Governor proves he learned nothing

One might think that one of the few democratic governors left these days might have learned from  the 2016 election that now is not the time to double down on Democratic party big-money causes.

Nope.

Courtesy of Shift WA we learn that Governor Inslee has decided that Olympia is coming up a little short. $8.7 Billion short.

But that's OK, he has a plan...

That graphic neatly summarizes what Shift WA calls Governor Inlee's Lumps of Coal for WA:

1. A lump of Inslee coal in your stocking: A “bold” budget to fund bigger gov’t. A 21% increase...
2. Lump #2 of Inslee coal in your stocking: A new state income tax Proposals for an income tax always play so well here...
3. Lump #3 of Inslee coal in your stocking: A BIG gas/carbon tax We voted down a carbon tax last November. This one was even designed to partially offset our high sales tax. So what does Jay want to do? Of course!
4. Inslee’s Lump of Coal #4: Let’s sock it to small businesses This one is a "Gross Receipts tax", not a tax on profit, so it will literally tax some businesses out of business...
5. Jay’s lump of coal #5: Tax the foreigners (from Canada)! People from out of state are exempt from the state's high sales tax. He wants to end that.which costs businesses business.

(edited to add) RELATED: Washington has what’s the nation’s most regressive state and local tax structure.

That's... pretty good.

Not a big one for speeches, but President Trump's inaugural was a pretty good one.

The Inaugural Address | whitehouse.gov 

Remarks of President Donald J.  Trump – As Prepared for Delivery

Inaugural Address

Friday, January 20, 2017

Washington, D.C.

As Prepared for Delivery –

Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.

We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.

Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.

It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America.

This is your day. This is your celebration.

And this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

Everyone is listening to you now.

You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.

Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.

These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

We are one nation – and their pain is our pain.  Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success.  We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.

The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.

For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;

Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military;

We've defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;

And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.

We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.

The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.

But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.

From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.

From this moment on, it’s going to be America First.

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families.

We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs.  Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.

I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.

America will start winning again, winning like never before.

We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders.  We will bring back our wealth.  And we will bring back our dreams.

We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.

We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.

We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.

We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.

When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”

We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.

When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.

We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger.

In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.

We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.

The time for empty talk is over.

Now arrives the hour of action.

Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done.  No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.

We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions.

It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag.

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.

So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words:

You will never be ignored again.

Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

Together, We Will Make America Strong Again.

We Will Make America Wealthy Again.

We Will Make America Proud Again.

We Will Make America Safe Again.

And, Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.

I mean, if you can't appreciate that our new President just gave both fingers to the political establishment and "deep state", to their faces, while simultaneously mooning them, well, I just don't know. I'm  not one to wantonly fling accusations of UnAmerican around, but you should probably go watch some YouTube videos of Bald Eagles soaring.