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Our View State’ssuccess ingovchoice

Ourboard interviewedcandidates formoststate elected officesthisfall. Youmay watchavideo of ourinterview with each candidatefor governor on www.kitsapsun.com. This column is ourreactiontohow ourquestions were answered in interviews with each candidate, and other commentaryoneachdiscussion. Gov. JayInslee’s aconsummatepolitician—smart anddetailedonissues,cordial andrelaxed when talking about hisfirstterm, andoptimisticabout thestate he leads. HisplatformistokeepWashington goinginthe positive direction he citesinseveral examples —more money wasput into education in thelastbienniumand collegecosts were cut, new ferrieswerebuilt on his watch to upgradeWSF’s fleet,and ourstate taxrevenue forecastscontinue to grow,tonameafew. He tacklestricky, notnecessarily positive,issues in asimilar vein.Heroinaddiction is aserious problem, butInsleerecentlyconvenedataskforce to work on solutionsand preliminary approval of afive-yearMed- icaidwaiverfor ourstate earned will put$1.5billioninto “wraparound” services that cantargetaddiction and othersocialneeds alongwithmedical care.He acknowledged that homelessness is grow- ing, butafocus on affordablehousing to ELECTIONS make sure wagescan keep pace with rent Knowingwho’s arealpatriot is aclear solution, alongwith$200million 2016 in statemoney goingfor new affordable housing stock. TheSupreme Court sanc- An anecdote:One day Peterson played adozen conformedsufficientlyto tionsinlight of theMcCleary case aren’t yetresolved but when Iwas in theeighth renditionsofthe anthem. theirestimationofwhat Inslee’s confident theLegislature’s workingcommittee gradeatmyjunior high Andthatwas thehistory loyaltytoour country will come up with aplan, andhis next focusisexpand- school in Victoria,Texas, lesson forthe day. lookslike. ingamentoring programfor teachers alongwithgiving my classmates andIsat This anecdote comesto Besides, who’sthe real them asalary bump. at ourdesks awaiting the JOHN mind when Iconsiderthe patriot?The youngblack He’s opposed to I-732because it wouldrisktoo much startofclass.The subject CRISP case of ColinKaepernick, football player who’swill- staterevenue with asales taxcut —but thegovernor is wasAmerican history. theSan Francisco49ers ingtoriskhis career or stillreliablyfocused on climatechange, having passed Ourteacher,Mrs.Peter- COLUMNIST quarterbackwho declines scholarship andendurethe acap-and-trade rule that forces areduction in emis- son, wasabattle-scarred to standfor thenational threat of lynchinginorder to sionsand praising innovation comingfromour state’s veteranofmanyajunior- stoodand everybodyelse anthem in protestofwhat pointout andremedy aper- universities andthe privatesector’sclean energy in- high historyclass.We stayed seated?Awkward. he believes is continued sistentnationalfailure? Or dustry.Those arehelping theenvironmentand helping likedher.But sheharbored What if we laterfound anddangerousdiscrimi- thepresidentialcandidate theeconomy,Insleebelieves, andhaveusonthe path of astrainofoutspoken iras- outthatwedidn’thaveto nation againstblacksin whothreatens to ignore the beingaleaderacrossthe country. cibility andwasn’tsome- standfor theanthemina America. Thenegative resultsofanelection? So thequestion forvotersmay be —doyou agreethat onetobetrifledwith. historyclass,justlikeyou reaction has ranged from Heinzwas agoodguy we’remakingprogressonseveral fronts, as thegovernor It wasawarm, late- didn’t have to standfor angryand threateningto whomade us look bad on insists? If so, he’s probablyyourcandidate forthe man- spring afternoon, probably theanthemwhenyou’reat dismissive. that spring dayinsouth sion in Olympia. aFriday, andeveryonewas home watchingabaseball When severalplayers Texas. Butnoneofuswas Challenger Bill Bryant isn’tsosureabout allthe alreadythinking about game on TV.Ordoyou? at theUniversityofNe- equipped with sufficient optimism, andthe former SeattlePortcommissioner theweekend andthe im- Butthiswas waytoo braska followedKaepe- ironytonotethatGerma- andbusinessconsultantputssix things on hislistfor minent summer vacation. muchcalculation forour rnick’sexample,one re- ny hadcometogrief two fixes:education,transportation,unemployment, mental Butweknew howtobe- cautious,indecisive minds, gent demandedthatthey decadespreviouslywith health andhomelessness, theDepartmentofCorrections have ourselves. We talked andour hesitation lasted a be kicked off thefootball thecollapse of aregime andrestoration of salmon runs.It’sambitious,particu- quietlyacrossthe rows of beattoo long.Mrs.Peter- team. More ominously, that haddependedheavily larlysince thewonky Republican tendstolistseveral desks, gossiping,planning, sonstopped therecordand oneplayerreportedthat on unquestioningvenera- bullet points beneatheachpriority. Andit’spointed, goofing.Mrs.Petersonsat beganthe reprimanding. some fans told him that he tion of national symbols particularly on issues like thefailuresatWestern State impassivelybehindher We were disloyal,unpa- should be “hungbefore the andthe ostracizingand Hospital andmore stubborn ruralunemploymentthat desk at thefront,survey- trioticingrateswho were anthem.” They probably rejection of anyone unwill- have occurred underInslee’swatch.He’salsocritical ingthe pubescentenergy dishonoringthe sacrifices meant“hanged.” ingtocomply. of theincreaseineducation funding —without quality before her. made by themen who Allofthisshould re- Ourculturehas changed improvements,hecalls thespending“an indictment” Withoutaddressingus, fought anddiedfor our mind us of howeasilya alot since those days. of thestate’s failure. sheswitchedonarecord flag. Shecompared us neg- constitutional rightcan Butone thingthathasn’t Insleetried to link Bryant to theGOP’s presidential player,and gently lowered ativelytoour classmate, be smothered by uncriti- changedisour inclination candidateinhis meetingwithus(Bryant waited until theneedlearm ontoare- Heinz, theloneexception, caldevotiontorituals and to useshame andintimi- August to sayhewould notsupportTrump), butthe volving78. Thestrains of whohad immediatelyleapt ceremonies that areeasily dation to coerce outward challenger’s background andpolicypositionsshowthat “The Star-SpangledBan- to hisfeetatthe anthem’s turned into testsofpatrio- displays of patriotism. he’s no conservativeideologue.Hebelievesinclimate ner” filledthe classroom. first notes,demonstrating tism,ratherthanexpres- change andworkedtocut thePortofSeattle’s carbon We frozeinadolescent more patriotismthanany sionsofit. John M. Crisp, an op-ed colum- output (though he’s also opposed to 732),and is very uncertainty. Sure,we of us,eventhoughhehad Of course,the anthem nist for Tribune NewsService, interested in culvertreplacementprojectsand habitat knew we were supposed been born in Germany. doesn’tcareifyou stand teaches in the English Depart- restoration in PugetSound.He’salsogot apersonalview to standfor thenational Thanks alot,Heinz! up foritornot.But it ment at Del Mar College in of thehomelessissue, having volunteeredatshelters anthem,but thiswas ahis- Then we stoodand sat, should worryuswhenour Corpus Christi, Texas. Readers in Seattlefor yearsand having knowledgeofspecific tory class, notabaseball stoodand satthrough the fellow citizens care too maysend him email at jcrisp@ transitional housingprogramsthatwork. game.Whatifone of us wholeperiod, whileMrs. muchabout whether we’ve delmar.edu. Bryant doesn’thavethe same politicalheftofthe in- cumbent, of course,and whether hisPortexperience is enough preparationfor Olympia’spolitical wrangling is areasonfor some skepticism.But he’s able to outline enough challenges to offer aperspective worthwhile Dirtytricks: Then andnow notonlyfor conservativeand moderate voters,but for anyone interested in lookingcriticallyatthe stateof ourstate. Students of theWa- In an Oct. 20 column for activistsistosurround We certainly agreewithInsleethatWashington’s tergateera (orthose old National Review,Kurtz them with theechocham- awonderful place —but no one’ssonaive to saythe enough to have lived remindsusthatthese tac- berofour positionsand struggle isn’treal. In thegovernor’s race,yourvotemay throughit) will recall the tics arestraightfromthe assumptions. We need to just depend upon your senseofWashington’s direction “dirtytricks” played by mindofthe late “Rules make them feel that they rightnow. RichardNixon’s hench- CAL forRadicals” author and arenot mainstream,to men, most notablyDon- THOMAS communityorganizer, make them feel isolated. aldSegretti. Segretti, Saul Alinsky, aHillary ... We must isolatethem whowas hired by Nixon’s COLUMNIST Clintonpen pal. ideologically... (and) deputy assistant, Dwight AnotherofO’Keefe’s usethe progressiveecho Chapin, wastaskedwith tacticsthey usetodeceive videos is of Robert chamber. ... By defeating smearingDemocrats, in- thepublic. Themostno- Creamer, an Alinskyite them andisolating them EDITORIAL BOARD cludingsenator and1972 tablecomes in aclipin from Chicago, an expe- ideologically, we demor- presidential candidate, whichScott Foval, nation- riencedcommunity or- alizeconservativeactiv- Edmund Muskie of Maine. al director at Americans ganizerand aman who, ists directly.Thenthey DAVIDNELSON EDITOR Amongseveral “tricks,” Unitedfor Change,tells according to Breitbart begintoquarrel among Segretti composedafake of hiringpeopletodem- News,visitedthe White themselves or blameeach letter on Muskie’s letter- onstrate andevenstart House340 timesand on otherfor defeat in isola- JIMCAMPBELL head falselyallegingthat fightsatDonaldTrump 42 of those occasionsmet tion,and that demoralizes OPINION EDITOR EMERITUS Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jack- rallies. Theobjective was with PresidentObama. them further.” son(D-WA)had fathered to encouragethe mediato Creamer admits to being Creamer is notalone. COMMUNITYMEMBERS achildwitha17-year-old treatthe disturbances as thebrainsbehindhiring George Soroshas long Martha Burke SusanneHughes girl. spontaneous responses andpayingfor Trumpdis- fundedvarious groups SUQUAMISH BREMERTON In 1974,Segrettiplead- to Trump’srally rhetoric, rupters. He wasalsosen- whoengageinsimilar ed guilty to threemisde- whichsomelefties called tencedtofive months in tacticsofdisinformation, DraytonJackson Bart Kale BREMERTON SEABECK meanor counts of distrib- “hatespeech.” Predict- prison forbankfraud and even violentbehavior. Jim Stark utingillegal,evenforged, ably,the media, especially atax violation. Neitherthe mainstream GRAPEVIEW campaign literature and CNN, whichgavethe dis- Whileinprison, Kurtz media, norRepublicans, served four months of turbancesnonstop andre- writes,Creamer authored have sufficiently exposed EDITORIALPOLICY asix-monthprisonsen- petitive coverage,bought abooktitled“StandUp thesedirty tricks and TheKitsapSun’seditorial opinions are shaped by theeditor tence. thisnarrative andwill- Straight!How Progres- theirintenttoswing elec- andopinioneditorinconsultationwiththe editorial board. Imention thissordid inglyspread it without sivesCan Win.”Init, he tionstowardthe Demo- Editorials, whichrepresentthe opinionofthe KitsapSun,are historybecause some investigatingthe back- instructshis fellow lefties cratic candidate. Federal writtenbythe editororthe opinioneditor. Democratsare playing ground of thedisrupters. howtohandleconserva- authorities—fromthe similar“dirtytricks” on That’s probablybecause tives: “Ingeneral ourstra- compromised FBI, to Donald Trump. theresultant free-for-alls tegicgoalwithpeoplewho higher upsinthe Justice Videographer James fit theleft-leaningmedia’s have become conservative Department—won’t do  LETTERSPOLICY O’Keefeand hisProject narrativeabout Trump. activistsisnot to convert anythingabout it either, Veritasand National Re- Theequally predictable them —thatisn’t goingto mostly becausethey back Lettersshould be 250words or shorter, neatlytypewritten. view columnistStanley response from theleftwas happen.Itistodemoral- Hillary Clinton’spresi- TheKitsapSun reserves theright to reject, editorcondense alllet- Kurtzhaveexposed Dem- that thevideosmusthave izethem—to‘deactivate’ dentialcandidacy. ters.Masssubmissions are notaccepted andwriters are generally ocratic dirtytricksinthis been edited.Democratic them.Weneedtodeflate AndsomewhereRich- limited to one letter amonth.All lettersmustincludethe writer’sfirst presidentialcampaign. Partyoperativesand theirenthusiasm, to make ardNixon is shakinghis name and(forour verification)addressand daytimephone number. O’Keefe’svideospur- Hillary Clintondenyany them lose theirardor head. By mail: Letterstothe Editor Fax: 360-415-2681 port to show Democratic knowledgeofsuchtactics. andabove alltheir self- P.O. Box259,Bremerton,WA98337 Web: www.kitsapsun.com activists, allegedlyhired Do youreallyexpectthem confidence.... (A)way to Readers mayemail Cal Thomas Phone: 360-415-2679 Email: [email protected] by theparty,describing to admitit? demoralize conservative at [email protected].