Greetings Conservatives!
Our Lincoln Day Event is Over — Until Next Year!
Herb and I had a wonderful time travelling all over the county to meet with conservatives. We had a truly remarkable turnout. We had about 70 people on Orcas, 50 on Lopez, and over 100 on San Juan Island. It has been years since we have had such a successful Lincoln Day Event. This was such a fantastic way to start a new term.
As I remarked last week, I cannot begin to know exactly why this was, but I expect that many factors contributed. I believe Herb Meyer was a significant draw, and that Donald Trump has made conservatives more hopeful. Minnie Knych, Cindy Carter, and Lynda Gerpheide all led the effort on their respective islands to make this event a successful one. Many others, too numerous to name, contributed in substantial and meaningful ways to make this a successful event — and all of you showed up!
Thank you all for contributing your time, money, and enthusiasm. Many people remarked on how good it felt to be surrounded by conservatives. I was also touched by the many of you who indicated that not only did you actually READ these emails, but that you appreciated them. This was a significant boost to me. Many people gave me their cards or otherwise expressed interest. It will take us a while to compile all the data we gathered, and we will likely be changing how we manage our email server this month, so please be patient with us.
Sound Publishing (Journal, Sounder, and the Islander) sent a reporter, Meredith Griffith to attend the event on Orcas. Her article can be found here. Our very own Barry Cave, a PCO, also reported, and you can read his report here. We have appended a short gallery of photos at the end of Barry’s article. Last week we posted Rick Boucher’s report about Orcas, reposted here.
Lopez Special Election
On Lopez there is a special election regarding the establishment of a new hospital district on Lopez. The Islands Weekly is full of letters about it. We also posted some things on our website last week about this, including links to the voter guide (reposted here)
Letters for: Larry Eppenbach here. San Olson here. There was a lengthy guest article in the Islander that (I think) is advocating for: “How Much Does it Cost to Operate a Clinic on Lopez Island.”
Letters against: Linda Noreen here, Dan Post here.
The Republican party does not have a stance on this issue, we only ask that voters take the time to familiarize themselves with the issue. We applaud those conservatives who have voiced their concerns — it is always frightening to take a stand on something like this. I feel that the debate over this issue is much more balanced because of those who have stepped up. I believe we have failed when there is not both a “for statement” and an “opposing statement” — it is perhaps our most solemn duty to ensure that someone is watching on each and every local ballot measure. In this case, we have done our duty to ensure that the issue receives a measured analysis. Thanks especially to Linda Noreen.
The elections office tells me that they mailed out ballots on the 4th, and they are due by 8 pm on April 25th. The Lopez ballot drop box is open.
Other Links:
Many of you have expressed concerns over the notion of “sanctuary cities.” The local papers have had numerous articles on this subject. We had an article in our ezine here on this subject, along with several links at the end to media articles on the subject. This week on April 5th the Journal published another article, entitled “County ‘Sanctuary’ Status Could Affect Federal Funding.” I have updated the links at the end of Mr. Gallagher’s article in the ezine to include this article and the one I sent out last week.
The Seattle Times has also been running lots of articles on the immigration issue. “Seattle wants $1M legal-defense fund for immigrants facing deportation” and “Immigration agents round up 84 in Washington, Oregon, Alaska”
The Sounder carried an article on the 5th based on statements made by Rick Larsen at his town hall meeting here last week. You will recall, PCO Barry Cave also reported on that event last week. Many conservatives have ambivalent feelings about this subject, I don’t think anybody believes the solution is easy.
OPALCO will shortly be holding an election. The Sounder reports.
You may have heard that the state AG is suing Tim Eyman for $2.4 million (Seattle Times). I have to say, if it was almost any other AG I would be much less prone to cry foul, but I have very little confidence in Bob Fergusen. I have no idea whether the claims have validity or not.
A few of you have wondered why I don’t include more stuff about national politics. It’s because there is already plenty of national news out there. We have a competitive advantage when it comes to local and state issues, and have very little to add beyond this that is not already better covered in the national media. That doesn’t mean I don’t care, or am not interested, or will never cover national issues.
A Prayer for America:
I was deeply moved by the prayer Reverend Johnson offered at the Lopez event. Although it is not normally my habit to post prayers, I am going out on a limb here and posting this one:
“Lord, when we were young and innocent and able, we planned to change the world.
Sadly, bitterness is still flourishing, and we continue to stumble from blunder to blunder, and too many of us are hard with hate.
So today we pray, not to return to the past, but we pray for a new compassion to solve the needs of others.
Teach us endurance when we are exhausted.
Teach us to be a Party, not a bunch of critics.
Teach us to stand for what is right, not because it will pay off in the future but because it is the right thing to do at the moment.
Teach us to honor our President, and demand the very best from those we have placed in authority .
In all these things, God help us to be ministers of mercy and ambassadors of kindness,
In Jesus name, Amen.”
Thanks Again Everyone!!
Come join us for our Central Committee Meeting on April 29th (location/time TBD)