Republican family values ... ya gotta love 'em!
Leading Washington state progressive blogger and Kossack Goldy at HorsesAss -- you probably know him best as the guy who broke the story of Mike Brown's dubious (dis)qualifications to run FEMA -- now has a report up about one David Irons, Republican candidate for King County Executive. Go and read Raging Bullshitter: the sad twisted tale of the Irons family feud for yourself.
It's not only that most of his relatives oppose him. It's not only that his mother says he's the dumbest of her children. It's not only that he ludicrously overstates his accomplishments in his resume.
And it's not only that -- horrible as it is to say -- several years ago he beat up his mother and then tore the telephone off the wall to prevent her from dialing 911.
No, what's particularly galling is that the Seattle MSM know all about it but haven't reported the story.
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As detailed in Goldy's report, the Irons family states unequivocally that they have spoken often and in detail to media representatives about David's less-than-total adherence to the truth, his volatile temper, and much more. Yet, even in the midst of a vitally-important battle for the most powerful position in King County, nothing is mentioned about any of it in the major media. For example, an Irons profile by Joni Balter in the September 29 edition of the
Seattle Times tiptoes around the family discord, all but making fun of it, all but making them sound like a cutesie-pie reality-TV clan. Isn't it much more "newsy" to play up the "mother votes for son's opponent" and "sister runs for office against brother" (which drew a smidgen of national press in 1999) than to report on character traits that might bear significantly on the man's capacity for this political office?
But, hey, David Irons is a white suburban Republican. Clearly, that excuses him from responsibility for any of his untoward activities. Beating up your own mother is no worse than buying narcotics without a prescription (Rush), ultra-high stakes gambling (Bennett), sex with farm animals (Horsley), pedophilia (Spokane mayor Jim West), or a thousand other peccadilloes of a thousand other politicians, right?
That is, It's OK If You're A Republican. No need for the mainstream media to cover such things in that case. It's not like David Irons is a Democrat receiving a blowjob.
I should also mention that Darryl of HominidViews, sitting in for The General, has penned a letter of support to Mr. Irons.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't point to the website of Ron Sims, the incumbent County Executive, who has done a very good job of shepherding the county through the difficulties of the Bush economy. He's running for re-election against Irons and a Nader2000-like Green spoiler, and the race is much closer than it rightfully should be (and would be if the local MSM did their job). I wouldn't complain at all if you clicked on Ron's DONATE link and dropped a nickel or two on him.
