The following letter in the San Juan Journal is just such an example and the rebuttal comment defines it in makes the point.
I’m certain you will enjoy short the read.
A Letter to the editor in the Islands Sounder
http://www.islandssounder.com/
Be wary of those touting ‘Trust’ | Letter
Voters of San Juan County need to be aware of, and wary of, TrustIslanders!, a local political action committee trying to buy our April 23 elections for County Council with the support of wealthy donors. It’s the first time a local PAC has been formed to influence our county elections. If it’s successful, it will set a terrible precedent for our community. PACs are organizations formed to circumvent the intent of campaign finance laws.
They may be legal, but are they democratic and ethical? To answer that question, one needs look no further than to the PACs in last year’s national elections formed by the likes of Karl Rove. According to the fundraising request posted by the chairwoman of the San Juan County Republican Party on its website on March 9, TrustIslanders! is raising up to $25,000 for countywide mailings and advertisements endorsing its candidates for the April 23 election to the new County Council. This partisan political campaign is deceptively clever, centered on the words “trust” and “fear”. We are told to trust whomever TrustIslanders! supports and to fear everyone else. It uses fear tactics to pit friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor! These are not our community values.
Most of the founders and supporters of TrustIslanders! are supporters of the SJC County Republican Party and the Common Sense Alliance. The latter is not permitted by law to endorse candidates itself. TrustIslanders! is a clever way for its supporters to circumvent this prohibition.Donors to the campaigns for county council in our April 23 election cannot give more than $900 to any one candidate. However, Royce Meyerott and Browne’s Home Center have already donated $2,000 each to TrustIslanders!, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission website. Fourteen other wealthy donors have given $500 each. TrustIslanders! claims to be non-partisan because it has a few supporters who claim to be Democrats. However, almost all PACs by definition are partisan. Why else would it be raising $25,000 to influence our upcoming elections?
Beware of people and organizations who say “just trust me”. And be sure to vote on April 23.
David Dehlendorf
San Juan Island
Most of the founders and supporters of TrustIslanders! are supporters of the SJC County Republican Party and the Common Sense Alliance. The latter is not permitted by law to endorse candidates itself. TrustIslanders! is a clever way for its supporters to circumvent this prohibition.Donors to the campaigns for county council in our April 23 election cannot give more than $900 to any one candidate. However, Royce Meyerott and Browne’s Home Center have already donated $2,000 each to TrustIslanders!, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission website. Fourteen other wealthy donors have given $500 each. TrustIslanders! claims to be non-partisan because it has a few supporters who claim to be Democrats. However, almost all PACs by definition are partisan. Why else would it be raising $25,000 to influence our upcoming elections?
Beware of people and organizations who say “just trust me”. And be sure to vote on April 23.
David Dehlendorf
San Juan Island
Response Comment:
Don John Pencil · Pacific Christian College
David, while protesting the views and comments of others you frequently use words like “scary” and “fear.” Yet most of your comments are designed and articulated to promote fear.
Just this one quote from your current letter proves the point:
“This partisan political campaign is deceptively clever, centered on the words “trust” and “fear”. We are told to trust whomever TrustIslanders! supports and to fear everyone else. It uses fear tactics to pit friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor These are not our community values!”.
Fear of those individuals and groups who see things differently than you do. You rail against those whose values are truly noble. In them runs a deep and compassionate love of their fellow citizens and community. Day after day I watch these wonderful patriots express their passion and views for this C...ounty with love and civility. While on the other hand, day after day I read rude and uncivil personal attacks on their good names and organizations. Rarely, in my experience, have you come to this table to state your case with respect, supported by accurate fact or a desire for an informed exchange of ideas.
“They may be legal, but are they democratic and ethical?” Absolutely! Grouping like-minded people together to support candidates and causes has always been the way. There are many examples here in SJC and around the world. Unions, nonprofits and many other types of organizations band together to raise awareness for their issues, raise funds to support the cause and get the message out.
I personally see this only as an attempt by you to silence or without merit discredit citizens of this County who are only exercising the rights guaranteed them under the First Amendment.
“Most of the founders and supporters of TrustIslanders! are supporters of the SJC County Republican Party and the Common Sense Alliance.” Okay, so what?
“The latter is not permitted by law to endorse candidates itself.” That’s right and it doesn’t. What your point?
Just this one quote from your current letter proves the point:
“This partisan political campaign is deceptively clever, centered on the words “trust” and “fear”. We are told to trust whomever TrustIslanders! supports and to fear everyone else. It uses fear tactics to pit friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor These are not our community values!”.
Fear of those individuals and groups who see things differently than you do. You rail against those whose values are truly noble. In them runs a deep and compassionate love of their fellow citizens and community. Day after day I watch these wonderful patriots express their passion and views for this C...ounty with love and civility. While on the other hand, day after day I read rude and uncivil personal attacks on their good names and organizations. Rarely, in my experience, have you come to this table to state your case with respect, supported by accurate fact or a desire for an informed exchange of ideas.
“They may be legal, but are they democratic and ethical?” Absolutely! Grouping like-minded people together to support candidates and causes has always been the way. There are many examples here in SJC and around the world. Unions, nonprofits and many other types of organizations band together to raise awareness for their issues, raise funds to support the cause and get the message out.
I personally see this only as an attempt by you to silence or without merit discredit citizens of this County who are only exercising the rights guaranteed them under the First Amendment.
“Most of the founders and supporters of TrustIslanders! are supporters of the SJC County Republican Party and the Common Sense Alliance.” Okay, so what?
“The latter is not permitted by law to endorse candidates itself.” That’s right and it doesn’t. What your point?
With permission from Peg Manning this is re-posted from Journal of the San Juans:
ReplyDeletePeg Manning • Eastsound, Washington.
Whose turn is it to respond to Mr. Dehlendorf's overheated prose this week? OK, I'll go. PACs are not formed to "circumvent the intent of our campaign laws." They are, in fact, formed to COMPLY with election laws. Some of the largest and most influential PACs are those formed by groups that Mr. D. no doubt would recognize if he had looked them up: labor unions, such as the SEIU and Teamsters; environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club and Conservation Voters; and people with interest in particular issues, such as Planned Parenthood and, yes, Trust Islanders!
Thank you for raising the alarm, but Karl Rove, has not, to my knowledge, made an appearance here to start a super-PAC, which is a special kind of PAC, the kind involved in the Citizens United case, the kind most of us wish gone from the political landscape.
Trust Islanders! is not a super-PAC, and if I understand the facts correctly, was not even formed as a PAC, but as a regular not-for-profit interested in reining in the growth of government control over the lives of islanders. Trust Islanders! appears to have then made the decision to satisfy the PAC filing requirements that will allow it to endorse candidates.
You raise the question: "They [PACs] may be legal, but are they democratic and ethical?" Well, clearly they are legal, and of course they are ethical (I fear you confuse them with SuperPACs), but this one is not "Democratic," and that seems to be your principal objection to it. I know a few of the people involved and they are Democrats, recovering Democrats, Republicans, recovering Republicans, libertarians of various stripes, and committed independents.
You accuse Trust Islanders! of having "wealthy" donors. One of the things I like about the islands is that islanders generally do not go about characterizing people as "wealthy" or "poor." But since you brought it up, I wonder whether the committee members of the Democratic Party-endorsed candidates aren't "wealthy"? Hollywood producers and Microsoft multi-millionaires? Indeed, in this economy, perhaps you yourself might be considered by some struggling families to be "wealthy"?
You do know that Trust Islanders! is not an arm of the San Juan County Republican Party. You also know that the fact that the party's website referred to Trust Islanders!'s creation means nothing in particular, but you do go on and on about it.
As for the insidious efforts to buy the election that you warn us of, does the fact that the Democratic-endorsed candidates have raised about $70,000, far in excess of their opponents, mean anything?
Trust Islanders! does not merely claim to be nonpartisan. It IS nonpartisan. You misunderstand PACs if you believe that "almost all PACs by definition are partisan." Many political action committees are formed around issues, and work to support whomever seems most likely to address those issues. Why is Trust islanders! raising money to "influence our upcoming elections?" you ask. Well, first, it is indeed OUR election. All citizens have the right to express their views and vote. Second, who wouldn't seek to influence elections in their county that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and several years on a new critical areas ordinance only to recently concede that it is incomprehensible and cannot be implemented? Should we elect the same councilmembers who voted for it to a new term? I think not. Who wouldn't seek to influence an election in their county when land use violations are treated as criminal matters when committed by some, and ignored when committed by others? Who wouldn't seek to influence an election in their county when they are about to be asked to approve another series of highly-regressive property and sales tax increases to pay for programs of questionable value or purpose?
Posted by Royce Meyerott in the Islands Sounder today.
ReplyDeleteMr. Dehlendorf, on behalf of TrustIslanders! I want to thank you for your very informative letter. You have given our grassroots organization great press, while at the same time your letter has become our poster-child for why TrustIslanders! was formed in the first place. Your ability to gather falsehoods into well rounded opinions and innuendoes truly amazes me.
For those readers who are more factual in nature, I suggest that you read the interview about TrustIslanders! on the home page of the Island Guardian www.islandguardian.com. I also suggest that you go to our website www.Trustislanders.org and read our mission statement.
TrustIslanders! has received tremendous support from the working people of the islands. Many do not have the resources to donate while others are reaching deeply into their pockets. Some donors with more resources are sending larger checks to help make up for those that are struggling. We are giving a voice to the majority of Islanders who really are independent in their thinking and do not feel represented by any political party. Most have expressed a feeling of sadness as they watch the Island way of life slip away.
Mr. Dehlendorf, since you posted this on the Journal Wednesday, we have received more financial pledges than in any previous week. Your letter has truly helped us get our message out. Thanks again.