McCroskey Commentary: Politicians — Don’t Assume You Speak for Us

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As the results of the elections are digested, analyzed and debated, it will be good to be able to listen to the radio and watch TV without the endless political commercials. I know candidates and interest groups need to get their message out, but it does wear thin over time.

 One thing about some ads that bothers me is when a candidate presumes to speak for me.  One in particular, a Democrat, ran ads claiming to share our local values. Sadly, the Democrats today don’t reflect any of my values or the values of my dad who was a Democrat for years. He didn’t recognize his party anymore.

Another was the comment by Alicia Bull after the Home Rule Charter failed.  She said the “the charter initiative usually takes an average of three times to pass…” and “…One Lewis County is not going away, we will continue to be a voice for the people of Lewis County.”

See, I feel like we had a voice and we (the majority of “people of Lewis County”) voted “no.”  Doesn’t it seem just a bit presumptuous to assume she or the group speaks for us all?  Maybe a more accurate statement might be they are a voice for some of the people in Lewis County?

Time will tell if voters were confused by the last minute drama or not.  But as Alicia Bull said — they’re not going away so it will come up again I’m sure.

Thank goodness even the smugness of Governor Inslee couldn’t drag the so-called carbon initiative, I-1631 across the finish line. I guess people feel like paying outrageous gas taxes already is enough. But taxaholics like the governor don’t go away easily, so I’m sure they will be back with even more ways to tax us.

I-940 requires more specialized training for law enforcement and doesn’t pay for it. So places like Lewis County will be mandated to do something that’s already done — get training on dealing with mentally ill people. I wish more people could experience the shoot-don’t-shoot scenarios officers go through to realize just how fast things can move in real time.  

Talking to a mentally ill person who isn’t armed and passive is one thing, but trying to deal with one who is, and who is aggressive towards the officer is quite another.

Our elected leaders and courts have made the treatment of mentally ill a mess. How many times have we read about the issues at Western State Hospital?  

Reduction in funding and beds have lead to situations in which people who used to be institutionalized aren’t anymore, and this often leads to conflict. And when they act out who do people call? Not Ghostbusters. And what do they want? Some poor cop to somehow magically do something that will make things better.



That’s not always possible.

But what you don’t hear much if anything about is the vast number of incidents where the cops do make things better and do de-escalate the situation. The reality is that happens all the time but isn’t front-page news worthy.

The effects of I-1639, once all the challenges are settled, are a little unsettling to me.

It will be interesting to see how often the victim of a crime like burglary serves more time than the burglar who broke into the locked home to steal their gun?

How will a person be punished for hiding a gun where it could be accessed if needed for self-defense, in their own home, after being charged with a felony because it’s not secured and useless for defense? I’m sure many anti-gun cities and prosecutors are salivating at the idea of prosecuting the victim of a burglary. Victims are easier to find.

It goes without saying that keeping guns out of the hands of kids is important but this initiative went well beyond that. And in an era where the state continuously finds ways to keep burglars from going to jail in the first place, I guess making victims into felons is a good idea.

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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis, and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@yahoo.com.