If Clint Didier (“Who???”) Ever Gets Elected…

Clint Didier is a retired NFL player who ran for the U.S. Senate last year.  He lost the nomination to Dino Rossi who lost the election to Patty Murray.  But Clint Didier is only 52 and active in rightwing politics.  He might run for public office again.  And again…

Yesterday he spoke to a group of his fellow “The Black Helicopters Are Coming!!!” club members in Sequim, WA.  His main topic was UN Agenda 21.  Check out some of these links.  UN Agenda 21 is either our last chance to save ourselves from an ecological nightmare, or it’s a sinister plot for globalist thugs to conquer America and enslave Her with a One World Government.

You can guess which of those views is held by Clint Didier, based on what he said at yesterday’s meeting:

“I’m sick and tired of the United Nations ruining our country.  Now we know why they won't allow us to drill for domestic oil: because of carbon. They don't want us getting all these natural resources out because they don't want us to populate this Earth anymore.  If the U.N. gets its way, our children will never know what freedom is.  Now we know why they won't let us harvest our timber, and then create tinder boxes that are just a lightning strike away from uncontrollable fire.  Now we know why they're reintroducing the wolves and the cougars.  This is all part of the U.N. agenda. This biodiversity that they're talking about — well, that's an attack on private property rights…While you're hiding in your closet, they are taking away your living room, your kitchen, your dining room and your bedroom.”

All righty then.

And again, he’s 52 and active in politics.  Will he run for office again?  Stay tuned for “Clint Didier:  The Sequel.”

Went to Canada, but Came Back

No, the election didn’t have anything to do with it. We spent two days in Victoria, B.C.; made the reservations several months ago.

Anyway, when you’re surrounded by carnage and mayhem, it’s best to focus on the silver linings. But for the grace of God, we could’ve had Ken Buck, Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell and Carly Failurina in the Senate.

And Dino Rossi appears to be failing in his third run for elective office. Two runs for governor of Washington — Poof!!! And Patty Murray is favored to win re-election to the Senate, but the results aren’t final yet. Dino Rossi likes to portray himself as an “outsider” because he can’t get elected to anything. Sort of like a homeless person who brags about not being materialistic.

California voters showed that — in some cases at least — there aren’t enough billions of dollars in the world to buy their votes. A few Texas oil tycoons tried to trick California voters into overturning the state’s clean energy law that was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger several years ago (Proposition 23). If Proposition 23 passed, millions of jobs would appear out of the ether, and California would instantly become the most prosperous place in the history of the universe. Fortunately the voters didn’t fall for it. Meg Whitman was in favor of Proposition 23 and she went down in flames with it.

Washington State also had a few sickfuck ballot initiatives that crashed and burned. Privatizing workers’ compensation insurance? Riiight. Wouldn’t you just love to have your workers’ comp claim be processed by a bunch of profit-driven go-getters who can make more money if they find a way to deny your claim. Thank God the voters saw through that bullshit. I’ll take a clock-watching bureaucrat any day; somebody who has nothing to gain by denying people’s claims and/or making the smallest possible payments.

And Costco was pushing for an initiative to privatize Washington’s liquor industry, to make it more like California and Arizona (among other states). Sure, I like being able to walk into any grocery store, supermarket or mini-mart — at any time of day or night — and buy some booze. But Washington’s version works just fine too. You have to buy your booze from a state-run liquor store that closes at 9 p.m. It can be sort of a pain, but I’ve never seen anyone going through the DTs because they didn’t get to the liquor store on time. (You can buy beer and wine almost anywhere, just not booze.) Another oddity about Washington is that almost every restaurant — anything that’s a proper restaurant and not just a café or coffee shop — has a full liquor license. Sort of the opposite of California, where you can buy booze everywhere, but a liquor license is something that restaurants will kill for.

When you go to the liquor store with any sort of regularity, the people who work there aren’t faceless bureaucrats. They’re real people. They’re acquaintances; your neighbors. Like everybody else, they’re supporting families; making rent/mortgage payments. And if that liquor privatization initiative had passed, they all would have lost their jobs — just so a few Costco executives could become even fatter.

So, pretty good election results, no? Well, you know, other than…

The “Independent” “Self-Reliant” American

Americans are defined — maybe “painted into a corner” would be more accurate — by this archetype. The self-made man. Ayn Rand’s fictional heroes. The cowboy riding off into the sunset.

In the past few generations it’s been practically impossible to live this ideal, unless you live on your own private island where you raise all your own food and have your own personal doctor on the premises at all times.

Not only is this archetype virtually non-existent, but look at how subjective it is. If somebody works hard but can’t afford the health insurance premiums, this person is a no-good parasite, just lying there waiting for a handout. On the other hand, a rancher (to name just one example) can lease thousands of acres from the federal government for pennies an acre — and this person is a rugged self-reliant hard-drivin’ individual who got where he is through his own blood, sweat, tears and hard work. He didn’t get no handouts from the gubmint, and nobody else should either.

This excellent column by Danny Westneat (from last Sunday’s paper) should be required reading for everybody who’s still captivated by these myths about “self-reliance” and “rugged individualism.”

He talks about the “self-made” mystique in general, and Clint Didier — a rightwing Republican who wants to unseat Patty Murray in the Senate this November — in particular. Westneat says:

“Of all stories we tell ourselves, the one about how we're a merit-based nation of lone wolves has got to be the most enduring. The most intoxicating. And the most baloney. Nowhere is the myth as confused with reality as in rock-ribbed Eastern Washington. The place depends utterly on the government and communal resources for its existence, from the New Deal irrigation system still being paid for by taxpayers elsewhere, to farming subsidies and crop price supports. Yet in their own minds, they are mavericks living off the land.”

Clint Didier is a farmer and a former football hero. As Westneat says:

“His personal story is impressive…That's true merit there. At the same time, I'm having a hard time thinking of two more socialistic enterprises than pro football or farming.”

Think about it — the players are unionized, and they’re playing in a stadium financed by taxpayers. Not to mention that in football, like any team sport — you’re not out there on the field winning games all by yourself. You could be the most incredible athlete in the world, but if your teammate drops the ball, you’re fucked.

Washington’s farmers have received $4 billion in federal cash subsidies during the past fifteen years. $273,000 of that went to Clint Didier’s alfalfa farm. Parasite!

Didier’s alfalfa farm, like most farms in the area, is made possible by the Columbia Basin Project, the country’s largest system of dams and irrigation canals. And yes the Columbia Basin Project is financed almost entirely by taxpayers and electricity ratepayers.

And yet the handout-taking tax-sucking Clint Didier is a rugged individualist who wants everyone to stand on their own two feet and stop begging for help from the Nanny State. He says:

“We've got to get rid of this 'protecting the weak.' If we keep the weak alive all the time, it eats up the strong.”

Give ‘em hell, welfare guzzler.

Westneat’s column ends with:

“This myth that we're all self-made men and women is paralyzing us. The real story is that it took extraordinary acts of community-building, on a national and local level, to turn Eastern Washington into a fruit and vegetable basket to the world…Same with the public school systems (which Didier attended). The safety net for the elderly. The national parks. The electric grid. The public-health system. All, like the Columbia Basin Project, are communal in spirit and dramatically raised the quality of life in America. So why do we pretend we didn't do them? Why do we persist in this phony yarn that everyone got where they did solely by hard work and self-reliance? I'll admit the truth isn't as romantic. But it's not the limpest story in the world, either — that we did it together.”