Republican Hypocrisy and the State Attorneys General

In the state of Washington where I live, we happily enjoy a pretty comfortable Democratic majority. Both of our US Senators are Democrats, six out of nine US Representatives are Democrats, and all but one of the statewide elective office holders are Democrats.

All but one. And that one happens to be our Attorney General, one Rob McKenna, who injudiciously jumped onto that GOP thug bandwagon to sue over the constitutionality of the new Health Care Law.

That inspired a firestorm of letters to the editor of my local rag, The Daily Olympian (aka the "Daily O" aka the "Daily Zero") and up to now they've seemed pretty lopsided in favor of McKenna's decision. I was surprised -- I wouldn't have guessed that so many teabaggers could actually write a declarative sentence.

And this whole thing was compounded today when a self-estimated crowd of 2,000 to 4,000 (a state patrolman had a more reasonable estimate of 850; promoters of these things, especially of the teabagger variety, are prone to much exaggeration) teabaggers showed up on the Capitol steps to support McKenna.

So, as I say, the letters to the editor column has been top heavy with  "McKenna Speaks for Me" opinions, so it was time for them to hear from the other side. I wrote the following letter to the editor (and I'm sure it will be received with the same "oh, it's HIM again" response when the editorial page editor gets it -- he and I had an argument a few years ago that I'm sure he hasn't yet forgotten...)

You don't speak for me Mr Attorney General. You are engaging in a patently pathetic attempt to grandstand your own political aspirations by climbing onto the ridiculous GOP constitutionality-bandwagon attack on the new Health Care law.
I've got some news for you and those teabaggers who cluttered up the steps of the people's Capitol on April 17th: There is nothing in this new law that can be called "liberal" or even "centrist".
It is, in fact, almost exactly the same plan as put forth by Republican Senator John Chaffee as an alternative to the Clinton Health Care proposal nearly 20 years ago, and it was first outlined by the ultra-conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation.
All of this proves that the Republican Party really is the "party of no" and it is perfectly willing to turn on itself and its own ideas, if it can attack the Democrats by doing so.
And those surveys that attempt to show that a majority of Americans are opposed to the Health Care law? Those figures also include people like me who opposed it because it did not go far enough.
But it is a step in the right direction and people like Rob McKenna and his fellow Republican thugs need to just get out of the way – after all, hasn't it been a long-time Republican rallying cry aimed at trial lawyers, Stop Frivolous Lawsuits?
Well, this is one and it's a black eye for the state of Washington. Just stop it.

Any of my readers who live in one of the 14 states whose chief law enforcement officer has joined in this frivolous lawsuit, please feel free to copy this letter, change what you need to so it will be localized, and send it to your own newspapers.

Oh, and if you need the source for that claim, here it is, thanks to the always-valuable Firedoglake.