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Is it too much to ask that people who hurl political epithets during campaign season at least get them right?
OK, that was a stupid question. It probably is. But still…
In an e-mail to constituents last week, Spokane City Councilman Bob Apple described whom he is endorsing for various city elected positions this year, and how he’s voting on several ballot measures. No big deal. Apple has the same right as everyone else, and has no less right to an opinion by being elected to the council.
At least one reader e-mailed his objections, questioning whether Apple was out of line for his endorsement of judicial candidate Bryan Whitaker – not for anything nice he said about Whitaker but for a label he hung on opponent, Municipal Judge Tracy Staab.
Carpetbagger.
The reader suggested it was libelous, which it probably isn’t on its face. It’s a political term in the midst of a campaign, and political speech is among the most protected by the courts.
Being legally protected, however, doesn’t make it correct…A carpetbagger is someone, recently arrived in an area, who moved there to take advantage of a situation and run for an election. In the South of the Reconstruction, shady Northerners who did this were said to be travelling so light that carried all their belongings in a carpetbag (21st Century equivalent: carry-on luggage).
Hillary Clinton was called a carpetbagger when she moved to
This is not what Staab did. She used to live in the city of
Other than the fact that some carpetbaggers arrived in the South on horseback, it’s pretty hard to make the carpetbagger label stick on Staab. She didn’t move there to run for the municipal court; the job didn’t even exist back then.
One could object to the fact that she’s sitting as a municipal judge when she’s not a city resident. But that’s not illegal; state law says city voters must select their municipal judges. It does not say the municipal judges must be city residents, and the City Council which was very interested in having city voters elect municipal judges, did not make city residence a requirement for the job.
Apple knows this very well, because he tried to change the city law this spring with that very requirement. It failed, 4-2.
He and others may consider the lack of a residency requirement a shortcoming, others might consider it ironic, and still others no big deal.
Whatever. It’s not carpetbaggery. Apple should apologize, or at least think up a correct word to express his opprobrium
Jim Camden is a veteran political reporter for The Spokesman-Review.
Jonathan Brunt covers Spokane City Hall for The Spokesman-Review.
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ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 14 at 4:13 p.m.
Jim, you might have to give a definition of opprobrium to Mr Apple. John
ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 14 at 4:23 p.m.
Oh… and you cannot “Change the Law” of the state of washington at a city council meeting in Spokane…:))
BobApple on October 14 at 4:44 p.m.
I believe any body still considers an elected official who would literaly refuse to live in the area they are elected for would qualify as a carpetbagger. Now Mrs Staab wants us to, elect her as a Spokane City Municipal Court Judge and only hearing cases of Spokane City residents however will not reside within our City as Brian Whitaker dose and as a result, he has my vote. Honestly I cannot imagine voting any other way concerning this simple question.
Rifleman__Dodd on October 14 at 8:03 p.m.
If it wasnt for Bob Apple we would never know if any of those red lights on the voting board work.
If I recall Mr. Apple emailed that from his private email address.
He just like anyone else has the right to voice his opinion. If you dont like it, then perhaps you can go sit on Joe Shogan’s lap.
For the unedified: The last paragraph is most apropo.
In United States history, carpetbaggers was the term southerners gave to northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era, between 1865 and 1877. They formed a coalition with freedmen (freed slaves), and scalawags (southern whites who supported Reconstruction) in the Republican Party. Together they politically controlled former Confederate states for varying periods, 1867–1877.
The term carpetbaggers was used to describe the white northern Republican politicians who came South, arriving with their travel carpetbags. Southerners considered them ready to loot and plunder the defeated South.[1] Although the term is still an insult in common usage, in histories and reference works it is now used without derogatory intent.[citation needed]
In modern usage in the United States, the term is sometimes used derisively to refer to a politician who runs for public office in an area in which he or she is not originally from and/or has only lived for a very short time.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 14 at 8:20 p.m.
Washington State Law is the trump card here. Judge Staab is serving legally according to Washington State Law…. suck it up…
I am still rankling and ranting at being called a criminal by the aforementioned from the dais of the city council two years ago for helping ( with proper food guidelines for safety as learned in my professional training at edmonds community college) for serving food to the homeless at the Tent City created by the intransigence of the City Council in provision of care and feeding for our homeless population. You “win or lose by the words you choose” was the first lesson for me in Culinary training at Edmonds CC. I am not nor have I ever been a “Criminal”… and no apology has been given as of this date…. john
tomharg on October 14 at 8:47 p.m.
Bob, you’re kidding, right? What could residence possibly have to do with judicial capability?
Rifleman__Dodd: Um, first, don’t you want to attribute your “definition,” perhaps to “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbaggers,” where the first three paragraphs seem to be exactly the same as your last three? Or don’t you care about such little Government Interference things such as the copyright laws? Second, all your words notwithstanding, the Washington State laws still apply.
Ron_the_Cop on October 14 at 9:08 p.m.
Can’t we all just get along? I think there is bigger fish to fry. I don’t have much heartburn about Judge Staab live just outside the City. Nor does it matter to me much that Whitaker lives in the City. BTW I heard both speak at the NITNC last night. Both are qualified in my mind.
What does give me heartburn in this time of tight budgets is why haven’t the Spokane Superior Court and Municipal Courts consolidated a long time ago. Quite a few counties in CA have done so and it evens the caseloads out without having courts sit idle.
Rifleman__Dodd on October 15 at 1:29 a.m.
Yo Tom.. uh there’s no copyright on Wikipedia in case you noticed and if there was, which of millions of contributors is gonna rush right down to river city and file a suit on me?
If your sweating the source then perhaps you can go through every blog using your nit picking comb to get all the crabs out.
CalJones on October 15 at 6:19 a.m.
The only thing Councilman Apple should be called on the carpet for is the fact that he lied earlier this year when he promised to stay out of the Fagan-Waldref race, unless one side started playing dirty. Now it’s true that neither side is pulling any punches, but Mr. Fagan isn’t playing “dirty,” (and neither is Waldref, that I’ve seen), which was the pre-requisite of an Apple endorsement, but Apple came out and endorsed anyway. He has the right, but he should also keep his promises — oh wait…Apple wants Woods legislative seat so he’s going to do whatever the Democrats tell him to do, which probably explains why he endorsed Snyder as well.
Lindy on October 15 at 8:29 a.m.
I’ve never paid too much attention to endorsements, but maybe I should start. From the grumblings over the Apple endorsements, looks like some of our far-right conservative friends are a little anxious about the election. They should be.
And CalJones……if Apple were taking his marching orders from the Democrats, he wouldn’t have endorsed Whittaker…….Dems endorsed Staab. Wrong again.
JohnDavid on October 15 at 9:10 a.m.
I thought it was interesting, and kind of pathetic, that Apple’s opinion, endorsement and vote are all based solely on where the candidates live without any discussion or mention of qualifications or capabilities.
If this is the kind of decision making process I can expect from my City Councilman, he’s definitely lost my vote when it’s his turn.
ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 15 at 9:15 a.m.
ChefGus on October 15 at 9:07 a.m.
Mr apple may be a democrat ;but he was on the side of the Police summers ago when the “Vegan Peace Group” was whacked up side the head so handily…. In a personal conversation with Mary and Me he was objecting very very vehemently about the youth and their “lack of respect” for the Flag… ( a protected first amendment right).. Perhaps a little night school course in basic constitutional law would help him…/
When comments about an issue, become comments about a person’s Character.. that is called Ad Hominem and it does not fly in my house/life…. argue facts, don’t call me names.. John
ChefGus/ John Olsen on October 15 at 9:19 a.m.
I am by the way still waiting for a PUBLIC apology to me for calling me a criminal two years ago by Mr Apple at an Open Forum City Council session… my response at the time was to equate his action with those of the Pharisees ….. I doubt he caught the allusion ….. I’d be happy with an apology here on this blog Mr Apple… Dr john olsen
Bone on October 15 at 6:40 p.m.
Whether a person lives inside the city limits, or a stone’s throw outside the city limits, has absolutely nothing to do with his/her qualifications to sit on the bench. Apple’s comments are shoddy and transparent. He seeks only to promote his candidate because he knows he cannot attack Ms. Staab’s impeccable legal reputation as a judge and as a lawyer.
Something to consider: Superior court judges handle a VERY large caseload that involve Spokane issues and those judges are also chosen from both the city and county. I haven’t heard Mr. Apple raise a concern about where our Superior court judges reside.
John David got it right above. Any decision making process which intentionally avoids the important issues, and focuses on one which isn’t relevant, should be scrutinized carefully. It smack of cronyism and bad politics. Since he’s throwing the carpetbagger stuff around, here’s another one to familiarize yourself with:
Cronyism: “Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications…”
Thanks for showing us how you make your important decisions Mr. Apple. It’s very illuminating.
Citizen on October 18 at 8:09 p.m.
Both judicial candidates are qualified. Whitaker has more experience actually trying cases.
The residency issue is not necessarily about state law. Local judges should live in their own communities. Just as councilmen and women should live in the city, even though that is required by law.
Are there no court positions in Spokane Valley, where Staab lives? Why wouldn’t she prefer to be on that court instead of one inside the City of Spokane?
That does seem strange to me. Perhaps we should look for even more qualified, if that might be possible, judges from King County or New York.
Citizen on October 18 at 8:14 p.m.
@CalJones: No dirty campaigns. I am still waiting for Fagan to step up and disavow his partner Eyman’s nasty and untruthful statements about Amber Waldref that he made repeatedly right here. That is dirty.
Mr. Fagan, we are still waiting.
* crickets *