Beware the “Hounds of Whinerville”

John Laird, Columbian Editorial Page Editor known for his vitriolic tirades against most anybody to the right of Karl Marx has again decided it is time to denigrate taxpaying citizens who wish to exercise their freedom to speak out against wasteful programs that stand to bankrupt the citizens of Clark County.

Laird’s latest screed, Balance arrives at public podiums labels those who speak out at public meetings against the notion of an overly expensive and unproven design for a replacement bridge across the Columbia River as,

“the Hounds of Whinerville are a leashless confederation of contrarians who could also be described as NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard), CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) and my personal favorite: BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything). Make no mistake, their disdain for progress is as vigorous as their contempt for a three-minute timer.”

The “balance” Laird claims we taxpayers who still believe in citizen rights are up against? Some “members of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce” supposedly “fed up with all the anti-bridge rhetoric from a small but loud group of grumblers” and under the leadership of a Ms. Kelly Parker, the former Kelly Love who, until recently, was a District Director and Senior Congressional Staffer to retiring Democrat Congressman Brian Baird of Washington State 3rd Congressional District, also a supporter of replacing the aging bridge across the Columbia River that for some unexplained reason, MUST be tolled and include extending the light rail line from Portland, Oregon into Clark County.

In the rhetoric we have all come to know from Laird, this new “balance” is contrasted to Us “Hounds of Whinerville” as,

“… are actually for something, well-dressed and mannerly folks who actually smile when they address local governments. These speakers don’t have their hair on fire. Their meticulously prepared remarks fall well within three minutes, and their blood pressure throbs far below the danger zone.”

Laird neglects to mention one main “Hound” is also successful business owner David Madore, a soft spoken man who speaks from his heart also with meticulously prepared remarks and whose hair I have yet to see on fire.

Laird boasts of the GVCC representing some 1,100 businesses in Clark County as if all support this monstrosity of an 8-story bridge extending well into Clark County before coming back down to ground level. However, he lists only 7, “Jeff Woodside (Nutter Corp. construction), Don Russo (Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt legal firm), Tim Schauer (MacKay & Sposito engineers), Jonathan Avery (Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center), Daniel Kirkwood (Big Al’s bowling and entertainment center), Eric Olmsted (On Line Support computers and technology) and Rhona Sen Hoss (community partnerships manager at The Columbian)” as representative and who, it would appear, just might stand to make a tidy bit of profit off of the project that has already wasted over $100,000,000.00 just in “studies.”

Laird and managing editor Lou Brancaccio have been overseeing this paper as it emerges from bankruptcy and struggles to recover from the overly ambitious construction of a new building and a decreasing circulation as subscribers continue to walk away. Brancaccio continues to pen his own claims of the paper not being biased, pointing out the token endorsements of Republican candidates the last few years, but this latest tirade by Laird should leave no doubt that the Columbian continues to be out of touch with the public they hope to purchase it.

Laird, in his haste to further assault those who see massive problem on the horizon with this costly proposal, has no problem actually misstating and misrepresenting what citizens of Clark County really want. More bridges to alleviate the traffic problem, not just one multi-Billion dollar fiasco that won’t solve anything, except fatten the wallets of a few wealthy people off of the backs of an already struggling middle class.

Light rail coming over from Portland has been defeated whenever it has been put to a vote, hence no voting by taxpayers any longer as the voice of the middle class is now shut down with the full support of the ilk of lapdog John Laird.

He might not realize it, but the “Hounds of Whinerville” are not a new phenomena, history has spawned up several times in the past. Whenever tyrannical leaders have gotten overbearing on the populace, it is those “Hounds of Whinerville” that stood up and brought down a concrete wall separating a city.

It was the “Hounds of Whinerville” that stood up to tyrannical colonial rule and formed a Superpower out of the wilderness in less than 200 years.

It was the “Hounds of Whinerville” that were awoken by a sneak attack and pushed back and defeated powers that oppressed freedom just a couple generations ago.

It is the “Hounds of Whinerville” that are taking a stand against those who highjack and fly loaded airplanes into buildings to being a country into subjection to a tyrannical view.

Those “Hounds of Whinerville” have a long history of taking a stand for freedom, even if late in coming at times, but come they do and to date, freedom reigns.

A bit of advice for John Laird.

Be careful in standing in the way of those “Hounds of Whinerville.” They have a habit of rolling right over top of little pissants who think we will abandon our freedom and liberty so easily.