Dori: Be wary when government and media collude to destroy someone
Oct 4, 2019, 5:12 AM
I-976 sponsor Tim Eyman. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
I saw a trailer for the new Clint Eastwood-directed movie coming out, Richard Jewell.
Richard Jewell was a security guard who discovered a backpack of bombs at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was first hailed as a hero for helping get people to safety before the bombs went off. But then, law enforcement and government needed to solve this crime, so they needed a criminal. All of a sudden, Richard Jewell became the suspect. The media bought into this narrative, and together they destroyed his life. He was eventually exonerated, but he died at just 44 of a heart attack.
There’s a line about a minute into the trailer that made me think of something going on back home: “His accusers are two of the most powerful forces in the world — the United States government and media.”
As you know if you’re a regular listener, I have a checkered relationship with Tim Eyman. I like a lot of his initiatives and generally think that anything that restricts the flow of money to government is a good thing. I’ve probably voted for more than half of his initiatives, though there are several that I have not supported.
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On a personal level, I think he’s kind of a squirrely character. However, I also know that he is despised by local government and most media because he dares to say we should not give government so much money. Attorney General Bob Ferguson has been going after Tim Eyman with limitless resources and clearly wants to destroy Eyman in court.
Right now, Eyman is pushing for a $30 car tabs initiative, I-976. This is an initiative that I love. What Sound Transit is doing to you and me with overvaluing our vehicles so they can charge us more on our car tabs is criminal. It is stealing.
But, our attorney general does not go after anything that is a Democrat cause, so he would never do anything to inhibit Sound Transit.
If you read the media about I-976, it’s all negative. It is presented as a dangerous initiative. All that is talked about is that the state will lose $4 billion. No one talks about the fact that taxpayers will get to keep $4 billion that they have earned. All that they talk about is that the state needs more of our money.
I saw a story a couple days ago that a signature-gathering firm called Citizen Solutions now has to pay $1 million for sending hundreds of thousands of dollars that it collected from donors to Tim Eyman. Donors thought that money was to go toward ballot initiatives.
Maybe Eyman is guilty of this. I don’t know. Like I said, I think he’s a squirrely guy. I think he’s capable of this kind of embezzlement. But what if he is not guilty?
What I’m asking of you is to just be mindful. Government and media have colluded to try to destroy a private person. If you’re in the public eye, there are no more powerful allies than government and media, just as the movie trailer stated. Everyone takes all of these stories at face value and everyone just reports it like he’s automatically guilty, because the politicians have decided to dog this guy. Remember, there are billions of dollars at stake. The politicians will do anything to keep your car tabs at hundreds of dollars.
All I ask is that you be wary anytime government and media collude to go after a private citizen. They did it to Richard Jewell.
Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
