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Posts published in “Day: October 19, 2007”

Advance look: ID Senate ’08

October 19, 2007

We had forgotten about this, and thanks to the brief cite at Red State Rebels that served as a reminder. To wit:

Turns out that Jim Risch, the probable Republican nominee for the Senate, delivered answers in full to the Gem State Voter Guide when he ran last year for lieutenant governor. (His opponent then and probably next year as well, Democrat Larry LaRocco, didn't respond to the survey.) Risch's answers are still posted on line.

The voter guide was developed by the Idaho Values Alliance, whose main spokesman is Bryan Fischer.

A sampling of the responses: "Embryonic stem cell research in Idaho" oppose; "Require state testing of home-schooled students" oppose; "Remove jurisdiction from the U.S. Supreme Court over religious liberty issues" support; "Pledge not to raise taxes, fees or rates" support; "Allow teaching in public schools that man is a created being, not an evolved being" support; "Allow teaching in public schools that the proper role of government is to protect rights given to man by God" support . . .

Kulongoski’s responsibility

October 19, 2007
Ted Kulongoski

Ted Kulongoski

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski screwed up earlier this week when he stalked out of a press conference rather than answer a TV reporter's question about what he knew, and when he knew it, about Neil Goldschmidt's sexual involvement with his 14-year-old babysitter. (Oregon saw his walk-off - it was caught, on tape.) He seems to have recognized that, offering a little more response yesterday - essentially to say that arguments that he knew about the case but wrongly did nothing, were meritless. He says he didn't know.

That is of course not ending the situation, notably since Portland talk show host Lars Larson has filed a formal complaint with the Oregon State Bar. Larson said Kulongoski had learned about it around 1991, by say of former Goldschmidt speechwriter Fred Leonhardt, who had been told by Bernie Giusto, once a driver for Goldschmidt and currently sheriff of Multnomah County. Giusto is under inquiry himself, in part for the same cause: withholding the knowledge.

The core point is put finely at Northwest Republican: "Why would you believe Fred Leonhardt over Kulongoski? Well a couple of reasons. First see the video from KGW. Second Leanhardt has taken and passed a polygraph backing up his story. And finally Kulongoski is a politician and closely tied with the child molester Goldschmidt. Remember folks, this is not just about Kulongoski hearing some rumor of a former governer. No he had heard about it and still... still decided he would appoint a child molester to the state board of education."

And the Oregonian's Steve Duin blasted, "It is Ted Kulongoski's good fortune, apparently, that 'moral fitness' and 'honesty' are standards for police officers, not governors."

All of this certainly has a sleazy ring to it. But, leaving aside the issues of who's telling the truth and who isn't, it looks a little different when you untangle the pieces and put them in perspective. And it raises the question of what were Kulongoski's - and our - obligations.

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