Apparently there was a shooter firing on cars out in the Deary/Helmer/Bovill area. Radio is saying no injuries, but we’re right on highway 8 in Moscow, and definitely just saw a Deary ambulance with flashies and screamies headed to Gritman. They are talking about a crash; not sure if it’s related.

I think the shooting has stopped, but they’re looking for the suspect(s). I think the description was of two males, one in a blue sweatshirt with a white hood? They had the highway shut down out there but it sounds like it’s reopened. We’re listening to the scanner on the iPhone. I love this thing.

More as I hear it.

I just finished my last final, and unless I did impossibly horrible on it (which I did not),* I can say with confidence that I made this semester my bitch.

As in: straight-A’s, 4.0, hello dean’s list, etc. etc. etc.

I have been horrible at college prior to this semester. Floundering seems like an appropriate word.

So, yeah. Gloating. Reveling, even. I think I shall go enjoy a celebratory brew.

Also: All those people who were like “Oh, yeah, ‘taking time off school to have a kid,’ enjoy being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen for the rest of your life, yada yada…” – HA. Told you so. Neener.

*Grade on said final: 94/100. BOOYAH!

We’re going to the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl, and Robb Akey is in consideration for Liberty Mutual’s Coach of the Year.

The unofficial election results are in. Out of 13,271 registered voters, 4,203 turned out, for a rate of 31.67%.

It appears our councilmen will be Timothy Brown, Susan Scott and my good buddy Walter Steed. (Brown at least said he would have opposed the smoking ban.)

Here’s where it gets amusing: The unofficial results have John Weber (2,055) losing to Nancy Chaney (2,095). Assuming those numbers hold…

That’s a difference of 40 votes.

~12.5% of the votes Weber needed to bridge the gap can be accounted for just in people who were in my house today. People who would have voted for him if he hadn’t behaved like a little tyrant on the city council. People who didn’t vote for Nancy Chaney.

What’s more, we’re political activists and would have gladly campaigned for a pro-liberty candidate (especially against Nancy Chaney), and could have easily drummed up those other 36 votes, and then some. I absolutely guarantee it – The Inconvenience and I just came up with about ten names in twenty seconds, and those are just friends, several of whom would have also campaigned. If each of us recruited just two or three strangers, John Weber would be mayor of Moscow.

Oh, how satisfying this is. The election I didn’t even vote in is the election I’ve inadvertently impacted most.

EDIT: A friend on Facebook made the point that it’s possible Weber would have lost votes had he not voted in favor of the smoking ban, which is true.

Here’s a breakdown, though: Anti-ban Timothy Brown won his seat with 51 fewer votes than Weber received for the mayoral position, and pro-ban Walter Steed won his with eight fewer votes than Weber.

So, pro-ban and anti-ban candidates with otherwise fairly similar platforms wound up in a ~50 vote range of one another. Even if you assume every vote separating Timothy Brown from Steed or Weber was due to his difference of opinion on the smoking ban, and thus assume they are all votes Weber would have lost had he voted differently, you’re still talking about a less than 100 vote loss to Chaney.

And, I again maintain that 5-10 dedicated campaign volunteers (especially ones capable of getting out the vote on campus, which is a majorly untapped voter pool in municipal elections) could have easily secured that many votes for Weber.

Today, I intentionally abstained from voting for the first time (as far as I recall). As we live directly across the street from the polling place, a friend came by on his way to vote, about as distraught over this election as I was. (His direct quote was “I hate everyone running.”)

I shrugged and said, “Don’t vote.”

He said, “But… it doesn’t feel right! I have to vote! It’s just… It’s what I do! YOU VOTE!”

“Not today, I don’t,” I replied. Then, I read a quote from a buddy (slawson01 over on LiveJournal):

Congratulations on not voting. You have succeeded in refraining from selecting someone to use force on your behalf, and robbed the thug who does win from having your sanction. They always claim a mandate to do whatever it is they do. When voter turn out is 15 total, they will know they do not have it.

I’m not saying I’ve retired from voting. But, when there was literally not a single person on the ballot I could vote for, and I knew my write-ins (i.e. The Inconvenience) wouldn’t even be counted, I was not about to legitimize this election by upping the voter turnout numbers.

I think, perhaps, that will be my new voting policy. As long as there is at least one candidate or issue on the ballot I can actually pull the lever for, I’ll vote, and ignore or write-in for the others. If there is a write-in candidate with a chance of garnering enough votes to win, or at least making a statement, I’ll vote.

If the election is a complete farce, like today’s, then I’ll take slawson01’s advice and deny my +1 closer to a mandate.

Oh, and that friend who dropped by went home without voting, either.

Walter Steed, Moscow city councilman (don’t know if he’s been reelected or not), replied to my friendly email:

In a message dated 11/3/09 4:10:46 PM, [my email] writes:

Though Heinlein’s razor states I ought not attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, when it comes to politicians, I can’t really come to any other conclusion than: You’re a liar.

Laurel, Thank you for your position that it’s important to let candidates know both when they have my support and when they do not.

Wow, and I’ve never heard of Heinlein’s razor before. I appreciate your previous vote and hope the candidates you voted for this time make every vote exactly as you wish. Re the smoking ban, it was a health based unanimous vote by the council members. The fact that only one of 16 bar owners spoke out against the ban spoke volumes to us regarding the private property rights stand of the other 15.

Again, thanks for your previous support.

Walter

Walter Steed
1345 Ridgeview Drive
Moscow ID 83843

Phone (208) 883-0123
Fax (208) 882-7184

Of course, I wrote back…

Walter,

I must have missed when it became the prerogative of the government at any level to concern itself with enforcing my health.

That said, I’m not surprised only one bar owner spoke out against the ban, nor that you’re justifying your vote via tyranny of the majority. If I have learned one thing over the last few years, it’s that my countrymen are cowards.

Just a few months ago, I built a fence in my backyard. I had to purchase a $43 permit for permission to build said fence. I asked the lady at the planning and zoning department what exactly I was getting in exchange for my $43. She explained that Moscow hasn’t always had a fence permit, but so many people were calling the city with complaints about their neighbors’ fences that the utilization of city resources necessitated a permit and associated fee.

At what point did we decide the solution to a problem with our neighbor was to call the police or code enforcement officers, instead of knocking on their door and working it out?

The fact that fifteen bar owners failed to speak out on behalf of private property rights tells me those bar owners wanted to ban smoking, anyway, but knowing it might be unpopular with some of their customers, took the cowardly route and let the force of government dictate their business practices instead. The unfortunate side effect was the aforementioned tyranny of the majority being imposed on the sixteenth business owner, who was no longer free to choose the best practice for his establishment.

Let me state it plainly: You took away that business owner’s liberty and are justifying it by saying he was in the minority. Apparently you only believe in rights when they are the popular view of a majority – otherwise you would have voted against the smoking ban and left it up to private businesses regardless of whether or not they expressed an opinion.

Surely you’re not suggesting I deserve to lose my rights if I don’t speak up on every vote that takes place, from the city council on up to the United States Congress? Or, if I do speak up but am in the minority, my rights are inconsequential?

As far as I am concerned, it is always the duty of elected officials to err on the side of liberty. You, along with the rest of the city council, absolutely fail that test time and again.

I’ll stop taking up your time, but would appreciate it if you can do me one favor: Please let me know who the one bar owner opposed to the smoking ban was, because I (and a merry band of liberty-loving friends) will not longer patronize the other Moscow bar businesses, and plan to tell them why.

Laurel mylastname

EDIT: In case anyone is keeping score, Steed and company’s “health based” ordinance has caused a drop in revenue for Moscow bars. But he’s pro-free-enterprise! Pro-economic-development! Really! I promise!

I just sent the following to John Weber (city councilman running for mayor), and a slightly modified version to Walter Steed (city councilman running for reelection):

Mr. Weber,

I feel it’s important to let candidates know both when they have my support and when they do not.

Allow me to preface this with: I am no fan of Nancy Chaney. I was truly hoping she’d have an opponent I could support, because I think she’s horrible for Moscow. In addition to her reprehensible stance on economic growth, her position on gun rights flies in the face of everything I believe in as an Idahoan. She certainly will not have my vote today.

That said, neither will you, because yours was among the unanimous votes for the Moscow smoking ban, as well as among the five votes for the revised noise ordinance.

Let me be clear: I am not a smoker. I generally abhor smoking and do my best to avoid those who smoke. Given the option, I will choose a (voluntarily!) smoke-free establishment over those that permit it. Furthermore, I live in a quiet neighborhood and have certainly been annoyed by noisy neighbors in the past.

But, stronger than my dislike for smoking or inconsiderate neighbors is my belief in private property rights and keeping police power to a minimum. Your vote forcing Moscow establishments to prohibit smoking was a flagrant violation of private property rights. It’s amusing that someone who professes a concern for economic development in Moscow, on one hand, would turn around and tread on free enterprise the way you did. And, to grant police the ability to be a complainant in a noise violation – why? If the noise isn’t bothering anyone enough to complain to the police, why give them that power?

I noticed the Greater Moscow Alliance says you are in “complete agreement” with their stated values of “advance[ing] quality of life and economic prosperity by supporting free market enterprise, private property rights,
stewardship of natural resources and responsible government” – yet your voting record shows the complete opposite on at least two of those issues. Ironically, on the very same page as your stance on the GMA’s values is your assertion you’d vote for the smoking ban all over again!

Though Heinlein’s razor states I ought not attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, when it comes to politicians, I can’t really come to any other conclusion than: You’re a liar.

In the future, I hope you consider freedom more important than going along with the cause(s) du jour.

Laurel mylastname

I was really trying to be tactful, honest-to-Pete, but then I found the GMA’s voting guide and my diplomacy went out the window.

I hate liars. I mean, I realize the term is more or less synonymous with “politicians,” but still.

Nevermind.

I think, for the first time since I became eligible, I’m just not voting. Or maybe I’ll go write in The Inconvenience. Or Thomas Jefferson.

Autry White counts Dear Leader among his heroes, so, no thanks.

And honestly? I don’t even care enough to track down Deccio to find out where he stands. Given the pattern, here, he most likely sucks, too. If you’re not going to exert even a modicum of effort to make your positions available, then… come on. Setting up a website is not hard, these days.

So. Consider me officially jaded.

Philosophically, I don’t know where to go from here. If I don’t believe an office should even exist, what is the right approach? Vote for the least of the evils? Abstain in protest? Draft my own candidate, or run, myself? I can’t run for everything all the time, nor do I have any interest in doing so, so that really can’t be the answer for every piddly little office I protest.

Not to mention, my entire platform would pretty much be, “No on everything.”

Heh – maybe I WILL create a “Laurel for Everything” campaign – I will not run, but if elected by write-in, I will serve only to diminish the importance of my office to the greatest extent possible.

I’ll resurrect the Do-Nothing concept as a superlative rather than an insult.

Okay. Now I’m just feeling angsty.

I hate voting because everyone sucks.

Tomorrow is the Moscow municipal election, and – well – everyone sucks.

Wannabe Gun-Grabber Nancy Chaney (incumbent) is up against Smoking-Ban-Voting John Weber for Mayor. Great.

Out of the six city council candidates:
1) Walter Steed voted for the smoking ban,
2) Nels Reese is this guy,
3) Scott Billing couldn’t give The Inconvenience a single ordinance he’d support repealing (he claimed he wasn’t familiar enough with the code to pick anything – um, hello, candidate?!),
4) Timothy Brown says, “Provide safe and secure living environment through adequate police and fire department funding” – bzzzt, wrong answer,
5) Susan Scott has some good things to say about economic development, but wants to swing the weight of the City Council in ways I’m not comfortable with to improve life for senior citizens and “work for affordable housing for our children” (how about the free market?)
and
6) Dennis Deccio… well, actually, what I’ve read of him doesn’t suck so bad. But, he doesn’t have a website and I can’t find that much about his positions online, other than being on a “Conservative responsible pro growth platform.” Maybe I’ll track him down tomorrow and grill him on a few things.

So, while I was writing this, I found out there are actually seven candidates. Autry White is running as a write-in candidate, and he’s pissed off about the smoking ban and the revised noise ordinance.

I had forgotten about the revised noise ordinance, which made it so the police can act as complainant. Yep. Grrrrreat idea. I finally tracked down the minutes from that city council meeting to verify what I suspected, and wouldn’t you know, Weber and Steed voted for that one, too. EPIC FAIL.

Anyway, I kinda like this Autry guy. He’s unconventional, he seems to agree that everyone sucks, and he (unlike myself) actually got off his ass to do more than bitch about it. He also said,

Autry believes that individual rights should never be compromised – this country was founded on the principal [sic] of freedom.

And while that’s the wrong homophone, I appreciate the sentiment. He also doesn’t seem very interested in promoting anything new, but quite actively desires the repeal of at least two ordinances, so he has that over all of the other candidates. (Okay, okay, to be totally fair, he has a couple of goofy ideas he’s promoting, but nothing that would ever gain any traction, so I’ll consider that as good as not promoting anything.)

So: Not voting for Mayor because I can’t choose between Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich. Maybe voting for Deccio, probably writing in Autry.

Thus ends the Official PGB Moscow Muni Voting Guide 2009. Consider yourself edified.

From the police log in the university fishwrap:

Tuesday, 6:10 pm
University Avenue: Caller reported a group of construction workers whistling and catcalling as she walked by.