One Down, Two to Go

I was just pooping along tonight when suddenly I got a "breaking news" email from The Daily Astorian.

Not surprisingly, one of the three complaints made by the Pad Marquis' Pocket Posse about supposed campaign irregularities on the part of their opponents has been rejected outright by the secretary of state. This one was about flyers, and was a no-brainer, really.

I have no idea what they thought they were complaining about in the first place. I guess they thought they were rustling up votes for Marquis' pocket-padding by trying to stir up some indignation against those who think Marquis should just do his damn job and quit whining.

They stirred up my indignation, all right. I'm pissed. At them, and at Marquis, for the revolting bully-boy tactics they're using.

I mean, Marquis' posse are just the kind of folks who would have been right at home in Cotton Mathers' obsessive witch-hunting era. I find it truly scary that Maquis would align himself with this anti-free speech crowd just to make a fucking buck.

How the hell did this district attorney manage to get so out of control?

Voting "No" on Measure 4-123 is a vote to start putting him back in line.

D.A. Follies

I am intrigued by the vain antics of the district attorney of Clatsop County, Josh Marquis.

He already makes close to $80K a year, but apparently he really, really needs that extra $13K Clatsop County used to cough up to supplement his pay.

Since most of the county residents make less than $40K annually, I can't figure out why he thinks he needs more when he already makes twice as much as the majority of his constituents. If it's a pissing contest, hey, he already won.

Actually, I have no clue why the taxpayers of the county were coughing up anything for this position at all, since it's not a county slot to begin with.

What's even stranger, and a little scary, is the all-out media campaign he's waging to get those extra bucks. I can't help but think all this time and energy he's spending whining over the $13K would be better spent actually doing his job.

He's even gone from a free blogger account to his own domain, http://www.coastda.com/

Which makes me wonder ... is his specialty self-promotion or fighting crime? Or maybe he's just practicing his moves while looking for a larger stage to strut on?

You be the judge.