The Cowardly Irons

Stefan Sharkansky, self-proclaimed man of sanity, seems unable to understand why anyone would care where David Irons stands on I-912, the initiative that would cripple Washington's ability to address hundreds of critical transportation project needs, including a great many in the county David Irons would like to be executive of.

Shark claims that in editorializing on this issue

The P-I is merely in a struggle to follow in the horseproduct-caked shoes of Seattle's favorite left-wing fiction blog, hitting hard on a fabricated non-issue that is of interest only to the lunatic fringe.

The question I have for Stefan is how exactly does wanting to know where a candidate who would want to run King County stands on I-912 makes me and others a lunatic, or part of any fringe group?

Look at what David Irons has now gone on the record as saying, but only after prodding by David Goldstein at HorsesAss.org:

In principle, I believe all major tax increases should go to a vote of the people. Personally I am voting no on Initiative 912. This is not the package that I would have put together. I believe it should have done more to reduce congestion. That's why we need new leadership in King County that will advocate for more congestion relief.

However, Irons still hasn't addressed why he plans to vote against I-912. Is he so cowardly that he can't stand behind his vote with an explanation of why, however little he thinks of the transportation package, he thinks less of the initiative that would kill it? Is he afraid that by actually having to explain his vote he would have to phase his position in such a way that explicitly comes out against the arguments I-912 proponents are making, a constituency he needs to vote for him to have any chance of defeating incumbent Ron Sims in November?

The fact is he is explicitly doing so, whether he wants to speak the words or not.

David Irons knows we need the money and that the alternatives are not out there.

David Irons realizes that our infrastructure is in dire need of attention and that the funds are not there to address these needs.

David Irons realizes that despite the shortcomings of the legislation, the transportation package is the result of bipartisan negotiating and represents the interests of as many people as possible.

David Irons realizes that despite what people may feel about unrelated events, such as the Governor election outcome, voting for I-912 is not how we should be communicating "messages" to the legislature.

David Irons must also think voters are idiots if he thinks he can hide his position from them, trying to sound for I-912, while actually being against it.

The fact is he is against I-912, will vote against I-912, and as cowardly as everything else about his position is, he will be making the right choice on I-912 by voting against it, and if he was any kind of leader he would be trying to convince his constituency to do so as well.

So far, that's a test at which he's failing miserably.