Busted For Making Shit Up

“He also wants to spend $15 billion to expand highways and reduce traffic congestion, which he says would reduce emissions.”

That “he” would be Dino Rossi, and to back up this proposal his campaign cited a study about reductions in — oops! — carbon monoxide, not carbon dioxide. When the Seattle Times pressed them on this, they cited two more studies, one on — oops! — congestion pricing, which — oops! — Rossi doesn’t support, and a second that finds reducing congestion can cut emissions, but — oops! — only if steps are taken to keep traffic from increasing, which — oops! — it is 100% safe to assume, are steps that Rossi would never dream of taking.

But what’s much more disturbing than Rossi making shit up, is that he can make shit up about one of the most critical issues of our times, get called on it in a major newspaper, and still retain legitimacy in the minds of roughly half of the voting population of Washington State. It’s a curious thing. It’s as if the reptilian core has latched on to the singular truth that “he’s our man,” and so reality becomes irrelevant.

Not that I think there’s a single reader of this blog who’s voting for Rossi (Or is there? Any undecideds out there willing to admit it?), but still, the whole Seattle Times piece is worth a read for reinforcement. The contrast between the two candidates couldn’t be any more stark.

Gregoire spoke at Reality Check last April, and demonstrated that she gets the connections between land use patterns and sustainability. In September, she became the first governor ever to speak at Housing Washington, the State’s largest affordable housing conference, and expressed her commitment to addressing the challenges of providing affordable housing. Gregoire had this to say about the viaduct recently: “We’re working hard right now to craft the right mix of fixes to I-5, to city streets, and to transit to see if these improvements can meet the challenge. If we can make it work, we’re going to.”

Nuff said.