Tuesday, July 17, 2012
News Rob McKenna Should Fire Kathlyn Ehl, Says Seattle Times Editorial Writer
Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 5:31 PM
Despite the Seattle Times' cheerleading for Republican Rob McKenna's gubernatorial bid, recent tweets from one of his campaign policy assistants, Kathlyn Ehl, are apparently too much. Ehl had written comments disparaging the elderly and Asians, and even blurted to her followers: "shut up and speak english #asians." So Sharon Pian Chan, who sits on the Seattle Times editorial board, says this afternoon that Ehl "should be fired":
Our editorial board endorsed McKenna, a Republican and Washington state's attorney general, who is running against Democrat and former congressman Jay Inslee. This incident makes me wonder: If McKenna is willing to forgive and forget this behavior, what behavior would he tolerate in the office of the governor? [...]
The tweets are also dumb. It would be impossible to shut up, and speak English at the same time. It's surprising that McKenna, who has cast himself in this election as the smartest kid in class, is willing to put up with this level of ignorance.
Since The Stranger broke this story yesterday, it's been picked up by the Associated Press, every local TV station, lots of radio, Daily Kos, TPM, Daily Mail, MSNBC, Seattlepi.com, and scores of other outlets. All that's nice, I must say, but none is nicer than this brief moment in which I actually agree with someone on the Seattle Times ed board.
Thanks for speaking up, Sharon.
2
Interestingly, the Ehl's have no detectable ethnicity!
http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/sur…
Who are these Ehls? Where do they come from? Is this some Lord of Rings kind of craziness?
Ehl country of origin
The nationality of Ehl can be very difficult to determine because country boundaries change over time, leaving the nation of origin a mystery. The original ethnicity of Ehl may be in dispute as result of whether the family name came about naturally and independently in multiple locales; for example, in the case of names that are based on a profession, which can come into being in multiple places independently (such as the surname "Carpenter" which was given to woodworkers).
http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/sur…
Who are these Ehls? Where do they come from? Is this some Lord of Rings kind of craziness?
4
It'll be years before a web search for "Kathlyn Ehl" does not yield results for "shut up and speak english #asians." Good luck getting a job in the real world...
5
"It would be impossible to shut up, and speak English at the same time."
She obviously meant "Shut up, then speak English".
She obviously meant "Shut up, then speak English".
8
It's cool that someone can be basically banned from employment forever for saying something bad on Twitter once
kinda like texting naked pics of yourself to your boy/girlfriend if you're in high school and being a sex offender for the rest of your life
young uns should have to pay for relatively minor mistakes for the rest of their fucking lives, good job Goldy, pat yourself on the back
kinda like texting naked pics of yourself to your boy/girlfriend if you're in high school and being a sex offender for the rest of your life
young uns should have to pay for relatively minor mistakes for the rest of their fucking lives, good job Goldy, pat yourself on the back
9
If there's anything that will sound the 'all hands on deck' alarm at the Stranger it's the whiff of a potential 'hate crime'. They've probably already paid the $50 entry fee to put their 'breaking story' into the next round of Pulizter's.
10
A commenter at the Times writes that Ehl's father was Slade Gorton's chief of staff. So if that's accurate, she's clearly well-connected.
11
Well, Kathlyn Ehl "should be fired" if he wants to snuff out this story and not give anyone reason to believe that either McKenna or Republicans in general harbor animus either racial or against the elderly.
But he won't because he doesn't think he should have to. And that will hurt him.
But he won't because he doesn't think he should have to. And that will hurt him.
13
Fuck that. She said something dumb on the internet. Big fucking deal. Shouldn't cost her her job or future.
14
Kathlyn Ehl is the daughter of Larry Ehl, former Slade Gorton Chief of Staff and WSDOT Federal Relations Manager.
She retweets a lot of posts from her dad's Twitter handle (@Transpo_Issues) that he uses for his blog, Transportation Issues Daily.
Additionally, a simple search of "larry ehl daughter" turns up a condolence note on an obituary that was signed by Michele (Kierstead) Ehl, Larry Ehl and daughters Kathlyn, Alison and Laura from Edmonds, WA (http://hosting-10420.tributes.com/condol…)
Makes you wonder if Kathlyn got her position after a phone call from Larry to Rob.
She retweets a lot of posts from her dad's Twitter handle (@Transpo_Issues) that he uses for his blog, Transportation Issues Daily.
Additionally, a simple search of "larry ehl daughter" turns up a condolence note on an obituary that was signed by Michele (Kierstead) Ehl, Larry Ehl and daughters Kathlyn, Alison and Laura from Edmonds, WA (http://hosting-10420.tributes.com/condol…)
Makes you wonder if Kathlyn got her position after a phone call from Larry to Rob.
15
I think "The Seattle Times" should credit Slog Comments for the "zinger" in the op-ed because it was plagiarized from a Slog commenter.
"here is where my name goes" posted yesterday: "I'm almost more offended by how it doesn't even make sense. Shut up AND speak? Oh, the whole thought isnt there. I think the long version must have been "shut up your ching chong talk and speak english #asians"
..Posted by hereiswheremynamegoes
"here is where my name goes" posted yesterday: "I'm almost more offended by how it doesn't even make sense. Shut up AND speak? Oh, the whole thought isnt there. I think the long version must have been "shut up your ching chong talk and speak english #asians"
..Posted by hereiswheremynamegoes
16
@15
I don't know. To be honest, I think it was a fairly obvious point--something I notice right away but didn't bring up.
So should doing stupid like this cost her her job, even though it was a past post? I think yes. When you get hired, a lot of times your character counts. That's why it looks bad on your job application if you have to admit that you were dishonorably discharged or if you have a criminal record. As for Ehl's racism, it's not like she's part of a community of British occupiers in Hong Kong in 1900--making her remark then would still have been a dick move, but at least one could say that it was just an expression of the common attitudes of her community. Instead, the point to note is that she was a college senior living in a diverse society in Seattle that considers racism wrong, and yet she still thought it was fine to tweet this to the world.
As for her ageism, it's just plain stupid and insensitive, like some young, able-bodied person on the bus bitching loudly when the driver asks her to give up her seat for a senior making his way slowly into the bus.
I don't know. To be honest, I think it was a fairly obvious point--something I notice right away but didn't bring up.
So should doing stupid like this cost her her job, even though it was a past post? I think yes. When you get hired, a lot of times your character counts. That's why it looks bad on your job application if you have to admit that you were dishonorably discharged or if you have a criminal record. As for Ehl's racism, it's not like she's part of a community of British occupiers in Hong Kong in 1900--making her remark then would still have been a dick move, but at least one could say that it was just an expression of the common attitudes of her community. Instead, the point to note is that she was a college senior living in a diverse society in Seattle that considers racism wrong, and yet she still thought it was fine to tweet this to the world.
As for her ageism, it's just plain stupid and insensitive, like some young, able-bodied person on the bus bitching loudly when the driver asks her to give up her seat for a senior making his way slowly into the bus.
17
Sharon got the position for which Goldy applied. The Seattle Times picked an Asian nutcase over a Jewish nutcase. Where is the Asian nutcase at the Stranger?
18
@14 - the position she's in is a long way from glamorous in any way. It's poorly paid, the hours are awful, and pretty much anyone can get them for those reasons. Hell, I've had a few. The only people that make money on political campaigns are consultants and the campaign managers (sometimes).
19
@2, that's boilerplate, nimrod. The site produces an almost identical paragraph for "Bailo."
I'll bet if you sent 'em some money, though, they'd be happy to "research" it, and for just a small additional investment, send you an embroidered tea cozy with the Bailo coat-of-arms.
I'll bet if you sent 'em some money, though, they'd be happy to "research" it, and for just a small additional investment, send you an embroidered tea cozy with the Bailo coat-of-arms.
21
I'd rather she keep her job, than McKenna fire her and hire someone who is competent enough not to fill their twitter with dumb bigoted shit.
22
It's always sort of adorable when The Stranger hyperventilates about some granular, irrelevant story, thinking it has a scoop. How many posts did they devote to the stupid employee at Thornton Creek who told a couple patrons about the [insert spoiler here]? For fuck's sake, you'd think it was Watergate...
24
@2 That's the one more worthless links you've provided. I checked my last name 'Morris', which is one of the most common in the English speaking world and it gave the same vague answer as 'Ehl'. What I was looking for is one of the easiest facts you can find. They couldn't even find it.
Did you even check 'Bailo'?
Did you even check 'Bailo'?
25
We already know "what behavior would he tolerate in the office of the governor". He's deeply anti-gay. http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/20…
26
The real lesson here is that McKenna's goons should have just let Goldy into the fucking presser.
28
Remember the right wingnuts harped on one of Obama's campaign aid for "disparaging" Mitt Romney's wife ("never worked one day in her life", which is true) ? Then this racist ignorant aide is fair game and she should get fired.
29
What she did is not just saying something stupid on the internet. We say stupid things, sure, but what she said is hateful, and saying something like that doesn't just come out of a void. It presupposes an entire set of values and privilege that she obviously hasn't investigated or questioned.
30
Fire her????
Hell, no, hell, no! She should be encouraged to tweet as much as possible, go on all forms of media to give her opinion on EVERTHING!
No doubt, like various KIRO and KOMO local 'tards, she embraces China's body parts farms (prison camps for dissidents, activists, religious practitioners, etc., where they steal various organs to be sold to the super-rich).
Probably thinks snuff films are cutesy.
Tweet, on my douchey, tweet on!
Hell, no, hell, no! She should be encouraged to tweet as much as possible, go on all forms of media to give her opinion on EVERTHING!
No doubt, like various KIRO and KOMO local 'tards, she embraces China's body parts farms (prison camps for dissidents, activists, religious practitioners, etc., where they steal various organs to be sold to the super-rich).
Probably thinks snuff films are cutesy.
Tweet, on my douchey, tweet on!
31
@16
You made the following comment about Imperialist dickwads in the 1800s, but that statement is still true of white folks TODAY.
"making her remark then would still have been a dick move, but at least one could say that it was just an expression of the common attitudes of her community."
You made the following comment about Imperialist dickwads in the 1800s, but that statement is still true of white folks TODAY.
"making her remark then would still have been a dick move, but at least one could say that it was just an expression of the common attitudes of her community."
32
@31
Oh, yes, I absolutely agree; there are people who do live in such insular communities or self-involved worlds that they do think there's nothing wrong with such attitudes. I think was trying to suggest that one should be aware enough today that you're going to get called on this stuff.
Oh, yes, I absolutely agree; there are people who do live in such insular communities or self-involved worlds that they do think there's nothing wrong with such attitudes. I think was trying to suggest that one should be aware enough today that you're going to get called on this stuff.
33
As an Asian person myself, I am glad to see that USA and American had changed many of its racist practice over the recent decades
However, many underlying racism are still there..
So I support such decision, to let her resign..
By the way, white women make fun of Asian, and think that it is less ''intense'' than discriminating blacks, that is WRONG.
However, many underlying racism are still there..
So I support such decision, to let her resign..
By the way, white women make fun of Asian, and think that it is less ''intense'' than discriminating blacks, that is WRONG.
34
@33
I think Ehl is referring to you LOL!. BTW, what's the difference between USA and an American? Learn the English language before you post, so you don't have a-holes like me sh*t all over it. Konichiwa B*tches!
I think Ehl is referring to you LOL!. BTW, what's the difference between USA and an American? Learn the English language before you post, so you don't have a-holes like me sh*t all over it. Konichiwa B*tches!
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