Gov. Gregoire officially announced this morning what we all knew for quite some time: that she will not seek a third term as governor. And while I know I should be gracious, after reading her official statement... well... I just can't.

“The last six years have been a time of great achievement, and I’m incredibly proud of our work to move Washington forward. We’ve enhanced protection of the Puget Sound. We’re out ahead of the rest of the nation in reforming health care. We’ve made government leaner while increasing accountability. We made major investments in education, including the creation of the Department of Early Learning.

“Through three years of a down economy, declining revenues and increasing need — our state has proven that the economy won’t define us, but that we will define our own future. We have added jobs, spurred growth and made key investments in the workforce of tomorrow.

You've gotta be fucking kidding, right? How exactly does cutting $1.4 billion from K-12 education and slashing higher education spending in half qualify as making "major investments in education"...? And yeah, I suppose we did "define our own future" in that stubbornly/selfishly/cowardly clinging to our antiquated, inadequate and most-unfairly-regressive-in-the-nation tax structure assures that Washington will be forced to steadily disinvest in education and other essential services far into the future. Is that what you mean by "a time of great achievement," Governor? I sure hope not.

Look, the economy was fucked. That's bad timing. It's not your fault. But calling the past six years "a time of great achievement" amounts to little more than splashing cheap perfume on a turd. It's just as ugly and just as smelly, if in a different way.

You never were very good at the communication thing, even when you had a positive accomplishment to communicate, so my suggestion, Governor, is that you fade from office quietly. You know, just as quiet as you were on the high-earners income tax at a time when we desperately needed bold, persuasive leadership.