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News & ArtsWednesday, April 25, 2012
The Ladies / Election / Olympia Young Woman Asks Question About "Reproductive Parity Act," McKenna Tells Her to "Go Get a Job"
Posted by Goldy on Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Yesterday outside the Bering Sea Fisheries Conference, a young woman approached attorney general and gubernatorial wannabe Rob McKenna to ask him his stance on the Reproductive Parity Act, a bill his fellow Republicans killed in the legislature last year, but on which he has refused to comment.
His response, as recorded in the audio above and transcribed below, was remarkably curt and rude:
Woman: "Mr. Mckenna."
McKenna: "Yes."
Woman: "What's your stance on the Reproductive Parity Act?"
McKenna: "My stance is I'm a lawyer for the State. You can turn that recorder off if you'd like, instead of trying to bushwhack me. It's not really very polite is it? Do you think you're honest?"
Woman: "I'm just wondering..."
McKenna: "Do you think you're being honest?"
Woman: "Huh?"
McKenna: "Are you being honest? Or are you just not going to answer my question?"
Woman: "I'm a youth worker who's wondering..."
McKenna: "You're not being honest. Forget it."
Woman: "Okay..."
McKenna: "You're just trying to gain a political advantage, sorry. Why don't you go get a job?"
"Get a job"...? Really? Jesus. What an arrogant asshole.
A few observations. First, this is a proposed bill not a legal case, so McKenna's status as AG gives him no excuse not to answer—that's total bullshit, plain and simple. Second, I'm told that this woman was not a Democratic tracker, as McKenna seems to presume in so rudely dismissing her. Third, I'm shocked, shocked to find people "trying to gain a political advantage" in a political campaign! And finally, "get a job"...? I mean, what the fuck?
This is of course the standard conservative Republican approach to everybody with which they disagree politically, that we are somehow all lazy economic parasites sucking the blood from hardworking "producers" like themselves. A young woman asks a politically challenging question about McKenna's stance on a reproductive health bill, and he dismissively responds by telling her to "go get a job."
I could riff on this for days (and possibly will), but the short of it is that if there was ever a window into the ideology and psyche of Rob McKenna, it's this ill-mannered, ill-considered offhand remark. "Go get a job!" That's the Republican prescription for everything, isn't it? If you are unemployed, uninsured, uneducated, unhomed, or unanything, go get a fucking a job instead of looking for handout or a hand up.
As for McKenna, as a politician and elected official, part of his job is to answer questions from constituents. And if he's not up to it, perhaps he should go look for another line of work?
1
But, if she moves to Texas to get a job, her employer will refuse to cover that.
Why is Comrade "Frenchie" Mittens so French? Is it from living there for years in a French Castle?
Why is Comrade "Frenchie" Mittens so French? Is it from living there for years in a French Castle?
4
This guy is NOT going to be governor. Not if you make sure you, all your friends and family in the state get out and VOTE and vote Inslee.
FYI, that's how democracy works. A bit. Kind of.
As for McKenna, McKenna is an awkward, IGNORANT, nasty, mean-spirited manipulator geeky, nerdy-looking, scrawn-ball who hides behind his paint-by-numbers law degree. No disrespect to geeks or nerds intended, btw ;-)
McKenna is the mouthpiece for rural WA and religious and political right-wing fundamentalists. WA deserves so much better.
FYI, that's how democracy works. A bit. Kind of.
As for McKenna, McKenna is an awkward, IGNORANT, nasty, mean-spirited manipulator geeky, nerdy-looking, scrawn-ball who hides behind his paint-by-numbers law degree. No disrespect to geeks or nerds intended, btw ;-)
McKenna is the mouthpiece for rural WA and religious and political right-wing fundamentalists. WA deserves so much better.
6
I wish I lived in an alternate universe where the bizarro world Seattle Times ran this as a lede on the front page.
10
He's very much like that Martin Short character on SNL back in the day. Almost amazing how he refuses to give an honest reply while twisting the issue of honesty against the questioner.
11
But but but Joni Balter says he's pro-choice!
Also, ARE YOU BEING HONEST? That's a rather deep question to spring on someone. What's with the philosophical ambush, McKenna? That's not very nice.
Also, ARE YOU BEING HONEST? That's a rather deep question to spring on someone. What's with the philosophical ambush, McKenna? That's not very nice.
15
I'm sure this belies my shallowness, but I really can't believe how McKenna has a chance in hell of getting elected. The type of people who vote Republican should, by all rights, think he's a freak and a geek. He's the guy they shoved into lockers and trash cans in high school, and now they want to make him governor? Truly, the mind boggles.
19
As if this politician is honest and totally above gaining advantage. I think this arrogant little exchange sheds some light on this guy's character.
21
A Republican candidate is dismissive of somebody he assumes to be actively employed by the Dem party. Huge scandal. I can see that second Pulitzer right around the corner.
22
What a tool.
@20 FTW - Too bad poor, privileged Ann Romney has never been allowed that dignity. Sad trombone.
@20 FTW - Too bad poor, privileged Ann Romney has never been allowed that dignity. Sad trombone.
23
Way to show some courage there, AG, attacking someone for asking you an open-ended softball question and DARING to record your answer.
24
So a liberal troll walks up to McKenna, puts a mic in his face and asks a politically charged question without identifying herself or the news organization she works for and McKenna gets upset, telling her to get a job and that provokes some outrage from Toby? Wow. Maybe Toby should get a real job.
I may not vote for McKenna, but im going to have a difficult time voting for Inslee, he's going to have to do far more than say "Im not McKenna" to get my vote.
PS
Whats the deal with the 1990s era audio compression?
I may not vote for McKenna, but im going to have a difficult time voting for Inslee, he's going to have to do far more than say "Im not McKenna" to get my vote.
PS
Whats the deal with the 1990s era audio compression?
25
@4, I hope he isn't Govenor as well, but McKenna additionally has appeal to centrist to conservative suburbanites, e.g., the Eastside, with messages of streamlining and cutting back on government and making it more efficient as well as low taxation. This will make the race much closer than you think.
Inslee better start acting like he really wants the top job in Olympia and campaign his ass off because this campaign like the one with Gregoire and Rossi will probably come down to a few thousand votes.
Inslee better start acting like he really wants the top job in Olympia and campaign his ass off because this campaign like the one with Gregoire and Rossi will probably come down to a few thousand votes.
26
Do we know who recorded this? It's great to hear that she isn't just a WSD scout, but...who is she?
27
@ 24, I also think the possibility that this is a gotcha is real enough to temper my outrage. It certainly happens enough nowadays. BUT.... it's yet to be shown that she was working on behalf of any org when she did this, AND it's still to McKenna's discredit that he behaved the way he did. The question itself was valid, and should have been answered that way.
28
@24 I'm assuming you've seen the follow up post by now, but how exactly does "YMCA youth activities worker" equal "liberal troll?" Are only liberals allowed to like and work with kids now or something?
Get a grip. McKenna's rudeness was wrong on its face. You are just, once again, making yourself look like an ass.
Get a grip. McKenna's rudeness was wrong on its face. You are just, once again, making yourself look like an ass.
29
If she was asking for her own edification she wouldn't have shoved a mic in his face. Good for him.
31
@28
Thanks, but at the time I posted that, I didnt have the benefit of hindsight 20/20. I did not know she worked at the YMCA. I know a few who do, some are conservative, some are not.
Anyone who puts a mic in someones face, asks a politically charged question, will come off as a troll. McKenna made the assumption, was wrong, but I still dont see how that makes him any more evil than Slog makes him out to be. Im still not going to vote for the guy, still on the fence with Inslee (who im sure will schedule a meeting with this woman and score a photo op).
McKennas response would have been very different if she didnt put a mic in his face. You'll find that dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters will act just as rude (sometimes resorting to violence) when you put a camera in their face, asking them similar questions.
Thanks, but at the time I posted that, I didnt have the benefit of hindsight 20/20. I did not know she worked at the YMCA. I know a few who do, some are conservative, some are not.
Anyone who puts a mic in someones face, asks a politically charged question, will come off as a troll. McKenna made the assumption, was wrong, but I still dont see how that makes him any more evil than Slog makes him out to be. Im still not going to vote for the guy, still on the fence with Inslee (who im sure will schedule a meeting with this woman and score a photo op).
McKennas response would have been very different if she didnt put a mic in his face. You'll find that dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters will act just as rude (sometimes resorting to violence) when you put a camera in their face, asking them similar questions.
32
Queue Bruce Hornsby:
A man in a silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes
Just for fun he says "get a job"
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah - but don't you believe them
A man in a silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes
Just for fun he says "get a job"
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah - but don't you believe them
34
@ 31, judging from the sound quality, the mic was not "in his face." Just having a visible recorder doesn't make it in someone's face.
Also, asking a policy position is not, by itself, "politically loaded." You need to watch some Breitbart stuff and check out the difference.
You gotta quit stating assumptions like they're facts, dude.
Also, asking a policy position is not, by itself, "politically loaded." You need to watch some Breitbart stuff and check out the difference.
You gotta quit stating assumptions like they're facts, dude.
35
31: He's running for public office. The public is allowed to ask questions of him, and gasp, even record it with a mic. Nothing trollish about it. He's just being a prick because he doesn't want to answer the question and be held accountable for it. And for the record, when it comes to misleading questions and clever editing, I think conservative trolls got the liberal beat.
And to the prick who called this girl a parasite: it fascinates me how cavalier you conservatives have gotten about dehumanizing people. I'm surprised you haven't started to use the term "rats" yet, you crypto-fascist asshole.
And to the prick who called this girl a parasite: it fascinates me how cavalier you conservatives have gotten about dehumanizing people. I'm surprised you haven't started to use the term "rats" yet, you crypto-fascist asshole.
39
@31: You're a POLITICAL OFFICER running for POLITICAL OFFICE so POLITICALLY CHARGED QUESTIONS should be normal for you. If you aren't prepared to even rattle off a talking point then how are you going to be a rational statesman?
This is not a new conversation for him so the Sarah Palin "that's a gotcha question, Katie" shtick doesn't work here. Either he's poorly prepared or he's poorly suited for the job.
This is not a new conversation for him so the Sarah Palin "that's a gotcha question, Katie" shtick doesn't work here. Either he's poorly prepared or he's poorly suited for the job.
40
If the questioner actually had been a Democratic tracker, as McKenna apparently believed, wouldn't that mean that she already had a job?
41
@24 - I love your "error on the side of voting for the republican" approach. Just what has McKenna done to earn your vote that Inslee hasn't? So basically your vote is just McKenna's to lose, buy default? for real?
44
Classic shifty politician who wages war on women and doesn't want to answer for it while campaigning.
Let's hope he gets to face the same question as often and as visibly as possible between now and November.
Is anyone in the corporate media going to ask him about it?
Let's hope he gets to face the same question as often and as visibly as possible between now and November.
Is anyone in the corporate media going to ask him about it?
45
You did a great job answering this for me :) I will paraphrase your exact words "If you are unemployed, uninsured, uneducated, unhomed, or unanything, go get a fucking a job instead of looking for handout or a hand up" Sounds good to me this from a man who has voted for democrats in his life thank you.The reason I dont vote for liberals from time to time is I get tired of hearing there "everyone who is motivated and follows the rules and works hard for what they have owes everyone who doesnt follow the rules,smokes dope,lays around and does nothing but complain about how the well to do owe everyone who is well to dont." By the way I have had 9 bosses in my entire life all of them business owners and not one of them was a liberal .My grandpa who is dead now and was a democratic rep in Olympia Washington told me once "If you want to give money away that hard working people have made hitch your star to a liberal" . "If you want to be successful and have a comfortable life with the least amount of PHYSICAL and MENTAL struggle hitch it to a republican" I can see by your foul language and rhetoric you are not used to speaking to people of any real substance as anyone with any education or self respect would walk away from you in a hot second as soon as you started swearing and speaking with with the language of "an uneducated ,lazy ,pot smokeing liberal in a bar downtown " do yourself and your blog a favor and smoke some of that pot you are all so famous for fighting for and relax and speak with some degree of Intellectualism .. In laymans terms Im saying "get educated" or at least pretend to be educated.
46
You did a great job answering this for me :) I will paraphrase your exact words "If you are unemployed, uninsured, uneducated, unhomed, or unanything, go get a fucking a job instead of looking for handout or a hand up" Sounds good to me this from a man who has voted for democrats in his life thank you.The reason I dont vote for liberals from time to time is I get tired of hearing there "everyone who is motivated and follows the rules and works hard for what they have owes everyone who doesnt follow the rules,smokes dope,lays around and does nothing but complain about how the well to do owe everyone who is well to dont." By the way I have had 9 bosses in my entire life all of them business owners and not one of them was a liberal .My grandpa who is dead now and was a democratic rep in Olympia Washington told me once "If you want to give money away that hard working people have made hitch your star to a liberal" . "If you want to be successful and have a comfortable life with the least amount of PHYSICAL and MENTAL struggle hitch it to a republican" I can see by your foul language and rhetoric you are not used to speaking to people of any real substance as anyone with any education or self respect would walk away from you in a hot second as soon as you started swearing and speaking with with the language of "an uneducated ,lazy ,pot smokeing liberal in a bar downtown " do yourself and your blog a favor and smoke some of that pot you are all so famous for fighting for and relax and speak with some degree of Intellectualism .. In laymans terms Im saying "get educated" or at least pretend to be educated.
47
@45/46: What about the people who are motivated and do follow the rules and do work hard, and yet still end up losing everything because, say, some greedy bankers crashed the economy costing you your job and your health insurance with it, and that's when you got sick and ended up with $100,000 in medical bills?
No, that could never happen, because for people like McKenna, if something bad happens to you, you probably did something to deserve and so get a job an shut up.
No, that could never happen, because for people like McKenna, if something bad happens to you, you probably did something to deserve and so get a job an shut up.
48
Geez Goldy. You really don't have to be so nice and pedagogical to answer the liberal-are-lazy-but-conservatives-work-hard drivel @45/46
49
I don't care if she is a "liberal troll" or a "Democratic tracker", whatever that is; if he can't answer a basic question about a honest-to-God proposed bill that might some day want his signature, he has no business running.
50
FYI - here's the official response to my inquiry on the AG's official FB page - "As the state’s lawyer Attorney General McKenna didn’t take a position on this legislative act during session, because if the law had passed and been challenged the AGO would be required to defend it. We understand the campaign has issued a statement from McKenna as a gubernatorial candidate. Please direct all related questions to the campaign. ~ Sarah Lane, Director of New Media"
(unless they remove it, the thread can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/WAStateAttorney…)
(unless they remove it, the thread can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/WAStateAttorney…)
51
McKenna stonewalls all questions about his "positions". Choice is an interesting issue--This ass is running his third statewide race, he has been A.G. for eight years, and two weeks ago Joni Balter and Eli Sanders got into an argument on KUOW over whether he is pro-choice. Since we have no journalists left except for The Stranger and The Weekly, we need women with recorders.
McKenna was asked a clear, simple question: Are you for or against the wage parity bill? He could have answered "yes" or "no", or somewhere in between (His favorite position). Instead he goes of like the blathering ass pimple he is. Dump this fucker.
McKenna was asked a clear, simple question: Are you for or against the wage parity bill? He could have answered "yes" or "no", or somewhere in between (His favorite position). Instead he goes of like the blathering ass pimple he is. Dump this fucker.
52
When a politician refuses to answer a question, it's because he knows most voters won't like the answer.
53
He is a candidate. He expects to not be recorded and asked questions? That's what happens when your a candiate. What a baby?
54
49 - Thank you. His taking the neutral Attourney General approach then getting mad because he was treated like a candidate is pathetic.
55
I don't understand. Even if she is a political operative, was her question unfair? It's not like she had some tabloid-type question for him, she asked his position on some proposed legislation.
It's only a trap if he doesn't want people to know what his stance is.
It's only a trap if he doesn't want people to know what his stance is.
56
why the hell are any of you talking about what SHE looks like or if she was a political operative, when she isn't running for office. First of all, anyone talking shit on her is a man...maybe a homely one at that and guess what buddy, her eye wasn't on you in the first place! But let's talk about the question she asks...why did he refuse to respond to the question...could it be that he is SHAMELESSLY CAMOUFLAGING HIS TRUE INTENTIONS...like the republican parasite that he is. Just kidding, i'm sure he's a nice guy, like santorum or any other god fearing, sexually secure republican! But when in doubt..vote democrat. He's guilty by association...any party that would even imply that Dino Rossi or George Nethercutt is worth running washington state in any way shape or form needs to slapped across the face!
57
"go get a job" is rob 'slimeball' mckenna's practical advice for all students in washington state, because after he and the Plutocratic Party have finished eviscerating higher education being a student will be a luxury reserved for the ultra wealthy. he was a total douche when he was on the king county council, and it looks like he is returning to that form after he played a decent person for a few years as AG. i hope Jay Inslee gets it going soon, if Romney and McKenna win it will definitely be time to pack bags and leave
58
well a couple easy comments. One, is Mckenna takes positions in Olympia ALL THE TIME on legislation,and proposes, supports, and opposes many pieces of legislation. He chooses to say he can't when its politcally convenient. To say that is his reason here is to ignore the fact he publishes his own legislative agenda every year, introduces his own requset bills, and regularly oppoese bills himself or through his office. Two, ahhh, folks, the bill did not pass, McKenna knows that, and it will be an issue for the NEXT GOVERNOR. Which, if I am not mistaken, is who he wants to be. So answering the question on such an issue is very relevant. I don;t care who he "thought" the woman was- a) he was wrong; and, b) even is had been right, its a totally relevant and fair question.
59
@31- A politician has to answer political questions. If that bothers them, they need another job, one they don't get elected to.
60
@46- Paragraphs, capitalization, run on sentences.... you think as clearly as your write.
Poorly.
Poorly.
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