ER - The Progressives political machine

The Progressives political machine
4/4/2006
The Eureka Reporter
Op Ed By Stephen Lewis

Well, well, Humboldt County has its own political machine and it isn’t even Republican or Democratic, but Green, the darling of the “Green community” as Larry Evans of EPIC calls it, and he should know since EPIC is such a solid gear driving the Progressives political machinery.

Other major cogs in the Progressives’ political machine now includes the host of anti-democracy groups pushing their undemocratic, un-Constitutional Measure T and the other myriad assortment of anti-Arkley, anti-PALCO, anti-Evergreen Pulp, anti-anything that doesn’t look like another Arcata under the thumb of anti-corporate lefties.

So welcome to the Progressive elitist and well-organized activist minority. But don’t be fooled that our local Progressives’ political machine isn’t capable of running over its political opposition.

That’s what they are busily trying to do with all these coordinated political attacks on Arkleys’ Balloon Track plans, on affordable housing in Humboldt County, on Evergreen Pulp, and on PALCO. They have a clear agenda to get rid of any and all large corporate businesses in Humboldt County and they don’t give a rat’s behind who suffers the consequences as long as they win.

I pity Greg Allen, steering committee chairperson for the Humboldt Greens, as he finds himself the target of ouster by fellow Greens for having a lawyer’s sense and knowledge of the un-Constitutionality of Measure T that the Green Party cog of the Progressives political machine has endorsed.

These people don’t care about Constitutional rights if Constitutional rights interfere with their overriding political agenda — which is destruction of the corporate capitalist system; in other words, the perennial goal of militant lefties for the past 150 years. Militancy means no deviation from the chain of command so Allen must go.

Democrats not affiliated with the Progressives political machine also pay the price of dissent as Local Solutions member of the Progressive political machine’s P.A.C., Patrick Riggs, guides the HCDCC to scrap its own democratic principles in order to derail fellow Democrats running for office like Worth Dikeman and Jill Geist. No deviation from the Progressives political machine’s agenda allowed.

Some will remember my column last year when Patrick Riggs used his Progressives Local Solution’s control over the HCDCC to rig Democratic Party rules in order to silence my or any other Democrat’s critical input at HCDCC meetings.

Months after the fact one recently reads that HCDCC rules are officially changed but the old rules were in place that allowed me to speak when I did but was formally banned by Riggs from doing so again to my fellow Democrats.

This is how Worth Dikeman is limited to three whole minutes to explain his platform to fellow Democrats while Paul Gallegos enjoys virtually unlimited access because Gallegos is the Progressives man carrying the Progressives political machine’s anti-PALCO, anti-corporate, anti-democracy agenda into the District Attorney’s Office.

This is the agenda that continues to bankrupt our county with ill-conceived lawsuits we end up paying for. This is the agenda that has taken away hundreds of jobs at PALCO through the environmental lawsuiting arms of the Progressives political machine, EPIC and Humboldt Watershed Council.

This is the agenda that wants to shut down Evergreen Pulp and take away 170 jobs. This is the agenda that seeks to stop Humboldt residents from finding reasonably priced homes; this is the agenda that seeks to stop Humboldt residents from finding the best prices for goods by derailing any discount department store building such as Home Depot.

Local shopkeepers fearing discount stores and eatery prices like Larry Glass, owner of The Works, and Jim Ferguson, owner of the Organically Delicious Cafe, have joined the Progressives political machine’s protest against Arkleys’ Home Depot and other Marina Center stores in order to thwart competition.

Humboldt County residents employed by corporations such as PALCO or Evergreen have already felt the Progressives political machine’s jaws. Who will be next in line to become political victims? Anyone who speaks out against the Progressive political machine such as Debi August, who paid the price for dissent.

Wake up, residents and take back your county from the Progressives political machine run by those who care only for their own politically correct anti-corporate Green community.

(Stephen Lewis is a Rio Dell resident who is a guest columnist.)

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