Carns still doing the GOP's dirty work

He just never quits - and we're not going to quit calling attention to these outrageous attempts to deceive the public:

A Republican sheriff is criticizing GOP political tactics for upsetting some Snohomish County residents.

At issue are automated phone calls, placed to about 10,000 homes, that told residents a dangerous unidentified sex offender "has been released into your community."

The calls were generated by the Olympia-based Speaker's Roundtable, a political action group tied to Republicans in the state House.

Very strongly tied, as a matter of fact. The "Speaker's Roundtable" is a front organization for Republicans like Richard DeBolt (who heads the House GOP caucus). They've tasked Kevin Carns, a GOP hack (and professional troll) with doing the dirty work for them while they pretend to absolve themselves of all responsibility and knowledge of his activities.

Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart said the messages prompted at least 40 calls to his office from worried residents.

"This was uncalled for," Bart told The Herald newspaper of Everett. "I don't run the party. If they had asked me, I'd have said not to do it."

The phone messages described crimes committed by Jeffrey Henderson, who recently moved to Lake Stevens after serving a 19-year prison sentence, The Herald reported.

The calls also mention Reps. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, and John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, and say they refused to vote on a bill that would lock up child rapists for life.

Well, what did you expect, Sheriff Bart? That people like Carns would make an effort to tell the truth? Honest communication is something he's incapable of. He's already proved that.

KOMO 4 News also reported on this story and why the sheriff is angry about what Carns is doing:

Sheriff Rick Bart says he worries the calls will further inflame the public: "We went through this 14 years ago in South County. Some neighbors took it in their own hands and burned down someone's house and I don't want it to happen again, and that's what I'm worried about."

But that's not what Kevin Carns is worried about. He doesn't care. As long as it helps Republicans in next fall's elections and hurts Democrats, it's OK. So what if it's not true?

Carnes told the Everett Herald that "more campaign materials based on sex offenders are planned". That's certainly not a surprise, but it's not welcome news. As Representative Dunshee said:

"This is a new level of slime. You want people to take notifications seriously. Using them for a political purpose like this scares people. It's that threat that is more important than the politics of it."

You can listen to an audio clip of the messages here, from the Everett Herald. The calls are clearly meant to scare and intimidate voters. It's cheap, it's reprehensible, and it's completely unacceptable.

When are Republican leaders going to demand that Kevin Carns be fired?

Robert Legg, a Lake Stevens pastor, and Mike Hope, a Seattle police officer (the two Republicans who are challenging Democratic Representatives Hans Dunshee and John Lovick this fall) should immediately call for the termination of Carns' employment and demand that the party refrain from executing any additional dirty tricks. They should, but they probably won't.

It's up to traditional media and regional progressive blogosphere to help call attention to this garbage and expose it. The Herald editorialized against the calls this morning, saying in part:

The GOP candidates who this campaign aims to benefit, House candidates Mike Hope and Robert Legg, should loudly denounce the effort. So should all current House Republicans, whose reputations stand to be sullied by it. It's not nearly enough to say "I had nothing to do with it."

This garbage undermines serious efforts to protect citizens through effective notification. It's not just bad politics, it's despicable.

It's just wrong and it should be condemned.

We commend Jerry Cornfield at the Everett Herald for his excellent article, and we commend the editors for putting the audio of the call on the Web so everyone can hear it.