Clark County Republican Party Chairman Earl Bowerman and his supporters jumped the shark by inviting state representative and professional wing-nut Matt Shea to be Master of Ceremonies at the GOP Lincoln Day shindig. Even Shea’s conservative home district newspaper, The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, asked Shea to resign. Why? Explains the paper’s editorial, “Shea’s failing is that he has taken a reasonable conception of liberty and limited government and twisted it into a radical extreme that puts him on the fringe, well beyond civil debate and responsible leadership” (“Editorial: Rep. Matt Shea should resign,” Spokesman-Review, Dec. 22, 2019).
Shea claims conspiratorial misunderstanding. The reality is, his so-called intellectual output consists of such pernicious palaver as a Holy War to establish an American theocracy, a call for children to fight in this war, past support of three armed conflicts against the U.S. government, including the terrorizing of U.S. employees during the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve takeover.
In the state House, Clark County has three Democrats and six Republicans, plus Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, in Congress. I think all our Republican representatives owe us a word as to where they stand on Mr. Shea’s philosophies and Mr. Bowerman’s judgment. We should vote for centrist people who want to work together to make our government work.
