Editorials / Opinion

Seattle Times letters to the editor

The pot and the kettle

Tim Eyman called Gov. Jay Inslee a “lying whore” in an email referencing Inslee’s proposed transportation-related tax increases. State GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur has since asked Eyman to apologize. (AARON JAFFE/THE SEATTLE TIMES)

Tim Eyman called Jay Inslee “a lying whore” [“GOP: Eyman’s remark to Gov. Inslee uncalled for,” NWFriday, Feb. 22]. Is this the same Tim Eyman who lied to us back in 2002 by saying that he worked for free but he was actually paying himself handsomely from campaign donations?

Eyman defined “a whore” as “a person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain.” Interesting! It seems that a “tea” pot can call anything black.

–Tadamasa Ichikawa, Bellevue

Inslee’s proposed taxes are more offensive

It’s shocking! Tim Eyman called the governor a lying whore in an email. I am more offended at a governor’s weasel-worded promise to veto tax increases and then to state that he would be open to extending existing taxes after he is elected.

The term “whore” can refer to an unscrupulous person. It can also refer to a person who engages in sexual acts for money.

If Eyman owes anyone an apology it would be the prostitutes who were compared to a dishonest politician. If I don’t want a prostitute to steal my money, I don’t have to associate with one. I can’t say the same for politicians.

–Dennis Doucette, Auburn

State needs solutions, not trash talk

Enough is enough. We have heard more than enough from Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan and Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan. We don’t need their trash talk interjected into an already divisive political process.

In fact, Washington state citizens should ask themselves whether we really need somebody who makes a living by writing initiatives interjecting anything at all into our political process.

But regardless of what one may think of Eyman or his positions on taxes, we should all reject that kind of language and the people who use it. Their dictionary definition notwithstanding, we all know what they meant when they called our governor a “lying whore.” And we all know how they expected people to interpret it.

Mike Fagan’s claim that the statement came not from a city councilman, but from a private citizen, doesn’t wash. Does he have multiple-personality disorder? He’s a council member and a private citizen who made a very public statement and then stood by it. He’s entitled to his opinions, as are we all, but he should be held accountable for what he says in public.

The citizens of Washington state need solutions and, yes, maybe even compromise, not trash talk.

–Christa Quackenbush, Shoreline