Welcome to our new weekly feature, Occam’s Razor,
from local artist S.C. Watson.
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Wow. The last time I looked, Orcas issues was a community news source, not a partisan rant rag. The Jab at Rick Hughes is inappropriate, in poor taste, and not at all in the spirit of orcas island reporting. In fact, because islanders who support Rick determine the amount of signs that are placed, not Rick, this editorial art doesn’t even make sense, and is a cheap shot to express personal opinion. Where did Margie go?
Props to OI and S.C. Watson. This comic actually made me laugh out loud, thank you, we could use a bit more humor these days….
Janice, lighten up, or maybe just find a “safe space”where you won’t have to worry about being triggered by what is clearly satire.
Well said, Janice Williams. I, too, am quite disappointed. I should be able to read a local news site without being bombarded with biases. I get enough of that at the national level. Just the facts and with kindness to our neighbors, please. I shouldn’t have to feel like impersonal, big-city politics have splattered into our peaceful community.
I wholeheartedly support Cindy Wolf for this county council position, but I also support everyone’s right to back whomever they choose;. This would have been okay if it jabbed at both sides. Picking on one side, even for mine, hurts us all..
The Orcasonian is highly partisan. I mentioned this to the editor after noticing all the “Here’s A Thought” quotes are highly political, always left leaning (not even leaning….. think fallen over hard to the left). All the stories also constantly paint Republicans in negative light and Democrats in positive light. This site clearly does not represent the entire community and has a clear political and personal agenda. As Jennifer said, we get enough of that on the national level. We just can’t go to any one source for unbiased news anymore. Impartial journalism is dead. Think Facebook and Twitter when you read stories here because personal opinions and agenda are at play!
I see signs from everyone everywhere–not sure why Rick is singled out. Everyone has one at each traditional sign posting point, and then individual homeowners who support candidates have them out front, which is actually just plain old grass roots.
By the way, Orcas folks might miss out on a superb choice for San Juan, Christine Minney, because she doesn’t believe in posting signs, and isn’t a member of a partisan group.
Dale/John/Sharon you’re seriously surprised you moved -if you even actually live here- to one of the most left leaning counties in a blue state and, gasp, the local news tends to reflect the views of the prevailing political majority?!? Crazy… it’s probably an antifa plot.
Luther- I am about as far left as they come, but this publication isn’t ‘the Atlantic’,(or at least it didn’t used to be). I agree with comments above that when I want to read divisive material, I can turn on Facebook. With the outcry lately from our community regarding the preservation of what make our island special, this snarky garbage only serves to hurt and divide, and personal agendas don’t belong.
Janice, to be clear, my second comment above wasn’t directed at you….but devicive, really?! Have you driven from Deer Harbor to Eastsound lately? There are literally like 100+ Hughs signs along the way…. It’s like a political toilet-papering of the entire island…
Luther I’ve seen the same like that in Wolf signs. It’s crazy. Rick Hughes is the guy though. The experience to gets us thru this. We’ll be getting a new Council member on San Juan. Enough change for me. Let’s stay the course.
This site is a bit much for me though.
Luther, Buck Park to Olga. 15 Cindy Wolf signs, 9 Rick signs. There would have been 12 Rick signs but for the 2nd time in 3 weeks the signs along my property have been stolen. Maybe you need to get out more if you think think the entire island is from Deer Harbor to Eastsound.
If this was truly to be an informed political cartoon, it would have had signs for 3 of the Council Candidates and been deliberate in excluding signs from Christine Minney. She has taken the position of not having signs posted. Instead, it’s really nothing more than a hack-job negative political advertisement that the opposing candidate didn’t have to pay for. Probably should be filed with the PDC as an in-kind contribution.
Thank you to Rick for continuing to serve despite the silliness that seems to come out in elections and thanks to Christine Minney for simply keeping the island beautiful. Voting for both of you will be my pleasure.
I agree with those who see this for what it is; a targeted jab at Rick Hughes. Really Shane?? The omission of other candidate signs is glaring. I have seen equal amount of signs and people who support him put them on their property. When I was driving by the map by the kennel the other day and I saw so many signs and instead of being turned off, I was excited to see many voices being expressed. This is a small example of our democracy and important. Voices need to be heard. It’s disappointing to me that people in this community which I love, stoops to such petty divisiveness. Taking down signs and now this. Let’s keep it clean folks. Please don’t bring the toxic nonsense that’s happening in the presidential election here. We are better than that. I’m sorry Rick that after all of your work and progress on behalf of the people in this county you get this. An unconscious jab that shows no appreciation or understanding of how this might feel. I’m sorry this happened Rick, know that I appreciate your leadership and you have our vote.
Undoubtedly this cartoon is partisan. Most cartoons before elections are. Let another amusing artist come up with an equally amusing drawing.
Apart from that Rick does have a HUGE number of signs up, Thank goodness they are not indicative of levels of support. Today as I drove in to Eastsound, I thought of asking Rick for enough signs to make the entrance to Eastsound wall-to-wall Rick Hughes signs. Signage and money to produce and place the signs do not indicate support. It is simply a blight.We all know that Rick is running, Take down what I would call those “extra” signs.
Eleanor Hoague- FYI Rick’s supporters are the ones who are putting the signs on their properties. So I guess it is a clear sign of strong support for Rick after all. By the way let me remind everyone this county council position/election is at it core non-partisan!!! Under Article 5 section 10 of the San county home rule charter. Check it out.
Eleanor Hoague- FYI Rick’s supporters are the ones who are putting the signs on their properties. So I guess it is a clear sign of strong support for Rick after all. By the way let me remind everyone this county council position/election is at it core non-partisan!!! Under Article 5 section 10 of the San county home rule charter. Check it out.
This is a shameful jab at Rick.
So disappointing from this publication.
Matthew and Lin are the editors responsible for this besmirchment that they and the cartoonist have singled out for Rick Hughes. Many folks think that I’m an ultra liberal, and I do support some liberal stances (along with some conservative ones), but what happened to using good journalistic judgment and reason on Orcas Issues/Orcasonian. I long for the old days of Margie Doyle!
Lol, Political satire should always offend no less than 15% of the people that read it or it’s weak sauce…. S.C. Watson- great comic, keep it up!!
May I say that I hate these signs, period? They clutter up and obscure our beautiful island. They are an ineffective way to support a candidate. I live near Eastsound and have to pass clusters of competing signs on many corners. Does anyone see these and think “Oh yes, that sign just convinced me to vote for ________!” There are lots of ways to learn about candidates, but signs aren’t one of them. Lots of voices? Lots of babble. I applaud Christine Minney for refusing to patrticipate.
By the way, Lin, I think you are doing a fantastic job of editing The Orcasonian. Sometimes that job includes making difficult decisions about content. I support you!
I too am so disappointed with this mean spirted attitude I am experiencing at this time. This is not “amusing” to me at all and not looking forward to this new weekly feature. It is not warranted and who has worked tirelessly to help facilitate building The Exchange, $2.5M to OPAL from REET/permit waivers for affordable housing project, real estate excise tax approved for affordable housing, 911 emergency management system, received “Leadership Award” for extraordinary effort in establishing partnerships with other counties, solar power on county buildings, securing more public lands, dog park, worked in Olympia, WA DC for more funding for the ferry system. Rick Hughes that’s who. If you want better ferry service, his connections he has developed are our only hope to get the next new ferry. His leadership/experience through the virus, budget cuts, and comprehensive plan update is what we need. Two new council people with limited experience is not. We need Rick Hughes to get us through the next 4 years. Christine Minney the other good choice.
Well said, Luther and Melinda.
Dan, for the record, I am not the editor of The Orcasonian, and am not involved in making these kinds of decisions — in fact, I did not see this until after it was posted. Why you think I’m the editor is, to me, a more interesting question.
There can be no disagreement of the fact that this cartoon is biased… as most political cartoons are, and that it’s an endorsement of the opposition candidate (Cindy Wolf). It’s worth noting that this is also a reflection of most of the other local SJC group’s endorsements… the exception being the local republican party.
I’m with Melinda… and like with many things (tourism, vacation rentals, annual events, etc.), it’s the sheer number of them that I find disgusting and see as being totally out of character with our island’s rural nature. To further this it’s a slap in the face having to see them everyday, everywhere I go, for months on end, as the constant reminder of what they represent; that they are a political tool stemming from the psychology of name-recognition, a field of study capitalizing on the dysfunction that many people in the U.S. today are as dumb as buckets when it comes to politics and their political candidates, (one has only to look at the national level to see evidence of this). The sad reality is that there are many in the U.S. today who simply end up voting for the person who’s name pops into their heads. In line with this, and contrary to the memes of the day, I say that if you can’t take the time to do the research necessary to educate yourself on each of the candidate’s past voting histories– do the rest of us a favor and don’t vote.
Thankfully, the recent south wind, (and perhaps this posting), seems to have taken care of a few of the signs. But in the meanwhile I would appreciate it if our elected leaders would initiate some discussion regarding the inaction of future local legislation that might limit the numbers of political signs allowed, put limits on the length of time that they’re allowed, and ensure that they’re removed after the election’s are over.
I know, I know… this would require enforcement so normally any attempt to have a discussion at the county council level on such an item would be DOA… but, that’s why they call it “change”.
There is political satire which pushes the line and then there is a personal attack disguised as political satire that crosses the line. In my honest opinion, this cartoon crosses the line of political satire (on the issue of signage) and is a cheap and unnecessary personal shot. Choosing to serve a community in a volunteer or elected capacity is challenging, many times thankless and takes a special care and dedication for the betterment of their community to endure marginalizing, shame and character attacks at the same time. In this instance, it is ultimately the responsibility of this forum’s editor that the cartoon was posted and remains. It also speaks volumes when an editor chooses responds to concerns expressed by subscribers and advertisers with “it’s just a cartoon”. Vote with your ballot. Vote with your where you choose to place your purchases and advertising dollars… and please pause for a moment…breathe in and breath out…and personally examine how our behavior choices are influencing the adults of tomorrow.