A Year In Washington

from Ben's mom

We arrived in Washington a year ago yesterday (6/6/04). It started raining as we came down I-90 into Seattle in the U-Haul. We made for the Cooks exhausted but ready to start a new life. And we have. It seems like we've been here a lot longer sometimes. And it is still raining in June.

The District Court Judge ruled against the Republicans in their election contest. The ruling was probably a good legal interpretation of the laws of this state. The judge did find more than 1600 illegal votes in the state but failed to find that this was evidence of fraud. Huh?! Okay. Without knowing for whom these votes were cast, it is legally impossible to make a judgement for one candidate over the other. The good news is that in polls conducted after the ruling, a majority of those polled believed that Rossi (the Republican) probably did win the election. And judging from the response on talk radio, he picked up a lot of supporters simply by being a good loser. He made a gracious speech yesterday, announcing he would not appeal the decision, a real surprise. Callers described him as a statesman and many urged him to consider a run for the Senate next year. He has said he is not interested in relocating and many look forward to him rightfully taking the governorship in 2008. Whatever he does, he is a breath of fresh air in a politically corrupt Washington state (on both sides of the aisle).