Click the graphic to access the 9/24/2018 Seattle Times editorial, “Lawmaker out of order to approve of a sham foreign election”

September 23, 2018

Perfect timing for this editorial, that came out today in The Seattle Times, to contribute to day 29 of our Doug’s Got to Go posts. It offers a third day in a row of reasons why Republican State Senator Doug Ericksen’s judgement cannot be trusted, among other ways his judgement cannot be trusted, in relation to his numerous trips to Cambodia. 

In yesterday’s #28 DGTG post we were reminded that in early August of this year, shortly after the senator’s trip to observe Cambodia’s sham elections, Governor Jay Inslee had written to Senator Ericksen to express his concerns about the trip, as well as a previous visit to Cambodia in May that Senator Ericksen had taken. There had not been much in the way of any additional details in the media since that time regarding Senator Ericksen’s position related to his Cambodian visits. 

Today, however, in their piece “Lawmaker out of order to approve of a sham foreign election,” the Editorial Board of The Seattle Times shared that:

“In an interview, Ericksen — who said he was invited to observe the July 29 election by members of the Cambodian government — described the voting process there as ‘amazingly transparent’ and ‘incredibly well conducted.’ He said he plans to file a report relaying his sunny observations to the country’s National Election Committee, a group dominated by members of Cambodia’s ruling party.

“This is far more insidious than it may seem at first glance. The very presence of elected lawmakers from the United States serving as election monitors contradicts our government’s official message that the Cambodian election was not democratic.

“The U.S. government and the European Union pulled their financial support for the Cambodian election after the country’s main opposition party was dissolved late last year. Neither the United States nor the EU sent official election monitors to observe the vote, which the White House press office denounced as ‘neither free nor fair.’ Ultimately, the results were reported as a landslide victory for the party of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985.”

Not unlike President Trump, of whom Senator Ericksen is an ardent supporter, Senator Ericksen seems to feel he has free agency to make dangerous proclamations regarding international issues.  Remember that this is the same Senator Ericksen who previously blocked many people from his Public Figure @SenEricksen Facebook page, took down his Facebook page, brought his Facebook page back to life, and now deletes and hides constituents’ comments and deletes complete posts that his constituents’ comments are attached to from his Facebook page. And, this is the same Senator Ericksen who has deleted almost all of his posts related to his support of President Donald Trump as he started out beginning to post on his revived @SenEricksen Facebook page again for his new campaign season. How good of a judge can this man be of what is free and fair? Answer: Not good at all. 

#FireDoug