Trolling

[Martin Hash]

When you've done everything, and you're the world's only Complete Renaissance Myn, what then? This may not seem obvious to most people, but my natural conclusion was to go into politics, so for the last decade I've been running for various State legislative positions without much success, though I did get almost 40% of the vote once. The biggest downside is that when I tell people, who ask what I do with all my licenses and degrees, that I'm an aspiring politician, they always ask for what, and are disappointed I aimed so low. Consequently, this time I ran for U.S. House; win or lose, folks will nod their head, pleased to meet an actual candidate for federal office.

The difference between running for federal office versus running for state office is that people actually give a shit. They want to know my position on all the hot issues: guns, abortion, trade. I don't let them down, I've got something provocative to say about everything, certainly no same ol' political double-speak. If somebody asks me if I would support a Wall on our Southern border, I say “yes;” no equivocation or waffling. However, even though I'm an Old-school, tax-the-rich, Commie-hating, JFK Liberal Democrat, that appears Rightwing to today's Democratic Party, and many of the new crop of Bernie Bros actually accuse me of not being a Democrat. I respond, “ask your dad.”

Our local newspaper, The Columbian, is among that group; my experiences with them have always been awful; biased, insulting, dismissive. The last time I ran for office I would only communicate via email so that I had proof of what I said, against what they wrote. Even then, they didn't care; they cast whatever colored light they wanted onto me, without apology. That's why when I ran this time, I was reticent to meet them in person, but then I found out they had a camera set up, and I thought, “who's going to lie if there's video?” Foolish me. Here's my resulting first email:

Hello Greg;
I was not going to respond but I couldn't help myself. Everybody can have their own opinion of how that Editorial Board interview went but mine is that no one was even close to my comprehension & articulation of the issues and solutions. This is a repeating bias: I have supporting evidence of how your newspaper has misrepresented me in the past but the recent endorsement article is typical. For example, here is how I was quoted by Katy Sword: "Hash said the fix is easy: print more money. 'We can basically print as much money as we want as long as consumption is greater than production,' he said. 'We could print money and pay for everything.'" Not only is that completely out of context and misleading, it is a fatally INACCURATE quote, showing a complete lack of understanding of my position; especially unforgivable considering she had a videotape to reference if she wasn't sure. (Here is the relevant section of the interview: My Deficit response)
Sincerely, Martin Hash

The newspaper's response: a Cease-and-Desist notice of the video link used in the email.

But then a couple hours later, I was forced to post again:

Hello Greg; I'm sorry to have to send you two inflamed emails in a few hours but I just received another example of your newspaper's sloppiness or malfeasance. In your endorsement article, your paper states: "Martin Hash bucks common Democratic polices by supporting a border wall and limited immigration." You have conflated "immigration" with "illegal immigration," an entirely dishonest misrepresentation which just now the Longview Daily News picked up, writing "Hash supports ... policies that would limit immigration, according to The Columbian."
I clearly made the distinction between immigration and illegal immigration in my interview. (Here is the applicable clip: My immigration response ).
I'm glad the interviews are videotaped but I would have thought it would make you more conscientious about misstating a candidate's positions?
Sincerely, Martin Hash

The newspaper's response: a DMCA (Digital Millennial Copyright Act) complaint to my ISP trying to block my main URL so that none of my forums, webpages, etc., commercial or personal, would be visible. Essentially, the response from the newspaper for erroneous and outright dishonest reporting was a demand I suppress the evidence that it occurred. Coincidentally, just after I formulated my attack strategy, Centralia's newspaper, The Chronicle, reporter asked me what I had planned for promoting my candidacy during the final days before the Primary? Enigmatically, I said, "Oh, I have something up my sleeve…" What I meant to do was use Facebook to troll The Columbian.

On August 1st, 7 days before the election, I hooked 'em:

Columbian picture.JPG

blogs.columbian.com
Things Martin Hash says - All Politics is Local
Most would agree Martin Hash is not the typical candidate. He frequently refers to his pedigree as “the only-ever simultaneously licensed doctor, lawyer, accountant and engineer in the world,” when answering questions about issues facing Southwest Washington and prefers to debate on Facebook rather than hold traditional town halls. Hash is running as a Democrat but some of his views stray from the party line. He favors a border wall, for example, and has some views on women and the LGBTQ community that certainly buck the liberal trend.
Since announcing his candidacy for the 3rd Congressional District, I’ve looked over conversations Hash has had with the public and listened to a podcast or two (or dozens). Here’s a select handful of some of my favorite quotes from the Democratic candidate. I’ve linked each comment for context.
“Life is a game. Most people just don’t know the rules.”
“Talk to the hand.”
“It’s a ridiculous circle-jerk.”
“I don’t take myself seriously. That’s a good thing.”
“Dude, I’m incorruptible”
“R U a bot?”
“I can bless you. Do you want to be blessed?”
“No insult intended, but you talk like a pussy.”
On transgender bathrooms: “They exploit the courtesy that got gendered bathrooms in the first place, but without the democracy.”
On women and respect: “Women claim respect they have not earned. Women are unaware that they have low status and can’t understand why there aren’t more of them at the top. They blame discrimination then insist on being inserted above men of far higher status.”
On female violence: “Women blithely enter the realm of male hierarchy oblivious to the seething violence all around them, relying on the indoctrination of men to keep them safe, yet males suffer the consequences of their action. Who’s the real victim here?”
On man-spreading: “The anti-man campaign doesn’t have to make sense because that’s not its intention; its goal is to diminish men by haranguing and disparaging them, one of the most effective weapons in the secret war against men.”
On Black Lives Matter: “Black Lives Matter is really about Reparations; the idea is that Whites pay money to ‘Blacks,’ a kind of reverse slavery.”
On gay rights: “A Gay Rights parade is more than spectacle; it puts the world on notice that anyone willing to dress publicly in assless chaps isn’t going to be afraid to get right in your face: sell us the damn wedding cake or we’ll shut down your business.”
On tipping: “I don’t go anywhere that requires tipping. In fact, if I see a ‘Tip Jar’ on the counter, I put my merchandise down and go somewhere else.”
On polygamy: “I’m descended from Mormon polygamy, but my wife would never put up with another wife, and I wouldn’t accept with another husband, but that’s only our opinions, different strokes for different folks.”
On wedding cakes and discrimination: “If you want some self-righteous food discrimination, go eat at your church.”
On campaign finance: “Campaign donation caps laws are intended to mute the rich, clearly a violation of their liberty.”
On homelessness: “Many need to be put in mental health facilities but that costs big money. Alcoholics are the most expensive, and schizophrenics are the scariest, but the majority are just plain stupid: not drunks, not mentally ill, just incapable of doing anything productive, and certainly can’t have any responsibility of any kind.”
And to close with my personal favorite: “Settled that. Google me, bitch.”

You know, that last was my personal favorite too.

[DBTrek]

Like a boss.
Rock on.

[Martin Hash]

The same gal at the newspaper contacted me today via email about providing a candidate endorsement; I won't be responding. My next campaign won't involve The Columbian because trolling usually doesn't work twice.