There’s such things as emergency. Too many people in this state camp the left lane at or barely above the speed limit. That’s not it’s intention.

Yea rural folk will take unkindly to you flying by them and will often burn diesel trying to prove a point. I drive a little 2.0 Awd turbo and I drove from Everett to Kalispell several times on hwy 2 this summer. Had the same kind of thing happen. I’ve definitely experienced some terrible drivers in the stretch you’re talking about tho. I think it comes down to people taking affront you’re passing them. We have a terrible problem with camping the left lane in this state

Large swaths of western Washington are as red as eastern Washington, there’s a reason the Republican Party HQ is in Bellevue as opposed to somewhere over here.

As a life long eastern Washington democrat we just don’t matter much either way.

This really brings out the separation of western, central, and eastern Washington. Kinda cool.

Lol you don’t get to sit in the left lane and dictate everyone else’s pace of their day fuck off

That's what county-level maps make it look like, but they're somewhat deceiving.

If you look at the precinct level: https://i.imgur.com/aArMaYf.jpg

The Olympic Peninsula and Northcentral WA are both very sparsely populated and they have some big Democratic precincts. Meanwhile, Lewis County is part of the I-5 corridor, and it's one of the most Republican areas in the whole state.

>Would it regional autonomy you advocate for allow a particular region to ban gay marriage? Reinstate Jim Crow?

Nobody anywhere should be able to deprive people of their liberties, but we already have that going on right now so I'm not sure what your point is. Institutional discrimination is widespread already.

> That is correct. The solution is to give each person an equal say in all levels of politics. One person one vote, regardless of who you are or where you live.

You're stuck on my electoral college comparison, my point is that people living 200 miles from me, with a different culture, wants, and needs should not have the level of influence over my life that they currently do. Spreading the blame doesn't make totalitarianism less repugnant.

> But let's not pretend that MSNBC has the same effect on the left that Fox News has on the right.

That's just a matter of ratings, not content. Conservatives watch more Fox News than leftists watch the entirety of all left wing mainstream media combined.

> And either way if they're both propaganda machines, then bring back the fairness doctrine with solve the issue anyway. Would you support that?

I'm not a fan of censorship. If power was less concentrated at the top they wouldn't be able to whip the mob into a frenzy like they do. Very few issues would be relevant to the entire nation and there would be much less incentive and demand for 24/7 rage porn on mainstream media to influence high profile political issues/campaigns.

This is not true. Just because other people are speeding doesn’t mean you should too. Honestly surprised people still believe in that nonsense.

Yep legal gun owners in rural areas (and urban as well) are stripped of their constitutional rights (see recent Supreme Court Bruen decision) by urban liberal voters in this state because many city/suburbs dwellers don’t use guns in their day to day life and think banning them will solve gun violence. Show me where banning drugs stopped drug violence? Banning alcohol , alcohol violence (dui, domestic violence, etc)? Difference is guns are protected by our Federal and State constitution but WA lawmakers don’t care because gun owners are in the minority so they can pass whatever law they want constitutional or not. Have these “common sense gun laws” worked so far? Most gun owners are all for background checks and training on safety and safe storage. But banning the very tools needed for hunting, self defense, defense of our communities is straight up a violation of the second amendment. It bugs me so much to live in a state where we are doing this. And I know I will be downvoted into infinity but I ask you look up the origins of gun control…. Like lots of things came out of racism…. See black panthers… and see how gun laws are rarely enforced and when they are they are disproportionally used on the poor and minorities. So our dear overlords sell “gun laws” for safety to their white liberal voters and the result is more and poor and minorities in jail and no real reduction in gun violence. If you don’t fix the reasons for violence you will never ever stop it.

And the reason they want gun control is control of the population and to tighten their grip on power and lessen chance of citizens holding them accountable and to make us more dependent on them. It baffles me that the party that does not lien the police writes laws where the police are exempt from the gun control laws…. So only criminals and police will have: “high capacity” (really standard capacity) magazines and semi automatic rifles. While law abiding citizens will be forced to be handcuffed with nerfed weapons…. All for our safety???? Make it make sense…. If they want mandatory safety training… sign me up. Mandatory background checks… sign me up. But banning common defense tools but exempting themselves and criminals???? Come on now people wake up…

This question should have been answered before you took the trip.

Oh for sure. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

I mean I definitely agree that our current system doesn't work. Republicans have a disproportionate amount of power in comparison to their percentage of the country's population. It gives us a government that is wildly more conservative than the populace as we've shifted toward more extreme candidates rather than mostly moderates across the board. Ultimately, most people are moderates and our country is more stable with moderates at the helm.

Would it regional autonomy you advocate for allow a particular region to ban gay marriage? Reinstate Jim Crow?

>I never actually advocated for this. I just pointed out that it's clearly something that was thought about on some levels and not others.

That is correct. The solution is to give each person an equal say in all levels of politics. One person one vote, regardless of who you are or where you live.

>Lmao, it's not just conservative media man. They are all propaganda machines, right and left.

I guess you haven't argument that all media is pro corporate. But let's not pretend that MSNBC has the same effect on the left that Fox News has on the right. And either way if they're both propaganda machines, then bring back the fairness doctrine with solve the issue anyway. Would you support that?

Eh, honestly, it became too difficult to get news sources that weren't sensationalized so I stopped consuming news. Been a lot happier since lol. But back when I used to see news the right-wing sources were far worse as far as misleading info goes and I've never found myself agreeing with Republicans on their policies from what I've seen from them. Not to say I always agree with the Dems either--because I don't--but unfortunately with our system there are only two options, and the Dems are less uh...objectively evil and cruel than the Republicans.

Yes, a liberal Washington would still benefit greatly from being in the union. Mutual defense, disaster support, commerce, etc. Each day does get a say in the politics of the country as a whole, But that say should be based on population rather than land area. Land area is one of 100 arbitrary divisions that you could use to influence politics. The only fair way is each person gets one vote.

And if the majority of Americans were pro-Trump supporters, and they voted to build the wall between Washington and Canada, It would annoy me but I would be okay with it because that's how democracy works. Individual parts have to compromise for the greater whole. But I would only be okay with it if it was actually Democratic, If more people believed a certain way or voted that way then fine. I believe in democracy even when the majority doesn't agree with me.

How do you think black people feel being steamrolled by a plurality of white Americans? Women outnumber men in America, But men have a hundred times the political influence. How do you think women feel? Why does the only group that gets extra votes is rural people? It's an outdated arbitrary division and should be abolished.

And it's not like rural Life is even that different. When the county was founded, a factory worker from a city would be totally lost in the country. A rural farmer would equally be lost in the city. But most people in rural areas have jobs similar to people in urban areas. It's not like urban people are factory workers and raw people are farmers anymore. The number of independent farms and ranches has plummeted 40 years. Now people in the middle of nowhere work at the same restaurants and offices, eat at the same fast food chains, watch the same TV, drive the same cars, etc as people living in a city. It's an arbitrary distinction that should not be The basis of perverting democracy. Each individual should get one vote.

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Thank you for gate keeping the left late. We are now better off as a society thanks to you.

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Found the left lane camper.

Majority rules? Not to get all hyperbolic, but by that logic the Holocaust was okay because hey, majority rules.

There's a reason that direct democracies are a bad idea, but thanks for outing yourself as a despot.

Triggered much? It's more of than obvious (especially based on your initial comment edit) that your political views are in the minority here. Majority rules. That's democracy. If you don't like it, I hear Russia needs citizens badly.

Plus, there's always Idaho.

GTA internalized.

Bro when everything smells like shit, you might wanna check under your own shoe

Yeah, I completely agree and have experienced a lot of what you described. I think the pandemic made it worse, but it hasn't been exclusively post-pandemic for me either. The people trying to race this always baffles me. Like bro, no thank you. It's midnight and I'm just trying to go home.

In 2020 I was basically living 50/50 between Portland and Seattle. I usually depart around 7 or 8pm because you avoid almost all traffic at that point. And with driving so much, I always just ready to get home. And yet these guys just gotta act like they own the road

And the rural dwellers of Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, etc... all outvote urban interests in their states.

Congrats. You've noticed the dividing line in US politics is now Urban vs. Rural with suburbs being the kingmakers. This is not how it always was and likely is not how it will always be. If people are unhappy with the current division, all they need to do is wait for a political realignment. We are probably due for one anyway, and are likely seeing one happen in real time.