Things to Remember About Manweller and his Defenders

To the Editor,

Once Representative-elect Matt Manweller assumes office (after the election is certified on December 6, not when he’s sworn in¹), it will be important to respect the office² and try to help him do the best possible job for his district.³

But even after he takes office, it will be important to be wary of the fact that Manweller embodies the negative aspects of his party that were soundly rejected by the country as a whole in the last election: arrogance, dishonesty, extreme partisanship, gross disrespect of women, mindless dogmatism, cronyism.^4,5

It will also be important to remember that the local Republican Establishment has brought us a man who, in addition to the above, is credibly accused of actions at which the newspaper won’t even let me hint (which is why everyone should read the Manweller Report).^6,7 There are decent, traditional Republicans who are as outraged about this as anyone else.

Meanwhile, Dr. Manweller’s (and CWU's, come to think of it) thoroughly unconvincing defense is based on bluster and technicalities. And for someone who claims to be innocent, he has certainly fought hard to keep the Manweller Report secret.

One striking thing about all this is the number of people who are willing to publicly defend Manweller. Would these same defenders really be willing to send their daughters to be Manweller’s students or his legislative pages or staffers?

“Innocent until proven guilty" is a legal idea. Manweller apparently hasn’t yet broken any laws, he’s just committed one of the worst ethical crimes possible for an educator. It's a matter of character, not law.

What Manweller did is plain to see for anyone who reads the report. For a retired professional educator like Jimmie Applegate to defend him is particularly disappointing.

For an annotated version of this letter, see whathappensinthecourthouse.blogspot.com .

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¹The Daily Record article about the swearing-in is here.
²Oh, dear. Try Googling "respecting the office" without the quotation marks, or just click here. If I had done this before I submitted the letter, I might have used a different phrase.
³I am dead serious about this. Representative Manweller will be 1/3 of our representation in Olympia. I will continue to criticize him and the Kittitas County Republican Party (which he until recently chaired) and call attention to his behavior as a CWU professor, but I will not do anything to undermine his effectiveness in Olympia. I hope everyone will join me in this.
⁴While the national Republican party rethinks everything, the local Republican Party has doubled down on Newt Gingrich-style politics. 
⁵For one example of thoughtful conservative soul-searching, see this piece at the American Conservative.
⁶Given the makeup of the 13th Legislative District, it is doubtful voters will remove Dr. Manweller. Only his party can do it. Will they? Time will tell.
⁷See also my earlier posts on this scandal, including "The Manweller Report." To read the Manweller Report itself, click here. The body of the report is only 18 pages long, starting on page 7 of the linked document.