[BigV]

I'll do my research another time, maybe.

This is a local story, one which I have followed with some interest. Some background. Reichert is a former Sherriff around here, and a respected one. He made his run for congress successfully in the 8th district (not my district--across the lake from me). He is being vigorously opposed by Darcy Burner, a political newcomer.

There have been conflicting stories about how the incidents unfolded, and my best understanding of the facts and timelines goes like this:

Bus waits for motorcade to drive by. As kids all wave out the window at Limo One, so does bus driver. Reichert notices and remarks to GWB "That ones' not a fan." Motorcade and bus continue on their merry ways.

Later...

Reichert calls the superintendent to "inform him of the situation". I have heard different timeframes for the this call from the day after to weeks after. I'm inclined to believe the shorter timeframes.

Bus driver is fired. Reasons given also vary from "giving the finger" to "unprofessional conduct" to "letting the kids see the finger". Also, reports that a case for termination had been building previous to this incident. I am inclined to believe the building case theory. I am inclined to believe that the "letting the kids see" part is like spiking the ball in the end zone. It has nothing to do with the part of the action that counts, but it's the part that makes the highlights.

The part I find hypocritical is the feed coming from the Reichert campaign where on the one hand he says he didn't get her fired and on the other hand where he boasts, implying he got her fired. The reason I chafe at these two different spins is that they're coming from the same source, Reichert, but to two different audiences. Reichert's pandering, textbook pandering. And if he'll whore himself out like this for the promise of a vote, what will he do for higher stakes once in office?

Here's a quote from the local media:

Reichert bragged about busting bird-flipping bus driver

Posted by David Postman at 08:09 AM

As reported a few days ago, the Issaquah School District says it already knew one of its bus drivers flipped off the president by the time Congressman Dave Reichert called to complain about the June incident. Disciplinary proceedings against the driver, officials said, were already underway when Reichert called some time later. The driver had apparently bragged about giving the finger to Bush and word had gotten back to her supervisor.

I've got no reason to doubt that. But in August, Reichert boasted about busting the driver. If you were listening to Reichert at the King County Republican picnic you could be excused for thinking the driver lost her job because of his intervention:

And as the motorcade went by, the President and I drove by on I-5, the President was having a great time. He was waving at everybody, he waved at the kids. He got the biggest kick out of the kids leaning out the window to say hello to the President of the United States.

The sad part of it is though, we got to the last bus — and I won't tell you which school district this was — the bus driver flipped the President off.

So the very next day, you know what I did? I called the superintendent of that school district and that bus driver no longer works for that school.

After raucous applause, Reichert told the crowd:

That's the old sheriff part of me still around.

That comes from an audio recording I have that was made by the state Democratic Party's tracker, a cameraman who follows GOP candidates to record public appearances.

While Reichert said at the picnic he made the call the day after the president's visit, his campaign has also said it was a week later. According to KIRO TV:

Now, Reichert's campaign tells KIRO 7, Reichert called the Issaquah superintendent one week after the incident happened because it was bothering him. The district had already made their decision about the driver and they suggest this was not the first time this driver had been disciplined.

Whatever the case, district spokeswoman Sara Niegowski told KIRO, "I will confirm that Reichert was not the initial tip-off."

UPDATE: The Washington State Council of County and City Employees, which represents the bus driver, clearly suspects politics played a part in the woman's firing — particularly after reading what Reichert said at the picnic.

Union president Chris Dugovich said in a statement:

"In 25 years of this work I've never seen such a severe punishment for an inappropriate, but harmless, act. There is video on the Internet that any child can watch of the President raising his middle finger to a camera, yet a momentary gesture by a private citizen is worthy of firing?

"Why a sitting member of Congress and superintendent would get so personally involved in firing a bus driver raises many questions."

Michael Young, chairman of the King County Republican Party which sponsored the picnic, told the AP the tape is ``protected communication.''

``I'm surprised. If they have a purloined copy, they need to surrender it right away.''

The tape was made by a Democratic volunteer who attended the picnic and recorded Reichert's speech.

Coda:

Fired bus driver finds work: Renton School District hired woman who was let go in Issaquah after flipping off Bush