Some background on me before we get too far.

I consider myself a rabid libertarian. I believe that government is best that governs least. I was a member of the Libertarian Party, but I became very disillusioned with the party when I saw they were actually no different that the Republicans or Democrats. I believe Thomas Jefferson was right - a little revolution every now and then is a good thing.

Anyway, I live in Seattle, work for a major software company (yeah, that one), and am married with a daughter in college.

Seattle is a bit of a stretch for me - my wife and I call it Soviet Seattle. There are more socialists per capita here than anywhere else I've lived. They don't call themselves socialists - they're progressive liberals, or something to that effect, but no matter what the face you put on it, it's socialism. For a definition, socialism believes that the good of the whole outweighs the good of the one. Most Seattlites would agree that "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is a valid way of running government. The quote is a standard socialist rallying cry. For the record, I think it's crap - more on that later.

Anyway, the socialism goes further than the population - the media here is fairly saturated with it as well. One of the local news casts (KIRO-TV) has an investigative reporting team - basically two reporters who do the public good by going where government can't. Anyway, they had two big stories this week. The first was people who use red fuel, or specially dyed diesel fuel, in their road vehicles. Red fuel is untaxed diesel, and is regulated to be used only in equipment that never uses roads - backhoes, generators, heavy construction equipment, etc. Apparently, there are some people who work for these companies who fill their trucks and cars with the fuel and then drive them on our roads. The problem? The fuel is untaxed and the vehicles illegally using this fuel use the roads - in other words, they're not paying their fair share, and it tweaks the socialists.

The second big report they had was on people using handicapped parking permits illegally. There's a black market in forged handicapped permits, and some people buy them just to get the good parking spots or avoid paying parking meters (apparently handicapped permits let you avoid paying the meter). Again, these are people abusing a system meant for the common good, not paying their fair share, and that causes socialist investigators ears a'twitchin'.

My problem?

• Why aren't these reporters asking our federal government why we're using an unconstitutional army to wage unconstitutional wars against countries for no well-defined reason?


• Why aren't they asking our state government why they're ignoring voter approved initiatives to lower taxes?


• Why aren't they asking our local government why work is continuing on the third runway at Seatac despite investigations into alleged collusion between the builders and local authorities?

The problem is that the media is not acting a check against intrusive government, but as a fourth branch of government by investigating people who have found a way around government limitations. I'm all for freedom of the press (remember the Constitution?), but when the press self-censors, it's time for a change.

Unfortunately, I seem to be one of a very small group of people who feel that way. More tomorrow....