Well-known “rino” Commissioner Jill Johnson has finally switched parties and become a Democrat.
While some were surprised by the move, others said the change was long in coming.
“Duh,” said Jason McFadyen, president of the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce and an infamous Democrat.
The term “rino” — or Republican In Name Only — describes “politicians who claim to be Republican but are in fact liberal or puppets of the liberal media,” according to Conservapedia.com.
Johnson has been labeled as such by some area Republicans, apparently not without foundation.
However, Johnson’s aisle-crossing politics are not unusual in Western Washington where fiscal conservatives can also support gay marriage, anti-immigration activists support environmental protections and gun-toting nationalists have secret crushes on Rachel Maddow.
A long-time member of the Republican Party of Island County, Johnson’s voting record has tended toward fiscal conservatism but now seems ready to toss around cash like a true liberal.
In a recent budget discussion, Johnson suggested pulling $100,000 out of contingency and awarding $50,000 to the local Island County 4-H Clubs and another $50,000 to bike trail development island-wide because, she said, “it’s a better investment in our community than more cops.”
Johnson also made an about-face during a recent discussion on conservation futures, saying that “it’s all about the trees and nature, man.”
“What I would want to say is just leave it all green and pretty,” Johnson said. “The discussion I want to have is that it doesn’t need to make money or contribute to the overall economic health of the island. We just need to keep it exactly the way it is, sending its energy out into the world.”
Johnson then took a 10-minute recess so she could go outside and hug a nearby tree.
Johnson was “outed” last week by a handful of constituents who saw her picking up garbage around a wetland and then driving away in a Prius.
“I knew it,” said a resident who claims to have seen her covering a bumper sticker reading “Annoy a liberal: Be Proud of this Country” with stickers reading “Enjoy your freedoms? Thank a liberal” and “Obama 2012.”
When asked about her sudden party change, Johnson said, “I got tired of living a lie.”
Johnson then excused herself saying she was headed to a drum circle in Freeland.
APRIL FOOLS!
