Eyman’s lies should lead to real changes

Ironies abound in the scandal involving initiative guru Tim Eyman.

Tim Eyman lied about money. The very core of his initiatives — accountability for how our money is spent — is the very thing he lied about. He lied to voters, his devoted supporters, the media and politicians.

Even more alarming, he readily admits he created his for-profit organization, Permanent Offense, "to have a way to cover the fact that I was making money sponsoring initiatives, and none of my co-sponsors knew that was the case." Now, he’s been dishonest about business, too.

This was not a mistake on his part, as one of his biggest supporters, Monte Benham, wrote in an e-mail that Eyman conveniently released to the media Tuesday. "Tim made a mistake, he’s sorry he did it, he’s apologized for it …" Benham wrote.

No, he did not make a mistake. Mistakes are unintentional. They arise out of ignorance, haste or carelessness. Eyman’s actions were deliberate and self-motivated. He wanted to make money in politics (more money apparently than, for instance, legislators’ $33,556 a year salaries). He didn’t want anyone to know about wanting to make money (which wasn’t, of course, wrong in itself) so that he could continue to project himself as "a man of the people."

He is correct when he says he has a terrible ego. Even now, Eyman is portraying himself as a victim. As he did when criticized before, he’s still claiming that everybody thinks he’s the bad guy — a line meant to invoke pity.

We hope that behavior will stop, but we’re skeptical. The very things that helped propel him to stardom — his supporters’ disdain for elected officials and the media — are the same components that will likely keep him on that pedestal and possibly behaving the same way he has. His staunchest supporters will still view politicians and reporters as awful and evil, but they will give Eyman much more room to be human.

The truly sad part is that Eyman did represent an important issue in our state — how our taxes are used and the public’s frustration with its representatives. Those are valid issues and deserve continued attention. But it is possible many people became so passionate about those issues after seeing Eyman at the helm. Eyman was the antithesis of everything they thought they hated in a politician. He was straightforward, clean-cut and direct. And he wasn’t in it for the money. Finally, someone the people could trust.

It will be interesting to watch what happens next. Will politicians be so ready to meet with him and tip-toe around tax issues? Will his name linger in the halls in Olympia as someone to watch out for or someone to ignore? Officials are keeping mum on the topic right now.

Eyman’s career in politics is probably far from finished. Let’s hope he is serious about making real character changes. Perhaps then, he will earn real respect from fans and foes alike.

After all, this is America. You can always reinvent yourself in America. And Eyman is well on his way to doing just that, one way or the other.

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