The Olympian, our state capital’s longtime daily newspaper, published a truly superlative editorial today calling for the rejection of Tim Eyman and BP’s Initiative 1185 which we commend to the attention of voters, activists, and reporters. It’s one of the best editorials we’ve seen in a long time, and we can’t say enough good things about it. Here are its opening lines:

Voters, are you tired of a Legislature that can’t make progress on fully funding basic education?

Do you want less-congested highways, and lower tolls on bridges? Do you want state parks that stay open, and in good repair? Do you want college tuitions that your family can afford?

Do you want quick response times from law enforcement, fire fighters and ambulances when you need them?

If you do, then you must reject Initiative 1185 on Nov. 6.

By continuing to support these Tim Eyman initiatives you are subverting a fundamental principle of representative democracy.

That principle? Majority rule with minority rights. We will cease to be a democracy if power becomes concentrated in the hands of the few instead of the many. Initiative 1185, like its predecessors, takes power away from the many and gives it to the few. It is intended to prevent our Legislature from functioning democratically as our founders intended it to. I-1185 allows seventeen out of forty nine senators, or thirty-three out of ninety-eight representatives, to kill any bill that raises (or even recovers) revenue for the state treasury.

Corporate lobbyists are for I-1185 because it’s easier to manipulate a system that’s rigged. That’s why companies like BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell, and Tesoro gave Tim Eyman and his buddies more than a million dollars to buy signatures for I-1185. I-1185 helps them protect their profits… at our expense.

Join us in voting NO on I-1185. Let’s uphold our Constitution and reject this attack on our democracy.