People, I have three simple questions for you.

First: Is Tim Eyman angling for the title of Official Asshole of the State of Washington?

Yes, I know that's not an original thought. Among others irritated by Mukilteo's infamous Initiative King, local rising lefty star David Goldstein was so provoked by Eyman's asininity back in 2003 that he launched his own Washington state ballot initiative mandating that Olympia officially declare Eyman "a horse's ass." Goldstein's popular blog horsesass.org is the current legacy of that grand, if unsuccessful, civic prank.

Meanwhile, Eyman's never-ending Night of the Living Initiatives continues, further advancing his quest for fresh voters' brains to devour. Beginning with 1998's anti-affirmative-action I-200 and 1999's anti-tax I-695, and "maturing" with more recent campaigns against transportation taxes, light rail and "big government" in general, Eyman's been attempting to disguise a reactionary agenda as grassroots populism for almost a decade now.

His latest such project is Referendum 65, which aims to repeal House Bill 2661, the gay rights bill that passed the Washington state legislature in January (thus adding "sexual orientation" to the language of pre-existing state laws banning discrimination in housing, employment and financing). R-65 calls for a public vote on HB 2661, echoing previous attempts by Eyman to "democratically" overturn democratically-mandated state laws.

Due to an apparent lack of troglodytes in Cascadia, Eyman's having trouble getting sufficient signatures for R-65 as the June 6 filing deadline approaches. In desperation, he's now turning to a statewide network of evangelical churches to help round up the 112,440 valid signatures he needs to get R-65 on the ballot this November. Earlier this month, he sent petitions to 5,400 churches in Washington state to promote what he called "Referendum Sunday," which took place on May 21. He asked these churches to help him gather signatures and return them to him the following Sunday, May 28.

On the one hand, this is a savvy move by Eyman, since, to no one's surprise, homophobes--as well as political control freaks--do unfortunately lurk among our state's people of Christian faith (even if a majority likely follow Jesus' main mandates of tolerance and compassion). Eyman's already allied himself with anti-gay-marriage organization Sound the Alarm, who have sent out petitions for R-65 and helped promote Referendum Sunday. On its Web site (soundthealarm.com), the group declares:

"We believe that the passage of HB 2661 in Olympia is not primarily about discrimination against homosexuals. It is part of a systematic effort to normalize homosexuality and to take us one dramatic step closer to same-sex marriage and the silencing of our pulpits from speaking out against the sin of homosexuality. This is a spiritual battle and we are calling on the Church of Jesus Christ to rise up and take a stand. We must act by repealing the law by referendum."

On the other hand, Eyman and his Christian Fascist allies are treading awfully close to an egregious violation of the separation of church and state. Churches in Washington state currently receive about $44 million in property tax exemptions annually, based on their non-profit status. To qualify for and maintain these exemptions, churches must refrain from actively engaging in political campaigns. Apparently, not only fools, but horse's asses too, rush in where angels fear to tread. Commenting regarding the deep equine doo-doo Eyman and his allies are poised to plunge into, Goldstein posted the following on horsesass.org on Saturday, May 20:

"If tomorrow, on 'Referendum Sunday,' these churches distribute petitions and/or canvass for signatures, or parishioners are instructed to do so, I would say that this would constitute a very real violation of the prohibition on electioneering, and would thus provide clear grounds for suing to have their tax exempt status revoked. So I strongly urge all my readers to show a little faith, and go to church tomorrow (focus on those evangelical mega-churches if you can), and bring along a video camera or other recording device, just in case. And God forbid you find any prohibited political campaigning on church property, drop me an email."

So how did the church/state divide hold out on May 21? That afternoon, the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) reported on its blog that Redmond's Antioch Bible Church, home of noted homophobe Rev. Ken Hutcherson (a board member of Sound the Alarm), was among the participants in Referendum Sunday. It's noteworthy that Antioch congregates on public property, in the Lake Washington High School gymnasium, which Antioch rents from the Lake Washington School District. On this note, the NPI blog commented:

"It is unclear whether Antioch [which is registered as a 501(c)(3) charity] violated any rules or regulations by facilitating the collection of signatures for Referendum 65 on public school property. But whether it's legal or not, it's still an outrage that government facilities are being used in a campaign to legalize discrimination against large groups of American citizens."

As of my ETS! deadline on the evening of Referendum Sunday, no further reports regarding other churches' possible transgressions of the church/state divide were available from NPI, horsesass.org, or elsewhere. (Readers are encouraged to visit http://nwprogressive.org/weblog/2006/05/breaking-antioch-bible-church.html for updates.) Tim Eyman's arrogance, however, was of course in abundant evidence. Which brings us to my second question:

Does anyone still take Tim Eyman seriously?

Apparently not, especially in the long wake of that fateful day back in February 2002 when Eyman, after having publicly claimed to be an unpaid volunteer, confessed that he had in fact diverted more than $200,000 in campaign contributions to Permanent Offense, his initiative-generating organization, into a secret salary fund for himself. It's been tentatively suggested that perhaps Eyman in fact doesn't give a flying cowpie about working class taxpayers, oppressed SUV drivers, queer-fearful churchgoers, or anyone else not beholden to the ultimate financial beneficiary of his many infamous initiatives: namely, Tim Eyman himself.

As for Referendum Sunday, and the eventual fate of R-65, the NPI blog reported on May 21 that, at Antioch, "after about twenty minutes, interest in the petitions dissipated and the organizer was left alone behind the table with only a few individuals nearby."

So perhaps the once-powerful Tim Eyman will soon be one of the afflicted who need comforting. Which brings me to my final question: What would Jesus do if he found a moneychanger from Mukilteo in an alleged temple in Redmond? If, as an adult agnostic, I recall my youthful religious indiscretions properly, the Scriptures do have something to say about that possibility.