A memorial service was held this week for Helen Chenoweth, one of the demagogue-politicians who helped turn inland Cascadia into fertile ground for radical Republicans.
After years of feeding her neighbors' fears of government and outsiders, she was swept into Congress during the 1994 Republican tidal wave. She was famous for arguing that salmon couldn't be endangered when you could buy it canned at Albertson's. She saw the United Nations a threat to the American way of life and accused the Interior Department of harassing ranchers with "black helicopters."
She left Congress after three terms and died last week in a car crash in Nevada, reportedly with an infant on her lap and without wearing a seatbelt. Now her over-the-top positions are fading amid eulogies that admiringly note she always "said what was on her mind." No matter the revisionist history when it comes to her views -- her lasting legacy is Republican dominance in a state that was once solidly Democratic.