Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, hates the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

The good gentleman from the 11th district has introduced an amendment to a bill that would result in differing rates of taxation for newspapers based upon their editorial content.

This is a stupid and patently unconstitutional bit of legislative foolishness, and Hasegawa should be so ashamed of himself that he should resign in disgrace.

The overall bill, SB 5534, seeks to adjust the Business and Occupation Tax level of print and online newspaper products to avoid a spike in the rate for printed products due to take effect in July. The amount of money at issue is small - about $8,000 per The Bellingham Herald, so this isn’t a budget buster or so-called “tax exemption for a large corporation.”

It is, however, an ill-disguised smack at The Seattle Times, which hasn’t been nice to Hasegawa over the years. Well, Bob, neither have I, so are you going to come after me with a tax attack that would amount to prior restraint?

Compare this tawdry display of hypocrisy to the recent arrest and detention of former Seattle P-I reporter and columnist Dorothy Parvaz by government thugs in Syria. Parvaz, who now works for the English language version of Al Jazeera and who holds U.S., Canadian and Iranian citizenship status, was detained at the Damascus airport last week after she arrived to cover the story of unrest against the government of dictator Bashar al Assad.

The latest news has Parvaz being deported from Syria to Iran, although Iranian officials claim no knowledge of her whereabouts.

Parvaz was an unabashed progressive, but that’s irrelevent. She went to Syria as an experienced and accredited journalist to cover an important story, and she’s been silenced and whisked away by a government that has no respect for basic human freedom. I don’t give a rip one way or the other about her political leanings - the only thing that matters is that a journalist has been prevented from reporting the news by a government.

There isn’t much daylight between the philosophical positions of Bob Hasegawa and the Syrian government of Bashar al Assad. One seeks to regulate news and commentary through varying tax rates, while the other uses a truncheon, shackles and a jail cell. Both are rooted in the same devious idea: The press must be censored. The latter is but a logical extension and more extreme example of the principle.

Hasegawa’s asinine amendment disgraces the entire Legislature coming, as it does, during the special session. Gov. Chris Gregoire and leaders of both parties in the House and Senate promised the people of Washington state that the session would be limited to the budget and bills necessary to implement the budget. Yet Bashar Bob al Hasegawa is running loose with this garbage.

Bob Hasegawa and Bashar al Assad: Twins separated at birth?

Come New Jersey - take me home.

The Piper