Bellingham WA offers key to 'Daily Show' host (after Mount Vernon's Glenn Beck pick)

Source: AP

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) - Not to be outdone by his Mount Vernon neighbors, who plan to honor Fox News Channel conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike says he's offering a key to his city to Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's satirical news program "The Daily Show."

The Bellingham invitation comes after Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris announced that Beck would show up Sept. 26 to receive the key to that city about 25 miles south of here. In July, Beck said he believes President Barack Obama is a racist.

Norris' decision has caused a heated debate in Mount Vernon, including protests. But some 700 tickets quickly sold out.

Pike says if Mount Vernon can give native son Beck a key, "perhaps Bellingham could provide a key to Mr. Stewart for the better reasons of providing cogent yet comedic analysis of news events and personalities." Pike says he and Stewart attended the same New Jersey high school.

Read more: http://www.kpax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11096134

But the rest of Whatcom County? religious whackjob central!

There may be religious whackjobs here, but from what I can tell, there's far less of them than in other places I've been. We have a real lack of 'concrete bunkers for Jesus' aka megachurches in these parts compared with some.

I was really talking about towns like Lynden. Literally a church on every other corner. City ordinances that allow drinking OR dancing, but NOT in the same place. Everything used to be closed on Sunday (at least up until the late 80's. Haven't spent a lot of time there since my great grandmother passed away, so I don't know if that's still the case)

after you've driven the backroads of South Carolina. And a church on "every corner" of the oldest parts of a town just mean that the First Amendment is working.

The Sunday blue laws did exist about twenty years ago, but they've since been blown away. I used to go out at 6:30 AM with my friends after we got off our night shift jobs at the computer chip factory. Half the time that was on Saturday, half the time was on Sunday. On the other hand, when I look at the liquor laws on the East Coast, it seems like Prohibition ended only a couple of years ago!

Sorry. I thought about it as an afterthought, and you're right. But Lynden is changing a bit. There's a demographic shift with a lot of 'outsiders' moving in for good or bad. I think you can find biz'es open on Sundays now (I confess I grew up in a 'blue law' town in IL, we drove ridiculous distances to drink on sundays, listen to jukeboxes, and play pinball! :) ) Lynden is also now considered 'really weird' by Whatcom Co. standards.

I just haven't seen the huge megastructure phenomena here, which gives me some hope. I've seen those monstrosities pop up in other places I've lived. People here can be batshit crazy, but they tend to have an individual streak that, god bless 'em, is a mile wide. I'd rather be here than many places. I say this as a feminist pagan who doesn't advertise, but doesn't care who knows either.

And I really love Bellingham, but what's not to like about an area downtown devoted to the written word: Two large used bookstores and the public library all in a two or three block area. I live in heaven.

amid the hordes of maniacs.

and am so thrilled to hear this. so cool.

edited for typo.

Glad to hear this.

I know that the Mt. Vernon Chamber of Commerce is taking a lot of heat. I know that I'm thinking twice about spending money there (I actually do spend a fair amount of money there).

I love Bellingham!!! That is perfect!

Yah! for Bellingham

Piss on Mount Vernon

On edit:

If JS comes to collect his key in person I'll drive up to Bellingham just to see him!

Of course it's practically Canada...

as the only one in the family who has somehow been seduced to the dark side. Should be fun to see where this goes.

awards....no emmys, no Peabody's, no Putlitzer, no nothing.....except maybe 'head hot air blowhard award', but I think
Rush would crush (and probably eat) him if he dared to compete for Rush's only claim to fame.

it's a small town on i-5.

B'ham= 75,750

Mt. Vernon = 26 or so, last figure I could get was 2008.

( ex-pat from the area, I am)

i should have known better...

This Western alum says thumbs up!!

I really is a disgrace that Bud wants to do this. There have been protesters out in front of his office for a couple of weeks. I will be at McIntyre Hall at Skagit Valley Community College to protest beck when he gets here. I will also be volunteering time to whomever runs against Bud Norris in the next city election.