Would you like some McCarthyism with your resolution?

Councilor Tom Mielke gets a fifth shot at posting “In God We Trust” in the Clark County public hearing room on Tuesday.

This “In God We Trust” issue is my Groundhog Day.

The Clark County council will revisit Councilor Tom Mielke’s proposal to post the national motto on Tuesday. I’ve written about this before, so I’ll spare you the details.

Interestingly enough, there’s a different resolution posted on The Grid, Clark County’s website for all things council related. Both remain available online, but the new one features just a hint of McCarthyism.

The first line of the resolution from Feb. 10 reads “WHEREAS, ‘In God We Trust’ became the United States national motto pursuant to 36 USC 302 on July 30, 1956, shortly after our nation led the word (sic) through the trauma of World War II.”

This Tuesday, however, the council will consider this new resolution:

“WHEREAS, ‘In God We Trust’ became the national motto of the United States pursuant to 36 U.S. Code 302 on July 30, 1956, when our country wanted to counter the state atheism of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.”

Whoa. There’s a slightly different edge to this one.

Is there a lot of “county atheism” to counter in Clark County? Does this explain why the Columbia River Crossing failed? Are we afraid of those Portland Pinkos coming over to our side of the river? </kidding>

I reached out to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Horne to ask about the difference in language between the two resolutions and haven’t heard back yet. To be fair, I emailed him at 3:30 p.m. on a Friday, so if he gets back to me I’ll update this post.

By the way, anyone got an over-under on how likely it is the resolution will pass? My bet’s on it passing, but Councilor Jeanne Stewart catching the Golden Snitch.