Joel McEntire Is Spiraling Out of Control, and the Receipts Are Piling Up

There comes a point when an elected official stops looking like someone who is defending himself and starts looking like someone who has completely lost the plot. Joel McEntire appears to be getting dangerously close to that point.

What started as criticism of his online behavior toward people he disagrees with has turned into something increasingly bizarre. Rather than ignoring criticism, addressing legitimate concerns, or simply moving on, McEntire repeatedly jumps into other people's comment sections to attack the people criticizing him. Then he takes to his own page and makes a weird post like it's some big AHA moment about who Bann Hammer really is. The screenshots tell the story remarkably well, and that story is really weird.

This Is More Than Just Being Thin-Skinned

Politicians get criticized. Constantly. It is one of the many glamorous perks of public office, right up there with fundraising calls and people yelling at you about potholes. The normal response is to answer criticism when it matters, correct misinformation when necessary, and ignore the rest.

McEntire seems to have chosen a completely different strategy. He engages, then engages some more, and then appears to go looking for more people to engage with. The criticism isn't simply being answered. It is being chased down into other people's comment sections.

That is what makes this increasingly bizarre. This isn't an elected official occasionally defending himself. It looks like someone who is actively seeking out opportunities to argue with people who don't like him.

McEntire Keeps Picking Fights

Look through the screenshots and a pattern starts emerging very quickly. Someone criticizes McEntire, and he responds. Someone pushes back on his response, and he responds again. Someone makes a sarcastic comment, and he responds. Someone questions his behavior, and he responds. Someone makes fun of the situation, and he responds.

At some point, you have to wonder who is actually keeping these arguments alive. It certainly isn't the people who would have happily moved on if McEntire hadn't jumped into the conversation.

The sheer amount of energy being devoted to responding to critics is what makes this look increasingly unhinged. A person who truly doesn't care what people think doesn't need to personally answer every criticism that appears on Facebook, much less chase those criticisms into other people's comment sections.

Then Comes the Big Bann Hammer "AHA!" Moment

The Bann Hammer situation takes the whole thing to another level. McEntire apparently decides that identifying the person behind Bann Hammer is important enough to make a public post about it, presenting the identity of Scott Fischer almost like he has just cracked the Watergate case.

Except there is a rather hilarious problem with the supposed revelation: people who actually know Bann Hammer already knew his name was Scott Fischer a long, long time ago.

This wasn't some earth-shattering discovery. People who knew Bann already knew who he was. Watching McEntire make this dramatic public revelation is a little like watching someone proudly announce that they have discovered the location of the kitchen in a house where everyone else has been eating dinner for years.

The supposed "gotcha" wasn't particularly much of a gotcha.

Why Is He So Fixated on Bann Hammer?

That is the question. Why does a sitting State Representative seem so invested in the identity of one Facebook critic? Why spend the time figuring out who operates the page? Why publicly announce it? Why continue engaging with the person afterward? Why make it such a major event?

An elected official has an enormous number of legitimate things demanding attention. There are constituents, legislative issues, community concerns and actual responsibilities attached to the office. Yet McEntire appears to have found the time to wage an increasingly personal online battle with a Facebook page.

That is a strange allocation of priorities.

Then There Is Everyone Else

Bann Hammer isn't the only person McEntire seems unable to leave alone. Rikissa Harrison challenges him, and McEntire responds. Brendan Batia challenges him, and McEntire responds by dragging Brendan's employment into the argument. Paul Bromm challenges him, and McEntire responds. Sherry Thompson challenges him, and McEntire responds.

People criticize his behavior, and McEntire responds. People make jokes about his political problems, and McEntire responds. The sheer volume of engagement is what makes this look increasingly unhinged.

A person who truly doesn't care what people think doesn't need to personally answer every criticism that appears on Facebook. They certainly don't need to chase those criticisms into other people's comment sections.

There Is One Interesting Exception

There is one particularly interesting exception to this apparent compulsion to respond: Laurrie Piland.

McEntire appears perfectly willing to respond to numerous other people criticizing him, yet he doesn't respond to Laurrie's comment. The comment is there. It is visible. Other comments are being answered. McEntire simply doesn't engage with hers.

Considering how determined he appears to be to respond to virtually everyone else, that silence is noticeable. Sometimes the absence of a response says more than another angry Facebook exchange ever could.

The Personal Attacks Keep Making Things Worse

The biggest problem with this behavior is that the arguments don't seem to remain focused on political disagreements. They become personal. Questions about someone's employment, accusations about fake accounts, attempts to identify people behind pseudonymous pages, personal insults and repeated exchanges with people who are openly criticizing him all contribute to a pattern that is difficult to dismiss as ordinary political disagreement.

There is a perfectly reasonable way for an elected official to respond to criticism: "I disagree, and here's why." Then move on.

McEntire instead appears to be treating Facebook like an ongoing courtroom where every critic is a defendant and every comment requires a rebuttal. That might make for entertaining screenshots, but it is an absolutely bizarre way to conduct yourself as an elected official.

The Courtroom Context Makes It Even Stranger

All of this is happening against the backdrop of the recent court proceedings involving Britney Brown's request for an anti-harassment order.

During that proceeding, Bann Hammer described concerns about McEntire's conduct, including what he characterized as McEntire encouraging others to engage in additional acts of vandalism after Britney's vehicle was vandalized. Bann told the judge that he found this type of conduct disturbing coming from a sitting Washington State Representative and a U.S. Marine.

That is serious territory. Instead of appearing to take a step back and demonstrate some restraint, McEntire appears to have continued wading deeper into online conflicts. That is precisely when you would expect someone in public office to exercise more judgment, not less.

Then There Is the Ethics Problem

Another screenshot references the $500 ethics fine involving McEntire's Facebook comments. That should probably be a fairly significant warning sign.

If your online behavior has already resulted in an ethics penalty, continuing to engage in increasingly personal Facebook battles with critics is probably not the smartest possible strategy. Yet McEntire appears to be doing exactly that.

At some point, this stops being about whether one particular comment was appropriate. It becomes a question of judgment.

This Is Starting to Look Like an Obsession

There is something deeply strange about watching a sitting elected official repeatedly return to the same online arguments. He doesn't have to respond. Nobody is forcing him to respond. He isn't being dragged into these conversations. He is choosing to participate.

Then he chooses to continue. Then he chooses to make posts about the people criticizing him. Then he appears to become increasingly interested in identifying who those people are.

That is why the word unhinged keeps coming to mind.

Not because someone criticized him. Not because he defended himself. It is the sheer amount of energy being devoted to attacking the people who criticize him that makes this behavior so difficult to understand.

The Irony Is Almost Too Perfect

McEntire seems intent on portraying his critics as obsessed with him. Yet the screenshots show him repeatedly engaging with them.

He appears to want people to believe they are the ones unable to let things go. Meanwhile, he keeps going back into the comment sections. He keeps responding. He keeps bringing them up. He keeps talking about Bann Hammer. He publicly announces Bann's identity despite people who know Bann already knowing it.

Then he continues the fight.

At some point, the mirror has to come out.

Every Response Creates Another Receipt

That is probably the biggest mistake McEntire is making. Every time he responds, there is another screenshot. Every personal attack becomes another receipt. Every argument becomes another example. Every attempt to turn attention toward his critics creates another opportunity for people to examine his own behavior.

He is essentially documenting the argument against himself in real time.

The screenshots don't need much commentary. They show McEntire repeatedly entering fights with critics, escalating arguments and engaging in personal exchanges. They show his fixation on Bann Hammer and his public attempt to identify Scott Fischer. They show people telling him to worry about his own behavior.

They show that almost everyone seems to be getting a response from him. Then there is Laurrie, whose comment is conspicuously left unanswered.

This Is Not What Leadership Looks Like

Nobody expects an elected official to sit quietly while people make false accusations. Nobody expects McEntire to agree with his critics. Nobody expects him to be everyone's friend.

People should expect an elected official to know when to stop.

There is a difference between defending yourself and becoming consumed by your critics. There is a difference between correcting misinformation and obsessively monitoring what people say about you. There is a difference between having a political disagreement and turning Facebook into a personal battlefield.

McEntire increasingly appears to be crossing those lines.

The More He Fights, the Worse It Gets

The really unfortunate part is that McEntire doesn't seem to realize what is happening. Every time he responds, the story gets bigger. Every time he attacks another critic, another person gets dragged into the discussion. Every time he makes another post about his critics, he keeps the controversy alive. Every time he tries to expose someone, people start asking why he is so interested in them in the first place.

He could simply stop. He could ignore the trolls. He could focus on his job. He could let criticism roll off his back.

Instead, he keeps going. And going. And going.

At this point, the behavior has become its own story.

The Receipts Are Speaking for Themselves

Nobody needs to exaggerate what is happening here. Nobody needs to invent a narrative. The screenshots are right there.

They show an elected official repeatedly getting into online fights with people who criticize him. They show personal exchanges. They show his apparent fixation on Bann Hammer. They show his bizarrely dramatic attempt to reveal that Bann Hammer is Scott Fischer, despite people who know Bann already knowing that information for a very long time.

They show McEntire responding to nearly everyone who pushes back. They show him apparently ignoring only one particular commenter. They show a pattern.

That pattern is getting harder and harder to explain away as normal political disagreement.

This isn't leadership. It looks more like an elected official who has become far too emotionally invested in what his critics are saying about him, and who simply cannot resist jumping back into the fight.

For someone who holds public office, that is not just embarrassing.

It is concerning.