HorsesAss.Org

  • Home
  • About HA
  • Advertise
  • Archives
  • Donate

Archives for March 2006

Daily open thread

by Goldy — Friday, 3/31/06, 11:18 am

Former Nixon aide John Dean says that President Bush’s illegal domestic spying surpasses the crimes that got his former boss impeached.

“Had the Senate or House, or both, censured or somehow warned Richard Nixon, the tragedy of Watergate might have been prevented,” Dean told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Hopefully the Senate will not sit by while even more serious abuses unfold before it.”

How can we force Congress to be a check and balance on the White House? Help the Democrats seize control. And how do we do this? Help Darcy Burner meet today’s fundraising target. Click here to contribute.

Dori plugs Podcasting Liberally on KIRO!

by Goldy — Friday, 3/31/06, 2:09 am

I owe a debt of gratitude to my good friend Stefan for booking me on the Dori Monson Show yesterday, where I had the opportunity to repeatedly plug Podcasting Liberally. Downloads have gone through the roof, and I’m getting lots of positive feedback. Hey thanks, Stefan.

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, go check out Stefan’s post, in which he once again proves that when it comes to media savvy, he’s as clueless as he is humorless. (With enemies like him, who needs publicists?) Meanwhile Dori, apparently with nothing better to talk about, decided to take a shot at spinning political scandal out of a barroom conversation between a bunch of political junkies. So a few minutes before airtime, I get a call asking me to come on the show and defend myself.

I’m not sure what Dori expected. Did he think I’d be apologetic? Flummoxed? Embarrassed? Hell… did he read the blurb I wrote promoting this week’s podcast? Not only didn’t I edit out the exchanges in question… I highlighted them!

Famously outspoken WA State Democratic Party chair Dwight Pelz joined us last night, and we didn’t manage to get him to say the word “fuck” once. (Although Carl did make up for it by talking about sticking green glowsticks up people’s rectums.)

Judging from Stefan’s post, the prisoners at Abu Ghraib aren’t the only ones with a glowstick up their ass, but I expected more from Dori. This is a guy who hangs out in pro sports teams locker rooms, and yet Dori incredibly told me that he never uses “the f-word.” Ever. Yeah, sure Dori… and I suppose you never fart either.

Dori spent most of my segment going after Sandeep Kaushik, implying that it is somehow scandalous for an aide to King County Executive Ron Sims to be caught on tape saying the word “fuck.” Oh please. If you ask me, Dori was hoping to get Sandeep fired… but… um… Sandeep used to write for The Stranger for chrisakes, so I’m pretty sure Ron knew he had a few four-letter words in him when he offered him the job. As former colleague Josh Feit put it over on Slog:

What? Our Sandeep, at a bar cussing? Horrors! Bars? Cussing? And I thought the Democratic party was the effete elitist party.

I guess in Dori and Stefan’s world, it’s okay for the Vice President of the United States to say the word “fuck” on the floor of the Senate, or for a Supreme Court justice to make an obscene gesture in church… but heaven forfend if Sandeep cusses… in a bar. Yeah, in Dori and Stefan’s world, Carl talking about sticking glowsticks up people’s rectums is offensive… but actual US soldiers sticking actual glowsticks up the rectums of actual prisoners at Abu Ghraib isn’t.

I mean… what the fuck?

Forget for a moment how incredibly dishonest it is for Dori to spend an hour disparaging the Democratic Party based on the barroom conversation of a handful of bloggers. The very fact that Stefan and Dori have decided to ignore the very serious topics we discussed and instead focus on our less than solemn language tells you how desperate they are to change the subject from the failed Bush administration and the rubber stamp Republican majority that props it up.

Well, fuck them. The whole point of recording the podcast in a bar is to try to capture the kind of spontaneous conversation and debate that makes Drinking Liberally such an intellectually satisfying and entertaining event. If Dori wants to get all sanctimonious with his screened calls and his feigned outrage, that’s up to him. Hell… he’s the “professional.”

But personally, I’d rather be brutally honest than politely lie.

Front Burner

by Goldy — Thursday, 3/30/06, 3:02 pm

8th Congressional District candidate Darcy Burner earned two posts on Slog today, the first from Eli Sanders pointing to the national Dems growing confidence in her campaign, and the second from Dan Savage asking you to help put her over the top of her quarterly fundraising target. I agree with both, but especially want to emphasize the latter.

The national Dems are paying attention to Darcy Burner’s race and they’ve got a bunch of money to dump on her

Daily open thread

by Goldy — Thursday, 3/30/06, 9:28 am

I’m out for most of the day, so talk amongst yourselves. Or chew on this.

Reed to appeal felon re-enfranchisement ruling

by Goldy — Wednesday, 3/29/06, 11:17 pm

Secretary of State Sam Reed has decided to appeal a King County Superior Court ruling that the state’s felon re-enfranchisement laws unconstitutionally violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

Hmm. I am disappointed, and not just because I think it is the wrong decision, but because I’d hoped that Reed might be a bit more pragmatic.

In announcing his decision, Reed made a joint statement with Attorney General Rob McKenna.

“We believe a rational basis does exist for the Legislature to deny felons the right to vote until they have completed their entire court-ordered sentences, including payment of criminal penalties, victim’s restitution, and legal fees, rather than separating out various sentencing aspects,”

Maybe, maybe not. I’m not saying that Judge Spearman’s decision is a slam dunk, but it is very compelling. The practical impact of our re-enfranchisment statutes is that we have created two classes of ex-felons: those who can afford to pay off their legal financial obligations, and those who cannot. The former have their voting rights restored, the latter are banned from voting for life.

Personally, I find this morally objectionable, but it is also a distinction that has proven to be extremely troublesome and expensive to administer and enforce… a fact that Reed himself acknowledged in the midst of last year’s controversial election contest.

In Washington, Secretary of State Reed said, the simplest way to fix confusion over tracking felons would be to automatically restore voting rights when people are released from prison, regardless of whether they’ve paid all their court debts.

And yet, given the opportunity to simplify our state’s re-enfranchisement system by adopting the model used in most other states, Reed has instead chosen to spend tax dollars defending a system that is costing taxpayers millions of dollars… and with uneven results.

But there is another practical consideration that is rarely discussed.

More than 250,000 ex-felons are currently ineligible to vote in WA state, about 3.7 percent of the state’s population, and 24 percent of African American men. About 46,000 of these ex-felons would have their voting rights restored if Judge Spearman’s decision is upheld.

So… exactly what is the social benefit of denying a substantial portion of our population the right to vote?

I’ve heard opponents of re-enfranchisement passionately argue that if we fully restore the civil rights of felons upon release they would have no incentive to make restitution to their victims. But in fact, the majority of the LFOs have nothing to do restitution.

For example, one of the plaintiffs in the case, Beverly DuBois, was convicted on a marijuana charge, and was ordered to pay LFOs totaling $1,620: a $500 victim assessment fee, $110 in court costs, and $1,000 to the Stevens County Drug Enforcement Fund. Unable to work due to injuries sustained in a car accident, DuBois has nonetheless made regular payments of $10 a month since her release… a court approved payment plan that doesn’t even cover the accrued interest. Since she was convicted in 2002, her outstanding LFO has actually increased to $1,895.69, and under current law, she will never be eligible to vote again.

Reed now argues that there is a “rational basis” for denying DuBois the right to vote, but I fail to see it. A permanently disabled woman gets ensnared on a marijuana charge, serves her time in prison, but due to onerous court fees she can never afford to pay off, she permanently loses the right to vote. Meanwhile, a more affluent ex-felon convicted of a similar crime, pays off his fines and has the franchise restored.

Perhaps a higher court will ultimately rule that a system that re-enfranchises ex-felons based on their ability to pay is somehow constitutional. But it certainly isn’t fair, and it does absolutely nothing to integrate these people back into society.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 18
  • Next Page »

Recent HA Brilliance…

  • Deferred Maintenance Saturday, 9/6/25
  • Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza! Saturday, 9/6/25
  • Friday Open Thread Friday, 9/5/25
  • Wednesday Open Thread Wednesday, 9/3/25
  • Drinking Liberally — Seattle Tuesday, 9/2/25
  • Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza! Friday, 8/29/25
  • Friday Open Thread Friday, 8/29/25
  • Wednesday Open Thread Wednesday, 8/27/25
  • Drinking Liberally — Seattle Tuesday, 8/26/25
  • Monday Open Thread Monday, 8/25/25

Tweets from @GoldyHA

I no longer use Twitter because, you know, Elon is a fascist. But I do post occasionally to BlueSky @goldyha.bsky.social

From the Cesspool…

  • G on Deferred Maintenance
  • Goldy on Deferred Maintenance
  • Darryl on Deferred Maintenance
  • Roger Rabbit on Deferred Maintenance
  • Roger Rabbit on Deferred Maintenance
  • Roger Rabbit on Deferred Maintenance
  • lmao on Deferred Maintenance
  • Roger Rabbit on Deferred Maintenance
  • The fix is in! on Deferred Maintenance
  • Roger Rabbit on Deferred Maintenance

Archives

  • September 2025 (5)
  • August 2025 (22)
  • July 2025 (21)
  • June 2025 (21)
  • May 2025 (21)
  • April 2025 (23)
  • March 2025 (22)
  • February 2025 (19)
  • January 2025 (21)
  • December 2024 (23)
  • November 2024 (22)
  • October 2024 (22)
  • September 2024 (21)
  • August 2024 (17)
  • July 2024 (24)
  • June 2024 (18)
  • May 2024 (24)
  • April 2024 (22)
  • March 2024 (22)
  • February 2024 (19)
  • January 2024 (22)
  • December 2023 (20)
  • November 2023 (20)
  • October 2023 (21)
  • September 2023 (21)
  • August 2023 (20)
  • July 2023 (19)
  • June 2023 (21)
  • May 2023 (22)
  • April 2023 (19)
  • March 2023 (22)
  • February 2023 (19)
  • January 2023 (22)
  • December 2022 (21)
  • November 2022 (22)
  • October 2022 (22)
  • September 2022 (27)
  • August 2022 (18)
  • July 2022 (21)
  • June 2022 (20)
  • May 2022 (21)
  • April 2022 (20)
  • March 2022 (20)
  • February 2022 (15)
  • January 2022 (15)
  • December 2021 (19)
  • November 2021 (22)
  • October 2021 (21)
  • September 2021 (20)
  • August 2021 (20)
  • July 2021 (21)
  • June 2021 (21)
  • May 2021 (17)
  • April 2021 (17)
  • March 2021 (18)
  • February 2021 (17)
  • January 2021 (16)
  • December 2020 (16)
  • November 2020 (21)
  • October 2020 (27)
  • September 2020 (21)
  • August 2020 (17)
  • July 2020 (20)
  • June 2020 (18)
  • May 2020 (18)
  • April 2020 (17)
  • March 2020 (19)
  • February 2020 (21)
  • January 2020 (20)
  • December 2019 (22)
  • November 2019 (20)
  • October 2019 (22)
  • September 2019 (20)
  • August 2019 (22)
  • July 2019 (22)
  • June 2019 (21)
  • May 2019 (22)
  • April 2019 (22)
  • March 2019 (22)
  • February 2019 (22)
  • January 2019 (21)
  • December 2018 (18)
  • November 2018 (24)
  • October 2018 (23)
  • September 2018 (21)
  • August 2018 (35)
  • July 2018 (25)
  • June 2018 (25)
  • May 2018 (26)
  • April 2018 (24)
  • March 2018 (26)
  • February 2018 (23)
  • January 2018 (26)
  • December 2017 (26)
  • November 2017 (26)
  • October 2017 (28)
  • September 2017 (25)
  • August 2017 (23)
  • July 2017 (26)
  • June 2017 (26)
  • May 2017 (29)
  • April 2017 (30)
  • March 2017 (29)
  • February 2017 (25)
  • January 2017 (29)
  • December 2016 (28)
  • November 2016 (42)
  • October 2016 (40)
  • September 2016 (33)
  • August 2016 (32)
  • July 2016 (33)
  • June 2016 (30)
  • May 2016 (33)
  • April 2016 (28)
  • March 2016 (33)
  • February 2016 (30)
  • January 2016 (41)
  • December 2015 (34)
  • November 2015 (41)
  • October 2015 (43)
  • September 2015 (42)
  • August 2015 (45)
  • July 2015 (37)
  • June 2015 (41)
  • May 2015 (50)
  • April 2015 (45)
  • March 2015 (54)
  • February 2015 (51)
  • January 2015 (65)
  • December 2014 (50)
  • November 2014 (43)
  • October 2014 (49)
  • September 2014 (58)
  • August 2014 (92)
  • July 2014 (97)
  • June 2014 (81)
  • May 2014 (92)
  • April 2014 (97)
  • March 2014 (89)
  • February 2014 (55)
  • January 2014 (60)
  • December 2013 (55)
  • November 2013 (56)
  • October 2013 (65)
  • September 2013 (57)
  • August 2013 (68)
  • July 2013 (59)
  • June 2013 (61)
  • May 2013 (69)
  • April 2013 (63)
  • March 2013 (63)
  • February 2013 (60)
  • January 2013 (64)
  • December 2012 (65)
  • November 2012 (78)
  • October 2012 (91)
  • September 2012 (71)
  • August 2012 (78)
  • July 2012 (80)
  • June 2012 (73)
  • May 2012 (75)
  • April 2012 (74)
  • March 2012 (81)
  • February 2012 (85)
  • January 2012 (91)
  • December 2011 (70)
  • November 2011 (72)
  • October 2011 (77)
  • September 2011 (77)
  • August 2011 (81)
  • July 2011 (79)
  • June 2011 (84)
  • May 2011 (78)
  • April 2011 (77)
  • March 2011 (78)
  • February 2011 (73)
  • January 2011 (91)
  • December 2010 (91)
  • November 2010 (110)
  • October 2010 (140)
  • September 2010 (107)
  • August 2010 (119)
  • July 2010 (129)
  • June 2010 (122)
  • May 2010 (116)
  • April 2010 (140)
  • March 2010 (147)
  • February 2010 (97)
  • January 2010 (113)
  • December 2009 (117)
  • November 2009 (153)
  • October 2009 (162)
  • September 2009 (133)
  • August 2009 (166)
  • July 2009 (152)
  • June 2009 (141)
  • May 2009 (127)
  • April 2009 (151)
  • March 2009 (155)
  • February 2009 (142)
  • January 2009 (165)
  • December 2008 (145)
  • November 2008 (193)
  • October 2008 (305)
  • September 2008 (207)
  • August 2008 (132)
  • July 2008 (143)
  • June 2008 (133)
  • May 2008 (149)
  • April 2008 (180)
  • March 2008 (133)
  • February 2008 (148)
  • January 2008 (154)
  • December 2007 (123)
  • November 2007 (158)
  • October 2007 (144)
  • September 2007 (108)
  • August 2007 (120)
  • July 2007 (129)
  • June 2007 (100)
  • May 2007 (95)
  • April 2007 (100)
  • March 2007 (115)
  • February 2007 (99)
  • January 2007 (107)
  • December 2006 (87)
  • November 2006 (101)
  • October 2006 (111)
  • September 2006 (95)
  • August 2006 (96)
  • July 2006 (73)
  • June 2006 (95)
  • May 2006 (93)
  • April 2006 (84)
  • March 2006 (86)
  • February 2006 (63)
  • January 2006 (78)
  • December 2005 (74)
  • November 2005 (74)
  • October 2005 (68)
  • September 2005 (94)
  • August 2005 (79)
  • July 2005 (84)
  • June 2005 (75)
  • May 2005 (95)
  • April 2005 (76)
  • March 2005 (73)
  • February 2005 (60)
  • January 2005 (62)
  • December 2004 (71)
  • November 2004 (61)
  • October 2004 (49)
  • September 2004 (42)
  • August 2004 (31)
  • July 2004 (36)
  • June 2004 (32)
  • May 2004 (17)

Archives

Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?

Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!

Search HA

Follow Goldy

[iire_social_icons]

© 2004–2025, All rights reserved worldwide. Except for the comment threads. Because fuck those guys. So there.