Goldy

Seventeen years ago today I clicked “Publish” on the very first post here at HA, with obviously no fucking idea how blogging would soon take over my life. Had I to do the past 17 years over again, I wouldn’t, even if I wanted to, because how could anyone even hope to retrace the bizarre path I followed from accidental activist to foul-mouthed blogger to talk radio host to foul-mouthed Stranger writer to mysterious behind-the-scenes benevolent-plutocrat-funded progressive propaganda king?

That said, how’d the past 17 years turn out? Well, on May 10, 2004, I wrote this:

I have serious political goals, and I intend to pursue them. I intend to help educate the public and the media about an astonishingly regressive tax system that gives billions of dollars of tax breaks to wealthy special interests while placing an almost unbearable burden on the backs of middle- and low-income families. I intend to work for real, progressive, tax reforms that provide meaningful relief to those who need it most, assure adequate funding for essential public services, and create the kind of positive, rational business environment that all citizens want. And I intend to continue my efforts to expose Tim Eyman as the lying, thieving, blowhard even many of his most ardent supporters admit he really is. (Did I mention Tim Eyman is a lying, thieving, blowhard?)

But I also intend to have a little fun.

Well, progress report: this year the state legislature passed and the governor signed into law a modest capital gains tax—Washington state’s first bit of progressive tax reform in forever. Meanwhile, after losing a long drawn out civil suit brought by the state Attorney General, Tim Eyman is in the process of paying something like $5 million in fines and legal fees for at least some of the many crimes he’s committed over the course of his lying, thieving career. I can’t say exactly what I had to do with the outcomes, but it was something. Also, I did indeed have a little fun along the way. So progress!

Anyway, a big thanks to all the loyal readers and vicious trolls who helped make HA more than just a narcissistic exercise, and an especially big thanks to Darryl and Carl for keeping it going these past few years. Don’t know if I’ll ever come back to regular blogging, but if you miss me, I do spit out the occasional foul-mouthed tweet.

 

I don’t blog much anymore, but I thought I’d stop by HA for a moment to mark my 15th blogiversary.

It was on May 10, 2004 that I put up my very first post, clearly with no fucking idea how this foul-mouthed blog would eventually take over my life.

I’ve got a habit of shooting for the moon, but I’m also a realist, so nobody was more surprised than me when my shitty little blog developed such a large and loyal audience. I’ve been very fortunate. So if you’re still around to read this thank you… thank you for your support. (Also, a big thank you to Darryl and Carl for keeping alive what would otherwise be a static archive.)

And finally, as always: Tim Eyman is a horse’s ass.

Matthew 5:31-32
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Discuss.

I’ve had my dog Feisty almost as long as I’ve had this blog, a 13-plus-year span in which she has been a source of love, metaphor, and humor. And so, while I don’t really blog here anymore, I thought it appropriate to briefly post on her passing.

She was a good dog (mostly), a loyal companion, and an enthusiastic hiking partner. In fact, without her, I don’t think I ever would have cultivated my love of hiking through our region’s many mountain trails. I already miss her deeply. But after months of progressive kidney failure that left her unwilling to eat and increasingly unable to walk, my daughter and I sadly did the only humane thing to do, and held her in our arms as the vet relieved her of her suffering.

But since this is HA, it would be a disingenuous tribute to Feisty to mark her passing without making at least one political point: When we euthanize a beloved pet, we rightly call it an act of compassion. But if we euthanize a beloved family member, the law calls it an act of murder. Whatever. When my time comes, if I am unable to avail myself of WA’s Death with Dignity law, I sure hope that my daughter has the strength to lovingly murder me the way we just lovingly murdered our family dog.

Rest in peace, Feisty. In the remote event that there’s a doggy heaven, I hope you were greeted by 72 squirrels to do with what you please.

Deuteronomy 19:21
Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Discuss.

Deuteronomy 23:12-14
Set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area. And make sure that you have a small shovel in your equipment. When you go out to the toilet area, use the shovel to dig a hole. Then, after you relieve yourself, bury the waste in the hole. You must keep your camp clean of filthy and disgusting things. The LORD is always present in your camp, ready to rescue you and give you victory over your enemies. But if he sees something disgusting in your camp, he may turn around and leave.

Discuss.

Leviticus 15:19-20
When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.

Discuss.

Matthew 21:18-19
Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

Discuss.

Exodus 21:28
If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

Discuss.

1 Corinthians 10:20
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

Discuss.

Genesis 2:25
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Discuss.

1 Kings 11:1-3
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

Discuss.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24
If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

Discuss.

Job 1
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Discuss.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

Discuss.