Somewhat inexplicable to me, some far left critics of Pete Buttigieg have decided that he was working for the CIA. And while he is not my candidate by a long shot, I kind of have to defend him.

There are 2 parts to this. First he worked for a consulting firm that had an NDA. I don’t know enough about the specific firm, but in general NDA’s are bad, but they’re the company, not the employee, who impose them.

The second thing is that he went to Somalia once: A thing that we only know about because he literally wrote about it in the New York Times. Now, I am also not an expert on CIA procedures but it strikes me that this is probably not how they operate:

1) Send a couple people into a country for one (1) day.

2) Meet with officials publicly.

3) Go to the marketplace.

4) Unspecified crimes.

5) Go check out ancient caves.

6) Write about it in an article that’s very critical of US foreign policy including quoting people calling it corrupt.

7) Run for President the first election it’s Constitutionally possible.

Seems like he would keep a lower profile.

But the serious thing I want to say is this: If you see someone promoting this nonsense uncritically, they are a bad source of information; Not just on this specific thing, but going forward.

Are you signed up for Obamacare? If you need it, you can sign up by the 15th. I know that health care is still not as good as much of the world, but get signed up.

I had not picked a Presidential candidate, but Harris was in my top tier. And she was my first top tier candidate to drop out. I was surprised by how much it stinks that she’s out. She has been an amazing Senator, and it will be good to see her back there full time.

Congrats to Patti Gosch on becoming the first Washington State Patrol tribal liaison. It seems like a monumental task. I hope that the guidelines for missing indigenous women are thorough enough.

Dear HA Readers,

This is just a note to let you know that I don’t think that I will be posting open threads, or anything else, next week. Thanksgiving week is going to be a lot, so probably nothing from me. I usually write these posts on my commute, and I won’t be commuting most of the week. So here’s an early happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it, and strange Thursday off or thanks for reading from outside the US to the rest of you.

XOXO,

Carl Ballard

Dear Representative Jayapal,

I am writing to thank you for your support of the MORE Act. I am glad that it is getting a markup today. While reading about the legislation, I was glad to see your name on the list of cosponsors.

I hope that it will remain a piece of legislation that not only legalizes marijuana, but also brings some justice to the people who have been harmed by the prohibition.

Thanks,

Carl Ballard

Dear Governor Inslee,

I see that you and Governor Brown are meeting to figure out replacing the I-5 bridge across the Columbia River to replace the one there now. I hope that you will give adequate consideration for public transportation. I hope rail can run along it.

Carl Ballard

You guys. Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler wants to investigate the Ukraine phone call in the open, but also it’s a distraction, so she opposes the actual investigation. Imagine! If she has an alternate plan for how the inquiry can be conducted beyond vague generalities, it wasn’t in the article, and I couldn’t find it.

Oh no, closed doors! So I fear things,

It will be fought but won’t clear things

So Republicans say,

‘Til they got their way.

Now how dare you hold open hearings?

It’s tough to detangle how much of Kshama Sawant’s turn around in the late ballots is due to various factors. How much is it that liberal votes tend to pick up later most elections? How much is due to SA organizing? How much is other GOTV efforts? How much is Sawant specifically? And of course, how much is the backlash against Amazon and other companies spending soooooo much money in the race? Still, if the turn around is greater than her first City Council election, I think that it’s safe to say that the Amazon money hurt Amazon more than it helped.

Yesterday was a pretty good election nationally. Virginia and Kentucky had great wins for the Democrats. Statewide, oof. You hate to see the initiatives go the way they have.

And Seattle City Council is a mixed bag. With Mike O’Brien’s retirement and Kshama Sawant maybe losing, the left wing of the Council won’t be as liberal. But the median vote may be farther left. Hopefully we can get a head tax and figure out ways to minimize the impact of cuts that are probably coming to transit. I hope that some of the organizing that went into those races can be transferred to organizing to push those policies.

For goodness sake, get your ballot postmarked or dropped off by tomorrow. If you’re in Seattle, please vote for the hold large corporations accountable slate. Everyone vote against killing transit projects. Vote for affirmative action.

Imagine being too racist for the College Republicans. Imagine being such a shitty organization that they have to explain, “I am NOT with those jerkoffs!” Oh, don’t get it wrong, they’re all assholes. But apparently the National College Republicans have a different threshold, or at least don’t want to have to explain the UW chapter anymore.

I don’t understand how a campaign can be so flush with cash, and mess up the basic requirements (item 2). Seriously, the Orion campaign should be able to get its ducks in a row.

Get your ballot postmarked or dropped off by a week from tomorrow. If you live in Seattle please vote for the person Amazon doesn’t want (I generally say don’t vote out of spite, and fortunately it’s also going to be the better choice). If you haven’t got your ballot in the mail yet, please contact your county elections office.