Perhaps my absolute favorite thing about Seattle’s congressman is that he excites our retarded comment trolls like nothing else. These are priceless:

Only in a place like Seattle can someone like Baghdad Jim McDermott exist.

Ah yes. Only in Seattle. Whereas, only in Florida do you find a congressmen who desperately wants to fuck young page boys, and trolls for them on the internet. Or, say in Vancouver, where you can find a family values conservative who watches porno with a gay hooker in a Spokane hotel.

McDermott fenced stolen property. Ergo he’s a crook. McDermott lied about fencing stolen property. Ergo he’s a lying liar.

To which HA’s own Lee responds:

“Fencing” requires a profit motive, which was not the case in this incident. Ergo, you’re a fucking retard.

Goodness, gracious. Just look at what we’ll miss when McDermott retires.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank Congressman McDermott for perhaps his greatest accomplishment in public life: the creation of Washington Basic Health. WBH has allowed the working poor to get health care and avoid medical bankruptcy. Once derided as “socialized medicine” by Republicans who can’t do math, WBH is now embraced by other states as the model for public health care delivery. It should be noted that WBH does something liberals love (providing health care to those who can’t get it otherwise) by doing it in ways conservatives admire (allowing companies to compete, thus creating an incentive to keep costs down). While I hope that universal health care is on it’s way from Washington, it’s good to know that Dr. McD made it happen here in WA state.

Joel Connelly, who’s no fan of Rep. Jim McDermott, lays out the blueprint for McD’s exit from congress:

A possible arrangement: McDermott’s legal bills are paid off. Something gets named after him. And a new posting, possibly meaningful, allows the globetrotting congressman to pursue his interests in HIV/AIDS and South Asia.

Discretion is vital. McDermott’s “amen corner” will entertain no criticism of our quixotic man of principle in Congress. And Seattle needs re-education on potential benefits of having an effective liberal doing its business in Washington, D.C.

I’m pretty much done with Rep. McDermott, and wouldn’t mind seeing him go sooner rather than later. As long as he was on the block for the whole “tape” thing, I didn’t feel it was right to do a hatchet job on him. Now that he’s going to have to pay the 800k, things change somewhat.

But still! Dump McDermott? No. Why not demand Richard McIver’s resignation?

The night Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver was arrested for allegedly grabbing his wife by the neck in a drunken tirade, he yelled at her about not keeping the house clean and opened the door to officers in his bathrobe, wobbling, reeking of alcohol, slurring his words, and acting confused and slightly belligerent.

McIver likely will not stand trial for these alleged actions. Still, why tolerate this? I know I know, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. But for me, it’s not even close.

P-I:

Police said the collision, at the intersection of Mercer Street and Terry Avenue North, was caused when the SUV ran a red light and was hit by the streetcar.

I’m feeling like that thing is worth every penny right about now.

John Edwards, it seems.

Of course, you have to take advice from your opponents with a grain of salt. That said, I’ve been telling folks that Mike Huckabee was always the toughest candidate on the GOP side, and I wasn’t lying.

Now, it seems that Mike Huckabee, the southern governor, finds himself at the top of the heap in Iowa with the southern senator, John Edwards:

Edwards leads with 30 percent in a poll of Democratic voters who said they intend to participate in the Jan. 3 presidential caucuses, followed by Clinton with 26 percent and Obama with 24 percent. When the sample was narrowed to the most likely caucus-goers, based on several questions, Obama leads Edwards by less than a percentage point with 27 percent, with Clinton in third place at 24 percent.

Edwards holds a significant advantage, however, among a group who could be key to the first contest of the presidential year: those who say their first choice is someone other than the top three. Under Iowa Democratic Party rules, candidates who poll less than 15 percent in the first vote at each caucus around the state are eliminated, and their supporters get a second chance to vote for another candidate.

Edwards is on the cover of the newest Newsweek, and inside I found some interesting tidbits about the 2004 race:

The Kerry-Edwards union was uneasy from the start. There were little things: Edwards wanted to lead audiences in his “Hope is on the way!” cheer. Kerry thought “Help is on the way” sounded more dignified. Neither man would budge, and they wound up using two different slogans. There were also larger differences. When Kerry came under the Swift Boat attacks over his war record, Edwards urged him to fight back early. Kerry believed it was beneath him to dignify his attackers with a response. (Emphasis mine)

Sometimes people like candidates for academic reasons. I like Edwards for his political instincts. He won’t be afraid to call them like he sees them (“Hope is on the way!”) and his first impulse will be, when attacked, to hit back.

CNN:

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Tuesday and dropped in on the volatile northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Baghdad confirmed.

How long does it take before we stop calling them “surprise visits to Iraq”? At some point, if your Secretary of State has to sneak into the country just to check up on things, the “surprise” is more about the lack of security in Iraq and less about a fun winter visit to Mesopotamia.

[UPDATE]

A fun search to do.

Golly, gee! That’s a lot of surprises! One of these days I’d like to see our diplomats visit the sandy shithole place where all this success is happening without the flak helmets and evasive maneuvers.

Besides, when is the last time Condi has paid a “surprise” visit to someplace like Canada?

In perhaps the richest area of Washington state, a new type of road material is being tested.

the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is testing materials there designed to turn down the din of traffic.

The DOT calls them “quieter pavements.”

Those who drive the highway or live nearby call it a huge improvement: “People who live along 520 are like, ‘You are a godsend,’ ” Scott said.

Some folks complained about the proposed bridge replacement for 520, because it included a Mercer Island-style lid to shield the rich folks’ neighborhoods from the noise. “Blah blah rich people, blah blah fancy freeway” was the common refrain from my left ‘o’ center friends. Now I’m starting to hear “blah blah quiet asphalt.” Maybe with this new pavement we won’t have to spend so much on mitigation in the form of concrete lids and more on this new asphalt.

As an aside, I’m always amazed that this region is able to gin up so much general animosity from things. Should people in gigantic houses be subjected to freeway noise because they’re rich? Should anyone? Of course not.

The battle over the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement will look like an Easter egg hunt compared to what’s in store on 520. The neighborhoods on both ends of the bridge have a lot in common- they’re rich, white, and can hire an army of lawyers. But I wouldn’t want the State of Washington forcing some awful freeway design through my neighborhood. (Oh wait, they already did try once already!)

I predict that this new technology is going to let a thousand flowers bloom. At least that’s my hope.

Zis is an open thread.

“I don’t care what you call it, as long as you ride it.”

Those were the Mayor’s words just before the VIPs and press guys boarded the orange streetcar. Nobody referenced the streetcar’s nickname. What a fucking relief. That joke is getting really old, guys. Real. Old.

I rode the second train out of Westlake. The sucker was packed, but everyone was excited. As folks were mashed in, I mentioned to the crowd, “it’s starting to get really unpleasant… You know, like on a bus.” Everyone laughed. People laughed because everyone hates riding the bus, at least on some level.

Folks were waving at the train, and from the train. You don’t see this much with buses. People only wave from buses if they’re going to summer camp or coming home from prison. I did the whole route, and on the way back I got off at Denny. The number 17 bus was coming up, and I said aloud to the crowd, “is anyone waiting for the bus?” Everyone laughed, because no one will wait for a bus when they can take a streetcar. No one.

There was a sad-looking lady holding a sign at Westlake that said “Watch Out for Injured Cyclists.” I watched out, but all I saw were smiling, pleasant people waving at the streetcar. My heart goes out to cyclist who commute through the city, but the next time I see a fixie-riding, no-helmet-wearing douchebag hipster blow through a red light at 20 miles and hour, that goodwill goes away. If you’re a cyclist that can’t figure out how to ride your bicycle over railroad tracks, then maybe riding a bicycle isn’t the best sport for you.

Which reminds me. I hear that a bicycle advocacy group is doing, or has done, some “protest rides” in South Lake Union, protesting the fact that the rails the streetcar runs on could pose a hazard to cyclists. Right. On a side note, me and some friends are going down to City Hall to protest the Treaty of Versailles.

Regardless of the internet whining, people who ride the streetcar tend to like it. It’s a short line, but it’s effectiveness as a transportation option only increases as it is expanded. Same thing can be said about the Link Light Rail. I will make a point to use it, and if I have the chance, I’d live along the route.

I’ve got a magnet on my fridge that tells me I’ve got a free ride on the Seattle Monorail, which opens the Green Line this Sunday. Except that it doesn’t, because it never got built. The monorail fell apart, crushed by it’s own hubris and a bullshit financing plan. Maybe this streetcar can be expanded to serve West Seattle, northwest Seattle, or other parts of town that were promised transit but never got it. Let’s expand the streetcar throughout the “Center City”, and deliver transit investment to the people who are most willing to ride it.

From the Kitsap Sun article:

Former Seahawks kicker Norm Johnson helped pull a woman from her overturned car Monday morning, on his way to taking his son to school.

While driving along Olympic View Road around 9 a.m. Johnson saw a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am that had hit black ice and landed on its top in a large ditch.

Johnson, a real estate agent for Reid Realty, stopped when he saw the car at a 45-degree angle in a ditch filled with water. The woman inside was screaming, and another woman at the scene was calling 911.

The driver of the car had freed herself from the driver’s seat and crawled to the back of the car to get away from the water. She was scared and screaming and couldn’t get herself out, Johnson said.

Johnson used a large rock to break the glass and helped the woman from the car.

“She climbed out, I gave her a hug and she was just really scared,” he said. “She likely was in shock.”

Norm Johnson is fourth on the All-Time Points list, but he’ll be first in the hearts of his countrymen (and women) from now on. (Josh Brown ain’t got nothin’ on “Mr. Automatic”)

Number Nine slings the rock into the window,smashing the glass… and… and… It’s good!

Meowdorable!

This is an open thread.

Brewster’s blowing the lid off the scandal of the century.

Politicians? Raising money this early? Shocking, I tell you! Simply shocking!

Here we are two years away from the next Seattle city election, and already it appears that Mayor Greg Nickels is raising money and building up his inevitability. Neighbors for Nickels reports a relatively modest $72,493 in its account (as of a Nov. 17 filing with the city). The Mayor Greg Nickels Web site doesn’t play coy, touting, “Re-elect Greg Nickels Seattle Mayor 2009.”

I too was surprised by the “Re-elect Greg Nickels Seattle Mayor 2009” headline. I was also surprised to hear that hookers aren’t in it for the health insurance, or that the sun comes up each morning.

The peculiar new timetable for American politics is that you start raising money for the next election just a few weeks after getting elected. The real campaign takes place right about now in a four year cycle — 18 to 24 months before the actual election. Raise enough money now and line up enough early big names, and by the time a serious opponent gets organized, it’s too late.

There’s nothing peculiar about it. It’s called politics. It’s common for politicians to keep in touch with their supporters through low-dollar fund raisers. Besides, any candidate who is considering running for mayor should decide soon. Last cycle, the media elites whined incessantly that Nickels wasn’t drawing a serious candidate, as if some poor city councilman is obligated to spend a year campaigning only to be creamed in the general election. Nickels’ eventual ’05 opponent, former UW professor Al Runte, was quite comical on the campaign trail. At one of Runte’s many Drinking Liberally visits, I heard him say:

“Hi, I’m Al Runte, and I’m running for Mayor. No really, I’m running for Mayor.”

Media big dogs like Brewster wonder why Nickels is getting an early start to his next campaign. I’m sure that in December of next year, he’ll wonder why no one wants a piece of him. Eventually, somebody is going to connect the dots.

King County Executive Ron Sims and former Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald are both in favor of congestion pricing.

Sims seems to be vacillating on whether congestion pricing is designed to reduce throughput of vehicles, or increase it. Doug MacDonald definitely believes in the latter. After all, would Kemper’s White Guys and the Discovery Institute support the idea if it cuts down on driving? (My guess: no) I don’t think the Sierra Club has thought this through. If variable tolling makes the existing freeways work more efficiently, doesn’t that mean you get more volume and more throughput? Add in the issues raised in that Willamette Week article (linked below), where environmentalists are raising red flags on charging per mile instead of per gallon (because of how each system might affect vehicle choice) and you have an even weaker “green” case for tolling.

This raises some fundamental issues and contradictions – which may explain why both greens like Ron and roadwarriors like Doug, Kemper and others all seem to like the congestion pricing concept – it can be all things to all people. The fact Discovery has attached themselves to it should be the first warning sign…

Ron Sims:

Sims: That’s really interesting. We have tolls on the Narrows bridge. We’re going to have hot lanes on 167, that goes through the Kent Valley. One thing we know is that traffic… it really affects traffic. When we have congestion pricing, it reduces traffic volume 15 to 20 percent, because people begin to use those roadways smartly. And it’s also complemented by increasing the transit service that we’re going to have there. So we expect that people are going to move much better. You know our goal is to have an average speed of 45 miles per hour, which is a lot faster than they’re going now.

Doug MacDonald, who sponsored a competition to put the transpo-nerd term “through-put maximization” into regular-person language:

Haase wrote in his winning entry: “The physics of car-flow in a highway resemble those of rice poured through a funnel. If you pour slowly, you get little out, but if you pour too fast, the rice clogs and you get little — or nothing — out either. Car-flow involves similar thinking. For any highway there’s a particular in-between speed that moves the most vehicles under typical conditions.”

[snip]

While “through-put maximization” — moving the maximum number of vehicles through a stretch of highway at the maximum speed — might sound good to transportation technophiles, much of the public doesn’t understand it, said MacDonald.

The Willamette Week did a story on Oregon’s consideration of congestion pricing:

Environmentalists question why the state would switch to a system where a Hummer owner would be treated the same as a Prius owner. And civil libertarians raise alarms about the mileage tax’s underlying technology—an electronic collection system that uses a global positioning system to count the number of miles driven. That information would get uploaded and recorded at service stations.

“We must be cautious and understand how information can be linked and how information can be used in a way that is not intended or foreseen,” says Andrea Meyer, legislative director of ACLU of Oregon.

I wonder how much it would cost to equip every car in Seattle, King County, or Washington state with the “homing beacons,” or if that would even be possible to do in the next few years? I’m a fan of the Logan’s Run-style bar codes on human beings, but without the ritual killing on your 21st birthday. You know, because that seems at least plausible to achieve within the next few years.

Hillary’s video, the funniest with the best production value:

Edwards’, decent video, good art and narration:

Obama’s video has that “3-2-1 Contact” vibe I remember back from elementary school, and is the most informative: