*Seattle Port Commissioner: There’s a battle going on between Jack Block Jr. and Gael Tarleton. Either one would be better than Bob Edwards.

*Matt Manweller is a loon.

*Liberal bloggers are rightfully pissed after Congress signed off on Bush’s FISA bill. The House Democrats supporting the bill are a who’s who of Blue Dogs and conservative Democrats. Who also voted yes? Rep. Dave Reichert. Darcy Burner would have voted no. Replace Reichert with a strong Democrat, and we’re that much closer to not being held hostage by conservative Democrats.

*If you like basketball, go see the Seattle Storm. They’re our WNBA team. The tickets are cheaper, and the game is better (more passing, higher percentage shooting). There isn’t the ridiculous circus-like atmosphere either. No idiot mascot with his t-shirt gun. Just basketball.

OOPS! CORRECTION! Turns our that most NBA teams have a higher shooting percentage than the Storm, who lead the WNBA in team shooting percentage. But, still, I did like the pace of the game MUCH more on the women’s side than the men’s.

From The Other Side:

I feel bad for the people of Yakima. I can’t believe that they have to choose between Jim Clements and Curtis King. The Yakima Herald did a rundown of yesterday’s debate.

King lashed out at Clements for expanding health care coverage for kids. Then, he criticized Clements for making it easier for public schools to raise money.

While King is a cold hearted punk, Clements has his drawbacks. He totally blows it while pandering to the local GOP base with this one:

During a discussion on illegal immigration, Clements complained that the suspect in the recent abduction and murder of a 12-year-old Tacoma girl was a noncitizen with a criminal record who should have been “sent home” with Mexican president Vicente Fox following his historic visit to Yakima last year.

The suspect, however, is from Thailand.

Nice! Somebody get a map for the “porch dog.”

lolreichert!

When Goldy asked if I wanted to help him fill an hour of his radio show Saturday night, I knew I had a good excuse to get back on the saddle (of my bike). Even if that saddle was causing some, um, soreness.

Getting out of Belltown was easy enough, except for the Torchlight Parade. I had to wait to cross, just like the Metro buses who were behind me. When I got the “all clear,” it was a mad dash to get through the intersection before the buses edged me out.

I have a feeling that Dexter Ave N is a bicyclist’s best friend. It was very a convenient route to get to South Lake Union. Which reminds me…

Be VERY careful around construction. (But you already knew that, right?) The streetcar construction made things dicey through Valley Street, and I chickened-out a bit and walked my bike across the crosswalk at Fairview. Better safe than… dead.

The stretch from Hooters up the hill to the studio was a piece of cake. I even had a chance to figure out the whole “shifting” thing. It’s all about gear ratios, right?

Finally, some questions:

For riding at night, or a less-than-optimal lighting conditions, what’s a good strategy for making sure I’m visible to idiot drivers? Are some lights better than others?

Also, while I love love LOVE my Kryptonite U-Lock, the thingy that attaches to my bike that holds my bike lock… it keeps failing me. I tried to secure it per the installation instructions, but it still moves around a bit on me when the U-Lock is attached to it. I tightened it so much that the plastic split. I’m going to have to get another one from those guys. (This’ll be the second one I’ve had to get sent to me special delivery. Those guys at Kryptonite are very understanding.) Anybody else have this problem?

Don Ward:

Odds are the Sound Transit/RTID proposal is going to be shot down this November under the weight of its own hubris. In 2008 (or sooner) Republican candidates need to all get together in one big ceremony, focusing on one big issue, relieving traffic congestion, with one big list of transportation priorities they will pass when elected. And pound it over and over again.

It needs to be a list of specific projects that people see and understand. The 405/167 interchange, 520 floating bridge, adding lanes to I-5 in Everett. (Others can chime in here) Just as long as there is some funding for multimodal transportation options – increased bus service, ride-share, carpool, etc. – it should be a winner.

Don hasn’t read the Sound Transit/RTID package. How do I know?

Because all that stuff is in it. Whether it’s 520, 167, 405, more buses, more carpool lanes, more ridesharing, it’s already in the package. Don hasn’t read the package, but you can.

If you want to know what’s in the Sound Transit/RTID package, you can look here, here, or here.

Don wants to wait until 2008 to address these critical roads projects. If the 2007 ST/RTID package fails at the polls, don’t expect to see another ballot measure for four more years. I seriously doubt a single lawmaker will want to go to voters on a “roads only” package in a presidential/gubernatorial election year.

Besides, Don doesn’t know his history. Referendum 51 failed miserably at the polls because lefty environmental groups and anti-tax activists opposed it. The whole reason Sound Transit and RTID were joined was to make sure the asphalt guys and the transit guys had to support it! That’s why Reagan Dunn and Shawn Bunney, both conservatives, are supporting the package. Meanwhile, light rail is planned to go north to Lynnwood, south to Tacoma, and east to Redmond (or at least Overlake, depending on how much money has to be spent in Bellevue).

Instead of supporting a package that does the things he wants done, Don would rather scrap it for a plan that’ll never happen. The GOP base will never acquiesce to more taxes to fix roads and build transit infrastructure. They don’t have to.

Because the voters will.

Tuesday’s Drinking Liberally with Mayor Greg Nickels was a hoot. If you missed it, I’m sorry. This is the first time Nickels has graced our presence at the Montlake Ale House, and it was worth the wait.

I asked Hizzoner, “how do you keep a straight face on your Seattle Channel call-in show? I mean, the questions people ask, they’re nuts sometimes. Somebody called in about moving sidewalks or something.”

Nickels said, “You have to respect what folks have to say.”

I don’t know if politicians get enough credit for putting up with the Richard Lee’s of the world. I can tell you that if I was heckled by morons on a public TV show, I’d drop the f-bomb and resign my office.

************

Also, it turns out the mayor knows my grandfather. Just like Phil Talmadge, Nickels is a longtime West Seattle Democrat. My grampa was a PCO for years and years in White Center.

Me: “This may seem like a weird quesiton, Mr. Mayor, but I was wondering if you knew my grandfather. His name is Bill Kamp.”

Hizzoner: “Bill, yeah I remember Bill. His wife was…”

Me: I’m about to say “Mildred”, but Nickels beats me to it.

Hizzoner: “Yes, I knew them.”

I turn to Nick and say, “it’s a good day, a good day indeed.”

************

My grampa and grandma had six kids, and none of them have the interest in politics that I share with my late grampa (he passed away in 1998; my grandmother in 2003). I was only 17 when my grandfather died, so I didn’t have a chance to learn from his experience when I started in Democratic politics. I’m convinced there is a generation of politicians and old-time Democrats who knew my grandfather well. Only now am I learning that my grandfather knew Greg Nickels before he was mayor (and perhaps even before he was elected to the King County Council).

Not only did my grampa know Greg Nickels and Phil Talmadge, but (according to my family) also Mike Lowry, who was active in King County politics for a long time, and was in Congress from the 7th district for a few terms. My grandfather also knew Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson. Since Scoop and my grandfather have passed on, I’m out of luck in gaining a little insight in Washington’s more controversial figures.

************

As I get more involved in Democratic politics, I can look forward to discovering more about my grandfather’s involvement. I’m sure there are old timers out there with stories about my grandfather, the kind of things you don’t always learn form family. Which side was he on when the Democratic Party went through serious turmoil during the 1970’s? How did my grandfather, a Catholic with traditional cultural views, not bolt the party like so many others during the the 70’s and 80’s?

My grandfather, Bill Kamp, passed away during the summer of ’98, but he lives on in the memories of the Democrats who knew him.

When blogging, I can be a little harsh without realizing it. I’m not actually as big an SOB as I sometimes seem. So in this post I want to take note of folks I may have been too harsh on.

1. BUS DRIVERS

If you read this Seattle Weekly article, you’ll see what they have to put up with. While I knock Metro and their fleet of stinky, smelly, slow buses, I’m not knocking the drivers. Most of them are decent folks who put up with a lot.

2. JOEL CONNELLY

Everyone I know disagrees with Joel on something. I think this is what makes him a good columnist. He gets taken to task by lefties and righties. Joel sticks up for Old Seattle, and does it better than others. Also, he showed up to Drinking Liberally before it was cool popular.

3. PHIL TALMADGE

I bashed Phil for his goofball anti-light rail opinions. As it turns out, Phil was close to my grandfather, who was a long time PCO from the 34th legislative district. Phil even showed up at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary back in the late 80’s. Very classy.

4. THE GOP

Ha! Not!

Emory Bundy writes at the ‘cut:

[W]hat about the environmental costs and benefits of rail transit? Surprisingly, rail’s environmental costs are quite adverse.

The anti-light rail guys have been flogging this thing for so long that their arguments are changing. Only recently have they been employing certain Al Gore-like rhetoric to try to put the kibosh on rail. It’s funny, really.

Emory Bundy, Kemper Freeman Jr., and other anti-rail guys like to say they’re pro-transit. The like buses, they say. Or bike lines and van pools. Just anything but a train!

You can sometimes judge an argument by who flocks to it’s banner. You see, it’s no wonder why the lunatic right wing hate site Free Republic loves Bundy and his anti-rail screed. So don’t fall for the “we like transit” routine from the anti-rail folks.

(Taken at Broadway and John on Capitol Hill by Dominic Holden of The Stranger)

Everytime I hear somebody say “instead of rail, let’s add more buses,” this is the image that pops into my mind: a line of buses snarled after a bus breaks down in an intersection.

This is an Open Thread.

Those were Sen. Joe Biden’s words at the end of the debate after the the candidates were subjected to another weird question from YouTube land.

Some thoughts on the candidates:

Gravel: Why is he still allowed into these debates?

Dodd: He’s growing on me. There isn’t a question he doesn’t want to answer. Years in the US Senate haven’t dulled his edge.

Edwards: He doesn’t attack well, and it shows in these “debates.” But, when given a chance, can find the thread and run with it in a passionate way.

Clinton: She’s the smartest, best equipped candidate in the race. She has a great grasp of issues. She’s in the lead because she hasn’t had to attack yet.

Obama: I don’t get how the nat’l media folks see him as naive. He’s not, but he does have a sort of “over-thinking” quality, reminiscent of Gore circa 2000. He needs to get out of his own way once in a while.

Richardson: I’m surprised how by how little I liked his performance. With the background he has, you’d think he’d be taking it to Obama and Edwards. He hasn’t. I get the “he’s running for VP” vibe from him. Still, I’m ready to see what he does later in the race.

Biden: He’s not afraid to say unpopular things. But what a mistake to openly mock the gun owner from MI! Still, Biden is relatively bullshit-free. Even though I know he’s a longtime pol, I don’t want to write him off. He could be a factor (but probably not) later on.

Kucinich: If ever there was a worse spokesman for his ideas, Dennis is it.

I thought Anderson Cooper did a pretty good job. They could have given some candidates more time. Some of the YouTube questions were overly schlocky and schmaltzy, but the format is here to stay.

But next time, Jon Stewart hosts! I wish.

Seattle Times:

The state’s new domestic partnership law, which went into effect Sunday, gives gay and lesbian couples some of the rights granted to married couples, including the right to visit a partner in the hospital, inherit a partner’s property without a will and make funeral arrangements.

To qualify, the couples must file an affidavit of domestic partnership with the Secretary of State’s Office. The state then gives them a certificate with a state seal, and plastic cards that say “State registered domestic partnership” and lists their names. On the back it cites the chapter where the law can be viewed.

But not everybody is happy:

Gary Randall, president of the Faith and Freedom Network, a Christian political organization, said last week that his group has no plans to demonstrate today, but that doesn’t mean it approves of the new law.

“I’m disappointed, and I don’t think it should be happening,” said Randall, who considers the law a steppingstone to gay marriage. “I think it deteriorates society. Over time it takes away from what is the most important cornerstone of society, and that’s marriage between a man and woman.”

Notice how Gary doesn’t approve of the law, but he isn’t sending in the anti-gay shock troops just yet. You see, normal people (even many conservatives!) think that there is nothing overtly weird about a person visiting a loved one in the hospital, even if they are both of the same sex. Gary knows he’s on the wrong side of public opinion, so he’s doing his best to tie domestic partnerships to something not as popular: gay marriage. He knows fighting this law is a loser for his side, so he’s keeping his powder dry.

So Gary is reduced to getting the second quote in newspaper articles like this one. In the future, I hope for his sake that he can manage a less limp-dicked response than “I don’t think it should be happening.”

On a similar note, comedian Louis CK has a bit in his act where he explains how the gay marriage was argued in court in Massachusetts:

I can imagine when they get to the Supreme Court and the lawyers for the gay side say:

“Well your honor, we pay taxes, there’s nothing illegal about what we do, we’re the same as anyone else, why shouldn’t we get the same protection under the law as the heterosexuals get?”

And then they ask the lawyers [for the other side] and they say:

[Thick Boston accent] “THEY’RE FUCKING QUEER!!! THEY’RE FUCKING QUEER!!!”

So basically, Gary Randall’s response is “they’re fucking queer!” And that’s all he’s got.

***THERE’S MORE***

You can watch the Louis C.K. clip here.

Also, according to HA’s Lee:

Gary Randall was also pissed that a Hindu was allowed to give a prayer in front of Congress. The man is loco.

http://effinunsound.com/?p=424

Nice.

From their press release:

Today a slate of leading environmental organizations announced their endorsements of Roads and Transit. The package will provide more transportation options while improving our quality of life and the environment. The organizations announcing their endorsement are: Transportation Choices Coalition, Washington Conservation Voters, Futurewise, Environment Washington, Tahoma Audubon, and Washington Environmental Council.

With the passage of the joint ballot this fall, voters will give regional transit the biggest boost in state history bringing new light rail, improved service and more transit to Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. “This is a groundbreaking expansion of transit – the largest ever in the state. It is a once in a generation opportunity to change the way we move people and goods,” said Jessyn Farrell, Executive Director, Transportation Choices Coalition.

But what about global warming?

The majority of global warming emissions come from the transportation sector in Washington State. New transit projects will help combat climate change and reduce global warming emissions by giving commuters additional choices. “We must give people better alternatives to driving if we have any chance of combating climate change,” said Bill LaBorde of Environment Washington.

You can’t get people out of their cars unless you give them options that are attractive. I don’t think this endorsement will allay the concerns of the Erica C. Barnett/Kemper Freeman Jr. bloc, but it will present this package to the voters as a balanced one.

My building has a parking strip that is reserved for tenants and the businesses in the building. It’s only a handful of spots, maybe ten or so. At night on the weekends, club goers sometimes see an empty spot and decide to park. Maybe they get lucky and the spot’s owner is out of town. But other times, a tow truck has to be called to remove the vehicle.

While it’s nice to see vehicles removed, I’ve never had the chance to actually see the look on someone’s face when they realize their car has been towed.

Today, I got that chance. And it was awesome. After a night of partying, it’s got to suck big time to come out of the club to find your car gone. But, fuck ’em if they can’t read the signs.

Shaun from Upper Left:

Recipients of contributions from military personnel and veterans:

Ron Paul 26.23%

Barack Obama 24.02%

John McCain 18.31%

Hillary Clinton 11.08%

Bill Richardson 5.59%

Mitt Romney 4.05%

John Edwards 2.63%

Rudy Giuliani 2.44%

Mike Huckabee 1.84%

Tom Tancredo 1.63%

Duncan Hunter 1.05%

So, of the top five campaigns receiving contributions from military folks, four of them are anti-war? I’m not too surprised. The GOP is in the process of ruining the military in Iraq, so why wouldn’t people in uniform get active in politics?