1. “Them libruls are stealin’ our tax money!”

Here’s a fancy little nugget from my favorite sociopathic troll at Postman on Politics:

KingCo has already sucked up most of the transportation money with that rip-off called a gas tax.
Now Seattle believes the rest of the state should pay for their harbor beautification project?
Screw that.

Posted by Hinton at 04:28 PM, Jan 24, 2007

Nevermind the fact that King County exports gas taxes to less populated counties. This is a common refrain among the wingnut “flying monkeys.”

2. “The Democrats control the ________!!”

Unless you’re talking about government in Washington state, what do Democrats really control?

Let’s face it, Washington is a tough state for Repubs because the Dems own the newspapers, the universities, the non-profits, ects.

Posted by thatcher at January 24, 2007 06:53 PM

Do Democrats “own” these things? Granted, most colleges have lots of liberals. But current UW President Mark Emmert was a college buddy of Mike McGavick, and they were still pretty close as of the beginning of McGavick’s campaign.

Washington state’s newspapers are owned by right-of-center families (like these two) or they are owned by big corporations. The Seattle P-I is liberal, but the Times? As if!

(I don’t know why this douche mentions “non-profits”, but the WA-based think tanks skew heavily to the right.)

3. The Seattle P-I and “Sound Off”

The P-I has a great little feature that is currently not available at the Fairview Fanny. What is it? Well, at the bottom of many articles, readers are invited to give their two cents. There are some gems, including…

A film about the Iraq occupation is nominated for an Oscar:

Posted by red-wind at 1/24/07 10:54 a.m.

Should clean up if it shows the US as the enemy, that type of story-line wins all the time!

Apparently, “the left” is intolerant for trying to teach science:

Thanks again for showing the tolerance and open-mindedness that the left demands of others, but seems unwilling or incapable of giving. That gives me such confidence that you are also better judges of science.

Finally, this in response to a P-I editorial blasting Bush’s SOTU speech just makes me giggle:

it was too funny watching the media after the speech. poll after poll after poll scored a very very high positve result for our president from those who watched the speech. even more interesting is that more democrats watched the speech than usually would. it was obvious the media wanted president bush to fall flat on his face, but instead, he came out quite well indeed.

It’s awesome that entire blogs have been dedicated to find these pearls of wisdom shit. Amazing.

Below is a comment by Chad Shue, a local blogger and activist. First, let me explain.

The Seattle Times’ David Postman wrote about how right-wing activists are airing commercials about Iran, and why we should take unilateral military action against that country. Never mind most Iranians are young people who are against their own government, neoconservatives want to drop bomb instead of talk. People sometimes get sucked into the “war mindset” and see every global problem with a military solution. While military action is warranted, it ought to be the last resort. I find it obscene to be advocating military action against a nation we don’t talk to. That’s wrong, and it’s wrong whether you are a Scoop Jackson Democrat, a James Baker III Republican, or anything else.

Here’s Shue’s comment:

Let’s see if we have this right.

In what must be the world’s worst kept secret, the country of Israel, a staunch ally of the United States and protagonist of Iran, was the first country in the Middle East to have a nuclear bomb. Indeed, Iraq was certainly in the beginning stages of developing a nuclear weapon right up to the point of the Gulf War in 1991. We know this because the United States almost certainly provided some of the technical capability for this program during the time we were supporting Iraq in its war with Iran during the late seventies and eighties. Then, of course, there are India and Pakistan; both countries with ongoing nuclear programs that are not only accepted by the United States but actually equipped by us to help further those programs. This in spite of the fact that India has yet to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Pakistan, a country known to have sold nuclear plans and materials to countries throughout the Middle East, is certainly the current base of operations for Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. So while the Bush Administration is happy to openly support and supply the known nuclear weapons programs of regional neighbors, we draw the line with Iran – because?? Maybe we believe that there isn’t room for more than one “aggressor” in the region? Don’t get me wrong. I am not supportive of any proliferation of nuclear weaponry. However, diplomacy through hypocrisy cannot produce any result other than hostility; which brings us back to the crux of the argument.

Peace through War – the Bush Doctrine.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue

Well said.

Blatherwatch: Vote for who’s next to get canned! (Look to the right sidebar)

Electoral Math: Nick Beaudrot on how the Sonics ownership want loads of cash for a new arena, and compares the deal to others around the league.

Washblog: Apparently, the Iraq War was illegal. Whodathunkit? Also, who knew Evergreen had a campus in Tacoma? I’m just playin’. Go read the live-blogging event of the year (so far).

A question to all you bloggers (political and otherwise) out there: Do you use so-called “social networking” sites? Friendster? MySpace? Why or why not?

I visited the new Sculpture Park yesterday. I have to say, it’s awesome. The view of the Puget Sound is wicked, as is the view of the new gleaming condo towers of my native Belltown. I’m not art guy (velvet Elvis, anyone?), but our new outdoor art museum is heads and shoulders above its ugly-ass companion at 1st and University Street downtown.

Some of the sculptures are better than others. Weird-looking wheel thing? Check. Big, orange swoopy deal? Check. Artwork designed for the sole purpose of giving Dori Monson something to talk about? Check. Perhaps the best of it is the part that isn’t finished. The grass hasn’t grown in yet (its winter) and it’s too muddy to finish some of the shoreline stuff, but it looks like a winner. When it’s all done folks will be able to walk on the beach where Elliot Bay meets Seattle. A natural waterfront where you can dip your toes in? What a deal!

To think this whole place used to be owned by Unocal. The site was polluted as hell, so they had their work cut out for them. Thanks to private donors and some federal monies sent home by my home-girl Patty, the whole idea became reality. If that’s pork, well, gimme some mo’!

There are some downsides. The hot dog cart I saw probably won’t be there in a month, which is too bad. We need more hot dog carts in Seattle, and not just the ones that are open at night in Belltown and Pioneer Square. Thankfully the park has a little cafe where you can get a salad and, uh, a panini. I’m not dissin’ them, I’m just saying… Would it kill you do put some meat on a grill? Some of that kick-ass deli mustard with onions and kraut would be awesome. I’ll have to settle for “line caught tuna, roasted peppers, arugula, hard boiled egg, butter lettuce & lemon remoulade on herb-sea salt baguette.” Sigh.

I didn’t see any basketball courts at the new park. You might be saying to yourself, “you’re an idiot, Will. It’s a friggin’ sculpture park. Of course there’s no hardtop.” That’s not the point! As Seattle is graying population wise, our city leaders don’t see the need to build soccer fields, baseball diamonds, or basketball courts like they used to. Park space is much more likely to be used as so-called “green space”, for “non-specific, non-programmed” uses.

The basketball court at the Regrade Park was decommissioned in favor of a dog park. While the change was welcomed in the neighborhood (the dogs chased the crack heads away), I’m lamenting the fact that there is just a single basketball court in the general downtown area meant for public use. Sure, sculptures are nice, but I need someplace to shoot hoops. Lots of other big cities make a point of building parks designed for “active use”, but after Seattle was hounded by a bunch of old folks for trying to build lots of sports fields at Magnuson Park, I don’t see anything happening soon.

Shortcomings aside, the new park is pretty damn cool, and it’s worth visiting. I’m sure Knute Berger will write a column about how we should have built a tank farm there (oops, looks like he already did!). Joel Connelly mostly likes the park, but got a bit irritated with all the “fawning over” and attention it’s getting. Personally, I don’t care if some architecture writer in New York likes it. Those folks like anything that’s weird and new (just read the reviews of our Downtown Seattle Public Library. Those NYC folks loved it. Meanwhile, I STILL can’t find the fucking fiction section. Yeesh.) Joel can take heart that if the Seattle P-I folds, they can just roll that big shiny globe south a block and he’ll be able to visit it anytime he wants.

Take heart, people of the Emerald City: when private fundraising with no help from Seattle City Hall can do something as amazing as the Olympic Sculpture Park, just think of the possibilities…

Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Monorail anyone?

Proof that our current legal framework isn’t up to the task of confronting a new threat:

In a 5-4 decision that reversed a King County Superior Court ruling, the justices ruled that the city utility lacked the authority to use ratepayers’ money to compensate for its planet warming pollution.

Using ratepayer money in this manner is not “sufficiently related to the purpose of supplying electricity,” wrote Chief Justice Gerry Alexander.

In November 2005, City Light had boasted that it was the first publicly owned major utility in the nation to no longer contribute to global warming, that it was “carbon neutral.”

Back when City Light was founded, nobody thought about global warming. After all, it was 1902, and the automobile was still a curiosity.

I don’t fault the Washington State Supreme Court for ruling how they did. City Light was stung for “exceeding their brief” at least once before. This illustrates how our laws need to change to better fight this threat. Better we attack this problem now than wait for the Cascades to lose their snow pack, making our dams in the North Cascades artifacts of a by-gone era.

Um…

Why not THIS?

Tunnel’s too expensive, Rebuild’s is stoopid as shit… Why not at least CONSIDER an option that has 1) worked in other cities 2) meets the city’s global warming goals 3) and is affordable AND attractive.

In a KUOW report in December, the Surface+Transit option was reportedly set aside by the Governor because (I’m paraphrasing and not making this up, I swear)

The Governor doesn’t know where all the cars will go.

Is that the scientific term?

I’m a bit late on this story from December. Local GOP activists are elated, I’m told.

King County Executive Ron Sims was released from the hospital today following weekend surgery to remove his gall bladder.

According to his office, Sims was admitted to Virginia Mason Medical Center Saturday afternoon after complaining of abdominal pain. Doctors removed his gallbladder on Sunday.

The laparoscopic surgery is a common procedure, according to a statement from Sims’ office. The doctors expect a full recovery. Executive Sims will rest at home over the next week.

It’s hard to fathom now, but he was totally beatable in ’05, what with the Critical Areas Ordinance, the election stuff, and the whole Southwest Airlines thing at Boeing Field. The GOP then nominated a guy who allegedly whomped on his momma and lied on his resume. Nice!

The GOP’s new plan to oust him is clear: they’re going to take him out organ by organ.

Amazing how this stuff works out, huh? Just a few months ago he wasn’t on the radar, but looky here!

Obama filed paperwork forming a presidential exploratory committee that allows him to raise money and put together a campaign structure. He is expected to announce a full-fledged candidacy on Feb. 10 in Springfield, Ill., where he can tap into the legacy of hometown hero Abraham Lincoln.

Obama’s soft-spoken appeal on the stump, his unique background, his opposition to the
Iraq war and his fresh face set him apart in a competitive race that also is expected to include front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

His middle name is Hussein, and he did coke once, and he’s religious and talks about his faith openly. He’s going to piss off a lot of folks on the secular left as well as the Muslim-hating right. I hope he’s ready for it, because every candidate will be gunning for him. If Howard Dean taught us anything, it’s to not peak early.

I can’t wait for Campaign 2008!!

***Note to Goldy: Sure, go ahead and do radio bits, but don’t do this one.

***File this under “Things That Will Never Happen”:

George Bush is preparing to make a historic shift in his position on global warming when he makes his State of the Union speech later this month, say senior Downing Street officials.

Tony Blair hopes that the new stance by the United States will lead to a breakthrough in international talks on climate change and that the outlines of a successor treaty to the Kyoto agreement, the deal to curb emissions of greenhouse gases which expires in 2012, could now be thrashed out at the G8 summit in June.

***More Republicans are freaking out about boys kissing each other.

***Evergreen Politics is extra wonky today. Transit and roads will be on the ballot this fall, and both have to pass for either to be law:

There are those in the environmental community who oppose the coupling of Sound Transit 2 and RTID into a single ballot measure. Opposing this marriage is a fight not worth fighting. The Legislature took the action to put the former adversaries of highways and transit in bed together just last year.

I think the fight is worth it. Transit funding is more popular than roads funding. Polls have been done showing the roads package may actually drag the transit element to defeat. Methinks Ezra Bason short changes us transit dweebs.

***I’ll just link to the blog (there’s too much good stuff). Make Erica C. Barnett a daily stop on your blog wanderings.

***New blogger in Central Washington!!! It’s Darci (no, not that Darcy) and she’s opened up shop at McCranium.

Presidential candidates have a way of poking their noses where they don’t belong:

Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful joining fellow Sen. Christopher Dodd at Martin Luther King Jr. holiday events, said Monday he thinks the Confederate flag should be kept off South Carolina’s Statehouse grounds.

“If I were a state legislator, I’d vote for it to move off the grounds — out of the state,” the Delaware senator said before the civil rights group held a march and rally at the Statehouse here to support its boycott of the state.

Oh jeez… There’s more:

Jim Hanks stood across from the Statehouse with about 35 Confederate flag supporters.

“We love this flag. We love our heritage,” said Hanks, of Lexington.

Some carried signs saying: “South Carolina does not want Chris Dodd,” referring to the Connecticut senator who, along with Biden, attended the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rally at the Statehouse.

Hanks said that Dodd, Biden and other Democrats running for president “would probably say most anything if it would get them votes.”

I’m not a fan of the “stars and bars,” but I think it’s incredibly silly for candidates to inject their views in what is a very sensitive state issue. Whether a flag is flown on the dome or on state grounds, it’s up to the residents of South Carolina to decide. Jim Hanks is a racist; that’s clear enough. But that’s not his worst sin. You see, folks in the South are supposed to be considerate. The southerners I know would never display a flag that would make folks feel unwelcome. It’s called “manners,” and Jim Hanks would do well to learn some.

It’s a candidate’s right to pander like a “mofo” on the campaign trail (remember this?), but it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it. Senators Dodd and Biden should pay attention to getting the American flag out of Iraq and less to getting the Confederate flag out of Dixie.

The American Constitution is a heck of a thing. The power it guards for the power is great. Like this:

“the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”

Regular people get to have guns! What’s more:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The state doesn’t get to mess with the church(es)! Journalists are protected by name, as are lobbyists! Amazing!

When it comes to military power and the use of it, an especially large amount of power is vested in the executive branch. The President is also the commander of the military. This means that when President Bush decides to deploy US forces, he can do so with little conversation with Congress.

When folks cast votes in 2004, I don’t think a great many folks who were concerned by the “homos” getting married in San Francisco were thinking about the lengths Bush would go to extend our involvement in Iraq. With Saddam executed and no WMDs found, even those who never identified with the “anti-war Left” now see the mission as “accomplished.” There is a heavy majority of people in nearly every state who are now against the war and favor bringing home troops with the end of the year.

Do so-called “NASCAR dads” of the ex-urbs now see their votes against gay marriage, stem cell research, and other phantoms as votes that support President Bush’s goals in Iraq? What about Naderites? Is John Kerry still as “pro-war” as they said he was in 2004?

The truth is, elections matter. Congress has a limited role in changing the facts on the ground in Iraq. Presidents get to send more troops; Congress can fund them or not. There is limited appetite by folk like Rep. Adam Smith and others to deny troops the ammo and armor they need should they be deployed. President Bush, being so out of touch with reality, is unlikely to blink should Congress throw down the gauntlet. He’s so far down the rabbit hole, so divorced from what’s happening, I don’t see any rational argument penetrating the White House. Perhaps our best chance to make a big change will come in 2008, when the GOP will hopefully be crushed in the House and Senate. Any GOP nominee for president will be forced to answer for the Bush agenda.

Presidents have power, that’s clear. Elections matter and their consequences are clear.

State Rep. Maureen Walsh (R-College Place) has resigned as chair of the committee Democrats offered her as a show of bipartisanship:

Rep. Maureen Walsh stepped down Thursday as vice chairman of the House Committee on Early Learning and Children’s Services, The Associated Press reported. Walsh, R-College Place, was one of two Republicans selected by Democrats for top committee posts in December, in a nod to bipartisanship. Rep. Tom Campbell also was named chairman of the newly formed Select Committee on Environmental Health.

“Maybe it was naive of me to not think it would cause any problems,” said Walsh, who also cited family concerns as part of her decision. Her husband died in April, and she has a 14-year-old son attending school in Olympia during session.

“When it boiled right down to it, the fact that I had some folks in my caucus who would view me a little different or not see me as a team player … I don’t need that. I don’t need that at all,” she told The Associated Press.

There has been lots of hand wringing about how this is bad sign for bipartisanship. Nothing could be further from the truth. For Republicans, Walsh’s resignation makes Democrats responsible for whatever is passed from that committee. The GOP can now fire at will at Democrats without putting Walsh in the position of defending the Democrat’s agenda. Democrats need to realize that they are the choice of most voters. Democrats won in ’06! Frank Chopp and others can say nice things about working together with the GOP, but committee chairs need to be on the team and share our values.

Folks voted for Democrats in ’06 because, sure, they wouldn’t mind a little ‘working together’, but they voted mostly because they wanted to fix roads, fund schools, provide healthcare to kids, and pursue government reform. The House Speaker would do well remember why folks gave him that huge majority in the first place.

Earlier today you may have seen the post by Rep. Adam Smith, in which he explains his reasoning for opposing escalation in Iraq:

After the meeting I considered the President’s argument and reviewed the available information, including the Iraq Study Group report. In the end, even though I gave the President’s argument due consideration, I don’t find it persuasive. A troop surge is not the answer in Iraq.

But the big question is whether or not Rep. Smith is willing to use Congress’ constitutional power of the purse to limit the President’s ability to send additional troops to Iraq. [See the update below]

I don’t want to put the troops in a political fight between Congress and the President, and Congress should carefully consider the consequences of any attempts to block funds for a surge. We cannot put our forces in Iraq at greater risk. But a troop surge is not the answer in Iraq.

But Congressman, it is the President who has put the troops in this fight between himself and Congress! Let’s be clear: Democrats should fund the troops who are currently engaged, but not a single soldier more. Let’s draw a line in the sand. I think the working class folks of the 9th District would appreciate a congressman who sticks up (and always has, I might add) for the grunts who could be shipped out in a “surge.” Let’s make sure Rep. Adam Smith knows we’ve got his back on this!

Speaking of ‘speaking out,’ I’m seeing a trend starting to work its way around the blogosphere. Lefties are flying off the handle at perceived slights and sins of omission. Like this:

Our Senators have been remarkably quiet about Iraq for a long time. Until lately, Iraq wasn’t even on Patty Murray’s website. They’re doing better lately, but I was disappointed that they had no thoughts about the most important issue facing the country.
Did I miss something? I thought the Republicans were supposed to come up with right wing ideas, and Democrats were supposed to come up with left wing ideas. Instead, Murray and Cantwell are letting Bush and Cheney do all the thinking (no, I can’t read that with a straight face either). They are content to respond.

I’m getting worn out with folks runnin’ off half-cocked, with goofy ideas about exactly what senators and congressfolk ought to say and when they ought to say it. Senators Murray and Cantwell have some power to wield. Attention Democrats!! We’ve got power now!! This means it doesn’t matter what they say so much as what they do. As Kos says, just because Murray and Cantwell aren’t angrily denoucing Bush’s plan before he releases it doesn’t mean they’re not ready for a fight.

And in this fight, even the soldiers are with us.

UPDATE:

Rep. Adam Smith was on KUOW today and said it was “appropriate to place limits” on the President regarding the increase of troop levels. He’s open to the idea, but is concerned that it might not be possible. He wants to make sure such a move doesn’t hurt the troops, which is his first concern (as it should be).

Can someone explain to me why the Mayor of Seattle is proposing gun control legislation that would have done nothing to prevent the recent incidences of gun violence? I’m no gun nut, and I’m for laws that will do some good, and more importantly, I’m in favor of enforcing current gun laws. The difference between an “assault weapon” and a regular weapon can be nothing less than a flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, and a high capacity magazine. I’ve shot an assault weapon; they’re really, really fun to shoot. I don’t understand why my liberal friends want to defend the Bill of Rights, but ignore the second item on the list.

GM’s new hybrid is ugly as sin. Detroit is going to continue to get its ass kicked by Toyota if they build cars like that.

Heheheh… ECB knocks down bullshit from The New Republic’s Ryan Lizza. Expect more to underestimate Pelosi in the coming months.

Jimmy, please please please don’t die!

Senate Democrats are going in for the kill in ’08.

I don’t see Rep. Dave Reichert handling minority status all that well.

Four. Years. Old.

I’d like to say I did my part as well.

From what I remember about this guy, I don’t think he’s going places. I guess we now know it was always about politics.

Rossi appeared on Up Front with Robert Mak today. He was asked about the Viaduct, and whether it ought to be replaced with a tunnel of another viaduct. He said (and I’m paraphrasing):

That’s for the engineers to decide.

Really? It’s up to them?

Lordy!