Join us at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally for an evening of politics under the influence. Officially, we start at 8:00 pm at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Some folks show up early for Dinner.
Tonight’s activity will primarily consist of manhandling and tossing out anyone trying to videotape our activities tonight.
If you find yourself in the Tri-Cities area this evening, check out McCranium for the local Drinking Liberally. Otherwise, check out the Drinking Liberally web site for dates and times of a chapter near you.
Update: We had a couple of unannounced visitors at Drinking Liberally tonight:
Well, the Montlake Ale House can reserve the right to refuse service. It is PRIVATE PROPERTY after all. Did you notice that? PRIVATE PROPERTY.
BTW, looking forward to the next podcast.
Roger Rabbit rarely attends attends DL because if Stefan shows up and thinks I’m the waitress because of my bunny outfit he’ll try to get me fired.
Tonight’s activity will primarily consist of manhandling and tossing out anyone trying to videotape our activities tonight.
Probably Don Ward wearing his BIAW/Reichert/Rossi caps.
What If Dino Won?
Washington hasn’t had a Republican governor since 1985, and has never had a wingnut governor. Spellman was a mainstream Republican, or anyway not a far-right nut-job radical like Carlson or Craswell, even if he did refuse to give state employees their paychecks for 6 weeks so he could earn interest for the state on their money. He may have been a cheap crook, but he wasn’t a wingnut by today’s standards.
What would happen if we got a wingnut governor like Dino Rossi? The Bushevik regime serves as a useful prototype and gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect, because these far-right guys are basically all alike.
First of all, they’re dishonest. So Rossi
will breakhis campaign promises, and it will turn out that he lied to voters about what he intended to do in office. And he will, of course, use the office to throw state contracts and taxpayer money in the direction of his cronies.
Second, he will wield state power in a lawless manner. He will disregard the laws that prescribe the limit the governor’s powers and official conduct. If he is elected, he will interpret that as a mandate to do whatever he pleases, no matter what state laws say.
Third, he will politicize state government. Civil service laws notwithstanding, he will fill state agencies with party hacks, and job applicants will be hired or weeded out based on their party loyalty.
Fourth, state services will go to hell in a handbasket. Unqualified people will occupy decision making positions in state agencies, and they will disregard governing laws, science, sound management practice, and everything else to make decisions on ideological grounds alone. This will result in a general collapse of state government fucntions, similar to what has happened at the federal level under the Bush regime following our national coup d’etat in 2000.
Fifth, our state will lose irreplaceable resources. Unrestricted logging will resume. Puget Sound will be destroyed. The salmon will vanish. Our drinking water supplies will be polluted. Toxic waste dumps will proliferate. Virtually all environmental regulation will be ended, and health regulation will be subverted to the point where we won’t be able to trust any food sold in this state.
Sixth, things will get very much worse for workers and consumers in our state. There will be a push for “tort reform” and anti-consumer legislation right-to-work laws, repeal of the minimum wage, loosening of restrictions on child labor, and Washington’s doors will be flung wide open to sweatshops and cheap-labor employers.
Seventh, there will be no traffic relief. In fact, traffic will get very much worse, because Rossi’s transportation promises will be broken and the proven Republican aversion to any infrastructure spending whatsoever will bring road work (not to mention mass transit) to a halt. This is what happened when Republicans controlled one house of the state legislature, and it will happen in spades if a wingnut acquires executive power.
If Rossi wins, without a doubt Washington citizens will realize within a short time they made a terrible mistake, and by the end of his first term things will be such a mess he’ll be massively defeated in the next election, on the scale of Dixie Lee Ray, but by then the damage will be so great it will take 20 years to repair.
This is clearly a case of prevention being the best medicine.
YellowPup,
There will be no podcast this evening (Goldy is out of town). But next week should be a “go.”
Probably Don Ward wearing his Seattle Weekly cap. But no, sadly I have to cancel at the last minute Darryl. Waiting for Barack Obama to text message me.
Will try to catch you on the flip side next week (and other hackneyed catch-phrases).
@4 Sounds like you better move because I just did a million fake elections in my head and
Dino came out on top most of the time. We
gotta get minimum wage thrown out so we can
starve the children. At least we like to keep
them alive so we can starve them later.
You know how right wing cowards like CynCyn are always crying about deficits? Perhaps someone should point out to this ass-licking cunt that since last July, the Bush regieme has managed to TRIPLE our national budget deficit. Tell me again how the republicans are such fiscal conservatives? One of my favorite “GOP” lies.
What ? No podcast just because Scratchy is out of town ? Can’t you plug in the mic and record it yourself ? Or do are you guys only allow to broadcast under supervision ?
Maybe this time you would actually need someone to “videotape” you guys. But thinking about RR in a bunny costume already made me throw up twice…so not even drinking in spirits for me tonight…yikes
@9: It’s actually Darryl who’s the supervisor, he owns the audio equipment.
Next week then!
10: Ok, thanks for the clarification. So it’s not the equipment, it’s the permission then.
Hmmm. No broadcast without Scratchy. Ah well.
@4 I can get results like that too by doing a million calculations in my head in 5 minutes, and I’m only a rabbit.
DARCY HUGS ANOTHER RABBIT!!!
Actually, it’s the same rabbit. Darcy Burner showed up at DL tonight and gave Roger Rabbit a big fat warm sloppy HUG!!! All I can say is, WOW!!! ding-ding-ding-ding-ding Do-nothing congressman Reichert still hasn’t hugged a rabbit. In fact, I don’t think I want to be hugged by him. People might think I’m gay or something. Reichert might crush my rib cage and break all my ribs! What if it took him 20 years to let go of me? He has a reputation of being slow at some things. Hell, if he saw a rabbit, he’d probably club it! After all, he’s a Republican. He seems like the type that would club a baby harp seal. Why would 8th C.D. voters want to be represented in congress by a seal killer? It’s time for a change in the 8th district! The 8th district needs more rabbits and fewer Republicans.
The Governor showed up at DL tonight, too, and people got to ask her questions and talk with her one-on-one.
There was also a guy there named Rick Hegdahl, who’s the top Washington State guy for a national group called VoteVets.org, which recruits Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to run for major public offices.
Rick himself is an Iraq veteran. And he ain’t no seal-clubbing Republican! He introduced his assistant, another Iraq veteran, who also ain’t no Republican! What were you trolls saying about all the soldiers being Republicans? (Rabbit paw to pink ear) What’s that again? I can’t HEAR you!!!
Check out VoteVets.org’s great website and, if you feel like it, donate to their worthy cause of electing politically talented Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to Congress.
http://www.votevets.org/index_html
Where are the pics from tonight’s event??
You can find VoteVets.org’s web site by doing a word search. It’s worth a look, trust me!! I can’t post the link or this comment will get eaten by Goldy’s out-of-control spam filter.
@9 I’ll bet I look better in bunny ears than you do. If you strap on a pair of bunny ears, you’ll get your ass blow off within 5 minutes. Just because you look like a rabbit doesn’t mean you know how to evade cars, snakes, dogs, peregrine falcons, and buckshot!! Or you’ll get clubbed by the Republicans you hang out with! They kill anything with fur.
Roger Rabbit,
Yeah…Gov. Gregoire and Darcy Burner on the same night. How cool was that! And I noticed that nobody got beat-up for recording/filming/photographing either of them.
Go figure.
That loud BANG! you just heard wasn’t a shotgun going off, it was a Republican’s knee jerking.
@18 I saw a suspicious-looking guy talking on a cell phone outside.
Oh yeah, one more thing, I just want to remind you wingnut tax-haters that the greasy real estate salesman voted for the 5-cent gas tax!
ewe @ 15
“Where are the pics from tonight’s event??”
I posted a couple of my pictures as an update.
@9 Read comment #13 and then eat your heart out, you pathetic weasel! The only thing that wants to hug you is a hungry boa constrictor.
Not too much of a homophobe are you?
hahahahaha
Did someone bring their grandmother to sing karaoke?
I bet the two white guys clapping are clapping on 1 and 3.
hahahahahaha
Do you guys have some sort of romantic illusions about Darcy Burner? Surely you can’t all be from that Congressional district. Why does she get so much “ink” on this blog?
Politically Incorrect – The 8th CD race is the most competitive race in the nation, according to some experts, and the most likely seat in the state to flip. That’s worth “ink” regardless of where you’re from in the state, and many here are from the 8th.
Daniel K,
I’d say there are a lot of competitive races in this upcoming election. Al Franken is having a big campaign against the Republican senator from Minnesota, for example. Why is a little piss ant congressional race so important? I think some of you guys are in love with Darcy, and that’s why you talk about her so much.
Where I live we’re stuck with Normy Dicks, but nobody I know is actually in love with the guy like some of the people on this blog appear to be in love with Darcy.
If you think of this as a Darcy fansite instead of a blog it explains a lot.
@24 If I was gay, I’d have better taste than to shack up with Sheriff Blowdry.
@28 We love all our candidates. We don’t love you. Does that clarify the situation for you? Any questions?
28, 29 – You guys are absolutely right, this website is all about luuuuuuuuuv, and the wingnut shin kicking we do here is merely incidental.
Peace brother! Free love!
HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR
Politically Incorrect @28 – Find a point to make and try to stick to it. Are you complaining that a Washington state blog isn’t paying enough attention to other national races, or are you complaining that it is paying too much attention to the most competitive legislative race in the state, and a local one at that for the majority of writers and readers of this blog?
On either I’d say you’d be wrong.
Discussion here does address the national scene from time to time, and for a local blog, probably more than most local blogs would do.
But discussion naturally also addresses the hottest races in Washington state, and the Burner vs. Reichert race, a toss-up race according to the pundits, the most competitive according to others, definitely qualifies.
That you fail to recognize that is less of question of the appropriateness of the issues and candidates discussed here, and more a function of your own personal biases.
From todays Seattle Times–
“Statewide unemployment last month jumped to a seasonally adjusted 5.7 percent, its highest level in 3 ½ years.”
It would have been higher had Gregoire not hired thousands of new State Employees!
Ooooooooops, that created the Deficit Monster she is now rasslin’ with!
High taxes have eliminated jobs.
I’ll bet Forbes considered high unemployment as a positive when giving Washington the #3 rating!!
ByeBye–
I have never been a Bush fan…..period.
I agree the National Debt is a travesty.
Bush & Congress created this mess.
Your Dem losers who control Congress have done precisely what to turn it around??
ANSWER: Nothing!
CynCyn are you really worried about deficits? By the way Washington won’t ever have one so no need to worry here. But Washington DC has a big one thanks to your pal Monkeyface Bush – in fact it’s tripled in about a year. Isn’t that a bigger problem than your faux deficit here in the rich Washington? Or are you just another piece of shit right wing asswipe who doesn’t actually have any core values? No need to answer – we already know it’s a YES – I am a piece of shit with no core values.
Glad you chose NOT to do a close-up pic of Gregoire Darryl.
Nightmare material.
Darcy needs a new Hairdo! Or at least she could wash it before drinking with you KLOWNS.
36. ByeByeGOP spews:
“CynCyn are you really worried about deficits? By the way Washington won’t ever have one so no need to worry here.”
Yes I am worried about deficits.
That’s why I support McCain.
Haven’t you paid attention to all the new spending O-blah-blah is supporting??
And he is proposing to pay for it by milking the so-called “rich”…
Of course we won’t have a “deficit” in Washington State. The Constitution prohibits it you dipshit.
The issue has always been that Gregoire spent money KNOWING it was not sustainable.
Now, for the next biennium, SHE has created a huge dilemma which can only be solved by cutting expenses or raising taxes.
And she refuses to explain what her plan is prior to the election….which a reasonable person would conclude means TAX INCREASE!
What do you think she will do to balance the Budget ByeBye??
Give me some ideas of the LEFTIST PINHEADED KLOWN thinking?
All you KLOWNS can do is DEFLECT, MARGINALIZE and MINIMIZE this Budget TRAINWRECK.
It is a real situation….created by GREGOIRE’S excessive spending in light of a recession.
Now, per Seattle Times today, Unemployment is at a 3-1/2 high of 5.7%.
The buck stops with Gregoire. Period.
Did they bring their ID this time? :)
The urban areas still have a good employment rates. Who can afford to live in the rural areas any more? I had to move back into the city, cause I couldn’t afford to fill the gas tank every 3 days.
Hey Rabbit,
What’s wrong with being gay?
@40 “I had to move back into the city, cause I couldn’t afford to fill the gas tank every 3 days.”
I moved to Mason County where traffic jams and HOV lanes are now a thing of the past. I may drive more miles but I use far less gas as I don’t have to nudge the car one vehicle length at a time.
Are their appearances a “thank you” for services already rendered, or payment for future propaganda?
Looks like there’s a BIAW operative in the background.
The real governor,
Three doctors are on the golf course talking about their most spectacular achievements. One doctor said that he had a concert pianist that had his hand cut off. After 12+ hours in surgery, he connected all the muscles and tendons. With a year of rehab the nerves grew back and the man went on to play at Carnegie Hall to a standing ovation.
The second doctor said that he could actually out do the first. He had a young man that was a marathon runner. He got in an accident trying to run over meat whistle. In the accident he got his leg cut off above the knee. After 24 hours + in the operating room, the leg was saved. After several years of rehab the man went on to qualify for the Olympics and won the Gold Medal.
The third physician said, he could not come close to either of these feats. He did have an incident that came close. A young woman in a sports car tried to out run a train. The train broad sided the car and the only thing left were a few strands of blond hair. The physican sewed them to a donkey’s ass and now she is the governor of Washington.
Below are e-mails regarding the closing of Country Aire Estates. As you can see, Darcy and Dave also received the same e-mail but did not respond. I went to the Pierce County Counsel meeting to address the issue. What amazed me was that we have a shortfall of 30,000 homes for individuals that are in the low income bracket.
In addition, Dave Reichert did not respond and Darcy attended a meeting/forum for a 250 Manufactured/Mobile Home Community where she displayed her typical propoganda. Hi I am Darcy, vote for me I really care about the manufactured housing crisis even though I ignored the pleas from individuals that are being evicted. Remember Iraq, Iraq, Iraq.
Did I forget to mention, that walking down the street to the meeting, Sally and I observed Darcy and her group laugh and make crude remarks about Keith Arnold and his car. I wish the NAACP could have been there.
Darcy is still all about Darcy.
Jim Vaughn for Congress
From: Henry Bouton
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 3:22 PM
To: Jim Vaughn
Subject: RE: August 12th Date for Leisure Estates Candidates Forum
Hello Jim:
Dave and Darcy have totally ignored my inquires for months and so has Chris Gregoire.
We try to communicate with the officials who are suppose to help us only to find out they are too busy TAKING from everyone for themselves.
Henry
From: Judith White [mailto:JudithEWhite@msn.com]
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 3:09 PM
To: orlinski@comcast.net; toddmarine@hotmail.com; jvaughn50@comcast.net; dave@davereichertforcongress.com; karnold@votekeitharnold.com; darcybruner@darcyburner.com
Subject: August 12th Date for Leisure Estates Candidates Forum
Dear Candidates: 8th Congressional District Candidates. We would be honored to have your participation!
August 12, 2008 is the Date set for our Annual Candidates Forum at Leisure Estates, 201 Union Ave. S. E. Renton, WA. 98059….
Judith E. White, President of Leisure Estates Manufactured/Mobile Home Owners Assn.
State Secretary for Association of Manufactured Home Owners (AMHO)
From: Henry Bouton
Hold Roger Bush & Home Depot Accountable
Tuesday, August 19, 2:30-4pm, in front of County Council Meeting
County-City Building (930 Tacoma Avenue South. If arrive at 2:55pm, please go to room 1045)
Home Depot has teamed up with Pierce County Councilmember Roger Bush to raid retirees’ affordable housing in Bush’s district. Based on Home Depot and Bush’s current plan, nearly 40 residents will be evicted into the cold of February 2009. Most Pierce County JwJ activists know this already.
Pierce County Council and Home Depot have a Choice
Both the Council and Home Depot have been asked politely for many months to stand with the residents of Country Aire. Will they support evicting fixed-income retirees and destroying a community and relying on local churches and charities to pick up the pieces like in Chelan County? Or will they support residents taking control of their homes and lives and stabilizing their community like in Thurston County, Snohomish County, and MLKing County?
As eloquently analyzed by the President of the Country Aire Manor association of residents: “The time is ripe to solve the Country Aire crisis and the mobile home/affordable housing crisis in our County. For whatever reason, council members and others seem to be short on ideas. Here are 5. Its simply part of the true cost of doing business.
* First, and most importantly, call for a moratorium on housing raids….
* A Human Impact Statement should be required of every developer…. Government agencies require Environmental Impact Statements because society believes these are essential to assure the protection and preservation of salmon and owl, creeks and drainage. People are part of habitat, and before the county approves the wanton destruction of one more manufactured home community, the human impacts need to be studied.
* Developers/land owners should pay impact fees to correct the housing problems they are creating….
* Relocate the parks. When developers destroy a wetland, they are required to create a new one to replace it. There is no reason why a developer should not be caused to create a new manufactured home community to relocate the residents to.
There is no more time for delays. The clock is ticking. Everyone has a part to play. The Pierce County Council can either stop the closure of Country Aire Manor Park or provide alternatives…. If Mr. Bush must choose between developers on one hand, and senior citizens, the handicapped, the ill, and the families with children who live at Country Air Manor on the other, then let him use his many talents to persuade developers to do the right thing by these people. If he is too compromised by big business to do that, then it is the job of other council members of more empathetic and compassionate minds to do it for him.”
Roger Bush Hustles to Cover His Butt – Will the Council Protect the Residents?
After months of ducking, Bush devoted 3 hours of Council time to hear Country Aire Manor (CAM) residents’ suggestions and criticisms. It was a “I feel you pain” moment. Councilmembers Farrell and Goings proposed measures of temporary welfare appreciated by the residents.
Yet the Council recognized and asked to study more about the affordable housing crisis, raids on manufactured home communities, evictions of fixed-income retirees and low-wage workers, and homelessness. The irony is that the Pierce County Affordable Housing Task Force already produced a sweeping report on the crisis more than 1 year ago. It was clear that Bush had instructed County staff to research heavily for excuses not to help residents and put any responsibility on Home Depot despite testimony about moratoriums and developer-paid home relocation subsidies from allies in Snohomish and MLKing Counties. The Task Force will expedite their “Evaluation of Manufactured Home Park Conversions” to the Council meeting Tuesday August 5.
When Greed Becomes ‘Too Much’, will they Recognize it?
Home Depot’s agents based in Arizona bought the home-park for about $4M last year. The previous owner claims that the agents assured that residents could remain. Through their own association (CAMMHOA), the residents approached Home Depot’s agents to buy the park land back for the same selling price. The agents demanded to sell it back for $15M. While residents sought financing, 2 weeks later Home Depot agents raised the price to $20M. After residents held a rally to save the park, Home Depot’s agents refused to negotiate.
As Residents Rise Up, Home Depot Agents Get Nasty
– the story that the Tribune won’t report
Pierce County mobile home residents are building a movement for affordable housing. Far from being isolated and helpless as Home Depot and Bush expected, CAMMHOA has linked with nation-wide groups that have won a moratorium on selling mobile home parks in Snohomish County and forced government to intervene to purchase and convert a mobile home park to subsidized housing in King County. While out-of-state commercial developers were lurking in the wings, where was Roger Bush? He was dismissing the issue saying he’s “not going to interfere with the rights of the property owner” but telling residents he was “heartbroken.” …. a recent public letter from this agent said: “we advise you to act now to take advantage of the help that is being offered. Those who wait in hopes of either blocking the closure of this park or because they believe they can leverage us for a better deal are going to be disappointed if they have not made other arrangements.”
Excerpts from a resident’s letter to County Councilmember Roger Bush’s Asst
“It was helpful for you to clarify that neither the Pierce County Council nor Verus is working to find land to move our homes to. Regarding your questions surrounding the sale of the park, after the sale closed, I talked with Mrs. Larson, the original owner who, by the way, is in her eighties. Here are some excerpts.
“Ms. Larson sold to Columbia Properties because they committed to keeping Country Aire Manor as a mobile home park, and that they owned a mobile home park elsewhere. She went over the landlord tenant laws with them. They kept the promise [to keep it as a mobile home park] for a week and a half until they sold to Verus.
Mrs. Larson signed papers on January 31. Verus signed papers on or about February 8th. In the eight days that they held the property, Columbia Properties, made 6 million dollars.
M. Larson said that she always knew that she could have made a lot of money on the park if she would have sold it for commercial purposes. She sold for $4,000,000 plus $20,000 for personal property, such as the riding mower and other items. She sold in good faith that Country Aire Manor would continue to be used as a mobile home park. Her sale price was based on the income the park produced.” ….
As of May in Pierce County, out of 256 mobile home parks, 14 had closed, 28 parks were gone, and 7 had converted to owned land. The remaining 207 parks have a total of 9,086 spaces with only 38 open spaces. 5 require cash outlays of up to $47,000—which is not affordable. 8 were left in a park where river flooding destroyed half the park in 2006. Many have age, roofing or siding requirements many homes do not meet.
I mentioned the woman I spoke to who works for the Pierce County Housing Authority… She said that the Section 8 program was opened and closed quickly in 2006 so no additional names could be added. There are over 3000 people on the waiting list….
Do you know anyone who believes this is right or just?”