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Drinking Liberally — Seattle

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Why show up at Drinking Liberally tonight?

DLBottle
So please join us tonight for an evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. We meet at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00 pm, but feel free to join some of us for an earlier dinner.



Not in Seattle? There is an excellent chance you live close to one of the 224 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

Comments

  1. 1

    Happy Birthday, HA! Pop Rabbit, who was almost 100 years old, was going to have a birthday this weekend (his 99th) but he hopped away to the Big Meadow In The Sky, where the grass is always green and lush, this afternoon.

    Bye-bye, Pop Rabbit. (sniffle) I’ll see you upstairs by-and-by, but not yet.

  2. 2

    Something very disturbing is going on in Florida:

    “[T]e Koch Foundation reached an agreement in 2008 to fund professors at Florida State University, as long as they would teach right-wing economic theory. In fact, the Koch Foundation had to approve any faculty hires who were paid with its ‘donated’ funds.

    “The Saint Petersburg Times reports:

    “A foundation bankrolled by … Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University’s economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting ‘political economy and free enterprise.’ … The contract specifies that an advisory committee appointed by Koch decides which candidates should be considered. The foundation can also withdraw its funding if it’s not happy with the faculty’s choice or if the hires don’t meet ‘objectives’ set by Koch during annual evaluations.

    “[W]hat is happening at a public university in Florida is … corporate control of the faculty and the curriculum ….”

    “If this is a harbinger of things to come in our cash-starved public institutes of higher learning, it may signal the end of academic freedom at institutes of higher learning. They could become nothing more than propaganda diploma mills.”

    http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12682

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: I never imagined any public university would ever take money from a private donor with these kinds of strings attached. Until now.

  4. 4

    Go Obama!

    http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_1602.....d=IMbLQrC5

    The approach also allowed the president to make clear that it’s Republicans – not him – standing in the way of immigration legislation. As his re-election campaign approaches it’s a message he wants broadcast loud and clear to Latino voters who don’t like his administration’s heavy deportations and feel he never made good on his promise to prioritize immigration legislation during his first year in office.

    “I am asking you to add your voices to this,” Obama said. “We need Washington to know that there is a movement for reform gathering strength from coast to coast. That’s how we’ll get this done.”

    Countering Republican calls to focus on border security before moving to a comprehensive overhaul, Obama boasted of increasing Border Patrol agents, nearing completion of a border fence and screening more cargo, among other steps.

    “We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement,” Obama said. “But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I gotta say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.”

    “Maybe they’ll need a moat,” he said derisively to laughter from the crowd. “Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat.”

    I’d like the Democrats a lot more if they’d get out in front of issues and take a few swings at Republican’s like Obama’s doing on this one more often.

  5. 5

    @3 Actually, just shy of 99, but still quite a life. And here’s the bad news for trolls: Almost everyone in my family has lived to be at least 90 which means I’ll be around for at least another 25 years.

  6. 6

    And here’s bad news for The Donald: Latest polling of Republican voters shows his support plunging from 26% a couple weeks ago to 8% — he’s lost almost three-fourths of his support in less than a month and is now just a sideshow.

  7. 7

    Nice video.

    The sovereign citizen nonsense was big with the whackos in Montana that we had to lock up in the 90’s.

  10. 10

    Re @2: I’m really disturbed by what FSU has done. They’re turning over their classrooms of students to “professors” who, for all practical purposes, are employees of a private corporation with a radical political and economic agenda. This is akin to Evergreen State College accepting a grant from the USSR with a stipulation that Moscow would hire the professors who would be teaching economics at the school. If ESC had done that Republicans would have screamed bloody murder. This is the same thing. No reputable college would lend its prestige to such a bald-faced ploy. You cease to be a university when you do that.

  11. 11

    Re video: When I was a state lawyer part of my job was to deal with these so-called “sovereign citizens.” Most of these people were non-violent folks who were in over their heads with debts, taxes, child support, etc. They paid significant sums of money for books, tapes, seminars, etc. sold to them by con artists who make a living by peddling this “sovereign citizen” nonsense.

    Their argument, such as it is, is that if you declare yourself a “sovereign citizen” you acquire the legal status of an independent country and you’re no longer subject to the laws of the United States or the state where you live. It’s like there’s a little bubble of sovereignty that follows you wherever you go. This ostensibly means you don’t have to pay taxes, have license tags on your car, pay traffic fines, etc., because the government has no jurisdiction over you.

    Yeah, well, just try that and see how it works with a police officer or court judge …

    A guy named Mark Pitcavage, who now works for the Anti-Defamation League, for a number of years did excellent work at tracking militia groups and other rightwing extremist groups throughout the United States. He still maintains his website which contains a wealth of information about “sovereign citizens,” militia groups, tax protesters, and other way-out rightwing fringe groups. His site has everything you ever wanted to know about these crazies and more. Here’s the link:

    http://www.adl.org/mwd/default.asp

  12. 12

    @2 Reminds me of the De Medici system. Do what it takes to curry favor from the lords.
    Seems to be an extension of the Republican rule to only hire lobby firms that employed conservatives.
    Also wasn’t Saint Reagan the one who defunded the California education system or maybe just changed the curriculum after he felt the schools were teaching kids who challenged conservatives authority?

  13. 13

    Though Alaska might be my native state, I think we ought to give it what it wants–sovereignty. Cut the state loose of all the federal largesse it receives and see how it might do. It’s so fun to be anti-fed when the feds fund you.

  14. 14

    Rabbit,
    Nice catch on the FSU deal. Academic freedom is an essential element of a democratic, free nation. Without academic freedom a nation becomes Iran. The Koch brothers fundamentally hate democracy. They hate freedom. It is incredibly pathetic that a public university would take their dollars in this fashion. The Koch brothers hate all that this nation stands for, yet they are buying this nation and the righties bend over and ask for more.

  15. 15

    @14 Giving credit where credit is due, Mrs. Rabbit caught it and brought it to my attention.

    It’s not enough to sit here and wring our hands. The higher-ups at FSU need to hear about this from concerned citizens throughout the country.

    This isn’t a conservative-versus-liberal issue. Our conservative friends should be against this, too. Why? Because if a big conservative donor can do it, then so can a big liberal (or Marxist, or communist) donor. This kind of practice by public universities isn’t a good idea from anyone’s perspective no matter where you are on the ideological spectrum. I wouldn’t want George Soros doing it any more than I want Charles Koch doing it.

  16. 16

    15
    I completely agree. When public universities begin hiring based on an ideological litmus test, higher education in this country is in peril. I really can’t believe this one.

  17. 17

    Thought I’d pass this along.

    Tearing down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and dispersing traffic on surface streets – Mayor Mike McGinn’s preferred replacement option – wouldn’t disrupt traffic as much as previously reported, according to a University of Washington study.
    And on some roadways – like Interstate 5 – there would be practically no adverse effect, the researchers found.

    Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local.....for-viaduc

    t-not-1373696.php#ixzz1M4CtNhOG

  18. 18

    According to the study, just getting rid of the viaduct would increase travel times 10 years later for the eight routes that currently include the viaduct by one-and-a-half minutes to just over nine minutes, with an average increase of six minutes.
    “This indicates that over time removing the structure would increase commute times for people who use the viaduct by about six minutes, although there’s quite a bit of uncertainty about exactly how much,” Raftery said in a statement. “In the rest of the region, on I-5, there’s no indication that it would increase commute times at all.”

    Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local.....z1M4DEr7ur

  19. 19

    The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll shows President Obama with huge leads over all potential GOP challengers.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42.....sion_2012/

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: The GOP continues to labor under its self-inflicted lack of a credible candidate. But then, it doesn’t have a credible platform and isn’t a reputable party anymore, either. So these results aren’t surprising.

  20. 20

    Release the report!

    More than 160 rural, food and ag groups have sent a letter urging the Departments of Justice and Agriculture to release a report on findings from the 2010 investigation of antitrust issues in agriculture. Full text of the letter is here.

    Justice and Agriculture held hearings across the country on the decline of competition in the food business — from who owns seeds to the domination of the retail food business by Walmart. The first hearing was in Iowa in March 2010. The letter reads:

    More than a year has passed since the first workshop took place in Iowa on March 12, 2010. The American public now awaits the next steps the Departments will take to address excessive corporate concentration in the U.S. food and agricultural sectors and its devastating impacts on American lives and livelihoods.
    http://www.dailyyonder.com/wed.....05/11/3322

  21. 21

    LMAO!!! I understand with Obama’s approval at 60, the right wing is making desperate hay over the rapper Common being invited to the White House.

    Well Eazy-E once dined with Dumbya’s pappy:

    http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313775,00.html

    Remember F*?! the Po-lice?

  22. 22

    What a bunch of little babies:

    House Republican freshmen admit that their so-called “MediScare” attacks on Democrats helped them win a big majority in 2010. Democrats had voted for the health care law, which included $500 billion in “cuts” to Medicare — primarily slashing overpayments to private insurers — and Republican challengers never let them forget it.

    Now, they say, it’s time to let bygones be bygones.

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.....hp?ref=fpb

    Fuck ’em!

  24. 24

    Roger;

    As for the FSU example, are seeing a definate trend here. Why don’t they just fund a chair or two at a private college?

    What conservatives are trying to do is de-fund public services, make them desperate for cash, and then offer them some cash, but with lots of strings attached. It’s ultimately the privatization of our public infrastructure, but with one important exception: the vast majority of the costs are paid for by you and me, the average taxpayer. They just add a little bit on top, and get controlling interest without having to pay the whole cost.

    That’s exactly what we are seeing locally, here. The rich folks who own the Space Needle (yes, it’s privately owned) are taking over the Fun Forest space at the Seattle Center. Their long-term lease includes payments to the city which were slightly more than that offered by the Fun Forest operators, but significantly less than what it would cost to purchase or lease such valuable property on a commercial basis. They will have a museum open to the public, presumably on a charge-basis, but it’s real revenue potential will be when they close it for special events, such as catered functions for the extraordinarily well-to-do local businesses (Amazon, Boeing, etc.), fundraisers for causes favored by the rich), extravogant weddings, etc. They will make a fortune, and at the same time get some more economic use out of the so-so kitchen which serves the food at the Space Needle.

    Another example is the gradual privatization of the highway system. Sure, they could build their own highway if they wanted, but they sure aren’t going to spend the money necessary to buy the right-of-way, constructions, etc. Instead, they will just take over portions of the existing public highways in a manner where they pay only a small incremental cost for occassional use, but which is just high enough to keep the rest of us hoi palloi (sp?) out. The State DOT, being starved for funds necessary to add capacity and make improvements, are surrendering to the idea. So now we have those who are wealthy enough to afford paying a few bucks each way in return for a faster travel time using the HOV lanes on a toll basis.

  25. 25

    @22 “On Tuesday, [Rep. Adam] Kinzinger [R-IL] and 41 of his colleagues sent a letter to President Obama, asking him to rein in Democratic attacks on GOP members who voted for the House budget, which includes a plan to privatize Medicare and cap spending on the program. ‘We ask that you stand above partisanship …,’ the letter reads.”

    He’s got to be kidding. This is a joke, right?

    Let’s review: These lying fuckers won the House by scaring seniors into believing Democrats would cut their Medicare; now they’re trying to use their House majority to eliminate Medicare — and they don’t want us to tell voters what they’re up to?

    Fuck ’em.

  26. 26

    The last politician who told lies of that magnitude had a funny-looking Charlie Chaplin mustache.

  28. 28

    It’s kind of a circular deal, though. In order to continue stealing from the masses, they have to lend money to the masses so we’ll have something they can steal, so they’re actually stealing their own money and the rest of us eventually will become so destitute they won’t be repaid. In the end, the joke’s on them.

  30. 30

    Only in Texas:

    Some days when you read the news, you don’t know whether to go crazy, go bowling or go very deep into the woods and weep — and this was one of those days.

    Rep. John Davis, a Houston Republican, passed his bill in committee to give a sales tax break to the purchasers of quarter-million-dollar-and-up yachts. I should note that this tax break is available to anyone, whether rich or poor, so in that sense it’s fair. But is it really necessary?

    Using both of his brain cells at once, Davis explains that it is. You see, he says that Florida already provides such a tax giveaway to the yachting crowd, so our state must match it, lest Texans go there to make their boat purchases.

    http://www.truthout.org/helpin.....1305119849

    Texas Republicans got 27 billion dollars in spending to cut but they give yacht-buyers a tax break.

    Like… What freaking planet do these morons live on?

  31. 31

    Ha! House Republicans “particularly cruel” to pregnant women and children”so much for being pro-family and pro-life. If Republicans would just come out and admit that they’re greedy fuckers who only think of themselves the response would be like when Melissa Etheridge came out: yawn, yeah we already knew that. Why keep up the lie?

    Dozens of Catholic professors sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, a Catholic, asking him to rethink the GOP budget that they say disproportionately harms the poor and accused him of holding a voting record at odds with the church’s teachings.

    “Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress,” the academics wrote in the letter. “This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policymakers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.”

    The scholars said the House Republicans’ fiscal 2012 budget, which passed with no Democratic support in April, was “particularly cruel” to pregnant women and children by slashing funds for maternal and child-health programs.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s.....z1M5Xp84KF

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