HorsesAss.Org

Pete Holmes is pretty good as City Attorney, but it seems like there is space to his left if a challenger wants to come along. I mean a lefty candidate pushing harder on the consent decree might be an interesting race.

I don’t know much about Scott Lindsay (Seattle Times link), but all I really get from that article is that he’s been pushing the homeless sweeps that are gross gross gross. He also has supported safe consumption sites, so he probably wouldn’t be going back to the bad old war on drug days.

One of the original taglines for HA was “an (almost) daily blog on Washington state politics and the press,” and my original intention was to focus mostly on media criticism. I was a child of Watergate who grew up idolizing journalists as defenders of democracy, but my accidental adventure as a subject of media coverage gave me a personal tour into how the sausage was made that left me, well, more than a bit disillusioned.

And thirteen years later, disillusioned I remain:

Republicans and Democrats in Olympia worked hard to produce thoughtful education plans, but both fall short. Trying to spend as little as possible is usually the right thing for them to do. But in this case, it’s likely to prolong the legal fight that’s kept the state in limbo and shortchanged students for decades.

Oh Jesus. First, Republicans and Democrats in Olympia most definitely did not work hard to produce thoughtful education plans. The Republicans were obstructionist as usual, gleefully seeking to use the McCleary crisis to stick it to Seattle homeowners while strategically defunding the rest of state government. There is absolutely nothing thoughtful about their levy-swap smoke and mirrors—it was bullshit when Rob McKenna ran on it, and it is bullshit today. Their only goal is shrinking state government, period, whatever the cost in human misery, because they are a stupid, deceitful, mean-spirited, and profoundly pathological party. (Notice the lack of the word “thoughtful” in that string of adjectives.)

As for the Democrats, I don’t question their motives, but my God could we possibly elect a bigger bunch of fucking cowards? Vote to raise taxes, goddammit—bigly!—and then run on your record of trying to get something the fuck done! You lose elections when you stand for nothing. Try standing for something besides “values” for a change, and you may be pleasantly surprised at the polls.

Second, “trying to spend as little as possible is usually the right thing for them to do”…? Really? Try supporting your goddamn thesis, Brier, instead of laying this steaming turd out there like it’s some undisputed gem of fiscal wisdom! It’s not. It’s a steaming turd. In reality, the big problem in Washington State has long been that we are not spending enough money—on education, on mental health, on our foster care system, on transportation, and on many other crucial public goods and services. And we’re not spending enough money because we’re not raising enough money. Which brings us to the third sentence of this trite piece of editorial fluff:

Um, you know who’s really “shortchanged students for decades,” Brier? Your fucking garbage pit of an editorial board, that’s who!

Yeah, sure, I agree with the main thesis of your column, but you and your fellow editorialists need to take a little personal responsibility. Your publisher and your ed board have aggressively opposed meaningful tax reform for decades, despite being repeatedly confronted with actual math that proved our current funding crisis was inevitable. INEVITABLE, goddammit! Totally unavoidable! We have a structural revenue deficit. It’s baked in to our absurdly antiquated (and cruelly regressive) tax structure. This is what comes from an over-reliance on a sales tax that grows revenue slower than the natural rate of growth of the cost of providing public services at a constant level. There’s no getting around it.

So instead, of vague platitudes and half-hearted half-references to the need for “new taxes,” it’s time for you and your paper to get out in front of this issue and demand that legislators pass an income tax. Because you fucking well know that taxing income is the only option that raises the “ample” funding you claim you want. And while we don’t need you to apologize for the selfishly destructive role your paper has played in creating this crisis, you damn well better acknowledge it if you and your ed board ever want to be taken seriously on budget issues again. (Assuming you ever were.)

Wait. No, actually. Fucking apologize. Because honestly, your paper has been so fucking dishonest on this issue that none of you deserve even an emphysematous whisper of a voice in this debate until you issue an institutional mea culpa for being so goddamn awful for so goddamn long.

And oh, if you think this rant was worded a bit too strong, prove me the fuck wrong.

I’m glad the hunger strike for the women at the Tacoma detention facility is over (for now). Their demands are eminently reasonable and it’s a damn shame they ever had to go on a hunger strike in the first place.

The Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight for our weekly dose of political chat and beer. Please join us.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Check out one of the other 228 chapters of Living Liberally, including nineteen in Washington state, three in Oregon and one in Idaho. Find, or go out and start, a chapter near you.

First Capitol Hill Seattle, and now Seattlish except permanent. It turns out it’s tough to make a go of it covering local news on the Internet and being decent.

I don’t know what to say. Seattle politics will be a lesser place without their wit. It will be a lesser place without their compassion. It will be a lesser place without their dedication to the local. In short it will be a lesser place without their voice.

Good luck in whatever comes next.

Proverbs 31:6-7
Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!
Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.

Discuss.

Late Show: A very Canadian 4/20

Young Turks: Scientists march for science

Seattle police practice crowd control techniques in preparation for May Day.

Трамп Trashes America for Another Week:

• Stephen Colbert and Chris Hayes: All in on Трамп’s Easter egg roll, and all out on Трамп’s “principles”.
• Maddow: Excess Donald Трамп inauguration cash pairs with donor access
• Kimmel: What Трамп did with inauguration money
• Olbermann: Трамп wants to ride in a gilded coach?!
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The Donald Трамп effect on Republicans
• Трамп’s taxes
• James Corden: Sarah Palin finally makes it to the White House.
• Bill Maher: The slow and the furious
• Ari Melber: First 100 days is “ridiculous”—except when it’s not
• Sam Seder: Трамп hangs with trash at the White House
• Kimmel: Donald Трамп is great friends with Luciano Pavarotti, who is dead
• Trevor: Easter at the White House.
• Roy Zimmermann: Korea:

• Olbermann: Proof that Donald Trump is getting crazier
• Kimmel: Трамп doesn’t know the difference between Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-il
• Stephen talks Трамп
• Jimmy Fallon: It is 4/20 and Трамп meets with Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock
• Donald Трамп: Show us your taxes!
• Late Show: Kim Jong-Un isn’t impressed with Трамп’s ‘armada’
• Mark Fiore: Armada of misinformation
• Stephen: Трамп monologue
• Maddow: Трамп real estate a potential means to pay money to a President
• New spelling bee rules for Трамп’s America.
• Kimmel: Drunk Donald Трамп New England Patriots
• Late Show: White House visitors log
• Maddow: New Donald Трамп hire resurrects corruption questions

Retreating glacier leads to disappearance of a river.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s : guide to getting started.

Sam Seder: Sen. Dean Heller’s VERY, VERY BAD town hall.

Buh-Bye Bill:

• Stephen: Bill O’Reilly’s ’98 novel is rich with foreshadowing
• RIP Bill-O’s career
• Jonathan Mann: Bye Bye Bill O’Reilly, Bye Bye Jason Chaffetz
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Three Bill O’Reilly Sexual harassment accusers speak out
• Kimmel: The Guillerm O’Factor
• Stephen Colbert and “Stephen Colbert” say goodbye to Bill-O
• Young Turks: Fired!
• Trevor: Bill O’Reilly gets the boot.

Why humans are so bad at thinking about climate change.

Bill Maher: New Rule—Make Earth great again:

InfoWar’s Alex Jones Admits He is a Fraud:

• Trevor: Alex Jones—Conspiracy pusher or performance artist?
• Stephen: InfoWar’s Alex Jones has nothing on Tuck Buckford
• Sam Seder: Alex Jones is forced to admit he is a fraud.
• Stephen: Tuck Buckford is more Alex Jones than Alex Jones

Bill Maher breaks down lies about marijuana.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

On top of KIRO’s homeless map from a few weeks being pretty awful morally, they seem to also be slapdashedly done. Maybe those ridiculous institutional players could take a page from part-time bloggers Seattlish.

It looks like the Northwest Progressive Institute fundraising gala is shaping up to be quite an event. On top of fundraising to NPI can keep doing good work, they always have quite a few notables. And this year is no exception.

So it looks like everyone is running for Seattle mayor now that Murray is perceived (fairly or not) as damaged goods. I have decided to sit it out, so I think that makes me the only Seattle citizen not to run. Enjoy the debates where half a million people get on stage. Seriously though, McGinn got in the other day, Cary Moon is getting in the race. There are probably many more to come.

Please join us for an evening of conversations over a drink or two at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Check out one of the other 228 chapters of Living Liberally, including nineteen in Washington state, three in Oregon and one in Idaho. Find, or go out and start, a chapter near you.

I didn’t go to either of the tax day rallies over the weekend, although I respect them both. I don’t know, but release your returns guy who is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity doesn’t seem like a high priority. On the other hand, sure. If it matters enough to you to get out, I’m not going to tell you you’re doing it wrong.

That said, it seems like the Black Lives Matter one was more about tax fairness. In any event, it looks pretty amazing.

Romans 13:6-7
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Discuss.

Daily Show: Texas students opt for “cocks, not Glocks”.

Mental Floss: 27 facts about clowns.

Young Turks: Cannabis church opens its doors in Colorado.

Sam Seder: Glenn Beck accidentally argues for universal health care.

Trouble in Трамп Town:

• Трамп Models is shutting down.
• PsychoSuperMom: Taxes!
• Samantha Bee: Dr. Sebastian L. v. Gorka, Трамп whisperer
• Young Turks: Donald Трамп versus Science.
• Elizabeth Warren: The cover-up in Трамп’s taxes
• Sam Seder and Digby: Corrupt President or the most corrupt President ever?
• Rick Perry says he is a spy:

• Mark Fiore: Tomahawks away!
• Young Turks: Sean Spicer’s very bad week.
• Benjamin Dixon: Трамп thinks his first 100 days have been bigly tremendous
• Joyce Reid: The march to get Donald Трамп to release his tax returns
• How to pay taxes if you’re Donald Трамп.
• Keith Olbermann: A heartfelt message to our President.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Donald Трамп admin drops bomb as new Russia story breaks
• Sam Seder: Does Ivanka Трамп know what “complicit” means?
• Tax Dodge: The carried interest loophole
• Rachel Maddow: Donald Трамп North Korea brinkmanship a huge risk.
• Young Turks: Трамп admin. makes scamming college students much easier.
• Mar-a-Lago Dessert Deal
• Jimmy Kimmel: The White House Easter egg roll is in trouble.
• Young Turks: Трамп is creating Middle-East “terrorism factory”
• Jimmy Dore: Sean Spicer claims Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons.
• PsychoSuperMom: The Ballad Of Sean Spicer:

• Ben Dixon: Трамп’s ever-growing list of flip-flops
• Daily Show: How to spot a paid liberal protester
• Rachel Maddow: British intel spotted Donald Трамп camp Russia ties.
• Young Turks: Трамп has us on the brink of WWIII
• Farron Cousins: Трамп threatens to hold subsidies for the poor hostage until Dems repeal Obamacare
• David Pakman: Buffoon Трамп pretends to understand Chinese.
• Mar-A-Lago chocolate cake commercial
• Sam Seder: When Трамп’s about to cut your budget by $1.5 billion & hands you a check for $70K
• Rachel Maddow: Erratic Donald Трамп unbeholden to past declarations
• What is Трамп Hiding in His Taxes?
• Jimmy Kimmel: Sean Spicer’s disturbing Hitler statement (and the voice inside his head).
• Young Turks: You may not want to eat at Mar-A-Lago

Daily Show: Smart technology.

Late Show: Alter-Egos, Vol. 2.

Tax advice from Daddy Don.

Young Turks: Tomi Lahren goes full-blown snowflake

Farron Cousins: Nut Job G.O.P Congressman who heckled Obama at the SOTU gets roasted at his own townhall.

NASA: Human activity at night.

Sad Bill-O-The-Clown:

• Young Turks: Fox To Investigate Bill-O
• Jimmy Kimmel: Guess where Bill-O-the-Clown is going on vacation.
• Benjamin Dixon: Bill-O takes a vacation amid sexual harassment allegations that cost him 60 sponsors
• Sam Seder: Remember when Bill-O-The-Clown got Pepsi to drop Ludacris because Ludacris “disrespected women”?
• Young Turks: Bill-O-The-Clown goes on vacation.
• Farron Cousins: Bill-O takes a vacation.

Jimmy Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.

Why peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on earth.

Farron Cousins: Federal judge strikes down discriminatory TX voter ID law.

The algorithm that could end partisan Gerrymandering.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

A lot of people have taken this ridiculous Seattle Times editorial to task. But now a few days late, let me also make fun of some choice selections.

Meanwhile, Murray is transformed from the bold big-city mayor into one who defers to his defense lawyer when he is invited to speak to The Seattle Times editorial board about the biggest political scandal in Seattle in generations.

I think we can all agree: No matter if you think he did it, if you think a law firm run by bigots is setting him up, or if you’re not sure, the scandal is definitely that he won’t talk to the Seattle Times Ed Board. For decades, we’ll all remember where we were when we read about how Ed Murray isn’t meeting with the Seattle Times to discuss this and is instead deferring to his attorney in a legal matter. For me it was when I got to this paragraph the other day. For many of you, it’s right now.

Murray’s defenders cast the lawsuit and related allegations as well-timed political payback for his iconic career as a gay civil-rights champion. Indeed, there are legitimate questions about the law firm that filed the lawsuit. It is founded by a Tacoma attorney with an anti-gay rights record.

But Murray’s counterpunch begs a question: when is the right time to file a child sexual abuse lawsuit against an elected leader?

This is correct. The Seattle Times shouldn’t sit on the story, just because it’s happening at the beginning of an election year. But also, someone who knows what “begs the question” means* should probably be in the chain. Whatever. You’re here for me to make fun of the baby splitting if you’re here for anything (are you here for anything? Why?).

Murray at times has been that leader, and could still be. Regardless of whether the allegations are true, he cannot lead under this cloud. He should serve out his term and not run for re-election.

There are 2 possible situations. First possibility: He’s guilty of at least one of the charges; If that’s the case, saying he should serve out the rest of his term seems pretty gross. The other possibility is that he’s innocent of all charges; If that’s the case, being forced to not run for office by a bigoted law firm seems like a terrible thing. The Seattle Times’ solution, in other words, is a bad one no matter what you think happened.

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