HorsesAss.Org

I was laughing out loud listening to this NPR interview with Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).

Sen. Corker is oh so concerned about the fact that the Obama Administration is undertaking covert actions in “foreign policy” and, specifically, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen. Sen. Corker whines that the Senate has been marginalized in foreign policy (really, security) issues.

The Obama Administration is, of course, using the exact same powers granted to the Bush Administration by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Shorter Sen. Corker (in Southern drawl): “When we eagerly granted the President unprecedented powers to undertake covert foreign actions without oversight, we didn’t realize the scary Black guy with a Muslim-ey sounding name would get to use it, too!”

Politico speculates about possible replacements for Darrell Issa, whose “adventure” as Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is term limited:

Issa’s term as the Obama administration’s chief inquisitor expires at the end of 2014, and unless leaders waive party rules, he won’t be eligible to keep running the committee.

Awww…it’s a sad.

No…really! Issa has been a real gift to the Democrats in his role as Chair of the Oversight Committee. It begins with the irony that a man who was charged twice with auto theft, and charged twice and convicted once of weapons charges is at the helm of the Oversight Committee. It sort of fits in with the Republican Projection Phenomenon of “we think you are doing something bad, because we know what we would do in your shoes.” In other words, pick the most corrupt, shadiest, morally bankrupt member to hunt for corruption, shadiness, and moral bankruptcy.

The fact is, Issa has been a disaster as Oversight Chair. He is undisciplined, politically unsavvy and, frankly, ineffective. He doesn’t seem to have a nose for investigations.

This is no more evident than in the “IRS Scandal”, where Issa made a fatal investigatory blunder. As a Partisan Issa would certainly want people to believe that Teabagger groups were being targeted. But, the Investigator Issa should have initially focused on reality first and used what he could later for the spin cycles.

Instead, Issa directed IRS Inspector General J. Russell George to investigate IRS targeting of only conservative and tea party groups. The results made for some weeks of good sound bites, but proved embarrassing and amateurish when the truth came out that the IRS was targeting all political-oriented groups. More importantly, it undermined Issa’s credibility to effectively conduct investigations.

So, this is one reason way we should hope that Issa gets a term limit waiver and remains Chair of the Oversight committee! But that probably won’t happen.

Among the prospective Chairs in Politico’s list is Washington state’s Doc Hasting (R-WA-4):

Call this Boehner ally and personal friend the wild card.

As current Natural Resources Committee Chairman, Hastings, like Issa, is term-limited [as Natural Resources Committee Chairman] at the close of this Congress.

He raised GOP eyebrows when he joined Oversight earlier this year — a rare move for someone who’s been in Congress for nearly two decades.

Republican rank and file call that “committee hopping,” and many on the panel wonder if he joined with an eye on the gavel.

Hastings’s office wouldn’t confirm or deny rumors that he‘ll throw his name in the pot. If he chooses to, he has more than Boehner’s friendship at his back: He has money.

I’ll just say this: if there is anyone in Congress that I perceive as more incompetent and ineffective in the role of Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, it’s “Doc” Hastings. A dumber Congressman you will not find.

Please…let it be so!

— King County Election Results, and links for all state counties.

— The King County parks levy passed with 69%!

— A new concept in the periodic table.

— Breaking: Transcript of al Qaeda’s worldwide conference call.

— MLA produces an official format for citing intellectual property contained in tweets.

— Fantasy Politics—2016: Weiner–Gore versus Boehner–Trump.

— The G.O.P.’s Insane “Leninist strategy”.

Darryl already put up his Election Thread post, but I’m going a bit farther than that. The following predictions of the primary election results were made through the use of population modeling, analysis of previous precinct-level voting patterns, careful examination of the candidates’ position papers and advertising strategies, and… Oh hell, I can’t fake it any longer — these predictions are totally pulled out of my ass, without an iota of empirical research or study. However, they’re limited to races that are on the Seattle ballot.

County Executive

• Dow Constantine 76%
• Everett A. Stewart 14%
• Alan E. Lobdell 5%
• Goodspaceguy 4%

Port of Seattle Commissioner Position 3

• Stephanie Bowman 53%
• Michael Wolfe 40%
• Andrew Pilloud 6%

Seattle Mayor

• Ed Murray 25%
• Mike McGinn 20%
• Peter Steinbrueck 18%
• Bruce A. Harrell 16%
• Charlie Staadecker 9%
• Kate Martin 4%
• Joey Gray 4%
• Mary Martin 1%
• Doug McQuaid 1%

Seattle City Council Position 2

• Richard Conlin 71%
• Kshama Sawant 15%
• Brian Carver 13%

Seattle City Council Position 8

• Mike O’Brien 64%
• Albert Shen 29%
• David Ishii 6%

Seattle School District Position 4

• Sue Peters 47%
• Suzanne Dale Estey 42%
• Dean McColgan 10%

Seattle School District Position 5

• Stephan Blanford 51%
• LaCrese Green 33%
• Olu Thomas 15%

If they don’t total to 100%, blame round-off error or write-ins.

I’ll be shocked if I’m anywhere close to the actual results. But I’ll attribute my inconsistencies to the abysmally low turnout.

Here is a thread where you can talk about this evening’s election. If the spirit moves me, I may do some updates from the Montlake Ale House.

Oh…and if you need to find a ballot drop-box or want to view the King County results, check out this page. For state stuff, go here.

(If you are looking for an open thread try the Drinking Liberally thread just below this one).

It’s Election night in Washington state. So, if you haven’t voted…VOTE. And then join us for an evening of electoral politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm, although some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out another DL meeting over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. On Wednesday, the Lakewood chapter meets. On Thursday Drinking Liberally Bremerton meets. And on Friday, the Centralia chapter meets.

With 208 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

That’s right. It was August 6, 2001 when a vacationing President George W. Bush was given a presidential daily briefing that was titled, Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US.

So you are unhappy that the U.S. assassinates people with drones? Or are you outraged about the NSA archiving phone company billing records for potential social network analysis? Maybe the whole secret FISA court things gets under your skin? Are you unhappy that over 4,500 U.S. soldiers and contractors died because the U.S. invaded Iraq on false pretenses? Or unhappy about the 100,000++ U.S. soldiers who suffered health consequences as a result of the invasion? How about the many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who died as a result of the invasion? Or maybe the trillion plus dollars pissed away? Or that the U.S. is STILL fighting its longest ever war in Afghanistan after more than a decade? Maybe you hate the TSA, or the fact that you cannot meet your party at their arrival gate, or that your pock knife was confiscated and they took your diet Pepsi away from you the last time you flew?

Maybe you are apprehensive about the “security” state the U.S. has become domestically, and the bully state the U.S. has become internationally?

All of this arose because George W. Bush and his security team ignored a briefing memo titled, Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US:

Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

In a week that is filled with Republican assholes criticizing Obama for shutting down embassies based on intelligence reports of potential attacks, it is good to consider the alternative—ignoring the intelligence.

On August 6, 2001, George W. Bush’s indifference to and incuriousness about a memo titled Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US snowballed into our Great American Tragedy.

The next round of Washington State Liquor Control Board public hearings on I-502 implementation start today. I’m planning to be at the Seattle Center meeting at 6pm. Follow me on Twitter to get my updates. And I might swing by DL afterwards depending on how early I get out of there.

I doubt the paper’s emphasis will switch to covering Washington state, but the Washington Post is about to have a new Seattle-based owner. That would be Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Considering the alternatives (like, you know, Rupert Murdoch buying the paper), this can only be a good thing. Besides, if anyone is going to figure out how to turn a dying 19th century-technology industry into a thriving 21st century-technology industry, I’m pretty sure it is Bezos.

The Washington Post has been owned by the Graham family for the past 80 years. And that got me to thinking…after 113 years, isn’t it time for the Blethen family to sell off the Seattle Times and get it into the hands of someone with actual competence in internet commerce?

Bezos’ letter to the WaPo staff can be found here.

(Photo by Steve Jurvetson)

— This is the very definition of insanity!

— Don’t be an asshole…VOTE!

— I think we should call this “the GOP Cancer Strategy”: “House Republicans will take a carefully orchestrated, staunchly anti-Washington campaign to voters this month, blaming President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats for Americans’ unhappiness with government.“

— Cool! Farmer’s Market Finder for Washington and Oregon

— Woodland Park Zoo’s baby boom.

— A CEO weighs in: Law promoting STEM education is a win for Washington.

— The new Dr. Who.

— The RNC threatens NBC and CNN. Reince Priebus threatens cutting networks from debate access if they air Clinton programs.

Last week’s contest was won by BA1959. It was the site of the Vancouver hotel (then under construction) where actor Cory Monteith was found dead.

This week’s is a random location somewhere in the world, good luck!

Oh, right … with Carl taking a well-deserved vacation, the rest of us were supposed to step in and take up the slack. So, here I am.

By “here”, at this moment I refer to PHL. I got to the airport well in advance of my return flight to Seatac, and while waiting I’m quaffing a refreshing Yuengling Lager between keystrokes. Unfortunately, their Porter (a longtime favorite of mine) is rather more difficult to find.

I’ve been here in the mid-Atlantic for a week, largely to attend the annual SABR convention. Arriving several days ahead of the meeting, I also visited my brother in Bucks County (about 50 miles north of the city) and my 90-something year old aunt in Dutchess County NY.

The city of my youth is a much nicer place than it once was. Center City is lively, studded with restaurants and bars. Best of all, the convention hotel was immediately adjacent to the Reading Terminal Market, a space not unlike our own Pike Place Market … that is, if the food stalls carried cheesesteaks (wit wiz, of course), hoagies, roast pork sandwiches, pastrami, and such instead of that tasteless healthy stuff that populates the dull vegan-friendly cuisine of Pike Place and Seattle in general.

The principal difference — well, aside from the flavors and aromas — between the RT and PP Markets is that the latter is a venerable farmers’ market saved from the wrecking ball of “urban renewal” whereas the former is an exemplary reuse of a once-decaying anachronism. It’s been decades since you could Take A Ride On The Reading, and the line’s Center City terminal was nearly demolished before it was transformed.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time here in my old stomping grounds, but I’ll be happy to leave the heat and humidity behind. Not that it was unbearable this week, but I know it’s just a matter of a few days before the next bout of 90-90 weather.

Now, which gate do I need to find??

Matthew 5:28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Discuss.

The vanishing snows of Kilimanjaro.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Mitt Romney tries to rewrite Mitt Romney:

Congressman Asshat of Iowa:

• Thom takes on Rep. Steve King (R-IA).
• Matt Binder: “Mexican kids are drug mules!”, says asshat Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
• Sam Seder: Is it okay to laugh at asshats like Rep. Steve King?

Sharpton: Sarah Palin’s ‘maverick’ hypocrisy exposed.

Bill Maher with some new rules.

White House: West Wing Week.

This is the 40th time!

Bashir and Eugene Robinson: History shows when Republicans shut down government, they lose.

John Fugelsang: We’re in the golden age of slut-shaming.

Fast Foods Forward and FAUX Fumbles:

• John Oliver: Fast food workers and FAUX News pundits.
• Thom schools Hannity on hamburger costs.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The case to increase the minimum wage.
• Thom: Can anyone survive on $7.25

Kimmel: This week in Unnecessary Censorship.

ONN: Onion Week in Review.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Melissa Harris-Perry: New law forces clinics to close in North Carolina.

Jimmy Dore does Bill O’Reilly.

Sharpton: How FAUX, O’Reilly, and fellow right wingers are failing miserably in the racism conversation.

Mental Floss: 79 common mispronunciations.

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Helen Thomas’s legacy:

FAUX’s Worst Interview Ever:

• Young Turks: Worst interview ever???
• Michael Brooks: Even FAUX News should be ashamed of this interview.
• Young Turks: FAUX News tries to defend the “worst interview ever”
• Reza Aslan on his now infamous FAUX News interview.
• Here come the Spoofs!

Liberal Viewer: Would NSA spying program prevent 9/11 attacks?.

Thom: How the G.O.P. causes child prostitution.

Sam Seder: DOJ sues Texas over voting laws.

Mark Fiore: Syria’s Royal Easel.

John Fugelsang plays six degrees of Edward Snowden:

Melissa Harris-Perry: Judge grants reprieve for WI health clinics.

Ruse Harstel on his racist homophobic cousin.

Red State Update: Podcast episode 37.

ONN: New Pew poll says nation just wants to be safe, happy, rich, comfortable, entertained at all times.

Young Turks: Rand Paul and Chris Chrstie duke it out!

Inappropriate Mayorial Material:

• Anthony Weiner refuses to quit.
• Young Turks: Weiner aide vs Weiner intern catfight
• Broadway goes Weiner:
• Chris Hayes: FAUX News smears Huma Abedin with baseless claims of terrorism ties.
• Matt Binder: FAUX News attacks Huma Abedin
• John Oliver: Anthony Weiner’s ‘Not Quitting’ ad.
• Stephen defends San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.

Melissa Harris-Perry: Do nothing Congress takes a recess.

Young Turks: The G.O.P. War on Women™ gets expensive.

John Fugelsang: Politicians fiddlin’ while North Carolina burns.

Thom: Conservatives are driving us to suicide.

Lawrence O’Donnell: The Republican disease of dysfunction in washington.

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

The State Supreme Court issued a pretty damning opinion.

However, several justices nevertheless expressed concern about the issues raised, saying race is often a factor – conscious or unconscious – when lawyers use their peremptory challenges to dismiss potential jurors from cases.

“Peremptory challenges are used in trial courts throughout this state, often based largely or entirely on racial stereotypes or generalizations,” Justice Steven Gonzalez wrote. “As a result, many qualified persons in this state are being excluded from jury service because of race.”

When lawyers question members of a jury pool in Washington, they can ask prospects to be removed for cause, such as some evidence the juror would not be able to sit impartially on the case. They are also allowed three peremptory challenges, by which they can have jurors removed for no reason at all, as long as the effect is not purposeful discrimination.

Even though the Supreme Court upheld the conviction in this case, this is still a shot across the bow. And hopefully it will lead to actual changes.