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Endorsements

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As promised, here are some groups that have endorsed for the primary.

– The Stranger has their endorsements. Other newspapers have their endorsements, but I don’t really care. I mean on the one hand, it seems to be the only time The Seattle Times notices downticket or suburban races, and I’d like to encourage that. On the other hand, do I really think people who normally can’t be bothered to figure out about downticket or suburban races should tell people how to vote in those races? No, not really. I also don’t know what other newspapers are behind soft paywalls and I don’t want to waste y’all’s or my limited hits.

– NARAL Pro Choice Washington and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest have endorsements to let you know who will be most pro reproductive rights.

– The Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club has endorsements in only a few races, and as far as I can tell, Washington Conservation Voters has only endorsed in the Mayor’s race if the environment is your issue, and you literally only live in Seattle [via Willisreed in the comments, WCV has endorsed in multiple races].

– Individual unions have also endorsed in the mayor’s race, but I can’t find anything downticket or for the rest of the state on any of their sites. And there isn’t a more general labor friendly voting guide or scorecard as far as I can find.

– The Downtown Seattle Association put out a scorecard in the mayor’s race. My instinct is that they’re wrong about everything, so pretend that unfilled in circles are good (except the transit half of the transportation one, that I can’t figure out how they separate for people who got half).

– And finally and least importantly, the only individual in this list: I’m endorsing Kate Martin for mayor. She was the only candidate to turn in answers to the candidate questions, in essence the others were saying “I’m terrified of a few open ended questions that I can answer in writing at my leisure. I’m too lazy to even just give it to an intern, and that’s probably indicative of how I’ll govern if elected mayor.” Other candidates can feel free to answer, but I’m assuming they won’t since the ballots have already dropped and the questions were sent out quite some time ago.

If you think some other group’s endorsements are important, please leave them in the comments.

Open Thread 7/18

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– The bitter truth is that this verdict is neither an aberration, nor is it exceptionally unjust when viewed from the point of design. It is a systemic byproduct of our legal framework attempting to expand to accommodate those it was never designed to fit.

– If we increase maternity leave, then employers will treat women poorly. Oh you need proof? How about the fact that France exists?

– Four things that happened

– Love your neighbor as yourself.

– This Is Not a Post About Trayvon Martin

– I’m going to be doing a roundup of the various endorsements from groups. If you have ones you’d like included, let me know.

Unreliable

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Ben Schiendelman at Seattle Transit Blog has the latest on studying the Ship Canal Crossing.

In order for this study to give answers that the city needs in time for Bridging the Gap and Sound Transit 3, it needs to start at the beginning of 2014. It takes three to four months after the council approves funding for a project for the scope to be written, bid on, and the contract awarded, so the funding has to come well before the beginning of 2014 – really, now.

So on Monday, council member O’Brien ran an amendment to the first quarter supplemental budget to fund the study starting now, instead of in 2015, where it’s currently scheduled.

O’Brien, Conlin, Bagshaw and Harrell voted for it, and the other 5 opposed it. So it failed, and as such:

This may have been the last chance to have the ship canal crossing study done early enough that it could influence BtG or ST3. I plan to get more details from SDOT about the shortest possible timeline for the work, and whether it could still provide guidance before being entirely complete. I’ll report back on a path forward in the next few weeks.

OK. Ben goes over the reasons they opposed it and here’s what he has to say about Licata:

Licata, the same day as the amendment, ran an insert in the Seattle Times with one of the worst false premises I’ve ever seen in Seattle politics. On Metro, it says: “We must not reduce its service in order to build major new rail projects.” This is unreal – in no universe is Metro’s funding shortfall related to rail. The worst part about a campaign message like this is that it makes people less able to understand what’s going on with transit funding – and because they’ll waste their time on a fake battle, it makes getting Metro revenue harder. It’s completely irresponsible on Licata’s part.

Sound Transit has a different budget than Metro. Neither one is controlled by the Seattle City Council. Spending city money on rail, or in this case, studying a rail corridor doesn’t take county money away from buses. This is so confusing. I really just wish I could follow his argument here.

Also, I feel like maybe with the ad implying that buses are the most reliable form of transit, neither he nor whoever wrote the piece has ever been stuck on a bus as it inched along stuck in traffic. Maybe they never had a bus pass them at a stop even though it isn’t even near full (or for that matter when one is full). Maybe they’ve never seen two or three of the same route bunched up together after waiting a long time. Maybe he’s never had One Bus Away screw up* or been on a snow route.

Don’t get me wrong: yay for our many aspects of our bus system. It’s pretty amazing in the urban core with the bus tunnel and with 3rd Ave closed off to traffic. If you don’t mind waiting you can get pretty far out. What it isn’t, what it can’t be as long as it uses the same lanes as cars, is reliable.

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Eyman initiative wasting tax dollars

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Tim “Biggest Lie of My Life” Eyman’s I-960 and I-1185 require “advisory votes” for tax increases passed by the legislature. Unfortunately, it comes with a lengthy and burdensome voter pamphlet statement:

The Secretary of State’s office says explanations for last year’s measures added about eight pages to the voter pamphlet, which cost about $100,000. Using the same layout, this year’s measures would add about 20 pages, and $240,000.

And then there is this:

But Tami Davis, the voter education and outreach manager, is looking for a way to cut pages and costs.

So on top of the printing costs, the initiatives force us to use state employees to write, proof, and figure out new layouts that save money. All that costs money.

Eyman defends himself:

…whatever the cost may be, it will be “chump change” compared to the taxes those five new laws will collect. Voters deserve a chance to weigh in, he said.

Except that the advisory votes are only…well, advisory. Very expensive ones, at that.

Has the process done anything besides bloating the voter pamphlet and require the legislature to raise taxes to pay for bloating it? Well…maybe. Rodney Tom indicated he used these advisory votes in his decision to join the Republican caucus. And the result was a cluster fuck….more gummed up government leading to a wasteful double overtime legislative session.

The scam Eyman has going here is self perpetuating. He preys on unpopular topics—essentially forcing voters to give a thumbs up or down to raising their own taxes—in order to pass initiatives that gum up government. And when the government gets gummed up, people become unhappy with government. They make a statement through their next initiative from the Mukilteo Menace.

This is the very definition of wasteful government—the very thing the admitted liar is supposedly against.

Eyman isn’t against wasteful government, of course. It is a sham. The only thing Eyman is interested in is lining his own pocket.

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

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Please join us this evening for some politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

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




Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings this week. Tonight the Tri-Cities and Shelton chapters meet. The Lakewood and South Seattle chapters meet this Wednesday. And for Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet.

With 204 chapters of Living Liberally, including seventeen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

Open Thread 7/16

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– RIP Kip Tokuda

– “I’m appalled that Alaska Airlines is trying to stop SeaTac citizens from being able to vote on the good jobs initiative. What are they afraid of? Why don’t they want to share the success of the company with me and my community?” asked Chris Smith, a SeaTac resident and worker at Sea-Tac Airport. See also, Goldy.

– This is not our system malfunctioning. It is our system working as intended. To expect our juries, our schools, our police to single-handedly correct for this, is to look at the final play in the final minute of the final quarter and wonder why we couldn’t come back from twenty-four down.

– It is strange that the city cut down the cycle tracks that activists put up and then put up its own. But whatever, it looks nice, and I’m glad they responded to activist’s concerns.

– The overall push is laudable. Indeed, given Tukwila is so diverse and yet economically disadvantaged, transformation into a truly urban center, with plenty of transit access and walkability, could improve things. Tukwila seems to be making a real push for renewal, so hopefully it continues successfully.

– Zimmerman gets justice

Peaceful

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I don’t own a TV box, and although I could find it, I rarely watch breaking news on television. But judging from my twitter feed, the coverage of the reaction to the George Zimmerman verdict was infused with the assumption that riots would happen, and surprised that they didn’t.

Obviously, first and foremost the problem with this is the dehumanizing nature of it. It treats the black (and other, to the extent they’re acknowledged) folks who would protest this verdict as simply violence just waiting to happen. It certainly doesn’t give voice to the actual reason people were out to describe the level of violence.

Now sure, it’s more complex than just that. This has something to do with media sensationalism in general. Here on May Day even before some smashed windows, the story of some anarchists overshadowed much larger peaceful protests for immigration reform.

And it all adds up to a disincentive to participate. Don’t go to that march, it might be violent.

Open Thread 7-15

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– I think I will go on twitter and start another trend: #AmericaisGeorgeZimmerman

– Seriously, gents, get a different sign.

– Washington is taking steps to keep Boeing here (Seattle Times Link). The thing they could best offer is that they aren’t South Carolina.

– So white people who kill black teenagers shouldn’t even go to court. Because blacks are violent … even if conservatives have use video of rioting (white) hockey fans in Vancouver to prove it.

– Harrell’s attitude about speeding is disappointing; it reveals how ingrained speeding is in American culture, and reminds us that traffic crashes are thought of as “accidents” – things that just happen, and we have little control over. Little could be further from the truth.

– Trayvon Martin was stalked by George Zimmerman because he was black. Trayvon Martin is dead because he was black. George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin because the boy Zimmerman killed was black.

– The GOP press release failing Rep. Mark Takano’s grading is hilarious.

HA Bible Study

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Psalm 94:4-7
God, the wicked get away with murder—
how long will you let this go on?
They brag and boast
and crow about their crimes!
They walk all over your people, God,
exploit and abuse your precious people.
They take out anyone who gets in their way;
if they can’t use them, they kill them.
They think, “God isn’t looking,
Jacob’s God is out to lunch.”

Discuss.

Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

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Ann Telnaes: Call force feeding what it is.

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

Young Turks: Is Michelle Malkin a Jihadist for Fascism?

ONN: Week in Review.

This Week in the GOP War on the Poor™:

Thom: Wisconsin has discovered something very creepy in their woods.

Red State Update: Podcast episode 34.

Young Turks: Do-nothing GOP Congress admits to being American Taliban.

Thom: Why 30,000 prisoners strike.

Rand Paul’s Friends:

White House White Board: Why Immigration Reform Is Good For Our Economy:

PitTV: School of Social Media Arts.

Young Turks: Sarah Palin threatens to run for Senate.

Mark Fiore: Coup, or not a coup.

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

This Week in the Republican War on Women™:

White House: West Wing Week.

Mental Floss: 50 Science Misconceptions.

Sam Seder and Cliff Schecter: Republicans are political arsonists.

Liberal Viewer: Impeach Obama for NSA spying?

Zina Saunders: The Republican Party gets its wish:

Virginia Gov. Bob “Ultrasound” McDonnell gets probed:

Kimmel: This Week In Unnecessary Censorship.

Thom: Even more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Ann Telnaes: An American Sickness.

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

Are they 12 Year Old Boys?

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Hmm. It turns out that at the debate on HB2 in Texas today, they forbade bringing tampons into the building. I can’t think of a more ham handed way they could try to exclude women from meaningful participation in this debate.

I mean literally, I can’t. This is where my schtick would be to do a list of outrageous over the top things. Usually when I want to make a list like that a few ideas spring to mind quickly, but not this time. The only thing I thought of that is in the league of that is “just outright ban vaginas.”

8 Lanes!

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I’m sure when tunnel proponents talked about our once in a lifetime opportunity for a revitalized waterfront what they meant was this.

The new Alaskan Way, located mostly within the current footprint of the viaduct, will be four or five lanes for most of its length until it reaches Columbia Street. South of Columbia, it completely explodes with travel lanes and starts to look a whole lot more like a freeway than a waterfront boulevard. Near the Ferry Terminal, there are even sections with eight travel lanes and a parking lane (though some are transit-only).

You know, 8 lanes and more coal trains are just what the waterfront needs. Maybe we can transport nuclear waste in open top containers next.

Homeland

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I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m reading Edmund Wilson’s Patriotic Gore. In the section on William T. Sherman, it has a long section on his son. Sherman wasn’t religious, but his wife was a rather devout Catholic. And one of his sons, Thomas, became a Jesuit priest. Thomas eventually went mad. To quote the second to last paragraph of the chapter:

The story of his last twenty years is most painful. He was able to travel and to live alone, and he engaged in a whole forlorn series of self-invented ministries and projects. Father Sherman first set out to organize a Catholic Colonization Society designed to resettle, in the state of Washington, recent immigrants of Catholic faith from the big American cities

On reading that, I wondered, why Washington? I mean on the one hand, there’s only so much you can question the schemes of someone who was in and out of mental institutions. On the other hand there were 40 some states when this happened, why should he pick Washington for his Catholic homeland in the US? Is it just our remoteness to the rest of the country or is it something else? I don’t know, but it put me in mind of a somewhat more creditable idea for resettlement in Washington. It starts off kind of in a strange place, so bear with me.

Before the Civil War, the United States would occasionally chide foreign governments for being bad on something or another related to human rights, and those governments would essentially respond, “fuck off, you still have slavery, so you can’t lecture us” except in more diplomatic speak. So it wasn’t until after the Civil War that US foreign policy had any sort of systematic human rights component.

All this is to get to Benjamin Franklin Peixotto, who was a consul in Romania. His official diplomatic posting was the same as any other consul, but unofficially, he was President Grant’s Jewish representative in a country that was persecuting its Jewish population. After failing to get anywhere in defense of that population, he according to this book:

In response, Peixotto advocated large-scale Jewish emigration to the United States, an objective that Romania’s antisemitic government, eager to be rid of its Jews, enthusiastically encouraged. He even contacted his old friend Governor Edward S. Salomon…about the possibility of settling Romanian Jews in Washington Territory.

I’d always assumed that in that case it was probably Governor Salomon more than Washington qua Washington that would have made us a homeland for those Romanian Jews. But in light of Father Sherman, maybe there’s something about us in the imagination of the late 1800’s?

Open Thread 7/11

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– “I can tell you this: No matter who introduces it, it is not going anywhere in the Senate,” Murray said. “We are not going to let it come up in the Senate. There is no reason for it. This is settled law. We are not going to be sidetracked by a debate on women’s health yet again.”

– I don’t know why I keep mentioning these and then not going, but there’s a Seattle Balloon Juice Meetup.

– So how long is it respectable to pretend that David Boardman was anything other than a right wing hack who survived at The Seattle Times for 30 years by being a right wing hack?

– You wouldn’t think this would be necessary to say, but in the last two days, I’ve seen 2 different cars that looked to me anyway to not be county vehicles on bike paths. Don’t do that.

– I haven’t had fruit flies yet this year (something something eat more fruit, Carl), but this is a neat idea for when they come.

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