– Happy MLK Day. Here are some events.
– Who could have predicted that the numbers wouldn’t work out for tolling the 99 tunnel?
– I don’t know why columnists go for snark. If you ignore the not helpful stuff, this list of Olympia terms is fine.
– I really like Jay Inslee, but I hate the way money works in Olympia.
As we look forward to Barack Obama’s second inauguration (and fourth Oath of Office*), let us hearken back to the day he was re-elected. I refer, of course, to the Monday following the second Wednesday in December (in 2012, that was December 17). That’s when all 538 Presidential and 538 Vice Presidential votes were cast. That’s when 332 of those Electors — a clear, solid majority of the electorate — voted for the winning ticket, Obama and Biden. You may think you were voting for Obama/Biden or Romney/Ryan (or even for one of the other pairs on the ballot) on November 6, but you weren’t. In truth, you were voting for slates of Electors, who are the only Americans who actually cast Presidential and Vice Presidential ballots.
*
- botched by the Chief Justice in 2009
- re-administered in 2009
- privately, today
- tomorrow at noon
You weren’t an Elector, nor was I. However, I was a whole lot closer to matriculating at the Electoral College than any of our readers — had Maria Ehsan, the Elector chosen at the 7th Congressional District’s Democratic caucus back in May, been unable to attend the Electoral College meeting in Olympia, yours truly (the Alternate Elector from WA-07) would have taken her place as one of Washington’s 12 Electors.
So I was right there in the State Reception Room in Olympia’s Legislative Building at noon on December 17, peering over the shoulders of the Electors as they cast their votes. I can affirm that we had no faithless Electors in the state of Washington in 2012, despite the ridiculous efforts of teahadists to get them to change their minds. Even I, as a mere Alternate, received a letter from one of them; if you’re interested, you can read a DailyKos diary I wrote about it, as well as the letter itself (page 1, page 2). The Electors — and, I presume, Democratic Electors in all of the blue states — were hit with both snail-mail and email.
Parenthetically, in its Presidential election history since 1892, Washington has seen one faithless Elector. In 1976, when Washington backed Jerry Ford over Jimmy Carter (who, of course, won nationally), Republican Elector Mike Padden wrote Ronald Reagan on his ballot. Reagan had narrowly lost to the incumbent President in the GOP primaries and convention, and apparently Padden was still upset about it.
And where is this renegade, this apostate, now? Why, he was just re-elected to the State Senate from the 4th LD near Spokane; this lawbreaker (RCW 29A.56.340 cites a $1000 fine for faithless Electors) currently chairs the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Then again, Republicans probably think he was a savant for tossing aside Ford to choose St. Ronnie four years early.
So what was it like to participate in this Constitutionally-mandated ceremony, this unique exercise of the American system of governance? To be honest, it was a rather dull event, carefully stage-managed by Sam Reed and his staff. They had a very strict protocol to follow, directed by the National Archives. Except for a couple of verbal slips — Sam Reed: “the United Nations, uh, I mean States”, presiding Elector Heather Fralick: “12 votes for Joe Biden as President of the United States” — the really interesting stuff came before the Electoral College was convened and right at the very end of the event.
Before going into that, though, here’s proof that Washington’s Electors voted as their fellow voters asked them to:
Last week’s contest was won by Geoduck, who edged out Liberal Scientist by a few minutes. It was Surprise, AZ.
This week’s contest is somewhere in Washington state, good luck!
This Tuesday, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Ferguson will meet with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the implementation of the state’s new marijuana regulations. According to Inslee’s communications director, David Postman, Inslee requested the meeting.
A good part of this news I’m enthusiastic about. Despite not being a supporter of I-502 during the campaign, Inslee appears to be keeping his word about supporting its implementation, part of which could involve some butting of heads with the Obama Administration. Inslee has a certain amount of leverage right now to get things started. He’s a Democratic governor in a state that just overwhelmingly voted to bring about this change.
Also, with Eric Holder staying on the job in Obama’s second term, it’ll be easier for Inslee to come to an understanding that won’t be swept under the rug by someone else coming in. Maybe I’m being too optimistic about that considering what happened with Obama’s promises regarding medical marijuana in his first term, but it’s worth noting that states that had more thorough statewide medical marijuana regulations (like Colorado, New Mexico, and New Jersey) didn’t have as much interference as states that didn’t (like California and Montana).
Regulated marijuana sales to all adults are certainly another level of defiance against federal prohibition, and the Obama Administration has yet to make any kind of statement about respecting statewide laws like I-502 that they previously did with medical marijuana laws (and then didn’t quite keep). But the country has transformed quite a bit since medical marijuana laws started becoming a reality in the 90s. When even the Drug Czar is forced to acknowledge the changed landscape, we’re in uncharted territory.
If Inslee and Ferguson can get a promise (even if it’s a private one) from Holder that they’ll respect the implementation of I-502, that’ll be an even more significant sign of how much things have changed. I-502 was set up with this in mind, including a number of provisions meant to placate the fears of feds (requiring facilities to be 1000 ft from schools and parks, FBI background checks for licensees, per se DUI language). That may be enough for the Administration to take that next leap.
But it may not. It’s also possible that Holder will dig in his heels for the drug war establishment and tell Inslee to put the brakes on I-502’s implementation or to expect enforcement actions or a lawsuit. I’d hope that Inslee would be able to explain how politically unwise this is, but it’s not clear where his thinking (or the Administration’s) is on all this. All of this is now happening in the shadow of the larger battle over gun control, and the optics of overriding a law like I-502 in the midst of that could make for some unusual alliances.
We’ll find out something on Tuesday, even if it’s just that the Administration is still not ready to commit to anything. As I’ve mentioned before, this may be the worst outcome, as it casts doubt over the ability of the WSLCB to start regulating this market without the participants later becoming criminals.
Exodus 35:2
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.
Discuss
Thom: Whole Foods…now serving food and fascism.
Gov. Jay Inslee’s Inaugural address.
Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.
A Farewell to Firearms:
Thom with more of The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.
Washington Liberals music: “We Will Screw Ya”.
Mark Fiore: The G.O.P. Debt-B-Gone plan.
Thom with even more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.
Liberal Viewer: Colin Powell calls Republicans racist?!?
Maddow: At start of 2nd term, Obama is finally beating the crap out of Republicans.
Sam Seder: Glen Beck uncloaks….
White House: West Wing Week.
Rigging Elections:
Sharpton: The GOP Birfer Brigade is back!
Ed: Filibuster reform and Republican obstructionism.
Forty Years after Roe v. Wade.
Obama: Message for MLK Day:
Maher with some New Rules (via Crooks and Liars).
Stephen: Ladies had better live up to Pat Robertson’s “eye pudding” standard (via Crooks and Liars).
Young Turks: Republicans surrender…they will raise the debt ceiling.
Sam Seder: GOP training to learn not to mention “rape”..
Retreat!!!!
Young Turks: Colin Powell rips GOP over racist remarks.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
I’m a bit worried that Senator Ericksen thinks he invented the aspirational goal of cheap electricity. Not that he invented some way made electricity cheaper — that would be awesome — but just talking about cheaper energy. Like he thinks he invented talking. About cheaper energy. How else do you explain titling his press release “Ericksen pleased to hear Inslee echo his energy goals“?
Yes, the governor. Who wrote a book about energy. Is echoing some state senator. The governor. Whose signature issue has been energy for over a decade. Is echoling some state senator.
Obviously, what laws pass matters most. And if they see eye to eye, that’s probably a good thing.
Seattle teachers who decided not to administer the MAP test here are there reasons:
Seattle’s ninth- and 10th-grade students already take five state-required standardized tests, with 11th- and 12th-graders taking three. Seattle Public Schools staff admitted to a Garfield teacher the MAP test is not valid at the high-school level, because the margin of error is greater than expected gains.
In addition, teachers are forbidden to see contents of the MAP test so they can’t prepare students. Teachers who have looked over the shoulders of students taking the test can tell you that it asks questions students are not expected by state standards to learn until later grades.
This test especially hurts students receiving extra academic support — English-language learners and those enrolled in special education. These are the kids who lose the most each time they waste five hours on the test. Our computer labs are commandeered for weeks when the MAP is on, so students working on research projects can’t get near them. The students without home computers are hurt the most.
Students don’t take the MAP seriously because they know their scores don’t factor into their grades or graduation status. They approach it less seriously each time they take it, so their scores decline. Our district uses MAP scores in teacher evaluations, even though the MAP company recommends against using it to evaluate teacher effectiveness and it’s not mandated in our union contract.
I’m not sure if it spreads, or where it goes from here. But I’m glad the teachers at these schools are standing up for education.
– Picking a favorite part of this Pam Roach presser is damn near impossible. But I think “not even arguably” she cares more about people than anyone else in the Senate is probably it.
– Jonah Goldberg’s opposition to hucksters in movement conservatism is only hostility to the competition.
– Assholes gonna asshole.
– This Brandon McCarthy Twitter battle encapsulates everything right and wrong with sports people on social media.
If Washington NARAL are pushing the Reproductive Parity Act again this session then that’s good enough for me.
Washington voters have a long history of ensuring a woman’s ability to make the decision to have an abortion. As Washington proceeds with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Washington women could face increased barriers in their ability to access reproductive health care, including abortion services. Anti-choice politicians in Congress tried to undermine the ACA by inserting a provision to roll back reproductive healthcare. This legislation addresses that problem and guarantees access to a full range of reproductive healthcare including abortion.
The link is a petition, and if that’s your thing, I’d encourage you to add your name. If writing your legislator directly is more your thing, you can find them here. Presumably it’ll be able to pass the State House again. But even before the GOP coup, this was going to be tougher in the State Senate. I assume it’ll go to the Health Care Committee where Senator Becker will kill it. But if you’re represented by someone on the committee, you might want to let them know how you feel.
Looking at the House vote for Sandy relief, I noticed that Doc Hastings and Cathy McMorris Rodgers voted against it. It’s morally abhorrent to see another part of the country devastated, and first to take this amount of time to help, and then to vote against it. It also seems pretty short sighted.
I can’t imagine any Northeast politician giving them help the next time there’s a wildland fire in Eastern Washington. For that matter, I can’t imagine any Northeastern politician giving them any help on anything they want to do. “Oh, you voted against relief for people who are still homeless in my community months after Sandy, here let me help you secure funding for a road” seems like something said by nobody ever.
Evening edition (AKA, having been out for a few days kind of screwed me up).
– Any bill that doesn’t allow me to buy the rights to the Rodney Tom Can Go Fuck Himself Overpass still needs some work.
– We should take a moment and remind ourselves who are the people of the state and who are we
– I keep forgetting to post this anti-Sully piece.
– We’ve got ourselves a brand-new governor.
– The sincere answers to asshole petitions manager would be a fun job at the White House.
I’m slowly making my way through this biography of William Seward. There’s an interesting story I wasn’t aware of from his days as a Senator. By 1858, he was a leading opponent of slavery in the Senate. Still he was cordial with many Southern Senators. One story in particular: “In early 1858, when Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was suffering from a sever eye illness and confined to his darkened room for seven weeks, Seward visited him every day and spent an hour amusing the invalid with stories.”
If we didn’t all know what was coming, that would be the type of how-DC-Used-To-Be stories that the beltway press like to tell themselves. If we didn’t know that in 3 years they’ll stand on opposite sides, as over half a million people die in the Civil War, it might be a lovely story of the bipartisan niceness of a bygone era. Viewing it as that also obscures that one side was right on one of the least morally ambiguous issues of our history: slavery was wrong.
So that’s what I was thinking about when I read at Balloon Juice that reporters are using their question at a press conference to ask Obama why he and his staff don’t socialize more.
I’d like to ask you, now that you’ve reached the end of your first term, starting your second, about a couple of criticisms — one that’s longstanding, another more recent. The longstanding one seems to have become a truism of sorts that you’re — you and your staff are too insular, that you don’t socialize enough.
DC is a place with strange values.
Please join us for an evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.
What’s the buzz? Lawmakers returned to Olympia yesterday, and Senate Republicans are in charge with their “majority coalition.” Jay Inslee gets sworn in tomorrow. And guns.
We meet every Tuesday at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier for Dinner.
Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. The Longview chapter meet this Wednesday. On Thursday, the Spokane chapter meets. And on Monday, the Yakima, Aberdeen and Olympia chapters meet.
With 201 chapters of Living Liberally, including thirteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter that meets near you.
Ted Nugent wants you to know (my emphasis):
“A person who lives by logic and studies history and tries to implement the lessons learned by history cannot begin to rationally explain the conduct of this president or his attorney general or this administration,” Nugent told conservative radio host Aaron Klein. “It is psychotic, it is crazy, it’s illogical — I believe it’s clearly and dangerously anti-American, anti-humanity.”
This reminded me of my former life as a volunteer political consultant. Once I had to offer Mr. Nugent some advice after he announced his intentions to run for Governor of Michigan…to a British reporter for a British magazine. That was the first of many political faux paux for the novice gubernatorial wannabe.
For instance, at one point, the reporter was asking a question about a past incident, and Mr. Nugent interrupted:
Nugent: “Neither did I poke my erect penis through a map of West Virginia – did you read that?”
Reporter: “No.”
And, at another point in the interview that was taking place in Mr. Nugent’s basement:
He fires at a Styrofoam bear using his weapon of choice, a traditional bow and arrow. “Straight through the heart… dead bear,” says Ted, as his heavily pitted target submits to yet another onslaught. “Both lungs… dead bear.” The arrows, which he makes himself, keep flying. “Dead bear… dead bear… dead bear.”
Psychotic? Crazy? Hmmm….
In his recent musings, Mr. Nugent…
criticized the leadership of Obama’s gun violence task force, saying that putting “crazy uncle” Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder in charge was akin to “hiring [serial killer] Jeffrey Dahmer to tell us to how to take care of our children.”
I guess he is suggesting that the Vice President and Attorney General are killing, and possibly eating, children. This seems rather illogical, considering that the administration hasn’t undertaken any actions on this issue or even announced future actions base on the recommendations of the gun violence task force.
Mr. Nugent’s deep concern about “dangerously anti-American, anti-humanity” tendencies may have some basis in reality, as revealed in that British interview through his own ideas for achieving a Utopian world:
“I say if somebody robs you, shoot ’em. I’d like all thieves killed. And all rapists. And carjackers. No more graffiti. No more ‘snatch-pursing.’”
[…]“How do you get peace, love and understanding? First of all you have to find all the bad people. Then you kill them.”
Psychotoc? Crazy? Illogical? Dangerously anti-American? Anti-humanity?
All of the above.
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
