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Yeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaawwwwww! It’s Crazy Train time. We have ourselves another episode of Candidate Roller Derby tonight in Iowa.

Yesterday everyone said The Newt was leading. Today Romney has a slight lead—they are tied statistically at Romney 23%, Gingrich 20%.

And how ’bout that Ron Paul at 18%!?! Most of the other nutberger candidates have had their fling with the pole position…Ron Paul should get his shot, too. And to top the whole thing off like a layer of creamy chocolate frosting, we should get Rick Santorum next week.

Unless The Donald comes back from the dead to do a 27 December debate, this one is the last of the year, and the last before the Iowa caucus. It’s gong to be fun.

I’ll leave some updates if anything fun happens.

The debate is sponsored by FAUX news, so you can be sure this will be the bestest, craziest debate ever…in the history of debates. You can find a link to the stream at FAUX News.

6:04: I’ve saved a bag of Cheetos for this debate. Mmmm, Cheetos. Before the debate is through, my fingers will resemble John Boehner’s.

6:05: The Newt argues his electability by giving the audience a history lesson.

6:07: Megyn Kelly tries suckering Ron Paul into making a commitment to support the ultimate Republican nominee. Will he fall for it? No! And he gets a pass!

6:09: Rick Santorum takes the first shot at Newt’s “personal issues”.

6:12: Come on, Michele…just say it. “I will win the independents by hypnotizing them.”

6:13: Rick Perry is asked about his debating skills and launches into a “things I did while not debating” speech.

6:14: Jon Huntsman, “we’re getting screwed as Americans!” Umm…Santorum? Any comment?

6:16: Note to Rick Perry: The Supercommittee was created by and for Congress, not Obama.

6:18: Mitt just admitted that “there are Democrats who love America.” He’s toast now.

6:19: “Leadership is important,” says Newt, the ousted former House leader.

6:21: The moderators are taking questions by Twitter. Fine print: No more than 140 characters and minimize polysyllabic words.

6:25: The intermission pundits are bored by the civility. They want some blood! Yeah…me, too.

6:27: Mitt defends his business failures by saying Obama doesn’t realize that not every business succeeds. I take it Mitt is okay with the Solyndrra thing then.

6:29: Newt worked with Habitat for Humanity. No doubt served as their official Speaker of the House.

6:31: Paul corners Newt who is forced to admit that there are many government-sponsored organizations that do good! Heresy!

6:33: Bachmann goes into histrionics over Newt’s Fannie/Freddy contracts. Newt says Bachmann doesn’t have her fact right. Bachmann goes to Politifact for fact checking! Remarkable.

6:36: My video feed locked up with the following image stuck on my screen. I think this is worthy of a Caption Contest. Leave ’em in the comment thread.

6:45: Okay…missed some stuff trying to get the video feed back and waiting through the fucking ads. We’re back now.

6:46: Did Rick Santorum just say he will repeal every single EPA regulation?!?

6:47: Mitt Romney Flip Flops! He criticizes Obama over Solyndrra, just 20 minutes after pointing out that some of his businesses failed, and that was okay.

6:48: “The courts have become grotesquely dictatorial.” and “Misreading the American people.” I thought they were supposed to read the Constitution rather than the people.

6:51: Bachmann: “We are now at the point that we think the final arbiter of the law is the courts.”

6:53: Even Ron Paul isn’t crazy enough to do a witch-hunt on the courts (subpoena judges, eliminate courts).

6:54: Mitt: “The only people that have less credibility than Judges is Congress.”

6:56: Santorum’s certifies his extremism by picking Thomas as his single favorite Justice.

7:05: Ron Paul suggests using diplomats a little more, bombs a little less. Totally sensible.

7:07: Santorum suggests that Iranian’s “principle ideology”, “mission” is martyrdom. What a fucking ignorant bigot.

7:09: Michele says Ron Paul has given the most dangerous answer she has ever heard.

7:15: Ron Paul schools some naive warmongers!

7:17: Newt suggests the UN is a terrorist training organization.

7:19: Rick Perry has the most muddled comment ever…something about “the most muddled foreign policy ever.”

7:22: Newt gets in a super anti-Obama speech. He has some factual errors in the answer, but maybe this is what we need for him to take the primary. GO NEWT!

7:26: I am totally lost by Neil Cavuto’s rambling question to Rick Perry. Rick Perry spews an incoherent, rambling answer back. Nice play, Mr. Perry!

7:40: Wallace ask Mitt if he is a flip-flopper.

7:41: Mitt admits he flip-flopped on gay rights and choice. Ohhh…and maybe guns.

7:43: Santorum: “Mitt Romney, personally, as Governor, issued gay marriage licenses!!!” You could just hear Santorum’s anal sphincter clamping shut as he said that.

7:47: Bachmann: “Newt offered to campaign for Republicans who support…partial birth abortion!”

7:49: Michele Bachmann doesn’t have her facts right. And she misspells her first name.

7:50: The Occupy FAUX movement has arrived!

7:51: Rick Perry corrected a fact of a moderator!

7:54: Ron Paul twists his face into a little pretzel and says, “I don’t like the demagoguery…the distortions.”

7:55: That’s it!

Not to make too big of deal about it, but the Iraq war ended today.

Thank God the world is finally safe from Saddam Hussein’s nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction!

I mean, except for the nearly 5,000 U.S. soldiers and contractors killed in the conflict. And the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who died as a result of the U.S. invasion.

It isn’t official news yet, but the big announcement is likely coming on Thursday:

One month to the day after the start of the effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker from office, organizers have scheduled a Thursday press conference to provide a “special update” on how the effort is going.

And several liberal blogs and pro-recall Facebook pages said Wednesday that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and United Wisconsin, the two groups spearheading the recall, already have collected more than enough signatures to force an election.

The effort to recall the Republican governor kicked off on Nov. 15, and organizers have until Jan. 17 to collect more than 540,000 valid signatures to force a spring recall election.

The blog New Dog Democrat reported Wednesday that more than 550,000 signatures have been collected and that organizers want to hit the 1 million mark before the deadline.

A million signatures?!? Just two weeks ago they were aiming for 750,000.

A million signatures would be, symbolically, a thermonuclear maelstrom. Even 540,000 valid signatures will be fucking huge!

Aside from likely derailing Walker’s harmful “stewardship”, and, you know…maximizing the possibility I can visit my family this summer, this is huge for Washington and other states.

The Walker episode sends a big shot across the bow of, what is almost certainly, a coordinated Republican Governor’s agenda.

For us here in Washington, what does this mean? It means Rob McKenna is put on notice. Walker made campaign promises that seemed quite moderate. Once elected, he turned to a radical Republican agenda. He cut education funding and betrayed public employees while giving out tax breaks to businesses, he did his damnedest to disenfranchise voters at the margins of society. And, in general, he steadfastly disregard the will of the people.

Would Rob McKenna really try pulling the ol’ switcheroo on Washingtonians the way Walker did to Wisconsinites? Well…if his decision to join the Republican AG lawsuit against the Health Care Reform law of 2009 is any indication…two years ago, I would have said, “absofuckinglutely!.” Now, with the events in Wisconsin, I think McKenna is forced to scale back on his agenda.

Should McKenna win next year, Washingtonians will owe Wisconsinites a huge debt of gratitude.

Update: They aren’t quite there, yet. The number of signatures gathered so far is 507,000, leaving a mere 33,000 more to gather. Practically, they will need something over 100,000 additional signatures to account for challenges and duplicates. Organizers have another month left to do that.

Well, the Legislature passed something crappy.

The Legislature adjourned shortly after the Senate approved the new budget plan by a 42-6 vote. Gregoire had called for $2 billion in changes and a fully revamped budget by Christmas, but lawmakers settled on a plan that provides a $480 million fix through a combination of cuts, transfers and delayed payments.

Our Democratic legislature is still too chickenshit to even consider putting revenue in front of the people, let alone just passing a package outright.

Budget negotiators said it was impossible to get full consensus on a plan during a session that would last a maximum of 30 days.

I have to say, the we only had a limited time nonsense is stupid, stupid, stupid. I’m not suggesting it should have been easy, especially given the Republicans and Roadkills. I understand saying we didn’t get as far as we need because a significant portion of the legislature hates math. But to pretend nobody had any time to prepare? Please. They should have known as soon as they passed the budget that this was possible. And they definitely should have known several months ago when the revenue forecast that precipitated this session came about.

Anyway, kudos to Marko Liias for drawing a line in the sand.

“Not one bill came to the floor nor where there any committee hearings on revenue,” Liias says, explaining that he wants to “tax the one percent” and close corporate loopholes. “I know the high-earners’ income tax (Initiative 1098) failed before, but that was before Occupy. That was before people were occupying the Capitol asking us for revenue.”

And while I appreciate Josh Feit covering this aspect of the session that far too many reporters ignored, seriously, what the fuck is “Was Liias’ lone vote (among the Democrats) simply a bratty grandstand?” I mean really, “bratty grandstand” in an otherwise straight piece? I guess I can understand parsing out how serious he was and how much this is electoral stuff, bratty seems a totally unnecessary word.

– I can’t fathom how a middle class white guy thinks it’s OK to write this piece.

– While we cannot officially speak for every worker who shares our occupation, we can use this opportunity to reveal what it’s like to walk a day in our shoes for the 110,000 of us in America whose job it is to be a port truck driver. It may be tempting for media to ask questions about whether we support a shutdown, but there are no easy answers. Instead, we ask you, are you willing to listen and learn why a one-word response is impossible? (h/t)

– Film The Police

– I’m no fan of Michell Bachmann, but the Washington Post is a disgrace.

– That Made in America label

– Newt Gingrich is no Reagan, and he’s also no Howard Dean.

– That’s probably the best Rick Perry 3 things joke.

– Newt is a scary, scary guy.

It’s Tuesday, and ’round here that means Drinking Liberally. 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 some folks will show up earlier for dinner.

News from the Republican reality show:

Can’t make it to Seattle? There are also meetings tonight of the Tri-Cities, Bellingham, and Vancouver, WA chapters. On Thursday, Drinking Liberally Tacoma meets. And next Monday there are meetings of the Woodinville the Olympia, the Yakima, and the Shelton chapters.

With 232 chapters of Living Liberally, including twelve in Washington state and six more in Oregon, chances are excellent there’s one near you.

The Republican presidential candidates had another debate. For some reason (exhaustion perhaps, maybe common sense kicked in?) Darryl decided not to live blog that one. I listened to a bit and, you’ll never believe this but, Newt Gingrich is still really annoying. The bit that people who watched the whole thing thought was most newsworthy was how Mittens thought to casually bet $10,000.

Now, despite what that link says, the odd thing about the number is that it’s neither a reasonable amount like $1, $5, or $10 that people actually make on these sort of things, but nor is it so exorbitant that it necessarily calls out as a joke bet. If I said to you, “I’ll bet you a billion dollars” then you know no matter who wins the bet that we’re not actually paying up because neither of us has a billion dollars. But $10,000 is both way too much, and just enough that you aren’t quite sure what would happen if you lost.

And any way why make a personal bet? Why not say for charity? Presumably the whole bet thing was because someone in his campaign suggested it knowing this had come up before, and hoping to defuse it in the future. He could easily say something like, “I’ll bet $500 that that isn’t true. If I win, give it to children’s hospital in Boston, if you win, I’ll give it to any charity of your choosing in Texas.” Then the worst thing that happens is he has to give $500 to a charity in Texas, and that doesn’t seem awful.

Actually more than that, but what Goldy said.

But adding, like a broken record, that these legislators ought to take a good hard look at their districts if they want to balance the budget with cuts alone. If there is a lot of waste in state government, then some must flow into all districts. It must be gobbled up by their constituents. Their friends and neighbors, as much as anyone else, gobble up the social services and the education the state pays for, so they might as well start cutting in their own back yard.

If they can’t think of cuts proportionate to their districts’ share of state spending, then perhaps tax increases are necessary.

– What if Tim Tebow were a Muslim?

– Elizabeth Warren was in town, and it looks like she was great.

– So maybe in Breitbart’s mind, it’s okay to destroy someone’s life as long as you do so by saying a bunch of stuff about them that’s not true.

– Congrats Washington teachers.

– More economic shit as a result of Alabama’s immigration law.

– Is it Christmas? (h/t)

Last week’s contest was won my milwhcky. It was Drammen, Norway.

This week’s contest is related to a TV show or a movie, good luck!

Deuteronomy 28:49-51
Foreigners who speak a strange language will be sent to attack you without warning, just like an eagle swooping down. They won’t show any mercy, and they will have no respect for old people or pity for children. They will take your cattle, sheep, goats, grain, wine, and olive oil, then leave you to starve.

Discuss.

Thom with the Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.

Young Turks: Right-wing elementary school cuisine bizarre freak-out.

The War on Christmas:

• Jon and Bill-O in a War on Christmas.
• Jon launches another salvo in the War on Christmas (via HuffPo).

Alyona: Mind blowing inequality figures.

Jon on the new go-to-jail-with-no-trial bill.

Corporate Personhood, Corporate Speech:

• Thom: Corporate personhood for dummies.
• Thom with Rep. Ellison: Amendment that corporations aren’t people
• Alyona: LA votes against personhood.
• Thom: Corporate personhood and talking money?
• Thom with Rep. Ted Deutch on the outlawing corporate cash amendment

Young Turks: Blackwater asks for Sharia law?!?

White House: West Wing Week.

Greenman: It isn’t about the “hockey stick”:

Thom with some more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Obama speaks on the economy.

Rockbottomcookie: The gay homophobes.

The Republican Primary Asylum:

• Ed and Pap: Donald Trump and The Republican Freak Show.
• Alyona’s Tool Time: GOP wants to rip apart families.
• Young Turks with Al Gore on the GOP primary.
• Ed and Pap: The dimwit Republican circus freaks march again.
• Thom: Crazy alert for the New Hampshire ballot.
• Suzie Sampson sits down with Pastor Jim Miller and talks candidates.
• Stephen on The Trump debate.
• Ann Telnaes: Herman Cain drops out.
• Young Turks: Rick Perry’s “Hot Gas” moment.
• The Rick Perry ad that is universally disliked.
• Jesus responds to Perry’s disliked ad.
• A response to Rick Perry’s ad:
• Another response to Rick Perry’s disliked ad.
• Sam Seder: Rick Perry’s Strong Save the Christians Ad.
• Young Turks: Newt’s “food stamp credit card used for Hawaii vacation” bullshit.
• Actual Audio: Newt on child labor.
• Sam Seder: Newt is running for Asshole-in-chief.
• Romney’s $100,000 taxpayer funded destruction of records.
• Mark Fiore: Suzie Newsykins, the Antimitter.
• Romney: A career politician.
• What’s younger than Mitt’s political career?
• Romney’s accidentally released anti-Gingrich ad. (via Slog).
• What was Mitt Romney hiding?
• Maddow: Newt’s gay half-sister supports Obama.
• Mitt Romney through the ages.
• Ed and Pap: Gingrich tries his hand at race bating.
• Newt Gingrich credits Mitt Romney’s wealth to…Newt Gingrich (via TalkingPointsMemo).
• Flashback: Politically Incorrect (ca. 1999) Newt and The Godfather.
• The 3 minute hip-hopish evangelical attack on Newt Gingrich (via Slog):
• Ann Telnaes: Newt Gingrich as frontrunner.
• You’re a mean one Newt Gingrich:
• Aloyna’s tool time: Rick Santorum suggests people die because of “bad decisions”.
• Alyona’s tool time: Rick Santorum war on food stamps.

Sam Seder: Republicans to the unemployed, “Go pee in a cup”.

Thom with The Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very ugly.

“Behind the scenes” at Moveon.org.

Sam Seder: George W. Bush cancels trip to Switzerland over fears of being arrested for torture charges.

Sharpton: Rep. Dennis Baxley, sponsor of strict FL voting law, admits no widespread fraud (via HuffPo).

Bill-O’s umbrella attack (via Slog).
Obama speaks on the economy.

America Occupied:

• Young Turks: Tea Party meets Occupy.
• Alyona: Occupy San Francisco evicted.
• Garfunkel and Oats with Weird Al Yankovic: Save the Rich:
• Thom: 99 percenters occupy jail
• Olbermann: Occupy protester assaulted by Bill-O’s umbrella.
• Young Turks: Bill-O’s umbrella attack.
• Olbermann: Occupy a Newt fundraiser.

Hanukkah at the White House.

Thom with some Good, Bad, and some Very, Very Ugly.

Stephen on corporate personhood and the S.C. referendum.

Rick Santorum oozes his way to West Wing Week.
ref=’http://youtu.be/Vy5GTQNZeew’>Worst Person in the World.

Young Turks: No abortions for raped military women.

Roy Zimmerman’s buy war toys for Christmas:

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

While I don’t know if the Seattle Waterfront museum is a good idea or not, I’m quite certain Pioneer Square could use the money. The state spending money in Pioneer Square to mitigate the problems with the tunnel is perfectly reasonable. In fact, even if there was no tunnel, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the state to take up some real estate and spend money on people down there.

After all, Pioneer Square was hit particularly hard by the recession and by Elliott Bay Books moving. Throw in the loss of 619 Western and possibly other buildings in the future as well as what construction is doing and the neighborhood is having tough times. The bars are still packed before and after a game, but for the rest of the time, it’s pretty sparce. Art walk isn’t the same. There’s nothing like Elliott Bay to draw people.

And now, hopefully the people who staff the museum and the people who use it will fill some of the void left in the wake of Elliott Bay and studio closings. They’ll go out to lunch and dinner. They’ll go to Art Walk and pick up a painting, or just make the place a little less lonely. They’ll go to concerts and have a drink after work.

Now maybe there’s a better way to achieve that than this museum. Maybe incentives for businesses and residents to move there will work better. Maybe some other thing there will spur the local economy, draw more people, or just make more sense for the community (I’d personally love to see an expansion of the Gold Rush Museum, but that’s a different pot of money). But just letting Pioneer Square languish until the economy rights itself, until Elliott Bay’s old location finds a tenant that can draw what it did, or until tunnel construction is over won’t help the area.

– Chart of the day.

– Bus Chick tells the best stories.

– Trapp couldn’t see it. Didn’t listen to those around him who knew something, never hired local hosts, nor even returned phone calls to community interests. He fired some great people, (“Tall Paul” Fredericks, who did get it, comes to mind).

– I’m still digesting Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?

– Ron Swanson is a great character, but nobody should base their presidential campaign on him. Also, all of the men in the race should grow a mustache.