Please join us this evening for a feast 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 a few folks show up earlier for dinner.
Can’t make it tonight? The Tri-Cities chapter of Drinking liberally meets every Tuesday night. Or check out the Everett chapter of Drinking liberally next Monday.
Last Friday, The Seattle Times had an opinion piece demanding that the legislature crack down on teachers unions that strike. And in almost a throwaway line, they miss the goddamn solution to many of the strikes:
The next economic forecast will not bring good news. A deficit between $1 billion and $2 billion may force lawmakers to look again for cuts in education. We don’t think they should do that, but the point is districts ought not enter long-term contracts based on old financial assumptions. What if that money is no longer there?
More than hard stances against teachers, the Seattle Times should demand that the legislature do more to fund education. They might suggest *gasp* tax increases to pay for that. Maybe get serious about closing loopholes. Maybe reexamine their opposition to an income tax. See, then money won’t be such a sticking point, we’ll be able to open schools on time, and you know, educate the state’s children better.
Mike Lofgren was a Congressional staffer for 28 years, including 16 years on the Republican side of the House and Senate Budget Committees. He retired recently, and has written an insightful essay on his disillusionment with contemporary Republicans.
It’s a serious “must read.”
Here are a couple of juicy excerpts. Footnote 2 says:
I am not a supporter of Obama and object to a number of his foreign and domestic policies. But when he took office amid the greatest financial collapse in 80 years, I wanted him to succeed, so that the country I served did not fail. But already in 2009, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, declared that his greatest legislative priority was – jobs for Americans? Rescuing the financial system? Solving the housing collapse? – no, none of those things. His top priority was to ensure that Obama should be a one-term president. Evidently Senator McConnell hates Obama more than he loves his country. Note that the mainstream media have lately been hailing McConnell as “the adult in the room,” presumably because he is less visibly unstable than the Tea Party freshmen
On why he retired:
I left because I was appalled at the headlong rush of Republicans, like Gadarene swine, to embrace policies that are deeply damaging to this country’s future; and contemptuous of the feckless, craven incompetence of Democrats in their half-hearted attempts to stop them. And, in truth, I left as an act of rational self-interest. Having gutted private-sector pensions and health benefits as a result of their embrace of outsourcing, union busting and “shareholder value,” the GOP now thinks it is only fair that public-sector workers give up their pensions and benefits, too. Hence the intensification of the GOP’s decades-long campaign of scorn against government workers. Under the circumstances, it is simply safer to be a current retiree rather than a prospective one.
Read the whole thing here.
Last week’s contest was won by Geoduck. It was an historic water ride at the Iowa State Fair.
Here’s this week’s contest, a random location somewhere in the world. Good luck!
Exodus 20:7
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Fucking discuss, goddamnit.
King County council member Jane Hague is, apparently, stonewalling the appointment of George Cheung to the King County Citizens Election Oversight Committee.
Cheung applied for the position at the encouragement of King County Elections Director Sherril Huff (via Publicola but my emphasis throughout):
Cheung says Huff urged him to apply because of his GOTV work with minority communities, particularly with Chinese voters who do not speak English. (After the 2000 Census, the federal government directed King County to pay special attention to language barriers for the growing Chinese, non-English-speaking population.) One spot on the committee designated as “representing the Chinese-speaking community” is currently vacant, and Cheung was slated to fill that spot.
Could it be? Does Jane Hague hates the idea of helping Chinese voters vote? It’s one plausible explanation.
I hope it’s wrong.
Cheung has impeccable credentials for the position. He is currently the Executive Director of a get-out-the-vote nonprofit called the Win/Win Network. And if that’s not enough…
During college, he interned with the Organization of Chinese Americans in Washington DC as a lobbyist to pass the Justice for Wards Cove Workers Act. He also worked as a project director for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in charge of designing and implementing a study of potentially discriminatory real estate practices through over 200 interviews with Massachusetts homebuyers. He was also a civil rights investigator for the state governments of Rhode Island and Washington. As a consultant, George has worked for a variety of non-profit and government agencies including APIAVote, United Way of King County, Nikkei Heritage Association of Washington and Seattle Public Utilities. In his volunteer time, George is a board member of Equal Rights Washington and the Western States Center. He holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and B.A. from Brown University in Political Science.
Impressive! So…instead of hating Chinese voters, maybe Hauge is just intimidated by Cheung’s credentials?
Because unlike Hauge, Cheung completed his Bachelors degree. All the way. And then went on to earn a Masters degree. And he didn’t need to lie about having a college degree to launch his career.
Gosh…I hope Hague isn’t that insecure….
A third plausible hypothesis comes from this observation:
Cheung [is] a Democratic PCO in the 34th Legislative District….
Is Jane Hague holding up Cheung’s nomination because he is a Democratic PCO?!? Really? The same Jane Hague who said:
I have worked hard to bring people together – bridging partisan political differences and soothing personal animosities.
[…]I “walk the talk” and I believe my bipartisan policy choices are reflective of my greater Eastside constituents.
She couldn’t be blocking the nomination for cynical partisan reasons, could she?
If not, what is it?
I refuse to believe the fourth possibility: that she’s just too goddamn drunk to get around to it.
Young Turks: Bill-O bribes cops to investigate his wife’s lover.
Ed and Pap and Lizz Winstead: No adults at home in the GOP:
Alyona’s Tool Time: Megyn Kelly.
Thom: Presidential firsts.
Dem video blasts GOP on…angry town halls (via TalkingPointsMemo).
Young Turks: GOP—cut FEMA, first responders, and hurricane hunters.
ONN: The Onion Week in Review.
The Return of Darth Cheney:
Olbermann with Ambassador Joe Wilson: Cheney…Pt I.
Olbermann with Ambassador Joe Wilson: Cheney…Pt II.
TED: Fourth Quadrant Politics.
Piers Morgan asks Rick Santorum if he’s a bigot.
Thom: This is what anti-Americanism really is:
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is Worst Person in the World.
Alyona’s Tool Time: FL GOP doesn’t want you ‘living in sin’.
FAUX News viewers are, apparently, confused by Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
Newsy: Obama moves back joint session address.
Sam Seder: Gov. Rick Scott blows money & proves he’s wrong about welfare recipients being druggies.
Young Turks: Republican will lead Supercommittee.
Mark Fiore: The future now.
Newsy: Daryl Hannah arrested for environmental protest.
Olbermann and Makos: The Nat. Geo. Geo. Bush interview.
Republican Committee of Pima County, Arizona is Worst Person in the World.
Young Turks: Eric Cantor’s disaster relief flip-floppery.
Ed with some racist Psychotalk from Rush Limbaugh.
Thom: Sen. Chuck Grassley lies on camera.
Limbaugh: Melanin is thicker than water (via Blatherwatch).
The G.O.P. Primary Asylum:
Young Turks: Tea Party wants blacks lynched.
Olbermann with Brian Beutler on politics of Obama’s EPA decision.
Newsy: Arizona GOP raising funds with Glock gun raffle.
White House: West Wing Week.
Rubio’s Ruin:
A big change coming to Whitehouse.gov.
NPR: “It’s All Politics” political news round-up.
Liberal Viewer: FAUX News attacks Google as anti-church?!?
Olbermann: The real-life impact of WI Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union efforts.
Mike Shaw, the acting chairman of the Republican Committee of Pima County, AZ is Worst Person in the World.
Thom: The Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.
Bill-O the Clown is Back! As Worst Person in the World.
Young Turks: Obama’s jobs speech cave.
PBS: The devastating Texas drought.
Goldy and his friends engage in some Podcasting Liberally at Seattle’s chapter of Drinking Liberally.
Pap: Republicans want climate science removed from text books.
Sharpton: Gov. Haley’s ridiculous response to question on new ‘Jim Crow’ vote rigging law.
Olbermann and Maysoon Zayid discuss O’Reilly-Gate:
Alyona’s fireside chat: US failing on civil liberties post 9/11.
Ed with some major psychotalk from George Pataki.
Young Turks: Strippers prepare for GOP convention.
Eric Cantor cuts the competition on the way to Worst Person in the World.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
I’m unclear how this works, please help me understand:
A Pierce County judge ruled Friday the owners of a Tacoma medical-marijuana dispensary fighting to reclaim pot seized during a police investigation would have to do more than flash their medicinal-cannabis authorization forms to prove they’re qualified to possess the confiscated product.
Superior Court Judge John Hickman did not spell out exactly what Guy Casey and Michael Schaef would have to do to convince him they are allowed to possess marijuana. But he rejected their arguments that their authorization cards should be enough.
If Casey and Schaef aren’t legally entitled to have the marijuana that they were caught with, charge them. Prosecutors didn’t charge Casey and Schaef because their entire case was based upon the testimony of some flaky doofus they eventually realized was unreliable. But to Judge Hickman, none of that matters. Casey and Schaef are guilty until they prove their innocence to him. And even though there’s precedence for cases like this, that may not matter in the great reefer madness metropolis of Tacoma.
– The announcement for the pro- $60 car tab campaign’s kickoff.
– It’s not really taking a 3% pay cut if you’re just voluntarily giving it to charity.
– Today in movies I’m not going to see.
– Any can’t misses at Bumbershoot this year?
– I’m sort of goofy about college football. I certainly prefer the pros. And oh the corruption. Still, I’m sure I’ll watch a fair amount of it once it’s on. I love the tradition, and their upsets are more thrilling than anything in any professional sport. Still, even if it makes business sense, I think there has to be a way to reign in Oregon’s uniforms.
Goldy notes the flat jobs numbers for August.
But not to worry, if the lack of jobs really was an issue for the majority of real Americans, I’m sure Congress wouldn’t have put off President Obama’s jobs speech so as not to preempt a Republican presidential debate.
I don’t think the people who’ve been obsessing about deficits (Democrats included) are going to be able to do what’s necessary to get jobs back on track. We need something as large in scale as the Tree Army and we shouldn’t pay for it until the economy is doing well again.
No more belt tightening in the hope that it’ll impress Wall Street. If we want jobs, we can create them. Not tax breaks. Not magical thinking. We have enough need in this country, we have willing workers. We ought to make it happen.
We’re all teabaggers now.
As you probably know, today the Washington state Supreme Court ruled to allow state Attorney General Rob McKenna to continue his humiliation of Washingtonians. The Court ruled that McKenna has the right to thwart the will of the legislature, the Governor, and the people, and participate in the Florida et al. lawsuit against the health care reform law.
Since McKenna is running for Governor in 2012, a natural question to ask is, “What will McKenna’s replacement do?”
The 2012 general election match-up for AG is likely to be between King County Council members Reagan Dunn (R) and Bob Ferguson (D). Where do the candidates stand?
Publicola’s Erica C. Barnett gives Ferguson’s unambiguous statement:
“I have been clear that on my first day in office, I will withdraw Washington State from that lawsuit. Instead, the Attorney General should focus on protecting Washington consumers, our environment and ensuring public safety.”
And Washington State Wire’s Erik Smith lays out Dunn’s position:
Dunn says he supports McKenna’s most controversial decision – to join the national lawsuit filed by Republican governors and attorneys general in 26 states against the Obama Administration’s health care reform initiative. And just in case that one hasn’t been resolved by 2014, Dunn says he’ll keep right on pressing the case.
So…there you have it: A sharp, unambiguous difference between Ferguson and Dunn for our next Attorney General.
The law:
The attorney general shall also represent the state and all officials, departments, boards, commissions and agencies of the state in the courts, and before all administrative tribunals or bodies of any nature, in all legal or quasi legal matters, hearings, or proceedings
Rob McKenna’s own argument why he doesn’t really have to follow the law (my emphasis throughout):
“The Constitution, state law and case law interpreting the powers and duties of the Attorney General affirm that the AG is more than just a passive observer of state agency action and grant this office authority to determine whether or not to appeal cases of interest to the state,” McKenna said.
Goldy’s assessment:
Huh. Really? […] Because the Constitution affirms absolutely nothing except that “The attorney general shall be the legal adviser of the state officers, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law.” There is no other mention in the Constitution about the AG’s powers and duties.
As for state law, we’ve already gone over that exhaustively, and I don’t see anything in there explicitly giving the AG’s office the authority to determine whether or not to appeal cases against the wishes of his client. I see RCW 43.12.075 defining a traditional attorney-client relationship between the AG and the Commissioner of Public Lands, mandating that it shall be the AG’s duty to defend the Commissioner when requested so to do, and explicitly stating that it is the Commissioner who represents the state in any proceedings relating to public land. But I see nothing in state law granting McKenna the broad powers he claims.
As for case law, well, I’ve already admitted that there is some case law on both sides of this argument, although absolutely nothing […] in Washington state…. I believe the case law I’ve previously discussed is pretty damn persuasive that the AG does not have the authority McKenna claims….
The court’s decision:
None of the case law cited confers on the attorney general the discretion he seeks to refuse to pursue an appeal despite his client’s directive that he do so. Nor does the attorney general’s constitutional role counsel otherwise. Given the mandatory language of the statute and the prohibition of hiring outside counsel, no discretion is involved, and representation is required. Therefore, we grant the writ.
So bad, in fact, that McKenna was out-lawyered by a fucking blogger!
Now, that Goldy…. He should have gone to law school…if only for his mother’s sake.
Today the Washington state Supreme Court denied Seattle’s petition that would require Attorney General Rob McKenna to withdraw from the Teabagger-inspired multistate lawsuit against the health care reform law. From the decision:
The people of the state of Washington have, by statute, vested the attorney general with broad authority, and Attorney General McKenna’s decision to sue to enjoin the enforcement of the (health care law) falls within that broad authority. As such, Attorney General McKenna has no mandatory duty to withdraw the State from the multistate litigation. The city of Seattle’s petition for a writ of mandamus must, accordingly, be denied.
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes responded:
I respectfully disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision. Attorney General McKenna dragged Washington state into a Tea-Party-inspired lawsuit that will, if successful, prevent millions of Americans from obtaining the health care…. He did this against the express wishes of and without first consulting the Governor, the Insurance Commissioner, the House Speaker, and the Senate Majority Leader.
By any rational measure, Washington is a blue state. Of late we’ve elected Democrats for Governor, Democratic Senators; Democratic presidential nominees win our popular vote. As a people we are strong on the environment, pro-labor, pro-choice, pro-science, pro-safety, pro-health.
And now we have an Attorney General who defies the Governor and the people and unilaterally decides to join the teabaggery. McKenna has, singlehandedly, made us red-faced by painting us as a pack of pitchfork-wielding Teabaggers.
So please join me in offering Rob McKenna a great big FUCK YOU for fucking humiliating the fuck out of us before the nation…fuckwad!
The Pima County Republican Party is raffling off a Glock 23 handgun to raise money for get out the vote efforts in the district where a Glock was used last winter to kill six people and wound Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).
Really? Republican GOTV efforts?!?
– Republicans sure are Assholes.
– Who think they’re funny when they’re being assholes.
– Reuven Carlyle passes this on about 619 Western.
– So, when’s the rally to protest this outrageous waste and misuse of taxpayer’s money?
– Flying While Black & Reading Antique Aviation Books (h/t)
– An amazing looking moth.
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