HorsesAss.Org

There are a couple of things happening this weekend that you might consider being part of.

• First, there will be a bunch of legislative town hall meetings in communities all over the state tomorrow. This is a chance to offer your state Senator or Representatives some advice, criticism, and feedback. The full schedule for tomorrow and other dates is here.
• National Radical Women invite you to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day and female-led uprisings, strikes and protests from 1911 to 2011. There will be a brunch at 1:30 and a main event at 3:00. (Door donation $2.00, Brunch donation $9.00). The event is at New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S. Seattle. (More information.)
• There is a Project AWARE underwater clean-up of Golden Gardens Park and Shilshole Marina, Saturday, March 12, 2011, 8am – 2pm.

Are there others? Leave a comment.

After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the National Weather Service has issued a tsunami warning for the West Coast. You can see the forecast here, but fair warning, I have no idea what it means.

The Wisconsin Republicans have rammed through a bill that strips collective bargaining rights from public employees. The new legislation only allows collective bargaining for wage increases up to the rate of inflation. In other words, public employees will only be allowed to bargain over how much of a pay cut they will take each year.

Isn’t that special.

There are questions about the legality of the conference committee meeting. The brief meeting itself is well worth watching:

A complaint has been filed, which would be unlikely to void the law, but give another cause, and one based on violations of the law, for the campaigns to recall G.O.P. Senators.

And there are also questions about the constitutionality of the legislation. Regardless of the legal challenges, the legislation will probably become, and stay, law. At least it will until Wisconsin no longer has a Teabagger for a Governor with a G.O.P. controlled Senate and Assembly.

Following the Senate vote last night, the cowardly Republicans were whisked away in a semi-commandeered Madison Metro bus, while protesters surrounding the bus screaming, “Shame!” and “Cowards!”:

Recall campaigns are underway for six the eight Republican Senators currently recallable. The first phase is a 60 day signature collection period that has been going remarkably well—roughly 15 percent of the needed signatures had been collected by last weekend.

Greg Sargent has an early release of polls conducted by SurveyUSA in the eight districts:

When asked if they would vote for Hopper or someone else if a recall election were held right now, 54 percent said they’d vote for someone else, versus only 43 percent they’d vote for Hopper.

In Kapanke’s district, the numbers were even worse: 57 percent said they’d vote for someone else, versus only 41 percent who said they’d vote for Kapanke.

It gets even more interesting. The poll was taken yesterday, before last night’s events, and fifty-six percent of voters in Kapanke’s district, and 54% of voters in Hopper’s district, said if their Senator voted for Walker’s plan, it would make them more likely to vote for someone else.

Finally, by all measures, the fundraising for the recall campaigns has been nothing short of astonishing:

As of this morning, according to Ben Smith, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America had raised $750,000. As of this afternoon, MoveOn’s ActBlue page for the recall reports around $860,000 of donations from around 27,000 people; the Daily Kos page reports around $340,000 from around 12,500.

As Goldy pointed out, all it takes is money.

At least I think this is live:

Illinois has ended their death penalty, making them the 16th state to abolish it. And there’s no reason Washington can’t go next. It’s too late in the legislature this year, but the problems in Illinois are the problems in every state. And while we aren’t offing people at the rate of Texas or Florida, it’s still a stain on us that we do it at all.

So we have a chance to say we believe as a state that we are going to have more compassion, more humanity, more decency than the people on death row. We can say no to an irreversible punishment and yes to our humanity. It’s time to end the death penalty in Washington, and make ourselves number 17.

Rob McKenna
1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100

Dear Rob,

You must be as excited as I am with Newt Gingrich’s conference call today.

Newt Gingrich told supporters on a conference call “we are leaning toward a yes” on a presidential run, CNN has learned.
[…]

Also interesting: Gingrich expects former Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA) to be a co-chair “once we put the campaign together.”

Brilliant…adding Zell Miller to the campaign is just the ticket to refocus the press on something besides Newt’s messy marriages and adultery in the service of his country. It’ll inject some crazy-ass excitement into Newt’s campaign.

Gingrich’s bold bipartisan move is a helpful precedence for your forthcoming gubernatorial campaign. You, too, can rise above partisanship while injecting some crazy-ass excitement into your own campaign.

May I suggest making Lou Guzzo your campaign chair?

Lou did it for Dixy Lee Ray; he can do it for you. He has lots of really good ideas.

Lou will know how to keep people from thinking too much about your anti-labor agenda and your lawsuit to strip affordable health insurance from millions.

And it’ll be just plain fun…so think about it.

Yours verily,

Darryl
Horsesass.org

Here is what we learn about today’s arrest of a suspect in the MLK-day bombing from the Seattle Times (my emphasis):

An FBI source in Washington, D.C., said one man was arrested east of Spokane. Agents, including a bomb expert from Quantico, Va., were preparing to search a house where others associated with the suspect were living, the source said.

The suspects are apparently affiliated with white supremacists.

Interesting…these two paragraphs imply that there was something about today’s arrest—perhaps a statement from that FBI source—that linked the suspect up with a white supremacist group.

I wanted to know more about the evidence for the connection besides simple geographic proximity. And what about the other of the “suspects.” Only one person was mentioned as being arrested.

So I searched other media sources for more details. Here is what I find in the AP account (my emphasis):

KHQ-TV of Spokane reported that federal and local law enforcement officers had surrounded a home near Colville, Wash., about 80 miles northwest of Spokane. Two T-shirts found inside the bomb were tied to that rural area.

Additional details were not immediately available.

The FBI has said nothing about possible suspects, but public opinion from the beginning focused on some of the white supremacist groups that have brought notoriety to the region in the past three decades. The area once served as headquarters for Richard Butler’s Aryan Nations, whose members were lured by the small number of minorities.

The AP piece implies that the affiliation with white supremacist is purely conjecture based on geographic proximity to such groups.

A few minutes after that the same Seattle Times article was edited and lengthened. Here is the revised version of the excerpt from above (my emphasis):

An FBI source in Washington, D.C., said one man was arrested Wednesday outside a home near Colville, Stevens County. Agents, including a bomb expert from Quantico, Va., were preparing to search a house where others associated with the suspect were living, the source said.

The suspect is believed to be affiliated with white supremacists, the source said.

Look at all that editing of the first paragraph. And now there is only one suspect believed affiliated with white supremacists and the FBI source in Washington made the claim about affiliation. (Here is a before and after image.)

Fascinating…I’ve not come across an article in the MSM being live edited to such an extent. But now I won’t feel quite so bad when I make small corrections to my posts on Horsesass. And maybe I don’t need to footnote my changes, strike-through my errors, or even fess up after making correctinos. Hell…I can just compose live.

The Seattle Times has set the new standard.

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. We start at 8:00 pm, but feel free to show up even earlier for dinner.

Not in Seattle? There is a good chance you live near one of the 214 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

Last night, I facilitated the Cannabis Defense Coalition’s March Public Meeting. It was the largest public meeting I can remember, primarily because of the continued erosion of the medical marijuana bill that’s been making its way through the legislature. A number of amendments have been tacked onto the bill that have drawn concerns from patients to health care professionals to business owners to even some city governments. A few of the issues involved (in no particular order):

– Extra language added to section 301 would give the state incredible power to target health care professionals who provide health care authorizations. These restrictions were designed to target what’s become seen as the stereotype of the “pot doctor”, but they go way too far in several other ways and would actually endanger both patients and the numerous health care professionals who provide legitimate authorizations. For example, if a patient was diagnosed with cancer by one doctor and referred to a specialist, that specialist could come under fire for authorizing medical marijuana.

– Arrest protection was removed for people who aren’t signed up in a state registry database, which might not be completed for several years. This means that individuals with valid authorization forms in their possession could still be arrested. If this isn’t fixed, it’s likely that the various constituents lobbying for this bill will demand that the bill be removed. This is clearly a deal-breaker.

– An added clause regarding medical marijuana advertising is also very controversial. UW law professor Stewart Jay says it’s unconstitutional, and several members of The Stranger were present last night, as this issue could significantly impact their advertising business.

– State cooperative grows are now limited to only 3 people and 45 plants. The original bill had the limit of 25 people and 99 plants (99 plants keeps it under a particular federal plant limit). This provision is more important for the rural parts of the state where a dispensary may not be nearby. One person suggested 6 people and 90 plants, which I thought was an acceptable compromise. Others might still think that’s too few people.

– There was a lot of confusion about whether dispensers and growers would be protected if a system for licensing them wasn’t set up by July 1, 2012, as specified in the bill. This concern was brought up by Steve Sarich, and few other people in the room seemed aware of this issue. It seems to be a conclusion he arrived at by reading through the fiscal note for the bill. The lobbyist for the Washington Cannabis Association, Ezra Eickmeyer, was also in the room and seemed to think it was worth looking into.

– In the original bill, state pre-emption made it so that localities would only be able to implement zoning restrictions around dispensaries, but couldn’t outlaw them entirely. That’s been changed to allow local areas to establish their own limits. In California, it’s done this way and it’s led to a fair bit of chaos. In fact, Eickmeyer noted that a number of cities were in favor of the original language and are working closely with proponents of the bill to make sure we get this right.

– Language that imposed penalties on law enforcement or other government officials for divulging the private information in the state patient registry was removed. There were concerns that without a deterrent, it would lead to violations.

Also mentioned last night was something that I haven’t seen reported in the press. HB1550, the full legalization bill that would allow for regulation and sale to adults in the state’s liquor store system, was advanced in the House by Speaker Chopp marking the bill NTIB (“Necessary To Implement Budget”). Only a handful of people were aware of this, so I don’t have any more details, but it’s a good sign that Speaker Chopp is starting to recognize the value that a bill like this has at a time when budgets are tight.

UDPATE: Eli Sanders was present at the meeting and posts up a recap.

UDPATE 2: Audio of the meeting is available here.

President Obama is selecting current Commerce Secretary and former Washington state Governor Gary Locke to be the next Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China:

The official says that “as a Pacific Rim governor and Commerce Secretary he helped lead an historic increase in trade with China. As Commerce Secretary, Locke has delivered on the president’s goal of doubling U.S. exports in the next five years (up 17 percent in 2010), led the push for patent and export control reforms and presided over a Census count that came in 25 percent under budget – returning more than $2 billion to the Treasury.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is frustrated over the political standoff over his legislation to strip away collective bargaining from most public employees.

Walker’s frustration comes, in part, from recent polls showing the Wisconsin citizenry siding with public employees. The most recent poll comes from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute:

Bargaining rights: […] Exactly half of the respondents (50 percent) say that public employees are willing to compromise on pensions and benefits but limiting bargaining rights does nothing to balance the state’s budget situation and is really just an attempt to get rid of public employee unions. Forty-three percent say the proposed changes are a necessary reform because they will give local governments greater flexibility to control their budgets over several years.
[…]

Walker: Slightly more than half (53 percent) of the respondents have a somewhat or strongly unfavorable opinion of Walker while 43 percent have a somewhat or strongly favorable opinion of him. In a November WPRI poll shortly after Walker was elected, a slightly higher percentage (45 percent) had a somewhat or strongly favorable opinion of him while 35 percent had a somewhat or strongly unfavorable opinion of him and 20 percent either didn’t know or had never heard of him.

Almost two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) say he should compromise with Democrats and public employee unions while one-third (33 percent) say he should stand strong no matter how long protests last.

Other bad news for Walker is the relatively pro-worker sentiment expressed by a majority of those polled:

Laying off State workers: Two thirds (66 percent) are somewhat or strongly opposed while 30 percent are somewhat or strongly in favor. […]

Public employee unions: In the most recent poll, almost six out of ten respondents (59 percent) had a somewhat or strongly favorable opinion of public employee unions. Thirty-four percent had a somewhat or strongly unfavorable opinion.

Little wonder that Walker is frustrated. He thought he could cram his extremist anti-worker legislation through the legislative process without anyone really noticing. Instead, his actions have placed him in the ideological spotlight. The recent polls tell us that Wisconsinites don’t like what they see.

Walker held a press conference today, and tried to take his frustration out on Mark Miller (D), the Senate Minority Leader and de facto leader of the self-exiled Senators:

[…] Walker wielded Sunday night’s report from the Wall Street Journal, which reported Miller as saying the Dems would come back — and which Miller and the Dems quickly distanced themselves from — as evidence that Miller had misled people.
[…]

On multiple occasions, Walker said that Miller was in effect following the word of labor union leaders — and he imagined that there might have been some sort of secret phone calls.

Later in the conference, Walker said that Miller “appears to be listening more to the labor union bosses in Washington than he does to members of his own caucus.” He again maintained that Miller had told the Wall Street Journal that he would come home, “and then after he got the phone call from labor unions in Washington or whatever it was,” had changed his tune.

Wait…he “imagines” a “secret phone call?” From out of state? Calling the shots?

That’s rich stuff, coming from a guy who actually took a phone call from out-of-state billionaire David Koch! At least, that’s who Walker thought he was talking to on the phone.

Yes…this is classic Wingnut projection: Whatever we actually do, we will accuse the Democrats of doing and hope nobody notices.

Walker also later said: “I’m not sure, I can only speculate. But I have to assume that some of those labor leaders who have invested millions and millions into this state got on the phone with Sen. Miller and told him, you cannot budge.”

See what I mean?

This is almost sad. Via The Guardian:

For America’s beleaguered liberals, Monday’s New York Times reports what sounds like a dream come true: Fox News is considering parting company with Glenn Beck, the rococo conspiracy theorist who inspires those on the swivel-eyed right and infuriates anyone to their left.

Wait a minute…Beck infuriates the left?!? While it may be true that some years ago Glenn Beck was a low-level chronic irritant who, on occasion, rose to the level of infuriating—like when he claimed with a straight fact that “Barack Obama has a deep-seated hatred of white people”—well…not so much lately. Seriously…has Glenn gotten under your skin lately? Or just made you snicker when you saw something about him on Comedy Central? These days Glenn Beck has taken on new importance as a crazy-rich vein of blogger’s gold.

Remember in late 2008 how many comedians lamented the departure of George W. Bush with no President McCain in the stars? Comedians saw a McCain/Palin administration as a mother lode of comic, freaking, gold, perhaps as rich as Bush/Cheney. Obama/Biden? Eh…not so much. A comic order of magnitude separates Biden shooting off his mouth from Dick Cheney shooting his friend in the face….

In the same way, all of us dirty hippie, commie-pinko, gun-fearin’, Bill Ayres-palling, tax-loving, abortion-eating, leftist bloggers now are alarmed by the demise of the wackiest clown in FAUX News’ impressive line-up of wacky clowns. You see, even on the slowest of news days, even on days when the pressures of blogging induced cognitive constipation, even when the day’s news was so terrible it killed the joy of writing, we could always look up the crazy things Glenn Beck did or said that day for a little blogging fodder with comic relief.

Alas, the comics’ fears in 2008 never materialized. The election of a black man with a funny sounding name catalyzed a modest-sized assemblage of right-wingers to jump off the deep end into a cesspool of insanity that keeps comedians well stocked with material.

So maybe my fears are unfounded; Glenn Beck will not abandon us left wing Bloggers. He’s wealthy. He’s driven. He has a deep-seated hatred of not being loved by white people. I think we can anticipate bigger and crazier crazy.

Last week’s contest was won by Liberal Scientist. It was the party villa of Silvio Berlusconi in Arcore, Italy, where the Prime Minister’s bunga-bunga parties have gotten him in a bit of trouble.

Here’s this week’s view, from a random location:

Discuss.

The past few hours in Tripoli have been noisy with the sounds of gunfire. Up until now, Gaddafi had lost most of the country but still maintained control in the capital and his hometown of Sirte. Libyan TV has been broadcasting that a number of cities were retaken by Gaddafi’s forces today, but other news outlets have shown those claims to be fiction. Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, was still being held by anti-regime protesters despite several very violent attacks.

Libyan TV is also claiming that the gunfire is the result of pro-Gaddafi folks celebrating, and the Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground concurred that it’s coming partially from regime supporters who actually believe that government forces have re-taken opposition-held cities and are marching on Benghazi. But she also reports that there’s more going on than just the celebrations, and it’s possible that there are some actual gunbattles in the city between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces.

Everything points to the fact that the noose is still tightening against Gaddafi and his supporters. It would be fitting to see his insane rule end as his supporters celebrate victory in the parallel universe they’ve constructed for themselves. Al Jazeera has a good live blog of Sunday’s events. And their English live feed is here.