HorsesAss.Org

Last week I posted a commentary suggesting that “It’s Gov. Gregoire who needs to take the lead in pulling the tunnel cost overrun provision,” not Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.

My premise was simple. If, as the Governor suggests, Mayor McGinn’s focus on the cost-overrun provision “is just something to hang his hat on” in his effort to scuttle the Big Bore tunnel, and if the cost-overrun provision is as unenforceable as she says it is, and if the Governor is really promising to sign a bill that would remove this provision… then why not just take the lead in doing exactly that, thus swiping the Mayor’s hat peg?

I’m on record as opposing the tunnel, but if the goal is to move forward with this project as quickly as possible, I argued, the Governor and the legislative leadership should just swallow their pride and promise to push through what she claims to be a mere symbolic legislative fix. It was, I thought, a pretty damn constructive proposal coming from somebody on the losing side of the tunnel debate. But you wouldn’t know it from the comment thread, which proved particularly vitriolic and disinformative even by HA comment thread standards.

Indeed, this thread is pretty much emblematic of the “Fuck Seattle” attitude that often seems to dominate political discourse throughout the rest of state. “I hope Seattle fucking chokes on the cost overruns,” one commenter writes, while another insists that Mayor McGinn deserves “a taste of his own medicine.” While I magnanimously proposed a way to politically move forward, my critics clearly remained focused on extracting retribution.

Ah well. So much for attempting to be the voice of reason.

Ironically, in objecting to the advisory vote in which Seattle voters rejected both a tunnel and a rebuild, one of my most vocal critics in the thread inadvertently makes a pretty damn strong case against sticking the city with the cost-overruns:

Get it straight. Highway 99 is not the property of the city of Seattle. It is a STATE FUCKING HIGHWAY. It happens to run through Seattle, and through a hell of a lot of other municipalities. One hell of a lot of people depend on Highway 99 who are not Seattle residents, and their tax dollars damn sure support that highway.

The state built it. The state maintains it. The Legislature controls the purse strings…

Okay, it’s a “state fucking highway.” Great. Then let the state pay for it. Including any cost-overruns. Especially considering that, unlike the existing Viaduct, the new deep bore tunnel will include no exits or onramps.

Did you hear that folks? No exits or onramps! This is a tunnel explicitly designed not to serve downtown Seattle, but rather folks seeking to drive through it, and because of the lack of exits comparable to those northbound at Seneca and Western, and the rush hour traffic backups they create, the tunnel will be much better suited to this particular purpose than any of the other proposed options.

So don’t give me this shit about how if Seattle wants its “gold-plated tunnel” Seattle taxpayers should have to pay for it. Yes, the removal of the existing Viaduct will open the waterfront to redevelopment, but the much cheaper surface/transit option would have done same while providing far better ingress and egress to downtown Seattle than a deep bore tunnel with no exits.

In fact, the only people who will benefit from the tunnel over the surface/transit option will be those seeking to drive through downtown Seattle without being slowed down by the street traffic above.

So yeah, Highway 99 is a state highway, and the state rejected the less expensive surface/transit option in favor of the deep bore tunnel so as to better meet the needs of the thru-traffic driving on it. You win some and you lose some. I can live with that. And I’m guessing, in the long run, so can the Mayor.

But the Governor and the Legislature are making an awfully big mistake if they insist on giving McGinn no political exit.

Apparently, after four years of championing Rep. Dave Reichert for his “conscience-driven independent streak,” the Seattle Times editorial board finally suspects that he might be a little “cynical.”

WHAT was 8th District Congressman Dave Reichert thinking?

Reichert, three-term congressman from Auburn, told a recent gathering of Republican precinct committee officers that to remain in office there are “certain moves, chess pieces, strategies I have to employ.”

He said he toes the party line most of the time but suggested a few select environmental votes keep environmental groups from spending millions of dollars to defeat him. How cynical.

And in tomorrow’s editorial, the Times finally admits that Reichert did not catch the Green River Killer.

This coming Wednesday evening, the Northwest Progressive Institute will be holding a fundraising gala. As many of you know, NPI has been a ceaseless foe of professional initiative hawker (and confessed liar) Tim Eyman. Since 2003, NPI has championed numerous progressive causes from tax reform to support of progressive candidates in the Northwest. Over the last five years, NPI has played a huge role in organizing and informing the progressive NW blogosphere, and bringing together progressive activists and their representatives in Washington and Olympia.

They deserve your support. But, beyond that, these events are just plain enjoyable. That isn’t just talk…I attended the previous fundraiser, and had a great time. This years speakers are John de Graaf, Suzan DelBene, Dow Constantine, Rep. Han Dunshee, and Seattle Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton.

The gala will start at 6:30 the Wednesday (June 9th) at the Community Center at Mercer View, 8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island. The cost is $45 for individuals and $75 for households. And there is special price ($20) for students and low income families.

You can find additional information on the event and purchase tickets at the NPI web site.

Last week’s contest was won by mlc1us in a very impressive 11 minutes. The correct answer was the TownePlace Suites in Urbandale, IA, where Slipknot bassist Paul Gray was found dead from a likely drug overdose.

As always, each contest picture will be related to something in the news from this past week. Here’s this week’s image:

– Glenn Beck has now dropped all subtlety in his American fascist shtick and is now promoting a pro-Nazi book from the 1930s. As Dave explains:

Now, we know that Beck bought whole into Jonah Goldberg’s fraudulent Liberal Fascism thesis, and therefore probably believes that these American Nazis were evil “progressives” at heart. So it’s likely he had a huge blind spot about the fact that American fascists of the 1930s were far-right ideologues whose favorite pastime was Red-baiting.

Media Matters has an interview with Alexander Zaitchik, who has just written a book on Beck’s life and career. Zaitchik is correct when he says this:

As for whether the left sweats him too much, time will tell. He may very well flame out, or melt down. But right now he merits concern. As pleasant as it might be to dismiss him, too many people are willing and eager to enter into this bizarre role-play in which Beck is not only their history professor, but also their quasi-prophetic movement leader. While there is an argument to be made against giving him too much of our energy and attention, completely ignoring him and his ilk is one luxury we can’t afford.

When someone like Glenn Beck is openly promoting books written by prominent white supremacists – and still has a popular show on a major cable news network – that’s certainly not something we should be ignoring as a society.

– In Prescott, Arizona, angry townspeople – led by a city councilman and talk radio personality named Steve Blair – successfully pressured the school principal to order that a recently painted mural have the faces of the children be lightened up. Since then, the councilman was fired from his radio gig. All of the recent insanity in Arizona is reminding me that my old boss repeatedly said he wanted to move there “for the politics”. My old boss was this guy. What the hell is going on down there?

– There were two fantastic media pieces this week on the drug war. Evan Wood writes about how the bloodshed in Jamaica is indicative of a massive worldwide policy failure. And Johann Hari draws the parallels between the failed experiment with alcohol prohibition and its modern global reincarnation.

– In collecting signatures for I-1068 last weekend, a woman who signed my petition commented that she was still worried because “stoned driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving.” This is a topic that rarely yields rational discussion, but it’s still worth pointing out that scientific evidence for that belief does not exist. Driving drunk is far worse than driving stoned. That’s not to say that driving stoned is entirely safe. It’s not. It’s just that driving a motor vehicle while drunk is uniquely dangerous. The major difference between drunk driving and stoned driving is that, while both involve an impairment of reaction times, stoned drivers tend to get overly cautious while drunk drivers tend to become more aggressive with their impairment. And the studies that have been done to compare the two have found big differences between the damage caused by drunk drivers and the damage caused by stoned drivers.

Deuteronomy 28:53
And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

Yummy. Discuss.

I know I’m the last person who the Seattle Times would want to consult on how to save their dying paper. But despite myself, I feel a certain affinity for newspapers. I still read the dead tree version of New York Times, and although I make fun of the Seattle Times stupid ed page, I’m glad they’re around.

While I often have real problems with their editorial stance, and I don’t understand why they still have stale columns from national writers, I do think they are an important piece of what gets reported in Western Washington. So let’s start there. The Seattle Times shouldn’t run syndicated columns who we’ve seen the day before in their own paper, and who we can read for free online. I don’t know that it saves them much money, but it makes them more of a local paper.

So what to replace those columns with? Some days, I say dissenting opinions. Especially on candidate endorsements where Ryan Blethen says it’s important to have a conversation, there should be editorials in favor of each candidate (and let us know who wrote what). There would still be an endorsement, but the Times would acknowledge that there’s another side.

But mostly, just use the freed up newspaper space for more, you know, news. I’d say don’t run any opinion some days. Nobody cares what the paper thinks on any given issue except for people who already had an opinion about that issue, and nobody under 60 cares what Bruce Ramsey or Joni Balter think about anything. Make a couple days a week opinion free days, and give the space now for Ed and Op-Ed to in-depth reports on upcoming races, or investigative pieces, or important issues. Imagine picking up the Times in the 5 weeks leading up to an election and reading great pieces on each city council race. Imagine a full 2 pages given to an important issue. Imagine knowing every Saturday that there will be a well researched, well edited, well written long form piece instead of another vapid editorial.

And speaking of well written, give your writers license to write. The staid, boring style of reporting is often not worth reading. Of course as a fowl mouthed blogger that partly means swearing when it’s relevant: sometimes people say “Shit” in congressional hearings. And they say “Fuck” on the Gotti tapes. They don’t say “S***” or “F***” and when I read that sort of nonsense in their pages, or too clever by half word play that makes me have no idea what was said, it makes me not care if the Times goes under: while I know they’ll never swear as much as me, not having blanket censorship makes it a better read.

Because more than anything, I want a good read. I want to smile at a turn of phrase in the news coverage. I want to be wowed by the transition between ideas in the opinion pieces, and I want passion in the sports section.

But really, I’d settle for not complete shit in the sports section. I seriously can’t think off the top of my head of any Seattle Times sports writers. As much as I wonder if Art Thiel is fucking insane when I read him, or assume George Vecsey is writing with a quill pen when I read him, he’s so old fashioned, they are fun to read.

So those are my suggestions that I know will never actually be implemented. They’d make the paper more fun to read, and maybe save it in the end.

(And there are forty more media clips from the past week in politics at Hominid Views.)

I’m kinda with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn in his opposition to the deep bore tunnel, though not exactly for all the same reasons. (I mean, we pick the most expensive Viaduct replacement alternative possible, but we can’t even scrounge up the loose change to replace the South Park Bridge? What’s up with that?)

Still, I think Gov. Chris Gregoire came awfully close to disarming the mayor’s most compelling rhetorical argument against the current proposal: the bizarrely punitive provision in which Seattle taxpayers are responsible for picking up the tab for any cost overruns.

Think about it. Regardless of how low the initial bids are coming, or how much of a cushion they’ve supposedly built into their estimates, we all know that mega-projects sometimes often more times than not come in over budget. That’s a fact. Yet the state DOT, which is tasked with managing this part of the project, bears none of the costs for the risks it takes on.

No doubt it made some legislators feel awfully damn good to slip in this provision, but it is simply untenable, and just cannot stand.

Gov. Gregoire now says that the provision’s language merely represents “legislative intent,” and would not be enforceable without further legislative action. “When the state budget is being drawn by the state, the state is responsible for the projects,” the Governor said yesterday, dismissing McGinn’s objections. In fact, she even challenged McGinn to go to Olympia and get the language changed:

“If you want it changed in the law, you need to take it to the Legislature in January. You get it done, you bring it to my desk, I’ll sign it.”

Great. So Gov. Gregoire is on the record in favor of striking the cost overrun provision. But instead of just shoving it in McGinn’s face — who, to be honest, has not thus far proven particular adept at persuading legislators — how about if the Governor offers to take the lead and propose this fix to the legislature herself? And while we’re at it, how about if House Speaker Frank Chopp, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and respective transportation chairs Rep. Judy Clibborn and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen collectively swallow their pride, and promise to work with the Governor and the Mayor to get this done?

There are other good policy arguments for opposing the tunnel, but no other good rhetorical ones, so instead of just attempting to embarrass the Mayor in a public forum and hope he slinks away, it is time for the Governor and other Olympia leaders to put this to rest by promising to remove this last remaining political stumbling block.

If Mayor McGinn is smart, he’ll score some points by claiming credit for forcing a major concession. And as much as that might pain Gov. Gregoire to pay that sort of political price, well… sometimes mega-projects like this simply cost more than you expect.

I suppose state Sen. Don Benton’s unsurprising withdrawal from the U.S. Senate race is good news for real estate speculator and two-time gubernatorial loser Dino Rossi… that is, if you had any doubt of Rossi making it through the crowded Republican field and onto the November ballot.

No? No doubts? Then it’s not really all that significant, is it?

What it does do however, is focus the GOP primary as a contest between Rossi, the lone establishment Republican in the race, and Palin-anointed federal-subsidy-dependent teabagger Clint Didier. This simplified narrative leaves a much more compelling (and, well, easier) story for our media to tell. And I’m not so sure that is good news for the Rossi camp.

The problem for Rossi is that his hopes depend on a Republican wave, a wave built upon the enthusiasm of the teabagger base of his party. If Rossi draws too stark a distinction between himself and Didier, this enthusiasm may be hard to capture. Likewise, if Rossi simply tries to ignore Didier (which appears to be his current strategy), this too could create resentment within the GOP base.

But Didier’s politics are, well, crazy, so if Rossi embraces them he risks alienating the so-called “moderate” independent and soft-Democratic voters Republicans need to win statewide elections. Ask Ellen Craswell and John Carlson how an enthusiastic embrace of conservative ideals worked out for them.

The point is, it’s Didier not Benton who represents the biggest intra-party bump in Rossi’s road to the other Washington. And it remains to be seen if it will bump his wheels out of alignment.

Dino Rossi is trumpeting the $600,000 he’s raised in his first official week of campaigning:

“In just the first week, we have signed up over 2,500 people online, attracted over 20,000 Facebook followers, third most of any US Senate candidate and nearly twice that of Senator Murray, and raised over $600,000, including nearly $200,000 online,” Rossi said in a statement.

Yeah, okay, good numbers by any standard, but after months of lining everything up, nothing particularly exciting. One would expect an initial surge in donations, but even if he were to maintain this pace and raise $600,000 a week between now and the election, that still only comes to $13.2 million. And I’m hearing Sen. Murray had a bit of a fundraising windfall from Rossi’s announcement too.

I mean, it’s not like anybody ever questioned Rossi’s ability to raise money. Indeed, that and name ID pretty much appear to be his primary qualifications. But I sure don’t view this as any indication of a groundswell in grassroots support.

A lot of pundits were all but writing obituaries for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as polls in his home state of Nevada consistently showed him trailing badly behind nearly any Republican opponent, but things started to turn around a couple months ago, with the embattled Senator slowly clawing his way back into a dead heat.

What changed? Well of course, Republican frontrunner Sue “Chickengate” Lowden very publicly self-destructed in a series of ethical and intellectual fiascos. But one’s opponent’s mistakes aren’t on their own enough to assure an advantage.

No, one has to be in a position to aggressively capitalize on such mistakes… frame them effectively, disseminate the message broadly and draw a contrast that resonates with voters. And it is at least interesting to note that Sen. Reid’s rebound in the polls coincides almost exactly with his campaign bringing on the pugnacious Kelly Steele as communications director.

I got to know Steele in 2006 when he led the charge against Mike McGavick on behalf of the Washington State Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign, and later when he served as spokesman for the state Dems during Gov. Chris Gregoire’s bitter rematch with real estate speculator Dino Rossi. I know some journalists and editorialists scoffed at his relentless attacks and sometimes borderline over-the-top rhetoric, but it’s hard to argue with the results. Electoral politics is a brutal, adversarial process, and Steele approaches his task brutally.

And often, with a pretty damn fine sense of humor.

I don’t know how much of the message in Nevada’s Senate race these past few months is due to Steele, but it sure is suggestive of his handiwork, and if Reid completes his political resurrection, it wouldn’t be unfair to canonize Steele in the process. Back here in the Pacific Northwest (Steele had already made a name for himself in OR before coming to WA), a lot of folks already considered Steele a rising star, but if Sen. Reid wins reelection I’d expect his career to go supernova.

I just hope he remembers us little people.

UPDATE:
I forwarded the post to Steele, and… well… he wasn’t pleased. “We have a huge and talented team of professionals,” he replied, “and it’s unfair to call out any one member.”

And I don’t think Steele was just being modest. He actually asked me to pull the post, which as a matter of principle, I just can’t do… and which in itself I guess, somewhat refutes my portrayal of him as a master of the message. (I mean, if he can’t even get a lowly local blogger to pull a post, how good can he be?)

Last night in Detroit, a blown call from a first-base umpire robbed Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga of a perfect game on what should have been the very last out. I first saw what happened right after the Flyers won Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night. The Flyers were able to take that game into overtime and win partially because an official replay showed that their second goal just barely crossed the line (after it was initially not counted as a goal). Currently, baseball only has replay for disputes over whether a home run is really a home run. Is it time for baseball to implement instant replay for out/safe calls on the basepaths?

UPDATE (Goldy):
It should be noted that the Flyers needed to score twice in overtime to win the game, the first goal being disallowed when the referee blew a clearly early whistle, just before the Flyers swatted a loose puck into the net. So replay is no panacea.

The Stranger rifles through Dino Rossi’s baggage.

Here’s a bit of month old news I don’t remember getting much local press:

The Seattle, WA metropolitan area has the strongest local economy in the nation according to POLICOM Corporation’s annual economic strength rankings. Edwards, CO is top among the “Micropolitan” areas, which are smaller urban centers.

“The top rated areas have had rapid, consistent growth in both size and quality for an extended period of time,” stated William H. Fruth, President of POLICOM. POLICOM, located in Palm City, FL, specializes in analyzing local and state economies.

“The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation,” Fruth continued. “While most communities have slowed or declined during this recession, the strongest areas have been able to weather the storm.”

We hear an awful lot from our local media and Republican critics about how fucked up we are around here… about how our taxes are too high and our government budgets too big and our regulations too oppressive and all that. And yet, year after year, in reports and studies and surveys, Washington state in general, and the Puget Sound region in particular consistently ranks near the top in economic strength, quality of life, business climate, government efficiency and everything else that leads to prosperity.

It’s not like we don’t have problems to solve, but honestly, what a bunch of whiners we can be.