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Over at the P-I’s Strange Bedfellows blog, Joel Connelly reports that King County Executive Ron Sims is being vetted by the FBI, an indication that he’s up for an appointment in the Obama administration, an intriguing prospect that would produce an audible sigh of relief from political friends and foes alike, across the political spectrum.

For our county’s swarm of executive wannabes, tired of waiting their turn to measure the drapes, yet too timid to challenge a popular incumbent, a Sims appointment would be a dream come true, setting the stage for an old fashioned political free for all this coming November.

Likewise, I’m sure I’m not the only Sims supporter who kinda sorta dreads the prospect of a run for a fourth term.  Executives are different from legislators, in that they tend to accumulate blame and enemies, eventually wearing out their welcome with voters and constituency groups.  Third terms are difficult enough to win, while four-term mayors, governors and the like are nearly unprecedented outside the safety of a political machine… the kinda machine we definitely don’t have here in WA state.

I’d hate to see Sims end his career losing to a lesser challenger, simply because voters tired of him, and thus I would welcome a high profile DC appointment both as a reward for Ron’s years of principled leadership and public service, and… well… as an easy out from a potentially heart breaking political defeat.

But… I’m guessing a lot of qualified folks are being vetted by the FBI these days, so for now it’s all speculation.

TPM reports that the Al Franken camp is now genuinely optimistic about their prospects for coming out ahead in the Minnesota senate recount, once all challenged and erroneously rejected absentee ballots are tabulated.  Sound familiar?

The fact is, Democrats tend to gain votes in recounts, regardless of the jurisdiction or the party running the elections office, because the Democratic Party tends to overly represent the extremes of society—the youngest, the oldest, the poorest, the wealthiest, the least and the best educated—and four of those six groups tend to have more trouble casting ballots than the average voter.

There are Republicans who argue that voting should be difficult, and if you can’t follow instructions and fully fill in an oval or connect a line, your vote shouldn’t count, but that’s not the way the law is written in most of the nation.  Both Washington and Minnesota are “voter intent” states, and when conducting a hand recount it is the obligation of the canvassing board to determine the voter’s intent, when possible, even if the optical scanner can’t.  So if more voters intended to cast their ballots for Franken, then he should ultimately be declared the winner.

So knowing what I know about recounts, I think Franken has good reason to be optimistic.

I spotted this at the Washington State Democrats annual Holiday Party last night: 

 

The BIAW (Building Industry Association of Washington) was one of GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi’s biggest supporters (over $6 million) this election season.

So, wearing an anti-BIAW pin at the Democrats’ Holiday shindig oughta be no big deal, right? Ha. 

This was a shoe thrown over the lectern aimed directly at Democratic State House Speaker, Frank Chopp (D-43, Wallingford).

Democratic Rep. Brendan Williams (D-22, Olympia) was wearing the defiant pin and said he’s not running again because Chopp has neutered the Democratic agenda in Olympia by cozying up with the BIAW.

Rep. Williams has been the main victim of  Chopp’s alliance with the BIAW: Two years running, Williams’s homeowner bill of rights has been killed at the last minute by Chopp. The BIAW was upset that homeowners would have the basic right to sue for faulty construction.

Chopp also killed my favorite progressive bill last session: A Senate bill that added climate change impacts into growth management standards so that development projects had to be environmentally responsible. The BIAW didn’t like that one either.

Rep. Williams wasn’t the only Democrat dissing Chopp. I was talking to a Democratic state Senator about the 2012 governor’s race. We were handicapping state Senator Lisa Brown’s (D-3, Spokane) chances vs. U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee’s chances, in what’s likely to be a bruising primary between the two anticipated candidates. And could either one beat GOP media darling, AG Rob McKenna?

“McKenna will be the Republican nominee, right?” I asked.

The Democratic Senator quipped: “Who knows? The GOP could run Chopp.”

Shoes? We’re throwing shoes now? Seriously? Shoes? Really? Fucking shoes?

By the way, this whole footwear chucking incident gives George W. Bush the chance to show off one of his best attributes:

He’s spry.

Did you see him dodge that shit? Bush is the fuckin’ mack-daddy of dodging shit. If you can’t hit a guy from 10 feet out with your Adidas trainers, you need to pack it the fuck in.

I have to say, this incident proves there has been at least some progress in Iraq. If somebody had tried that shit when Saddam was in power, that reporter would be dog food right now. I’m talking some serious flys walking across eyeballs shit. Fucking six feet under.

So, that’s an improvement.

Tonight’s King County Democrats elections director candidate forum has been canceled due to the weather.  That’s a shame, but I myself don’t particularly want to be on freezing roads with native Northwest drivers unaccustomed to driving on ice.

I believe we’ll try to reschedule for after the freeze, and likely, after the holidays.

The Seattle P-I editorial board doesn’t want to cut off talk of a tunnel option to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct:

We fear that eliminating any talk of a tunnel will lead to a political confrontation in Olympia that will favor another elevated monstrosity. Potentially, that would even reinvigorate the possibilities for House Speaker Frank Chopp’s overwrought, multistory highway-park-stores- and-offices mega structure, which the planners rightly intend to eliminate from further consideration.

[…]

Major surface and transit improvements must be in place when the current viaduct comes down, no matter what permanent plan is pursued. And, even with impressive recent enhancements for Interstate 5, the surface option is the cheapest. So, we hope Gov. Chris Gregoire, King County Executive Ron Sims and Mayor Greg Nickels will agree on the surface solution as their basic strategy.

We also believe, however, that the three leaders should reopen the idea of a compromise embracing the surface option with some sort of a commitment to studying a tunnel. The compromise wouldn’t have to be exactly the “hybrid” proposal favored by business groups. But it should include at least some traffic speed and volume metrics that would provoke a tunnel study if the surface streets and enhanced transit capacity prove less effective than supporters expect. After all, we think a surface-and-transit solution will work quite well for traffic, the environment and the economy, but we don’t know for sure.

I’m not sure how building the surface/transit alternative eliminates the possibility of a future deep bore tunnel, should technology improvements make it affordable and traffic demand it.  But I see no harm in building in a committment to explore the possibility at some point in the future.  After all, talk is cheap; it’s actual action for which our region has trouble coughing up the cash.

It’s snowing in Portland. Stop being a dumbass, carry chains or have traction tires. Slow down you idiot, I’ve got kids in the car.

We now put on the football game you were going to watch. If you want to know if it’s snowing at your house, look out the window.

It’s week two of the Fantasy Football playoffs in each of my two leagues. Antonio Bryant’s 200 yard / 2 TD day last Monday night bumped me out of the league I’ve been in with some old college friends. But I’m still alive in my league here, which started back in 1998 among a bunch of recently transplanted Boeing employees. Over the 11 years that league’s been around, we’ve come up with some pretty good twists on the typical fantasy league to keep things interesting. We have our own website with a player stats database and trash talk page. We have a rule that if a player on your team gets arrested the week before a game, you get 5 points. And the person who finishes in dead last (after a four team “Toilet Bowl” playoff among the 4 worst teams) must host the Super Bowl party. That honor will be decided by tomorrow night. Thankfully, I’m not in the running, but if I do win this week and next, I have to bring the keg for the party.

Last week’s contest was a challenge, but the answer was close to home. It was the Delridge neighborhood in West Seattle. The big winner was ibogaine, with wes.in.wa supplying the link. Here’s this week’s, good luck.

The headline right now at Huffington Post is:

“GATES: DON’T TEST OBAMA”

…which made me think of this.

Seriously, shaddup:

The decision by transportation planners to possibly map a replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct along Western Avenue worries those at the Pike Place Market who fear it could damage the Market’s historic character.

“We’re disappointed this was chosen,” said Carol Binder, executive director of the Market. “We’re going to have to change and look at some of the ways we operate.”

Apparently, the folks at the Market would rather have an elevated freeway in their front yard than an arterial street. Huh.

If you’re not 100% clued in to why they’d be upset with the surface “couplet” option, here’s the skinny:

Instead of a viaduct freeway through downtown Seattle, the “couplet” would send traffic north and south on a reconfigured street grid, using Alaskan Way’s southbound lanes and Western Avenue’s northbound lanes as replacements, knitting together the street grid without building a limited access freeway through the neighborhood.

Western currently comes to a four-way stop at the north end of the Market, near Victor Steinbrueck Park. The plan would be to lid Western near the park, sending traffic under the Market instead of through it.

There is all sorts of hyperventilating over this whole viaduct mess. The Pike Place Market has nothing to worry about. On an issue where so many can disagree, everyone involved agrees that the Market is something worth protecting.

Crazy:

Six candidates have filed to run for King County elections director in an election that will be held without a primary — and, apparently, with gloves off.

…

Julie Kempf, who was fired as King County elections superintendent after she was accused of lying about why thousands of ballots were mailed late in 2002. She denies she lied.

Kempf said she decided to run after she was threatened by political opponents who didn’t want her to run. She declined to offer details of the threats. “If you give in to a threat, they’ve won already,” she said.

Wow. The word “delusional” doesn’t quite cover it.

I thought making the elections director an elected position was supposed to increase the quality of the candidates. So far, we’ve got a “raging bullshiter“; a carpet-bagging state senator with a penchant for irate outbursts; a crackpot civic activist with his own residency issues; and a software guy who nobody has heard of.

Then there’s the incumbent, Sherril Huff, who’s doing us all a “solid” by throwing her hat in the ring. I don’t know what her political beliefs are, and I don’t care. Like Dem chair Dwight Pelz said:

“Sherril Huff isn’t the Democratic candidate in this race, she’s the competent candidate in this race.”

Sounds pretty bad.

A bomb exploded at a West Coast Bank branch in Woodburn Friday, killing at least one person, and injuring at least two others.

The bomb detonated late afternoon around 5:45 p.m. at the bank in the 2500 block of Newberg Highway.

A Marion County deputy medical examiner said he was en route to the scene, saying that he was told of at least one fatality. He added that police were concerned about a secondary device in the area.

The bank had been evacuated before the bomb detonated, according to West Coast Bank chief executive Robert Sznewajs. The branch has been there for at least 10 years, he said.

Things are getting weirder. Turns out the Ghosts of Sixties Past are not as scary as the real life monsters in the bedroom right now.

Men’s Journal looks into the frazzled mind of CNN’s Iraq reporter Michael Ware, who’s been in Iraq covering the war for so long, he’s now an Iraqi citizen. I’m always impressed by Ware, but he has truly sacrificed his sanity to be so close to such a horrific human tragedy.