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The Seattle Times editorializes:

REPUBLICAN Sen. John McCain will look silly and erratic if he does not participate in tonight’s presidential debate at the University of Mississippi.

Huh.  Maybe McCain’s handlers are worried he’ll look silly and erratic if he does participate in tonight’s debate?  That could explain why they’re so desperately trying to duck it.

WADOT has released sketches of “Option E” (formerly “Plan 9”), state House Speaker Frank Chopp’s pet alternative for replacing the Viaduct.

Imagine a milelong building, filled with office and retail, 90 feet wide and 55 feet tall, stretching from King Street to Victor Steinbrueck Park.

And on top of that would be a massive park.

Or as Will likes to call it, “Suicide Park.”

I guess the artist’s rendering is pretty and all, but imagine the view from the other side.  The side shrouded in darkness for all but a couple hours each day around noon.  We’re talking about a 90 feet wide, 55 feet tall, milelong wall separating Seattle’s waterfront from the rest of the downtown… and if you think that’s gonna happen, I’ve got an eight-lane 520 bridge to sell you.

UPDATE:
A reader emails me with another image of what the “Viaduct Mall” might look like:

Oooh… purty.

Writing in the National Review Online, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker calls for Sarah Palin to bow out:

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

[…] When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

And Parker’s conclusion?

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

Ouch.

In watching this interview, I think Carl Bernstein sums up my feelings best:

[N]o presidential nominee of either party in the last century has seemed so willing to endanger the country’s security as McCain in his reckless choice of a running mate. He is 72 years old; has had four melanomas, a particularly voracious form of cancer; refuses to release his complete medical records. Three of our last eleven presidents (and nine of all 43) have come to office unexpectedly in mid-term from the vice presidency: Truman, who within days of FDR’s death was confronted with the decision of whether to drop the atom bomb on Japan; Lyndon Johnson, who took the oath in Dallas after JFK’s assassination; Gerald Ford, sworn in following the resignation of Richard Nixon. A fourth vice president, George H.W. Bush, briefly exercised the powers of the presidency after the near-assassination of Ronald Reagan.

I wonder, with the insider reports coming out from today’s meeting at the White House, if we might be reaching a tipping point in this presidential campaign?

Daily Kos just put up its third Hell to Pay poll, and I need all of you to immediately click through and VOTE FOR DARCY!

The winner of tonight’s poll will have an online fundraiser held on Saturday, and last week’s winner, Al Franken, ended up raising over $25,000.  That’s money Darcy desperately needs not only to keep pace with Dave Reichert and the NRCC, but also gobs of “independent” expenditures from the likes of the US Chamber of Commerce.

In a race that’s expected to be excruciatingly close, a couple minutes of your time right now could mean the difference between winning and losing.  So please, vote for Darcy right now!

UPDATE:
It looks like we kicked ass and Darcy won!  Thanks to all of you who cast your vote.

JP Morgan Chase to acquire struggling Washington Mutual. I suppose that means I shouldn’t continue to expect 3.75 percent interest on my savings account, should I?

UPDATE:
Okay, now the NY Times is saying that WaMu has been “seized” by the FDIC, and its retail banking and “other pieces” sold off to JP Morgan Chase.  But…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a statement on Thursday evening promising a seamless transition. “For all depositors and other customers of Washington Mutual Bank, this is simply a combination of two banks,” said the F.D.I.C. chairman, Sheila C. Bair, adding that for Washington Mutual’s customers, it would be “business as usual come Friday morning.”

I just checked, and I still have access to my account.  Not so sure about that sweet interest rate though.

UPDATE, UPDATE:
Largest.  Bank failure.  Ever.  (We’re number one!)

The Public Disclosure Commission voted to concur with a staff report today, finding the Washington State Republican Party guilty of numerous egregious violations of our state’s campaign finance and public disclosure laws, including at least $150,000 of illegal expenditures on behalf of Dino Rossi in the weeks leading up to the August primary.  Lacking the authority to impose a large enough penalty proportionate to the violations, the PDC has referred the case to Attorney General Rob McKenna for further prosecution.

This is the second time in as many weeks that McKenna has been handed an investigation of close political allies, following the PDC ruling that found the Building Industry Association of Washington guilty of failing to report at least $1.2 million in campaign contributions.  There is no word from McKenna as to when he might take action on either of these cases.  But don’t hold your breath.

As first reported here on HA, the WSRP flagrantly used “exempt” soft money contributions to illegally finance direct advocacy, specifically a pro-Rossi/anti-Gregoire direct mail smear campaign.  And as I wrote at the time, the case against Rossi and the WSRP was pretty cut and dry:

This isn’t rocket science.  It’s Campaign Finance 101.  All the political candidates, consultants, committees and parties know damn well what is or is not allowed.  And yet the WSRP chose to blatantly violate campaign expenditure laws that have been in place for the past 16 years.

[…] Let’s be clear, this is no mistake or accidental oversight; WSRP chair Luke Esser, allegedly a lawyer, deliberately and knowingly violated the law, feebly attempting to disguise these illegal expenditures by mislabeling them as “member communications” (a label that would not make these expenditures exempt, even if true.)  The WSRP could have run the mailing past the PDC ahead of time—campaigns do this all the time—but they knew the answer they would get.  Which of course is why they never asked.

The distinction between “exempt” and “non-exempt” funds is clear.  The former are “exempt” from normal campaign contribution limits, and may be used for party building, organizing and get out the vote efforts, but not for direct advocacy for or against a candidate.  The latter may be used for any purpose, but are subject to strict contribution limits.  Buy using exempt funds for non-exempt purposes the WSRP has intentionally violated the law, using large lump sum contributions from GOP fat cats like Rufus Lumry ($80,000) and Eastside developer Skip Rowley ($30,000), and from powerful special interests like the National Electrical Contractors Association ($50,000) and Walmart ($25,000) to illegally finance Rossi’s campaign.

But, well, I guess Esser just figures that breaking the law, and the inevitable fines, are just part of the cost of running an effective campaign.

No doubt the WSRP fully understands that it faces a substantial penalty for such a flagrant and deliberate PDC violation, but that won’t come until after the election, so no harm done.  No, if there’s a penalty to be paid ahead of this election it will have to come at the hands of the local media, but whether they’ll give this story the scrutiny it deserves, or merely brush it off as another “he said, she said” between two feuding camps, remains to be seen.

Personally, I don’t have much faith in our local media to express the outrage such deliberate flouting of our campaign finance laws rightly deserves, and I’m afraid that McKenna, now with two major cases on his plate, against his two biggest financial backers, won’t substantively move on either case until well after the November election.

And if my fears are proven correct, that means the WSRP and the BIAW will well learn the lesson that crime does indeed pay.  Voters will never know about the extent of these violations because our amen editorialists can’t be bothered to muster up the outrage, and the fines, however large, will simply be paid with more lump sum contributions from the same wealthy Republican benefactors.

What they hope to buy with all their illegal money is the governor’s mansion.  And you can be sure that they’ve already made the calculation that even a hefty post-election fine would be money well spent.

Yesterday, John McCain claimed he was suspending his presidential campaign, and this morning KUOW dutifully and credulously reported it—four times within a 2-minute segment—and despite the fact that the surrounding piece clearly contradicted the claim from the initial lead in:

John McCain has suspended his presidential campaign. He says he needs to help his colleagues in DC fix the financial crisis. But Republicans continued fundraising yesterday (Wed) in Bellevue. Cindy McCain and Todd Palin helped raise nearly a million dollars at a luncheon in Hunts Point.

So… exactly what does it mean to suspend one’s campaign while the nominees’ spouses are raising a million bucks?  Huh.  Perhaps Washington State Republican Party chair Luke Esser can clear things up:

ESSER SAYS IT WAS A GREAT DAY FOR WASHINGTON REPUBLICANS. EVEN THOUGH THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN IS SUSPENDED. ESSER SAYS IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. ALTHOUGH HE DOES HAVE ONE CONCERN.

ESSER: “You know, I worry that if Barack Obama doesn’t suspend his campaign, that he’ll be raising money, and he’ll be running negative ads against Senator McCain, and that may give him an advantage. But I think in the long run, frankly, doing the right thing usually has its own reward, and I think the American people will appreciate that kind of campaign. It’ll be refreshing.”

Um… so… Esser voices concern about Obama raising money while McCain’s campaign is suspended, at the very same time he’s hosting Cindy McCain at a million dollar fundraiser?  And the reporter doesn’t bother to challenge with a follow up?  I mean… what the fuck?

But it gets worse…

ESSER MADE IT TO LUNCH AND DINNER WITH FELLOW REPUBLICANS. AND SO DID CHRIS FIDLER. HE’S STATE CO–CHAIR OF THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE. HE SAYS HE FOUND OUT THE CAMPAIGN WAS SUSPENDED AFTER HE’D GONE TO THE MILLION–DOLLAR LUNCH. HE SAYS MRS. MCCAIN DIDN’T MENTION IT…

FIDLER: “We’re standing down in terms of campaign activity. We’re going to wait to see how these negotiations go.”

That’s right, they’re “standing down.”  Except for, you know, the million dollar fundraiser with Cindy McCain and Todd Palin.  And McCain’s speech in New York this morning.  And the political ads that continue to run nationwide.  But we can trust Fidler that other than that, the McCain campaign, both nationally and locally, has been “suspended,” right?

Huh.  This seemed like an opportunity for some actual reporting, so I called the McCain campaign’s West Regional Headquarters in Henderson NV, and surprisingly, they answered on the first ring.  They gave me the number for the Washington State campaign, who didn’t answer until the fifth ring (in their defense, from the background noise, they sounded pretty busy), and they assured me that McCain was just “trying to make a point,” but that no local activities had been canceled.

Finally, I sent this following email to the campaign (I’m ashamed to say, under an assumed name):

I have some time to volunteer for John McCain today and tomorrow, and was wondering if there are volunteering opportunities available while Sen. McCain has suspended his campaign, or even if your offices are open.  I’m in Kirkland, and am looking for something within a reasonable drive.

And a Don Skillman, emailing from a mccain08hq.com address, quickly and courteously replied:

Our office in Bellevue is wide open.. Ask for Moses..

Hmm.  It sounds to me like the only thing that was suspended was KUOW’s disbelief.

Both the Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I published editorials today lauding the recently announced Western Climate Initiative as a necessary and constructive step toward addressing an imminent environmental crisis.

The Times:

The Western Climate Initiative has overcome the most difficult step of any complex, worthwhile undertaking — getting started.

The announcement Tuesday of broad design recommendations for a regional market-based cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gases launched Washington, six other states and four Canadian provinces on the path of reducing pollution that causes global warming.

And the P-I:

Washington and other Western states have shaken off Bush administration-induced climate paralysis to summon themselves to responsible action. The states’ design of a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions should help inspire an overdue national effort.

Washington, California, five other states and four Canadian provinces laid out a regional cap-and-trade system with incentives on all the right sides: in favor of energy independence, technological innovation and clean-energy jobs. In contrast to the let-the-planet-cook policy in D.C., there’s responsibility, good government and smart economics all in one.

But even when in agreement, our editorial boards manage to once again demonstrate why our region is so fortunate to still have two major dailies.  For example, the P-I gives credit where credit is due:

Gov. Chris Gregoire and other smart Western governors are wise to embrace the plan.

Whereas the Times…

In the absence of leadership from the federal government and the Bush administration, states around the country took it on themselves to explore workable, collaborative solutions.

Um… our “state” didn’t take it on itself to explore workable, collaborative solutions, our governor did… but God forbid the amen editorialists at the Times should actually mention Gov. Chris Gregoire by name, because you wouldn’t want to give her any credit for providing leadership, especially during an election year. Besides, we all know that Dino Rossi would have delivered the same kind of leadership because, um… he, uh, doesn’t believe in global warming.

I’m just sayin’….

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

You likely saw it here first, but Sarah Palin’s preacher problem is starting to go viral, her witchcraft fetish even making it into the pages of the Seattle Times.

In fact, in terms of how this will impact the Jewish vote, it’s worse than the small clip I put makes it.  Over on Daily Kos, Kagro X noticed a segment that slipped by me as I was struggling to decipher the preacher’s heavy accent:

The second area whereby God wants us, wants to penetrate in our society is in the economic area. The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It’s high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations. That’s what we are waiting for. That’s part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the — you know — if you look at the Israelites, that’s how they work. And that’s how they are, even today.

That’s right, Pastor Muthee is talking about Christians need to take over the banks so that we can end the corruption of the Israelites.  Really.   Watch the whole clip and the context is pretty damn clear.

Sen. John McCain announced today that in light of the current crisis (ie, his plummeting poll numbers), he has suspended his campaign for President of the United States… you know, except for the TV ads, the field operations, the media relations, the fundraising, and some campaign stops.

If things don’t turn around pretty soon, I’d personally be more concerned about the Republicans trying to suspend the actual election.