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There was a hearing in Olympia yesterday on state Sen. Eric Oemig’s impeachment resolution, and the hearing room was packed with citizens seeking to testify in favor. One attendee has a firsthand account posted over on Daily Kos:

Today I was privileged to be one of about 200 citizens who went to our state Capitol to ask our legislators to defend the US Constitution by directing Congress to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. The atmosphere was boisterous and enthusiastic, but respectful. We were there to testify at a Senate committee meeting and we comported ourselves accordingly. Unfortunately, a Republican member of the committee was not able to do likewise.

It should come as no surprise that the Republican member in question was none other than state Sen. Pam Roach, Auburn’s own gun-toting, do-nothing whackjob, who’s considered a bit of an embarrassment even by some of the craziest elements of her own caucus. (Seriously Pam… when even your fellow Republicans share eye-rolling stories with liberal bloggers like me, you might want to start reeling it in.)

TVW has the video, and you can view Sen. Roach’s outburst here, starting at about 28:10, when she sternly warns the crowd:

“I’m going to be filing an ethics complaint, because I believe that the topic of this hearing in an election year with this content, especially because this issue has been aired in the year 2007, is specifically using state property, state facilities for campaign purposes.”

To which the audience laughs in derision. The committee chair, Sen. Darlene Fairley, attempts to restore order, but Sen. Roach wasn’t finished. As the next panel is assembling, Sen. Roach interrupts again, pulling out a photo of her son, Air Force Capt. John Adams Roach (not to be confused with Stephen, her gun-toting, drug-dealing son,) and angrily chastises the audience: “What you are doing is a disgrace!”

As Sen. Roach stands up waving the photo and yelling at the audience in mock anger, the crowd erupts, despite Sen. Fairley’s calm explanation that “She’s doing this for TVW, so let’s just let her do it.”

So what exactly did the panelists say that so offended Sen. Roach? Well, it’s interesting to note that while she starts her grandstanding at 28:10, the senator didn’t actually arrive in the hearing room until after 24:50, sometime during the three minute statement of Linda Boyd of Washington For Impeachment. So if Sen. Roach was genuinely responding to any of the comments made during the hearing, it would have been those of Boyd.

I’ve transcribed part of Boyd’s testimony below, but I urge you to view the TVW video to judge her “disgraceful” comments for yourself, especially those moments where Boyd’s voice cracks with emotion in describing her reverence for the Constitution and the rule of law.

“Without our Constitution we have nothing, and it threatens to make our entire government illegitimate, and I do not say this lightly — I cannot believe that these words are coming out of my mouth, that our government is illegitimate, and does not answer to the people.

Impeachment was promised to us by the founders as a way to restore integrity and to restore the power of the people in their government. Articles of impeachment introduced by Dennis Kucinich, have been waiting in the Judiciary Committee in the House, but the bill is stuck in committee. We have turned to you to magnify our voices, to bring Congress to do their job. This is a traditional role of the state Legislature; Jefferson’s Rules 602 through 604 guaranteed the right of legislatures to call on Congress to do their job.

We have a beautiful vision in this country — impeachment is not a mere act of castigation, it is to preserve the beauty of our document of our initiation of the ideas that connect the people of this country. The price of not impeaching is very high. The eyes of the world are upon us; let them know that the senators of Washington State understand that politics here is not just a game of winning the next election, politics are the lives of the people.”

It is to this fervent plea that Sen. Roach responds with nothing less than naked political grandstanding. She doesn’t even display the courtesy of sticking around for Sen. Oemig’s closing statement: at 34:40, less than ten minutes after arriving, Sen. Roach gets up and leaves, remaining absent for the hearings on the following bills as well. (Watch the video; Roach’s seat is empty for almost the entire hearing.) That’s the kind of thoughtful, dedicated public service we’ve all come to expect from Sen. Roach.

Sen. Roach threatens to file an ethics complaint charging that hearing the impeachment bill — giving the citizens of our state the opportunity to give public testimony for or against — is somehow an abuse of state facilities for campaign purposes… and I sure hope she does. For the only person I saw campaigning in that hearing room yesterday was Sen. Roach, and if she files her ethics complaint I intend to file mine, charging her with abusing the ethics complaint process for political purposes.

Nice.

Police say a man who allegedly fired shots near a Spokane Valley, Wash., business has been arrested near Post Falls.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Mark Baker says police were looking for a man who fired shots at a Hooters restaurant early Friday, then may have caused a wreck on Interstate-90 as he drove the wrong way toward Idaho.

I’ve actually been to that Hooters. It was during a weekend trip to Spokanistan for a family member’s graduation from Gonzaga. The service was great, and the food didn’t suck. The gals, however, weren’t that hot, and certainly not worth shooting up the joint over.

What’s more, he was busted for using the carpool lanes! (Or as folks on the west side call it, “driving the wrong way on the freeway.”)

Seattle Channel has been running Paul Krugman’s appearance at Town Hall, and I watched it a few times. During the question and answer session, somebody stood up and asked this:

…and also, your thoughts on Building 7…

Paul Krugman was very cute in his response, saying that he thought the dazed look on Bush’s face was proof enough that he didn’t have prior knowledge of 9/11.

But to you conspiracy theory assclowns: stop it. You’re not helping.

Matt Taibbi, who writes for Rolling Stone, perhaps said it best:

I have two basic gripes with the 9/11 Truth movement. The first is that it gives supporters of Bush an excuse to dismiss critics of this administration. I have no doubt that every time one of those [conspiracy theorist] dickwads opens his mouth, a Republican somewhere picks up five votes.

Read the whole thing.

It looks like after 6+ years of being in Afghanistan, we may have finally come across something that can end their domination of the opium industry…

Competition

This week’s Birds Eye View Contest is posted.

Josh Feit, Olympia edition:

Earlier this week, I slogged from Olympia that a battle was brewing over tolling.

The question: How should money generated from tolling be divvied up between roads and transit? (Note to Will at HorsesAss, “Transit” means BRT, HOV, bike lanes, light rail and light rail connections among other investments that get us out of cars.)

Considering both Josh and myself are already out of our cars, I figure he’s using the royal “us”. That is, unless he’s referring to my occasional Flexcar use to visit family on holidays in rural NE King County. In which case, good luck getting me out of that car, since there’s no light rail to Carnation. But I digress.

From the comments to Josh’s post:

Josh, if you really, really want to kill the tolling idea for 520, this is exactly the way to do it. Tolls are supposed to pay for the 520 replacement. I have no problem with using part of the toll money for transit… if it’s built into the replacement bridge. Two HOV / transit lanes down the center, with dedicated ramps, like I-90? We can do that. But the farther the money moves away from the bridge itself, the greater the public outcry and the chances of the toll idea being shitcanned.

If we’re getting a new bridge, it makes sense to make robust transit-oriented functionality a part of the design of the bridge. This means HOV and bike lanes. This means bigger light rail-carrying pontoons and interchanges that make bus travel easier. If we make these investments, does it really matter how we we divide the tolls?

There are a wealth of high-profile races on the ballot this year, and, well, the contest to replace retiring State Treasurer Mike Murphy isn’t exactly one of them. But that doesn’t make it any less interesting to political junkies like me.

Murphy, allegedly a Democrat, is backing his top aide, Allan Martin, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, who has declared as a Republican. Democratic Rep. Jim McIntyre, an economics professor and former Finance Committee chair, is giving up his House seat to seek the Democratic nomination.

Also seriously exploring a run is Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s chief economist and longtime revenue forecaster. But while Sohn is reportedly planning to run as a Democrat, you’ve got to wonder about his party credentials, what with his name appearing on a petition by the libertarian Cato Institute calling for Social Security privatization:

… we support giving workers the option of shifting all or part of their Social Security taxes into individually owned, privately invested accounts, similar to individual retirement accounts or 401(k) plans. We believe that only a system based on savings and investment can provide a safe and secure retirement without burying future generations under a mountain of new taxes.

Huh. Dismantling Social Security doesn’t particularly sound like a Democratic value to me.

I’ve had my run-ins with McIntyre when he chaired the Finance Committee, but at least I know where he stands on the issues. How exactly the State Treasurer impacts these issues, I’m not really sure. But I intend to find out.

NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is holding its 17th Annual Chocolate for Choice event on Tuesday, January 22… the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The event takes place at the First Base Club at Safeco Field, and tickets start at $35.

I’ve been invited once again to serve as a VIP Judge (along with folks like Darcy Burner, Dow Constantine, Jean Godden, Mike Kreidler, Larry Phillips and others), and let me tell you from personal experience that it is well worth the price of admission. Last year’s event featured an amazing and overwhelming selection of chocolate treats from some of the region’s best confectioners and pastry chefs, and of course, all proceeds go toward protecting women’s reproductive rights.

Hope to see you there; I’ll be the one stuffing my face full of chocolate.

Geez… if I ever run for office, I hope my fourth grade teacher lies.

Huh.  So first the state Democratic Party schedules its presidential caucus on a Saturday, and now we learn the county conventions are scheduled for Passover.  I’m loathe to attempt to speak for my fellow Jews, but… what are we…? Chopped liver?

On a side note, if you’re trying to make up your mind on whether to attend your county convention or your family seder, I’ve been to both.  It might be hard to believe, but county conventions are even more tedious and more frustrating than even the longest Passover seder (think of the platform debate as the four hundred questions,) and the food isn’t nearly as good.  Stick with the seder.

One of the big stories in the presidential primary season thus far has been the youth turnout.  Young people turned out in higher than expected numbers in both Iowa and New Hampshire, overwhelmingly voting with the Democrats.  And even in yesterday’s Michigan primary, where the GOP had a real race while Democrats refused to participate due to party rules, youth turnout was strong:

100,776 young voters aged 18 – 29 participated in yesterday’s Democratic Primary (choosing “uncontested” over Hillary Clinton, 48% – 43%). They were 17% of the Democratic electorate. Comparatively, 112,833 18 – 29 year olds voted in the Republican Primary, and they were just 13% of the Republican electorate.

That Democrats still managed to split the youth vote despite having no race in their primary is good news, and if this trend continues it bodes well for Democrats up and down the ticket next November.  And this apparent demographic shift could pay off huge dividends for years to come.  Young people now self-identify as Democrats in growing numbers, and as they age and participate more regularly in electoral politics, this new generation of voters could form the base of a new progressive majority.

According to Bloomberg.com, it looks like Boeing is going to announce another delay for the 787 Dreamliner:

Boeing Co., the world’s second- largest commercial airplane maker, today may announce a delay in its 787 Dreamliner program that could jeopardize the company’s plans to deliver the first jetliner by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the program.

The 787’s maiden flight, already moved to the end of March from last August, may now be pushed back to June, said the people, who didn’t want to be identified because they aren’t authorized to disclose the information. Boeing will announce a revised Dreamliner delivery schedule before U.S. stock markets open, the people said.

Already six months behind schedule, Dreamliner production has been hurt by parts shortages and assembly delays. Boeing has racked up 817 orders valued at more than $120 billion, making the Dreamliner its most successful new aircraft in sales. Boeing last month reiterated its goal for first delivery to All Nippon Airways Co. before the end of 2008.

“Compressing the test program to six months for a December delivery is dangerous,” said Michel Merluzeau, an aviation consultant at G2 solutions in Kirkland, Washington. “Boeing needs to do a very necessary mea culpa and delivery to All Nippon has got to be reset to spring 2009.”

Back in the late 90s, when I worked for Boeing (my first job after college), I saw some discontent within the engineering team I worked in. There was a lot of anxiousness over how the company was spreading out so much of its engineering work to places all around the globe. I worked with some hard-headed older guys who’d been working in the same place for a while and weren’t really known for their ability to change, and some of them had been down to the newly acquired McDonnell Douglas facilities in California and saw a preview of how this kind of outsourcing approach affects a flight control group.

I left the company during the engineering strike in 2000 and never really looked back. I can only wonder if some of the concerns my ex-co-workers had about the new direction of the company have been realized and are what’s causing the parts shortages and assembly delays today. Whatever is really causing the problems, it does concern me that they might rush their deliveries. This is ultimately why I find myself at odds with the popular libertarian notion that government regulation only results in a negative outcome. There are just times when companies have significant financial incentives to cut corners on safety. As much as I was impressed by how strongly Boeing did care about safety, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the work of the FAA was part of that equation. My experience there definitely moved me away from more extreme notions of having government “leave us alone.”

Then again, if the Far East keeps sending us toys with lead in them, maybe we should send them planes that aren’t fully tested yet.

[Note to trolls: That was a joke]

[UPDATE]: Commenter rhp6033 posts his thoughts on the delays and what’s been causing them.

Well, that was quick. Just a few minutes after the polls closed, NBC called the Michigan Republican primary for Mitt Romney. Of course Michigan, New Hampshire and Iowa are all moot, what with Guiliani’s brilliant Florida strategy about to catapult him back into frontrunner status.

Meanwhile, over in Bushistan…

Hmm. If that were Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton or John Edwards posing, imagine the outrage. Baghdad Barack? Hegira Hillary? Jihad John?

UPDATE:
I’m watching the Nevada Democratic debate right now, and all I can say is… fuck Tim Russert. I mean really, fuck him. He has this great opportunity to ask the three leading Democratic candidates (one of which will likely be the next president of the United States) about important issues facing our nation, and all he wants to do is focus on race and gender in the hope of sparking a cat fight. It ain’t working.

UPDATE, UPDATE:
According to the Seattle Times, it’s very, very close in Michigan. Mitt Romney “edges” ahead, just “narrowly” leading John McCain in early returns.

Um… the headline and lede were supposedly updated at 6:12 PM, at which time Romney was leading McCain by 9 percentage points, and projected by all three networks to be the winner.

Not that I’m implying an intentional bias, but narrow lead my ass.

Join us tonight for a fun-filled evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. We meet at 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

Tonight’s theme song, in support of the Mitt for Michigan movement: Free for all by the Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent.

Not in Seattle? Check out the Drinking Liberally web site for dates and times of a chapter near you.

Josh Feit:

It seems to me, the real environmental battle in Olympia this session is going to concern tolling.

[…]

The battle will be over this: What percentage of the money that’s generated from tolls should go to roads and what percentage should go to transit? The annoying negotiating starting point is a 90/10 split—90 for roads.

The transportation chairs in both the senate and the house […] are reportedly leaning toward keeping the dollars funneled toward roads for now.

Tolls collected by bridges should be spent replacing or maintaining bridges. I don’t know what kind of transit Josh is alluding to here. Light rail? Buses? Light rail is too expensive to be paid for with tolls on bridges. Maybe Josh is talking about “transit as mitigation” during construction. (Lots of new buses, getting stuck in traffic through Kenmore as they go around the lake. A sight to see!)

How about this: Spend bridge tolls on the bridge. Then, continue tolling, putting that money in a bank account. Then, in 50 years, when that 520 bridge is falling apart, we can just write a check to replace it. That way we can avoid the whole “90/10” argument, the whole “roads vs. transit” argument, and other dumb arguments that keep our region from getting shit done. I’m no Jim Vesely, but that seems like a good way to go.