HorsesAss.Org

The Seattle Times, purveyors of the most widely read sports section in the state, selflessly urges the state Legislature to approve a new $500 million Sonics arena: “Don’t bench Sonics: take it to a vote.”

The Legislature has waited long enough. It is time lawmakers passed a bill out of Olympia that allows King County to work on new digs in Renton for the Seattle SuperSonics and Storm.

To which I respectfully ask the Times’ editorial board… what part of 74-percent don’t you understand?!

The Times laughably attempts to champion “local control,” arguing that this is a local decision that should be settled by a council vote or a countywide ballot measure.

But… um… do these editors actually live in Seattle? Do they read their own paper? Hell, do they even bother to read their own editorials?

The voters have spoken, or maybe, shouted, on the use of city funds in Seattle sports arenas.

The 74 percent “yes” vote on Initiative 91 means there will be no renovation of KeyArena at Seattle Center for basketball. […] Seattle voters are in no mood to finance a Sonics arena or any other improvements. If Seattle voters are this grouchy, voters in suburban King County probably don’t feel that much different.

Just this past November, no less an authority than the Times editorial board itself put its finger on the pulse of the region’s voters, and declared a new Sonics arena dead. No, Seattleites aren’t the only fish in the Sound, but nothing passes countywide with three-quarters of Seattle voters going against it.

But more than just being unrealistic, it is downright insulting for the Seattle Bothell Times and its Mercer Island based editors to now ask for a countywide vote to approve a tax on Seattle voters to pay for an arena that we have already so overwhelmingly rejected. Hell… why not make it a statewide vote? That way, the Times gets to hawk sports headlines during those dreary months between football and baseball, while the rest of the state gets the opportunity to once again screw Seattle. Everybody’s happy.

This isn’t about local control. It’s about leaving the door open to the possibility of some back-room deal, where enough council members might be arm-twisted into approving the taxes without putting them up for a public vote. This is about finding a way to ignore the will of the voters, not honor it.

And in doing so, the Times editorial board is once again playing loose with the facts, and being intentionally naive with their analysis.

The legislation was crafted so King County, not the state, would use existing taxes to pay for $300 million of the projected $500 million arena in Renton, the site preferred by team owners.

Actually, “the site preferred by team owners” is in Oklahoma City, but we’ll get to that in a moment, for first I have to point out how much it annoys the shit out of me that the Times continues to repeat that $300 million figure when in fact the Sonics’ plan calls for $400 million in taxpayer subsidies: $300 million from the sales tax, and $100 million from Renton. I’m not sure what the correct answer would be on the math WASL, but the last time I checked, 300 plus 100 still equals 400. (Wait… let me check my calculator. Yeah. 400.)

Whenever the Times repeats the “$300 million of the projected $500 million” canard it suggests that the Sonics are picking up the $200 million difference, and that just isn’t true. They expect an additional $100 million to be picked up by Renton taxpayers, and of the remaining $100 million, I’m not really sure that it will cost the Sonics owners a single dime out-of-pocket. Between naming rights, seat licenses and advance leases on luxury boxes, the Sonics portion is pretty much paid for. And don’t forget, the Sonics refuse to be responsible for the inevitable cost overruns — this will fall on the backs of local taxpayers.

Money for the arena would come from taxes, such as a restaurant tax and rental-car tax, already being used to pay for Safeco and Qwest fields, and the often-used sales-tax credit.

The implication being that we don’t actually pay these taxes — people who eat in restaurants, stay at hotels, or rent cars do. You know… other people. Oh… and that “often-used sales-tax credit” the Times attempts to slip by without explanation… that’s hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise go into state coffers to pay for schools, prisons, health care and other frivolous stuff like that. No biggie.

The bill would also bolster two other cultural amenities: the arts and the Mariners. Money raised by the taxes would be used for the upkeep and repairs of Safeco Field and funneled into an account for the arts.

Holy shit! Didn’t we just build Safeco Field? Aren’t we still paying the taxes to pay off the bonds on that voter-rejected public extortion? And we already need more taxes to pay for repairs? And that’s supposed to be a solid argument in favor of another such public boondoggle?

There have been whispers and shouts that SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett is only buying time until he can move the teams to his home state of Oklahoma. This is an unfair claim. Bennett has done nothing to suggest that moving the teams is a foregone conclusion.

“Nothing to suggest” that Bennett is being insincere? Um… how about seeking $400 million in taxpayer subsidies on a $500 million hoops palace, just weeks after 74-percent of voters rejected $200 million in subsidies on a $220 million Key Arena renovation? If that’s sincere, it’s sincerely stupid.

The Times insists that “the SuperSonics deserve a chance to work something out with King County,” and on that they’re absolutely right. But to do so, the Sonics and their allies at the Times will first have to take an honest measure of the public mood instead of attempting to misrepresent it. Local control means working out the details of a proposal with local officials first, and then going to the Legislature to ask for the taxing authority, if necessary. Local control means taking into account the will of local voters. If the Sonics choose to negotiate honestly and sincerely — and within the confines of political reality — there is a deal that can be struck that could garner sufficient popular support… maybe a $100 million team contribution to a $220 million Key Arena renovation, a deal that would be more in line with the kind of public-private partnerships struck elsewhere. It doesn’t necessarily have to make financial sense. It just has to make sense.

If the Sonics owners are serious about keeping the team in the region there is no rush for the Legislature to act. All of the Sonics deadlines are self-imposed, and they can always be extended. So come on Clay, prove me wrong and the Times right. Come back to the table and negotiate a realistic deal, in good faith, that actually has a snowball’s chance of being approved by voters.

And oh yeah… here’s a free PR tip: it probably wouldn’t hurt your negotiating position if you didn’t put such a shitty product on the court.

Let me start this post by pointing out that I don’t believe all Republicans are deranged morons. I mean, I personally know some individual Republicans who are terrific people. But Republicans are limping with a couple of achilles heals right now.

Nationally, the Republicans have been hijacked, derailed, used, abused, snookered, and tarnished by BushCo and his neocon sidekicks. Maybe they’ll recover sometime in the next two or three decades. But much damage has been done.

In Washington state, Republicans have a different sort of problem. Their most prominent members are a bunch of tricksters:

[T]he state Republicans have lost standing with voters following a string of stunts, pranks, and dirty tricks. Voters have watched the Sotelo voter challenges, the sex offender postcards, Tim Eyman and his right-wing initiatives, the John Birchers and their right-wing initiatives, the secretive U.S. Chamber of Commerce hit on Deborah Senn (not really state GOP, but it worked for their side), and even the election contest with all of the “election fraud” hyperbole, BIAW “signature checks,” and Rossi dissing the Supreme Court. The Washington State Republicans come off looking like jealous tricksters trying to snatch power away from the Democrats by any means available except by honestly winning elections.

(And, man, are they ever sore losers after defeat in a close election!)

On Thursday the Washington state House Republicans did it again:

House Republicans lambasted trial lawyers during raucous debate Thursday but when one lawmaker singled out the Democratic House majority leader’s husband for scorn, the place erupted in shouts.
[…]

Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, said it is “very, very concerning” that only trial lawyers are pushing the bill.

“This is not for the consumers,” he said. “This will increase costs to the consumer. It is a sad day.”

After being gaveled down for impugning the sponsors’ motives, he said, “Look out! The train is coming through! The Keith Kessler train is coming through and you better get out of the way.”

“Whooo woooo!” Roach cried, mimicking a train conductor tooting a whistle.

Keith Kessler is one of the state’s most prominent trial lawyers, a former president of the state trial lawyers and the husband of House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam.

Lovick sternly admonished Roach again for breaking House rules of decorum. Lawmakers aren’t supposed to refer to colleagues by name or criticize members’ families.

(* Sigh *). This isn’t really going to help the Republicans shake their image as a bunch of angry goofsters.

Rep. Dan Roach is, of course, the son of crazy-wacko, “who moved my roses?”, anal obsessive Sen. Pam Roach. He is also the brother of drug-dealin’, convicted felon and early parolee Stephen Roach.

So…um…I’m wondering. Do they do random drug testing for state Representatives? I mean…this seems like the kind of wacky shit that comes from being all hopped-up on goofballs or something.

(Cross posted at Hominidviews.)

While I got nothing (zilch!) this year, Goldy received a David Neiwert Award:

David Goldstein (Best Muckraking, 2005), is the recipient of a new Neiwert Award tradition – the LEAP Award for alumni. The LEAP Award recognizes bloggers who successfully make the leap from blogging to traditional media. In 2006, David’s dreams of becoming a radio host became reality when 710 KIRO gave him a regular weekend show after just one appearance as a guest host. These days, he hosts the David Goldstein Show weekends at the station from 7 to 10 in the evening. At the end of the year, he was asked to fill in for fellow weekday KIRO host Dave Ross over the holidays. When he wasn’t bringing liberal political talk back to 710 KIRO, Goldy was fundraising for netroots candidates or posting regularly at HorsesAss. His impact has been immeasurable and we’re sure he’ll have a very busy 2007.

You can read the whole list here.

How the awards committee can overlook this work of genius, I’ll never know.

So begins a post yesterday in the personal blog of Real Change publisher Tim Harris, and it’s easy to understand why. Apparently the Weekly is getting set to print a story next week that “exposes” Seattle’s homeless newspaper as employing, among its 250 vendors, a few people who are not entirely homeless, and even a handful who, by working countless hours, can make as much as $20,000 a year (without benefits)! The horrors!

Please don’t misunderstand. This sort of thing doesn’t piss me off because I once wrote for a paper with the same name. (I almost wrote “the same paper,” but, well, it’s not.) I don’t even care that Managing Editor Mike Seely would rather take personal potshots at me than address the indisputable fact that most Seattleites I hear from feel like his paper is now a pile of shit. I don’t know the reporter working on the Real Change story, Huan Hsu, who only came to Seattle two months ago. (Raising the question of who in the Weekly food chain thought up this story; the paper’s new owners, Village Voice Media (ne: New Times), have a history of kicking the homeless in some of their other cities.) I really don’t care about personal history or personalities here.

What pisses me off is when anyone – anyone – tries to make a buck or ingratiate themselves (e.g., with dimwitted readers) by pissing on the powerless. It’s one thing to lampoon the idiocies of Seattle liberalism; I might not agree with it (or think it’s well done), but it’s fair game. But trying to manufacture a “scandal” involving one of the few activist-initiated social service projects in town that truly does help people and change lives, all the time, is pure bullshit. Or, in Harris’ words, “What the Fuck”?

I guess the idea is to create buzz for the “new” Weekly by being bold and provocative (and irresponsible). Whatever. What Hsu and the Weekly will find is that Real Change’s vendors are often the downtrodden and powerless (“92% homeless or formerly homeless. 63% reporting a disability. 83% over 40. Illiterates. Addicts. Felons. Disabled people. Mentally ill people. Etcetera.,” writes Harris.) But Real Change as an institution has a lot of admirers in this community, and for an obvious reason: it has a better track record than any other media outlet in town (including the Weekly, and during my tenure there as well) in walking the talk and making this a better city.

We’ll see what the Weekly’s story is next week. But if it follows the arc that Tim Harris anticipates, Seattle Weekly will have only succeeded in further marginalizing itself.

I’m filling in again for Frank Shiers this week, Weds thru Fri, 9PM to 1AM on Newsradio 710-KIRO.

9PM: Should ex-felons have the right to vote?
Florida of all places just enacted legislation that quickly restores voting and other civil rights to convicted felons after they’ve finished serving their sentence, but a similar bill in the Democratic-controlled Washington Legislature (SB 5530) remains stuck in committee. But no less an authority than the American Correctional Association says that our current felon disenfranchisement laws “serve no correctional purpose – and may actually contribute to recidivism.” Jennifer Shaw from the ACLU of Washington joins me for the hour.

10PM: Do you remember Seattle?
Local writer Clark Humphrey joins me for the hour to talk about his book Vanishing Seattle, which explores a city where timber and fish were more lucrative than airplanes and computers, a place of kitschy architecture and homespun humor, a place bounding with hope for a brighter future (as seen at the 1962 World’s Fair). What do you miss (or not miss) from your vanishing Seattle? Call in and give me, a relative newcomer, a well needed history lesson.

Plus an update on the expanded pet food recall, some good old fashioned Ann Coulter bashing, and more fascinating conversation! Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

Coming up: My favorite Republican, Gen. JC Christian of the blog Jesus’ General joins me Friday at 11PM to give us his peculiar insight into the minds of the extreme far-right.

Apparently, I’m a hate-talker. But Ann Coulter? She’s just joking…

These people can’t even wrap up genocide. We’ve been hearing about this slaughter in Darfur forever — and they still haven’t finished. The aggressors are moving like termites across that country. It’s like genocide by committee. Who’s running this holocaust in Darfur, FEMA?

Last night, in what is perhaps the most deliciously blasphemous episode of South Park ever (well… probably not,) a loose spoof of the Da Vinci Code ends with Jesus killing the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue. Hilarious. AlterNet has clips online — view ’em while you can.

My favorite line:

Pope Benedict XVI: All right, that does it Bill. I’m pretty sure that killing Jesus is not very Christian.

My second favorite line, after Jesus tells Kyle to kill him so that he can resurrect outside their prison cell:

Kyle: Dude, you don’t understand, I’m a Jew. I have a few hang-ups about killing Jesus.

Man, can I pick ’em.

In lambasting state Rep. Richard DeBolt (R-Shameless) for having himself nominated for a Jefferson Award, I unflatteringly compared him to environmental advocate Mark Boyar, one of the many deserving nominees…

It particularly irks me to see DeBolt so selfishly pollute an awards process that might honor Mark for his quiet and selfless work to clean up our precious wilderness.

Well, the Jefferson Award winners were just announced, and look who made the list: “Mark Boyar: A future is bridged for the wild.”

Congratulations, Mark. (And screw you, Richard.)

I’m filling in again for Frank Shiers this week, Weds thru Fri, 9PM to 1AM on Newsradio 710-KIRO.

9PM: Hey, it’s only dead animals, right?
If the FDA expected this pet food recall story to fly under the radar and out of the headlines, they weren’t counting on the determination of pet-loving bloggers to get to the truth. Two of the bloggers leading the way will join me for the hour to help us get to the nitty gritty of this slowly unfolding scandal. Ben Huh of the local pet blog Itchmo will join me in-studio, and Christie Keith of Pet Connections will talk to us by phone.

10PM: Is Seattle ready to elect a (gasp) Republican?
Um, no. But that isn’t stopping self-described Republican Jim Nobles from leaping headlong into the crowded race to replace retiring Seattle City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck. Jim joins me in the studio for the hour to field your questions, and to attempt to explain to me exactly how a nice, smart guy like him comes to be a Republican. (And stay one.)

Plus more fascinating conversation! Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

Coming up: Local writer Clark Humphrey joins me Thursday at 10PM to talk about his book, Vanishing Seattle, and my favorite Republican, Gen. JC Christian of the blog Jesus’ General joins me Friday at 11PM to give us his peculiar insight into the minds of the extreme far-right.

Now this is a good political ad.

Several troopers worked on high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane enforcement for two hours and issued 52 citations for car-pool-lane cheaters using the westbound HOV lane.

Assholes.

(Of course, I’m referring to the cheaters.)

To the thousands of Americans whose dogs and cats have already been sickened or killed, and the many millions more who rightfully fear for the health of their beloved pets, the recent massive pet food recall already represents a disastrous failure of our food safety systems. But if it eventually turns out that toxic wheat gluten made its way into the human food supply, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) tentative response and equivocating public statements might have set the stage for a collapse of confidence of post-Katrina proportions.

In finally identifying itself today, the U.S. importer of the melamine-tainted wheat gluten — the unappetizingly named ChemNutra — revealed new information that is sure to anger aggrieved pet owners: Menu Foods knew their product was causing problems as early as March 8, a full week before the first recall was made public. And while ChemNutra insists that none of its 792 metric tons of contaminated wheat gluten shipped to facilities that manufacture food for human consumption, one can forgive suspicious consumers for not accepting the suddenly talkative company at its word, especially considering that this assurance directly contradicts an FDA report from earlier today. For whatever the true risk to our food supply, the corporate and regulatory response is shaping up to be a textbook example of failed crisis management.

First it was only “cuts and gravy” varieties from a single manufacturer, then late last week products from three more facilities were suddenly added to the recall, including one variety of dry cat food. And now the FDA not only admits that the recall could widen further, it has also revealed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten was indeed delivered to processing plants that make human food as well. Still…

“To date, we have nothing that indicates it’s gone into human food,” said Dorothy Miller, director of the FDA’s Office of Emergency Operations . “We have a bit more investigation to do.”

They certainly do. But the FDA should have acted as if the human food supply was at risk from the moment Menu Foods notified it that test animals were dying, presumably sometime before March 8. Tainted wheat gluten was always the prime suspect, and anyone given the facts and a little familiarity with our food processing and distribution system should have heard alarm bells. Yet the federal regulators charged with safeguarding our food supply seemed more concerned with protecting the interests of the corporations involved, then in giving consumers the facts they needed to make informed decisions on their own.

While the FDA focused on pet food, it was left to persistent bloggers and journalists to slowly tease out the full scope of this potential public health disaster. Wheat gluten is not an obscure feed stock, but rather a common ingredient widely used in a large number of processed foods and baked goods. And while federal regulations distinguish between “food grade” and “feed grade,” the overwhelming majority of wheat gluten distributed in this country is sold as the former. MGP Ingredients, the largest U.S. manufacturer of wheat gluten, only produced and distributed “food grade” product, shipping to Menu Foods the same high quality wheat gluten meant for human consumption until 18-months ago, when they lost the business to cheaper, Asian imports. And responding to an e-mail query, a spokesperson for Del Monte Foods quickly confirmed that it was “food grade” gluten that led to its own recall.

The FDA always knew the tainted wheat gluten was sold as “food grade,” but never offered this information to the public. And even now they continue to obfuscate the matter.

According to import records, the wheat gluten was shipped to the United States from Nov. 3, 2006 to Jan. 23 of this year and contained “minimal labeling” to indicate whether it was intended for humans or animals.

The FDA officials who provided this information either don’t understand our nation’s import regulations, or are intentionally misleading reporters with this “minimal labeling” canard. For as Steve Pickman, VP of Corporate Relations for MGP Ingredients explains, all “edible” imported wheat gluten is meant for both human and animal consumption:

Regarding imported wheat gluten, U.S. Customs allows for two different gluten classifications to come into the country, “Edible” and “Non-edible.” Non-edible product is not considered destined for the food/pet food markets. Product used in industrial, or non-ingestible, applications would be considered non-edible. Both food and pet food products are under the jurisdiction of the FDA. These products must adhere to the same standards. Non-edible gluten would be allowed into applications where no food/ pet food products are made.

Over 70-percent of the wheat gluten consumed in the U.S. is imported, mostly from Asia, and the remaining 30-percent produced domestically is almost entirely “food grade.” There is no separate channel for “food grade” vs “feed grade” wheat gluten, so the FDA should have understood that the Chinese imports involved were always graded for human consumption.

Given the nature of the industry and the scope of the recall thus far — over 60 million units from four manufacturers at five separate facilities — and the three month period of time over which the suspect wheat gluten was imported, it was perfectly reasonable to assume that at least some of the tainted product would make its way to facilities that process human food, and then onto store shelves and into our kitchens and restaurants. It has been at least a month since the FDA was first made aware of a potentially widespread food supply contamination, and yet they continue to hold their information close to their vest as they do “a bit more investigation.” Meanwhile, it only took Nestle Purina four hours to discern that it had a contamination problem after the FDA announced on March 30 that the culprit was tainted wheat gluten from a Chinese supplier — information the FDA apparently had since at least March 8.

The American people have the right to know the facts in a timely manner — all the facts — including the identity of the unnamed distributor mentioned in ChemNutra’s press release, the facilities suspected of receiving contaminated wheat gluten, and a complete timeline detailing what was known, and when. When it comes to issues of public health and safety the best way to avoid undue speculation and give consumers the information they need to properly protect themselves is to be completely and openly honest. ChemNutra was notified that its wheat gluten was killing animals back on March 8. We need to know why contaminated product was still on the shelves as late as March 30.

But there is a larger issue here: the failure of the FDA to keep up with the challenges of safeguarding a food supply that has become so deeply integrated into the global economy. Perhaps us humans dodged a bullet, and the contamination was indeed limited to pet food. But if it had been the other way around, how would we know? Renal failure can be slow and progressive, the symptoms sometimes not manifesting themselves until months after the initial toxic exposure. Our dead and dying pets may very well have saved thousands of human lives, warning us of the poisoned gluten before it inevitably reached the dinner table.

The FDA failed to protect these dogs and cats, but it just as easily could have been people who paid the price. It is time to rethink the laws governing the FDA, and reevaluate the officers running it. As Mike Brown proved at FEMA, it is best to have government agencies run by people who actually believe in government.

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. (I’ll be leaving early, so come by early if you want to say hello.)

Tonight is “Dine for Darfur” night around town; the Montlake Ale House, along with dozens of other restaurants in Seattle, will donate 25% of their proceeds to Mercy Corps. So drink up. It’s for a good cause.

Also, if you’ve been to the Ale House recently, you may have noticed some politically tinged paintings on display from local artist Mary K. Johnson. She’ll be on hand to mingle and take questions about her work.

Not in Seattle? Liberals will also be drinking tonight in the Tri-Cities. A full listing of Washington’s eleven Drinking Liberally chapters is available here.

Apparently, the following help wanted ad has been circulating Congressional listservs and DC employment pages for weeks, so in my usual bipartisan spirit, I thought I’d just pass it along.

Press Secretary — Congressman Dave Reichert seeks experienced communications professional to manage, coordinate and implement all facets of the member’s daily and strategic communications operations. Works with and maintains contact with local and national press outlets, drafts press releases, talking points, op-eds, newsletters and supplemental materials. Will also oversee and update electronic, internet and other communications, including an aggressive Franked Mail program. Successful candidate will be a strong writer, team player, a self-starter, creative and strategic thinker as well as have campaign experience. Please send resume, cover letter and writing samples to kimberly.cadena@mail.house.gov . No phone calls, faxes, or drop-offs please.

“Aggressive Franked Mail program”… talk about an understatement. And don’t forget, “campaign experience” is required, because of course, congressional staffers are completely prohibited from, um, participating in campaign activities on the taxpayers’ dime. Or, whatever.

There’s a lot of beltway buzz these days about the presidential prospects of “Law & Order” star Fred Thompson, but writing in The Politico, Ken Vogel (late of the TNT) wonders if the former one-term Republican senator might be stung by his lobbying credits.

Over about two decades of lobbying (during which he also acted and practiced law), Thompson made nearly $1.3 million and represented clients including a British reinsurance company facing billions of dollars in asbestos claims, Canadian-owned cable companies, and deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, according to government documents and media accounts from his first run for the Senate in 1994.

[…] Thompson’s commanding presence, background and conservatism bring to mind another actor-turned-pol, Wamp said. “The whole thing is very Reagan-esque. The whole story.”

Thompson cruised to a full Senate term in 1996 but decided not to run again in 2002. A year after stepping down, he registered to lobby for British reinsurance company Equitas Ltd.

The company paid him $760,000 to guard its interests against several bills seeking to protect businesses from asbestos lawsuits, according to records Thompson filed with the Senate.

Of course, in the wake of the Abramoff scandal, I’m guessing that if Thompson does throw his hat in the ring, his media people will attempt to focus more on his record as a popular Manhattan District Attorney, than his resume as a high-priced lobbyist for foreign corporations.

“Reagan-esque” indeed.