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The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Come join me for a hoppy Manny’s and some hopped up conversation.

I’m told that Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis will be stopping by tonight. We’ll see if we can get a few drinks in him and then ask him what he really thinks about the state declaring the tunnel dead (and totally pretending that a surface alternative doesn’t even exist.)

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.

HA co-blogger Will speculates about former state rep Toby Nixon and his political aspirations:

Maybe Nixon’s stoking the fires for a run at his old seat (won by Roger Goodman when Nixon ran for Senate). I’ve got a better idea…

Lieutenant Governor! Think about it, Toby… I don’t know anyone who’s “high” on Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. He’s got that ridiculous rock band which he takes across the state, trying to keep kids off drugs (If he had come to my high school, I would have STARTED smoking pot, just to spite him). He endorses right wing judicial candidates and wants to spend tax dollars on a NASCAR track. What a waste!

To which I say… do your homework Will. I’m guessing our friend Toby might be planning to run for King County Auditor, an obvious stepping stone to the Secretary of State’s office.

What’s that you say? I’ve got my head up my ass? Toby can’t possibly run for Auditor because it is an appointed position? Well, not if Toby has his way. Just last week Toby filed a C1 with the Public Disclosure Commission creating “Citizens for Accountable Elections,” a new PAC supporting a King County initiative to make the Auditor an elected position. Given Toby’s deep interest in election reform, and his admitted eye on the SOS office, this would seem to be an elected office tailor made for (and by) Toby Nixon.

Toby and I disagree on a lot of stuff, but he’s a standup guy and a great sport. I’m off this weekend, but Toby has agreed to come on my show on 710-KIRO the following weekend, when I’ll have the opportunity to ask him the tough questions, and he’ll have every opportunity to respond.

UPDATE:
Via email, Toby elaborates on his initiative and his plans:

The proposal is not for an elected “auditor”, but an elected “elections director” – it wouldn’t include the full range of auditor responsibilities, but just the election functions. There have been folks trying to encourage me to seek the office if it were to become elected, and I haven’t told them flatly No. I haven’t told them Yes, either, but I haven’t ruled it out. I do believe an important part – maybe the most important part – of the responsibility of the office would be to exercise leadership to create a culture of excellence, accountability, integrity, accuracy, and transparency in elections, and anyone who knows my legislative record knows that I am strongly committed to those things. But you also know that my interests cover a wide range of topics, and I’d have to think hard about whether I’d want to forgo other opportunities to serve where I could have an influence in those broader areas in order to focus specifically on the elections office.

Toby will join me on 710-KIRO in the 8PM hour, on Sunday Feb. 25.

Toby Nixon is straight-up freakin’ over Senator Eric Oemig’s plan to put impeachment of Bush “on the table.”

The man Oemig beat in November to win the open Senate seat, former Rep. Toby Nixon, wrote to his supporters today questioning whether Oemig was honest with voters:

Oemig’s campaign web site said (and still says) “the Eastside needs a State Senator who solves problems and gets things done. We cannot afford more of the same old thing. I’m not a politician, and I reject the extremism and partisan bickering of Olympia”. It also says “Elected officials must live up to the highest standards of honesty”. Well, Mr. Oemig, was it honest of you to run a campaign saying you’re going to “solve problems and get things done” and that you “reject partisan bickering”, and to turn around “soon after taking office” and take the lead on impeaching the President? How is that living “up to the highest standards of honesty”. It certainly looks like “extremism and partisan bickering” to me.

Just so you know, Toby Nixon is well-liked here at HA. He even shows up at Drinking Liberally from time to time. Needless to say, I don’t agree with his assessment.

Democrats have been timid as heck, unwilling to stand up to Bush even when he’s been weak and wrong at the same time. Is it bickering to stand up to Bush, even at the local level? Maybe Nixon’s stoking the fires for a run at his old seat (won by Roger Goodman when Nixon ran for Senate). I’ve got a better idea…

Lieutenant Governor! Think about it, Toby… I don’t know anyone who’s “high” on Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. He’s got that ridiculous rock band which he takes across the state, trying to keep kids off drugs (If he had come to my high school, I would have STARTED smoking pot, just to spite him). He endorses right wing judicial candidates and wants to spend tax dollars on a NASCAR track. What a waste!

I guess what I’m saying, Toby, is aim higher! Imagine the satisfaction of swinging that gavel whenever Senator Oemig gets out of line. Sweet revenge, sir. Sweet revenge!!

I was just reminded that we’re having one of those weird, King County Conservation District elections today where they make it extremely difficult for people to cast a vote. The result is, this is one of those few elections in King County where Republicans tend to routinely win. (See how that works? Few people vote… Republicans win. That’s all you need to know about most Republican proposals for election “reform.”)

Anyway… property rights/pro-sprawl incumbent Mark Livengood is being challenged by Max Prinsen, a past Chair of the Conservation Board, the current President of SHADOW (Save Habitat and Diversity of Wetlands), and a member of the Cedar River Council. Prinsen is also a member of and endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters.

Obviously, I urge you to vote for Max Prinsen.

Unfortunately, casting your vote isn’t all that easy. Polls are open from 11AM to 7PM today at the following locations

• Renton City Hall. 1055 South Grady Way, Renton
• Snoqualmie Valley Community Center. 4610 Stephens Ave, Carnation
• Kent City Hall. 220 – 4th Ave South, Kent
• Enumclaw Fairgrounds Administrative Office. 45224 – 284th Ave SE, Enumclaw
• Kirkland City Hall. 123 Fifth Ave, Kirkland
• Shoreline City Hall. 17544 Midvale Ave N, Shoreline
• Garfield Community Center, 2323 East Cherry St, Seattle

There are no absentee ballots and no provisionals. Hell, there isn’t even a polling place in downtown Seattle.

The King County Conservation District Board has a $6 million annual budget. Don’t you think maybe a real conservationist should help determine how that money is spent? Fewer than 1000 people generally vote in this election, so every vote counts.

UPDATE:
I have been corrected. Max Prinsen is not currently an active member of Washington Conservation Voters, though he had been some 5 or 6 years ago.

The blog that made it’s name savaging the rightwingers takes a shot, for the first time, at perhaps the nuttiest lefty blogger out there.

It’s really, really good. Check it out.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated topic, a tip of the hat to the Seattle Times’ David Postman for pointing us to breaking news… about talking urinal cakes:

SANTA FE — New Mexico is taking its fight against drunken driving to men’s restrooms around the state.

The state has ordered 500 talking urinal cakes that will deliver a recorded anti-DWI message to bar and restaurant patrons who make one last pit stop before getting behind the wheel.

“Hey there, big guy. Having a few drinks?” a female voice says a few seconds after an approaching male sets off a motion sensor in the device. “It’s time to call a cab or ask a sober friend for a ride home.”

Oh great. I’ve already got a touch of “shy bladder.” A talking urinal cake is going to shut the hose right off.

Last night on my show, former Governor Gary Locke unequivocally stated his opposition to building another elevated freeway to replace the aging Alaska Way Viaduct… and he said former Governors Rosellini, Evans and Lowry were firmly with him. (Gov. Spellman is apparently neutral.) Gov. Locke went on to say that while he enthusiastically supports the current “Tunnel-Lite” proposal, and believes the financing is in place to build it, he would back a surface-plus-transit option over a rebuild should voters reject the tunnel on March 13. The overwhelming priority for voters in the upcoming special election, Gov. Locke repeated several times, is to vote “No” on the rebuild.

Personally, I tend to agree with King County Executive Ron Sims, who last week on my show stated that Mayor Nickels’ tunnel proposal is politically dead. But what do we know? It is very clear that Gov. Chris Gregoire, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and a handful of vocal legislators adamantly oppose a tunnel, and it is hard to imagine them backing down. But the pro-tunnel forces contain some heavy hitters and experienced politicos, so it may be too early to count them out.

What I find most striking though is the growing number of high profile political, civic and business leaders who are willing to publicly lend their credibility towards the notion that a surface-plus-transit option is not only a reasonable and serious alternative, but preferable to a rebuild. The pro-rebuild/anti-surface camp tends to brush off surface supporters as a bunch of crazy, car-hating hippies or something like that, but that’s a pretty dismissive way to describe Gov. Locke, Executive Sims and a substantial chunk of our political and business establishment. While wealthy developer (and deadbeat) Martin Selig may support a rebuild/retrofit campaign, Gov. Locke insists that many of Selig’s tenants do not. Indeed, Gov. Locke claims that the majority of businesses who would be most impacted by waterfront redevelopment are willing to tax themselves hundreds of millions of dollars via a special improvement district to help pay the cost of a tunnel. (A funding mechanism I first floated way back in November of 2005.)

I fully understand that some of our state Democratic leaders see a political upside to shoving another elevated structure down our throats: that voters elsewhere in the state will view them as finally standing up to us Seattle bullies. But I sincerely hope that such a base (and ultimately self-defeating) political motivation does not overwhelm the decision-making process should Seattle voters reject a rebuild on March 13. The final decision shouldn’t pivot on a political battle between Seattle and Olympia or between Nickels and Gregoire; it should be based on what is best for Seattle and the state. But for such an objective debate to occur, the pro-rebuild forces must actively disown the politically convenient misconception that Seattle is somehow demanding the rest of the state to pay for its “gold-plated tunnel.”

The state has committed $2.8 billion towards replacing the Viaduct. Assuming WSDOT’s cost estimates are correct, that is exactly what it will cost state taxpayers to build a new elevated structure. But if the city chooses the more expensive tunnel alternative, nobody expects the state to cough up additional funds. The tunnel will not cost state taxpayers a dime more than the $2.8 billion already committed… indeed, if the city opts for a cheaper surface-plus-transit alternative, it will save state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars!

I find it ironic that there are state legislators — Democrats no less — who are willing to pass a state law requiring Seattle voters to tax themselves to build a new Sonics arena we’ve already rejected at the polls… while at the same time refusing to let us tax ourselves to build the Viaduct replacement alternative the city wants.

This is our city, this is our waterfront, and the Viaduct overwhelmingly carries our traffic. If we choose to raise the money locally to pay the difference between a rebuild and a tunnel, that should be our choice. And if instead we opt to let go of our 1950’s mentality and re-imagine the way we address transportation and transit issues, we should be given every opportunity to make the case that a less expensive, less auto-centric surface-plus-transit alternative is the right solution for our city.

Have you always wanted to compensate for the small size of your penis while at the same time doing right by the environment? Here’s your chance!

The FT-HS is a hybrid sports car–the name stands for Future Toyota Hybrid Sports. Its powertrain marries a 3.5-liter V-6 with a new-generation hybrid system to provide a combined output of some 400 hp driving the rear wheels.

Not only does it kick ass versus other cars in its class, but it’s a hybird. Why is this important?

What is interesting is not the direct impact of this car on the environment, though we can expect it to be better than the “traditional” V8 gasoline-powered sports cars it will compete against (a lesser evil). No, the interesting thing is the “halo” effect it could have, making hybrids cool and desirable to a new public. Even if they never end up buying that particular model, they’ll notice the technology and associate it with something they want instead of something they don’t.

Making hybrids cool… That’s an idea worth pursuing. The Honda Civic Hybrid is pretty low key, as is the Toyota Prius. Dori Monson calls Dave Ross’ car a “prissy” Prius. That’s Dori for you, but he has a point. Hybrids have an image problem. If people think of a hybrid car as more like this and this, and less like this and this, we’ll make progress.

The FT-HS isn’t yet in production, but if they move forward this year, they can have them ready for sale at Toyota dealerships just in time for a “Dori Monson Midlife Crisis” purchase.

It’s politics as unusual again tonight on “The David Goldstein Show” from 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO. I like to go with the flow, so things could change, but here’s what I have lined up for tonight’s show:

7PM: What’s happening in the other Washington? Ken Vogel, formerly of the TNT and now an investigative reporter The Politicogives us an update from our nation’s capital. What’s the latest scandal? Is Obama for real? Will Republicans ever allow a vote on a resolution opposing escalating the war in Iraq? Ken will fill us in on all the latest news, rumor and gossip.

8PM: Obligatory Viaduct Hour!!! If this is a political talk show in Seattle, then we must be discussing the fate of the Alaska Way Viaduct. Former Gov. Gary Locke joins me to tell us where he stands on (or under) the Viaduct replacement controversy, and share is vision for Seattle and the downtown waterfront. Will Gov. Locke be in lockstep with Gov. Gregoire? Tune in to find out.

9PM: TBA (I’m gonna rant about stuff.)

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

Here’s a couple of columns well worth reading, in case you missed them.

In today’s Tacoma News Tribune, Peter Callaghan rips Tim Eyman a new one: “Tim Eyman, professional victim for hire.”

How do we know he’s telling the truth now? We don’t, of course. Given his history, I find it best to assume everything he says is a lie until proved otherwise.

As Callaghan reminds us, Timmy is an admitted liar, with a well documented and steady string of deceptions. And yet our state’s editorial pages continue to give him free reign (and hundreds of thousands of dollars of free press) to run his lying, self-serving guest columns. Amazing.

Meanwhile, over at the Seattle P-I, Joel Connelly had a great column Friday comparing the shrinking reputation of the self-absorbed Ralph Nadar with the growing global stature of Al Gore: “Nader has withered; Gore has grown.”

Connelly contrasts how Nadar has self-destructed under the weight of his own ego, while “the man ridiculed by Nader in 2000 has attained new and global stature.”

Al Gore has watched his early global warming warnings be vindicated by a landslide of scientific evidence.

With the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” he has found a way to outflank the political press and make complicated material accessible to the public. The film is up for an Oscar, and Gore has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

What a transition: While Nader worships at the altar of his own unappreciated brilliance, Gore speaks to the world.

Man, do I hope Gore runs for president.

Apparently, nothing happened in the world yesterday worth writing an editorial about. Absolutely nothing.

I’m out with my co-conspirators today, plotting the nonviolent overthrow of the United States government, so I probably won’t have any time to post, but I’ve got a helluva lineup scheduled for “The David Goldstein Show” tonight from 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO. I like to go with the flow, so things could change, but here’s what I have lined up for tonight’s show:

7PM: Political rant-a-rama: Eli Sanders of The Stranger joins me at the top of the hour for a firsthand report from the mistrial of Lt. Ehren Watada, after which I plan to rant on just about everything that happened in the news this week except for the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Won’t mention it. Not even here.

8PM: Hate your elected officials? Maybe it’s time to change the way we elect them? Political activist and electoral reform advocate Krist Novoselic joins me for the hour to talk about Instant Runoff Voting — also called “ranked choice voting” — and other reforms that could make our democracy more democratic. (Oh… I’m also told that Krist once played in some band or something.) A Republican on the Seattle City Council? That could be the result from one reform I particularly like. Tune in to find out why I’d propose such heresy, and what Krist has to say about it. Krist will also be appearing at Seattle’s Town Hall on Weds. Feb. 21, to talk about electoral reform.

FairVote.org

9PM: What’s the matter with Oregon? TJ of the blog Loaded Orygun will fill us in on what’s happening south of the border.

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

PROGRAMMING NOTE:
Tune in Sunday night when former Gov. Gary Locke will tell us where he stands on replacing the Viaduct, and unofficial HA D.C. Bureau Chief Ken Vogel calls in with an update on what’s happening in the other Washington.

House Speaker Frank Chopp has some funny ideas. The funniest? Frank wants to cap part of the span of the new Viaduct. What does this mean, exactly?

That great Viaduct view you see while driving north into town? Gone. Instead of a great vista, you get concrete and shadow. If you want a sneak preview, try driving south on the Viaduct now!

Second, putting another level on the Viaduct will make it even taller and more obtrusive than it is now! With a new Viaduct projected to be as much as 50 percent wider, a third deck will make it humongous.

So what goes on that third deck? Plans are for a new park, accessible by skybridge from adjacent buildings. Considering new skybridges on view corridors are against city code, that seems unlikely. Also, would real estate owners warm to the idea of thousands of people a year trudging through their lobbies to access the park? What’s more, it could even exceed the Aurora Bridge in what it’s known for…

Welcome, one and all, to Frank Chopp’s exciting new “Suicide Park”!

The blog Capitol Hill Seattle has an ethical dilemma on their hands:

Metroblogging Seattle put us up against HorsesAss.org in their Blarch Badness tournament. Don’t know if it’s cheating or not but we’ll save you the trip over there to vote.

Hmm. I suppose it might not be cheating to embed the poll — though the only conceivable motive Metroblogging Seattle had in running a tournament was to up their own page views — but it is certainly bad strategy. I wasn’t even aware of this poll until I saw a couple links come in from CHS’s post, but now that I am, hell if I’m going to be out-cheated.

Yeah sure, it’s entirely petty and childish. All the more reason to vote in the poll and kick the living bejeebus out of those dirty, traitorous cheaters over at CHS.

Of course the big news from the military court martial front this week was the surprise mistrial in the case of Lt. Ehren Watada. But the less publicized case of Marine Cpl. Trent Thomas, accused in the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian, presents an interesting parallel to Lt. Watada’s legal defense, while raising disturbing questions about the government’s efforts to undermine it.

Lt. Watada refused an order to deploy to Iraq, a statement of fact so undisputed that the defendant signed a stipulation that he would not contest it. Prosecutors understood this stipulation to be a signed confession, and thus presented little evidence otherwise supporting the charge. But Lt. Watada insists that the deployment order was unlawful, because the war itself is illegal under U.S. and international law. Under his oath of service, Lt. Watada argues, he has both a legal and moral obligation to refuse to follow an unlawful order. Admitting to the facts, Lt. Watada told the court, was not an admission of guilt. It was this failure to achieve a “meeting of minds” between Lt. Watada and the prosecutors that the presiding judge cited in throwing out the stipulation and instigating a mistrial.

Lt. Watada’s legal defense has always relied on the argument that he cannot be convicted of refusing to follow an unlawful order — a defense the judge did not allow his attorney to present. Prosecutors have argued that Lt. Watada should not be allowed to put the war itself on trial, even if that is his only means of proving his innocence. Our military, they argue, cannot function without strict discipline, and strict military discipline requires that soldiers unflinchingly follow their commanders’ orders. In refusing to allow him to argue the illegality of his deployment order, the government asserts that Lt. Watada had no legal right to question it.

Compare that to the case of Cpl. Trent Thomas, who after having an “epiphany” decided to put himself at risk of the death penalty yesterday, by withdrawing his guilty plea in the brutal killing of an Iraqi civilian.

Cpl. Trent Thomas, 25, pleaded guilty as part of a pretrial agreement to several charges Jan. 18, including kidnapping and murder, in the slaying of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamandia last year. But Thomas said Thursday that he no longer believes he’s guilty and was following a lawful order.

”Sir, when my country gives me an order, I follow it,” Thomas told the judge, Lt. Col. Tracy A. Daly, adding that his squad leader and his lieutenant gave the order.

Cpl. Thomas’s defense rests on the assertion that he was issued a lawful order, whereas Lt. Watada’s defense rests on the assertion that he was not.

Hmm.

In a capital offense such as this, one can only assume that the government will give Cpl. Thomas the opportunity to present his evidence in court, but even if he succeeds in proving he was following his commanders’ orders, it is hard to imagine that he could be fully exonerated for his actions. This question of whether an order is lawful or not is not an esoteric legalism concocted out of thin air by Lt. Watada and his attorney; it is an issue routinely examined by military courts in cases such as that of Cpl. Thomas. Cpl. Thomas and his cohorts allegedly kidnapped a man, forced him into a hole, shot him, and then attempted to make it look like the victim was an insurgent planting a bomb, by placing an AK-47 and shovel next to his body. Perhaps his squad leader and lieutenant really did order him to execute a murder… but that doesn’t make it a lawful order.

Critics of Lt. Watada have long argued that this is an open and shut case — that he refused to follow an order, and thus should pay the penalty for his insubordination. But if soldiers like Cpl. Thomas can be convicted and punished for following an order, shouldn’t the alleged unlawfulness of an order be a valid defense against charges of insubordination? And if so, then shouldn’t the court permit Lt. Watada to present evidence of the illegality of our war in Iraq, the very basis of his claim that his order to deploy was unlawful?

Lt. Watada and his attorney have no illusions that they are likely to convince a military jury that the United States is in the midst of executing an illegal war in Iraq. But if he is denied the right to defend himself, it sets a very dangerous precedent: either any order to act unlawfully places a soldier at risk of court martial, regardless of their actions, or… we are willing to accept “I was only following orders” as a valid legal defense to obeying any order, no matter how heinous.