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Of course, I was being intentionally provocative when I commented on Saddam Hussein’s hanging by posting a picture of Saddam shaking hands with Donald Rumsfeld, followed by the simple caption: “Hmm. One war criminal down.” That so many readers chose to infer “one to go…” is out of my control, though surely understandable given the historic context.

What I found a tad surprising though is the earnestness in which some on the right are determined to use Saddam’s execution as an opportunity portray their political opponents as allies of the brutal dictator. And the vehemence in which they have attempted to go personal. For example, over on the local right-wing Drudge-clone Orbusmax, my post was featured under the following headline: ‘PROGRESSIVE’ 710 KIRO TALKSHOW HOST ON RUMSFELD: “Hmm. One war criminal down…”

Huh.

Of course, that’s intentionally misleading. Saddam Hussein was the only war criminal executed yesterday, so of course my caption was referring to him, not Rumsfeld. As far as I know, Rumsfeld is still breathing, so could not possible be “down,” and besides, I never once described him as a war criminal. Still, it’s a catchy headline, so thanks for driving some traffic my way Orb.

But notice, that though I have made my mark as a liberal blogger, and the post in question appeared here on HA, that Orb chose to describe me as “710 KIRO TALKSHOW HOST.” I assume it’s not because he wants to promote my radio career. And it wouldn’t be the first time that some on the right have attempted to generate outrage over something or other that I have written or said in the hope that it might convince KIRO to take me off the air.

I find it flattering. And revealing. And in any case, futile.

KIRO knew full well what they were getting when they gave me a shot back in June, and as far as I know they have no plans to dump me. I’m still a relative novice and have tons to learn about the medium — and I don’t yet feel that I have completely found my on-air voice — but KIRO seems to be giving me every chance to succeed. And if in fact my blog creates the occasional controversy, then all the better. Advertisers don’t really care if the audience likes me or not, as long as they’re tuning in and hanging on through the commercials.

So for those of you angry righties who just discovered HA through Orb’s courteous link, I invite you to tune in to 710-KIRO tonight from 7 to 10PM, when I will surely have more to say on Saddam’s execution. And if you don’t like what I have to say, then give me a call at 877-710-KIRO and tell me to my face.

Hmm. One war criminal down.

I apologize for the dearth of posting this week, but between the holidays and the fill-in work on 710-KIRO and my daughter being out of school on Winter break, I simply haven’t had the time. It’s not that four hours a day on-air is so exhausting (though that fourth hour does take some getting used to,) it’s just that I’m simply unaccustomed to waking up so damn early day after day.

It’s not unusual for me to be up until 2AM reading the next day’s papers and writing a post or two, but I rarely wake up much before 7:30 or 8AM. This week I’ve been rising at 6AM to prepare for the day’s show, but it’s taken the full week to convince my head to fall asleep a couple hours earlier. Should I ever get a daily a gig I’m confident I’ll be able to keep up the blogging… after I get my sleep pattern adjusted to fit the schedule.

In any case, I hope the audience enjoyed my daily gig this week as much as I did. It was a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. Dave and Ron’s producer Tina was a huge help, and never shy about offering criticism… something desperately needed by a relative novice like me. I’m spoiled now, and actually kinda dread putting together another show without her.

Speaking of which, I’m assuming management didn’t think I totally sucked, as I got a couple more fill-in slots. In addition to my regular show this Sunday (New Year’s Eve) from 7-10PM, I’ll be sitting in for Frank Shiers tomorrow night (Saturday) from 7-10PM and for Ron & Don on Monday (New Years Day) from 4-7PM. That’ll make ten days straight on the air, a bit grueling, but great practice. If I’m not a better host at the end of this streak than I was at the beginning, I don’t deserve to be doing this.

Thanks again to 710-KIRO management for giving me this opportunity. And thank you all for bearing with me during this posting drought.

Ooops. The show is already half over, but here’s the line-up today as I fill in for Dave Ross and Ron Reagan on Newsradio 710-KIRO from 9AM to 1PM:

Hour 1: Who is snobbier? Eastsiders or Seattlites?

Hour 2: Why don’t you believe in global warming?

Hour 3: Newsradio 710-KIRO movie critic Tom Tagney joins me to giveus his top 10 movies of 2006.

Hour 4: What New Years resolutions do you want from your elected officials?

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

I love irony.

You know, like when a snotty suburban newspaper like the King County Journal runs a divisively arrogant editorial bashing the region’s urban core (“While suburbs shine, Seattle seems shabby“)… only to learn a few hours later that they’re being shut down by their new corporate owners.

Talk about shabby. At least some of us urine-stained, crack-addicted city folk still read newspapers.

I don’t particularly like the Journal — it’s not an engaging read and its op/ed page often out-Blethens the Blethen-owned Seattle Times — but I don’t particularly celebrate the passing of any daily newspaper. Not even the sucky ones.

Still, you gotta love the irony.

Who are you supporting for President in 2008?

The folks here at Horses’ Ass have our picks. Here they are:

Goldy: Al Gore
David only supports candidates who have both a blockbuster film and a best selling book to their credit. That means it was either Al Gore or Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who starred in I Heart Huckabees, and wrote the best selling book Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork.

Geov Parrish: Mitt Romney
Geov remarked once that he wanted a President who was progressive on health care issues AND wore that weird Morman underwear. Well, one out of two ain’t bad!

Darryl: Well… um…
Darryl is undecided at the moment. It’s either Tom Vilsack or Barack Obama. It’s a battle between Obama’s knowledge of the soybean market, versus Vilsack’s charisma and energy. I’ll get back to you with Darryl’s answer.

Will: John Edwards
I am personally inspired by the guy. Any candidate who wants to end poverty is somebody who is not playing it safe.

But nevermind us experts. Share your picks in the comments.

I remember when it happened.

It was the fall of ’04. In the P-I was a puff piece about Mariners players and how they were going to vote in the presidential election. No surprise, as the team favored Bush by a large margin. Mariners second baseman Bret Boone was quoted saying this:

“I wouldn’t say I’m a hard-core conservative, but I don’t like a lot of Democratic views,” second baseman Bret Boone said. “I don’t like big government. I like small government.”

Considering Boone’s former workplace, Safeco Field, is a publicly funded facility, you have to ask: was this guy hit in the head a few too many times? Does he understand that a “big government” handout provided him a means to make a salary? What a goof!

So, that’s “when it happened,” or in other words, when I stopped supporting government subsidies for professional sports.

It wasn’t always that way for me. I supported the Mariners and the Seahawks in their effort to build new stadiums. After all, the Kingdome was a dump. It was an awful place to watch baseball. For football, it was only slightly better than Memorial Stadium. I felt the argument could be made that they needed new digs. I also believed, erroneously it turned out, that pro sports were a boost to the economy. In any case, I like baseball and football, so who cares, right?

The Sonics were too busy winning during the 90’s to worry about asking for public money for a new stadium. Still, in 1996, they got one. Key Arena opened, with all the idiots in City Hall and the newspapers talking about how great it was that an arena could be financed so “creatively.” Turns out it was a bunch of bullshit, and that the Sonics couldn’t keep making payments out of their luxury boxes because, well, they couldn’t sell many of them at Sonics home games. See, the deal was that the Sonics would pay rent from revenues produced trough selling certain amenities at Key Arena like luxury boxes. This worked well during the “Reign Man” and “The Glove” era. Boxes are easy to sell when the team is winning. But when the team started sucking, new ownership, in the form of coffee dork Howard Schultz, wanted out of the deal.

Schultz saw how much money was being made around the NBA by owners with teams in pimped-out, ultra-modern facilities. Howard also wanted the revenue earned by the arena when the Sonics weren’t even playing (like a Paul McCartney concert, or a comic book convention, or whatever). Other owners in other cities were able to sweet talk government into paying for these arenas, making them even more profitable for ownership. (Read lots more about the reality of pro basketball stadiums here)

When Schultz went to Olympia to get his money for a new building, he was turned down, and went home in a huff. He and his group sold out to Oklahoma City business folks headed by Clay Bennett. I don’t hold any ill will against Bennett for buying the team and subsequently doing his best to get public money to build an arena in Renton or Bellevue, but I still don’t want to give it to him. I’m not of the same mind as Goldy; I don’t think that a dollar used to refurbish a stadium is necessarily a dollar taken out of a Washington state classroom, but it’s starting to feel that way. When Rep. Ross Hunter rules out any kind of state income tax on election night while some government leaders are jumping out of their skins at the chance to fork over public dough to sports teams (hello, Sen. Margarita Prentice!), a guy can get a little pissed off.

Here’s the new plan. Until the NBA can fix it’s business model, no public dough. If it means the Sonics are gone to OKC, that that’s a-OK with me. Oklahoma City is dying for a team (they wanted to keep the New Orleans Hornets, but they flew home after the flood). Let them have the headache of pro sports. I’m finished with assholes likes David Stern who come into our house trying to shake us down for cash. Fuck him. If the NBA can do without Seattle, then Seattle can do without the NBA. Same goes for those NASCAR guys. Until their plan for a speedway in Kitsap County looks less like a pyramid scheme and more like a good investment, no money should be spent.

If we’re going to subsidize sports, let’s put some cash into Chehalis’ rodeo park (whatever the fuck that is). Let’s build that hockey venue in Kent so the Seattle Thunderbirds can ditch the Key Arena, which has always sucked for hockey. We should fix up baseball stadiums in Yakima and Spokane. Pierce County and Tacoma should look into a new ballpark, with the State Legislature chipping in. How about a new ballpark right down by the water, near downtown? We could extend that dope streetcar right to the ballpark. Tacoma folks, chime in and tell me what’s what.

Our leaders should never close the door to investing in sports, but we’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Let’s say “no” to whoring ourselves to the NBA and say “yes” to our minor league teams and the cities that host them. At twenty bucks for a family of four, Tacoma Rainiers baseball at Cheney Stadium is a mighty fine deal. That’s where I’ll be this spring. With a cold one, of course.

I’m filling in this week for Dave Ross and Ron Reagan on Newsradio 710-KIRO from 9AM to 1PM. Here’s a peek at today’s line-up:

Hour 1: The Sonics want a new arena and NASCAR wants a new track… and both want hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidy. Are public funded arenas a good economic investment, and can elected officials really justify financing an arena the voters have rejected?

“Pro sports stadiums don’t bolster local economies”

Hour 2: As per-student state education funding continues to lag behind inflation, schools are increasingly relying on PTA’s to make up the difference… leaving schools in poor neighborhoods at a loss for cash. Is this really a reasonable way to fund public schools?

Hour 3: A proposed compact with the Spokane tribe could spark a massive expansion of gambling in WA state, but does nothing to address our growing epidemic of problem gambling. Jennifer McCausland of the Teen Gambling Prevention Project joins me.

Hour 4: TBA

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

It took forever, folks, but it’s up here. I’m not doing the usual write-up. We talked about the s&*# we normally talk about, yadda yadda yadda. You’ve got your new episode. Stop whining.

Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States died today. He was 93.

The man was President. He lived a full and relatively healthy 93 years. You don’t mourn a death like that. You celebrate the life.

I’m a pretty partisan guy, but apart from pardoning Richard Nixon, I hold nothing against President Ford. In fact, I think we were pretty lucky to have somebody like him in the White House at that very tumultuous moment in our nation’s history. While I was only 13 at the time, I actually secretly preferred Ford over Jimmy Carter in the 1976 general election. (My personal misgivings about Carter were misplaced, but my political instincts proved to be dead on.)

Hmm. I wonder if President Ford will be given the same sort of lavish state funeral afforded President Reagan?

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

Had a busy holiday visiting with family? Need a drink to recover? Come join us for some hoppy beer and hopped up political schmoozing.

Not in Seattle? Washington liberals will also be drinking tonight in the Tri-Cities, and a full listing of Washington’s 11 Drinking Liberally chapters is available here.

UPDATE:
Oops. Turns out the Montlake Ale House is closed tonight. So no Drinking Liberally tonight. Oh man… I’m getting the DL DT’s.

I’m filling in this week for Dave Ross and Ron Reagan on 710-KIRO, so tune in from 9AM to 1PM and hear me make an ass out of myself. Or maybe I’ll be good. Who knows?

We’re still working out today’s lineup, and I’ll update this post as the day firms up, but here’s what it looks like now:

9AM: Do the super-rich have an inner life? Thomas Goetzl writes in today’s Seattle P-I about the growing gap between the megawealthy and the rest of us, with top executives getting $40 million bonuses, average folk struggle to get by. But then Goetzl goes on to ponder whether all this money actually makes the rich folk any happier. Hmm.

10AM: Can we end homelessness in Seattle?

11AM: Is America ready for its first Moslem congressman? Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) will be sworn in on Jan. 4, and he’ll be swearing his oath on the Koran. Why is this creating such a controversy in a nation that deliberately separates church and state?

12PM: What’s happening in the other Washington? Former TNT political correspondent Ken Vogel is now an investigative reporter for the new Capitol Hill publication The Politico, and he joins us to talk about the upcoming session. What can we expect from the new Democratic majority? Call in and ask Ken.

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

I’m watching a forum on C-Span from February of this year. It’s moderated by Tim Russert and includes former RNC chief Ed Gillespie, Democratic advisor James Carville, and columnists E.J. Dionne and Peggy Noonan.

You can watch it here.

Merry Christmas. Talk amongst yourselves.

It may be Christmas Eve, but it sure as hell won’t be a silent night on “The David Goldstein Show” from 7PM to 10PM tonight on Newsradio 710-KIRO. I don’t have any scheduled guests at the moment, but I’ve got a number of topics I’m just itching to discuss, including:

• Is it time for a state income tax? Republicans complain that Gov. Gregoire’s new budget will result in budget deficits several years out, but our sales tax heavy tax system would produce long term deficits even if we freeze the size of state government. At what point do we face reality and either reform our tax structure (the most regressive in the nation) or just simply accept our destiny as the Alabama of the West?

• Is this a Christian nation, or just a nation of Christians? And either way, why do so many politically prominent Christians feel so comfortable getting so damn pissy about it? Locally, mega-church preacher and Republican activist Pastor Joe Fuiten describes Jews as a bunch of money-grubbing merchants who should thank Jesus for their yuletide profits… and barely anybody bats an eye. Nationally, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) warns that if we don’t reform immigration “there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office.” Heaven forfend.

• Who’s afraid of the big bad Rossi? For two years now we’ve been hearing from the WA GOP about how they’re going to get revenge for the 2004 gubernatorial election, which they claim was stolen, but which actually turned out to be an excruciatingly close tie that broke just barely for Gregoire, in turn breaking the hearts of Republicans who came oh-so-close. First it was Ron Sims who was supposed to pay the piper, and I-912 was supposed to be a shot across the bow. Then Mike McGavick was supposed to benefit from a statewide backlash. (Yeah. How’d that work out for you?) And now a new poll shows Gregoire besting Rossi 51 percent to 40 percent. Ouch. So, is Dino Rossi a one hit wonder, or the next governor of Washington?

• An inhabited island off the coast of India has disappeared beneath rising sea levels. Oops.

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

PROGRAMMING NOTE:
I’ll be filling in for Dave Ross and Ron Reagan all week, from 9AM to 1PM.