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Who is Dave Reichert really representing?

The Seattle Times editorial board excoriates the Bush administration today for its warrantless eavesdropping program, and congratulates a federal judge for ruling it illegal and unconstitutional.

Congress has been utterly useless in holding the administration accountable for key parts of its national-security policy and its handling of the war in Iraq. In the face of an outright abandonment of oversight of the chief executive, the task has fallen to the judicial branch.

Of course, I agree.

But it raises a question. I’ve been willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that the Times endorses both Mike McGavick and Dave Reichert in November’s general election — if only to cater to its publisher’s fetish for repealing the estate death Blethen Tax. And yet the editorial board acknowledges that we are in the midst of “a fundamental struggle over the rule of law and checks and balances.”

Hmm.

I am curious to see whether the Times lives up to its own oversight obligations, or instead chooses the narrow economic interests of its owners over the welfare of the nation by endorsing candidates who would sustain a Republican majority that has willfully abdicated Congress’ role as a coequal branch of government?

5th Congressional District candidate Peter Goldmark has a post up on Daily Kos right now, and he’s online active answering questions in the comment thread. So if you have a question or comment for Goldmark, now is a great opportunity chat with him.

Oh… and while you’re there, please recommend his diary so that more Daily Kos readers can get to know Goldmark.

BREAKING NEWS…!

REUTERS, London — British police foiled yet another terrorist plot today, announcing the arrest of a 340-pound Egyptian man planning to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic using homemade explosives derived from his own body.

British authorities say the unidentified man planned to use the on-board lavatory as a mobile chemical lab, where he would render his own fat and refine it into bio-diesel while extracting urea nitrate from his own urine. According to an NSA terrorism expert who spoke on condition of anonymity, a typical “fat arab” could easily extract sufficient material from his own fluids to mix enough ANFO explosive to bring down a Boeing 747. “This is the nightmare scenario we’ve all been predicting,” the NSA official told Reuters.

In response, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) immediately instructed airport screeners to prevent fat people from boarding planes, and ordered all bathrooms to be locked and sealed on flights of six hours or more. A spokesman for the International Airline Passengers Association called the TSA’s new regulations a “mixed blessing” in terms of its total impact on passenger comfort.

A fat man mixing ANFO from his own bodily fluids? Sound preposterous? Well as it turns out, it’s not that much more ridiculous than the scenario we were treated to last week with tales of terrorist plans to mix triacetone triperoxide (TATP) on board jetliners using common household chemicals. According to The Register, it’s just not that easy.

Assuming you can get your hands on adequately concentrated hydrogen peroxide…

Making a quantity of TATP sufficient to bring down an airplane is not quite as simple as ducking into the toilet and mixing two harmless liquids together. […] Take your hydrogen peroxide, acetone, and sulfuric acid, measure them very carefully, and put them into drinks bottles for convenient smuggling onto a plane. It’s all right to mix the peroxide and acetone in one container, so long as it remains cool. Don’t forget to bring several frozen gel-packs (preferably in a Styrofoam chiller deceptively marked “perishable foods”), a thermometer, a large beaker, a stirring rod, and a medicine dropper. You’re going to need them.

It’s best to fly first class and order Champagne. The bucket full of ice water, which the airline ought to supply, might possibly be adequate – especially if you have those cold gel-packs handy to supplement the ice, and the Styrofoam chiller handy for insulation – to get you through the cookery without starting a fire in the lavvie.

Once the plane is over the ocean, very discreetly bring all of your gear into the toilet. You might need to make several trips to avoid drawing attention. Once your kit is in place, put a beaker containing the peroxide / acetone mixture into the ice water bath (Champagne bucket), and start adding the acid, drop by drop, while stirring constantly. Watch the reaction temperature carefully. The mixture will heat, and if it gets too hot, you’ll end up with a weak explosive. In fact, if it gets really hot, you’ll get a premature explosion possibly sufficient to kill you, but probably no one else.

After a few hours – assuming, by some miracle, that the fumes haven’t overcome you or alerted passengers or the flight crew to your activities – you’ll have a quantity of TATP with which to carry out your mission. Now all you need to do is dry it for an hour or two.

The genius of this scheme is that TATP is relatively easy to detonate. But you must make enough of it to crash the plane, and you must make it with care to assure potency. One needs quality stuff to commit “mass murder on an unimaginable scale,” as Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson put it. While it’s true that a slapdash concoction will explode, it’s unlikely to do more than blow out a few windows. At best, an infidel or two might be killed by the blast, and one or two others by flying debris as the cabin suddenly depressurizes, but that’s about all you’re likely to manage under the most favorable conditions possible.

[…]

To release the energy needed to bring down a plane (far more difficult to do than many imagine, as Aloha Airlines Flight 243 neatly illustrates), it’s necessary to synthesize a good amount of TATP with care.

Hmm.

But surely, the threat was imminent–the terrorists were only days away from carrying out their dastardly plan. At least, that’s what US and British officials told us, and that’s what the media dutifully reported.

Craig Murray, Britain’s outspoken former Amabassador to Uzbekistan is skeptical:

None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn’t be a plane bomber for quite some time.

In the absence of bombs and airline tickets, and in many cases passports, it could be pretty difficult to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that individuals intended to go through with suicide bombings, whatever rash stuff they may have bragged in internet chat rooms.

And as it turns out, no charges have yet been filed in the case.

Which raises the question… was the danger really so imminent to disrupt travel for millions of passengers and warrant making flying even more uncomfortable than it naturally is by banning beverages and other carry-on items? Or was this just another cynical Bush administration effort to ramp up the fear at a time when his party’s approval is at a record low, and with a crucial midterm election just around the corner?

Forgive me for being suspicious, but it seems like every few weeks we hear of another dire terrorist threat that turns out to be a load of crap. You know, like that supposed plot to flood lower Manhattan by blowing up the Holland Tunnel, ignoring the fact that the so-called terrorists had neither the means, the training, or the know-how… let alone the brains to realize that water doesn’t flow uphill.

And then there are all those recent reports of suspected “terrorists” arrested for buying large quantities of prepaid cellphones for use as detonators or to assist them in evading surveillance. Again, a load of crap.

Of course there are real terrorists out there who pose a real threat. But if their goal is to strike fear in the American public, they face some awfully stiff competition from our own President.

“I grew up In Alabama, and I understand, and I know this from my own experience, that blacks are not the greatest swimmers or may not even know to swim.”
— Tramm Hudson, GOP candidate for Congress, FL-13

This was Katherine Harris’ seat. Figures.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is conducting an online poll to select three favorite candidates to receive special campaign support:

• A fundraising email from Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi or DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel to our list;
• A phone bank run out of the Democratic National Headquarters for their campaign;
• The feature spot on our Web site to get their message out, with a link to their campaign contribution page;
• An online chat with the DCCC community to exchange ideas on the campaign and the future of our country.

We all know that the battle to defeat Rep. Dave Reichert is going to be damn close; well this is the kind of extra support that could put challenger Darcy Burner over top. So I strongly urge you to cast your vote for the DCCC’s “Candidate for Change” today… and cast it for Burner. It’s also a chance to prove again how strong our local netroots are.

(And while you’re at it, why not write in Peter Goldmark? I did.)

The contest ends August 23rd, so vote now, and please pass this along as widely as possible.

In the weeks leading up to the Connecticut primary, Republicans described Democratic challenger Ned Lamont’s anti-war position as “extreme” and “out of touch” with mainstream America. In the days after Lamont soundly beat three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman, Republicans described Connecticut voters as “extreme” and “out of touch” with mainstream America.

But looking at recent national public opinion polls, it seems that it is the Republicans who may be extreme and out of touch.

Indeed, a new Elway Poll commissioned by the Seattle Times confirms that there is widespread support amongst Washington voters for either an immediate or timed withdrawal of troops from Iraq, with half of all respondents choosing one of those options… though only 21 percent of Republicans.

But the crosstabs are even more revealing. 19 percent of WA voters support immediate withdrawal — 27 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of independents — but only 5 percent of Republicans support this option.

So, um… who’s out of the mainstream here?

In fact, only 66 percent of WA Republicans support President Bush’s stated position of leaving only when Iraqis can keep the peace (which of course, could mean never,) and it is curious to note that in a recent Survey USA poll, that’s exactly the same percentage of Republicans who plan to vote for Republican Mike!™ McGavick in his lightly contested US Senate primary.

Hmm.

Early on, the press glommed on to the state Democrats’ supposedly divisive split over the Iraq war as the big story in the Senate race, yet the same poll shows Sen. Maria Cantwell garnering 90 percent of the vote in her much more high profile primary contest.

I’m sure that some of this disparity can be explained away by Mike!™’s lower name ID, but it begs the question: has the press been focusing on a bitterly divisive split in the wrong party?

I’ve only read the New Testament cover to cover once (and I have to admit it was more an exercise in opposition research than it was a journey of spiritual discovery) so correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember Christ teaching things like charity, loving thy neighbor, feeding and clothing the poor… you know, social justice stuff like that.

Thus it came as bit of a surprise to learn that Pastor Joe Fuiten — who routinely jostles with Reverend Ken Hutcherson for the role of Washington state’s loudest defender of Christian values — is in the process of turning retired ministers and missionaries out of their homes and onto the streets. I dunno… doesn’t sound very Christian to me.

I’m referring to the longtime residents of the Cedar Springs Bible Camp near Lake Stevens, who over the past thirty years, and with the Camp’s active encouragement and support, have built conventional homes on leased lots in the Camp’s five-acre residential area, and who have volunteered many hours of their time to Camp improvement projects.

The Camp leased lots only to “qualified tenants” with the stated purpose of providing low-cost, year-round residency to both active and retired Assemblies of God ministers, missionaries and lay people. Monthly leases remained low, sporadically rising by no more than 15 dollars a month from $10.50 per month in 1966 to $150.00 per month in 2004. Leases had historically been renewed annually at the option of the tenant.

That is until Pastor Fuiten’s mega-church, the Cedar Park Assembly of God, purchased the Bible Camp in 2005.

In September of 2005, Fuiten’s church offered residents a new lease that would increase rents by 83% over three years, a particular burden on the Camp’s retired seniors living on low, fixed incomes. But the most devastating alteration of the lease terms under Fuiten’s management was the elimination of the option to renew… destroying the resident’s resale value, and forcing them to abandon their houses and improvements in the event the leases are not renewed.

Under the terms of the new lease, there is only one potential buyer for the residents’ homes — Pastor Fuiten’s mega-church — which would be unjustly enriched should it choose to terminate the leases, or the tenants be unable to afford the new terms.

The residents have filed suit in Snohomish County Superior Court, and while I have no idea how the judge will rule, I’m pretty damn sure that if it were up to Christ, he’d feel a tad uncomfortable evicting a bunch of retired ministers and stealing their homes.

So now that the residents’ plight has been publicized, the question remains: what will Pastor Joe Fuiten do?

It was a night of media navel gazing as former Seattle Weekly writer Geov Parrish and former Stranger writer Sandeep Kaushik joined us to ponder the fate of the post-purge Weekly in Seattle’s tech-savvy, blog-heavy media market. Oh yeah… me , Will, Carl and Mollie also chimed in from time to time, and just for good measure we also talked a little politics, including al-Qaeda’s stunning victory in last week’s Connecticut Democratic senate primary.

The show is 50:12, and is available here as a 34.6 MB MP3. Please visit PodcastingLiberally.com for complete archives and RSS feeds.

[Recorded live at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. Special thanks to Confab creators Gavin and Richard for producing the show.]

The same coalition of business, labor and environmental organizations that came together last year to handedly defeat Initiative 912 (gas tax repeal,) filed a lawsuit today in Thurston County Superior court seeking to disqualify 3000 pages of signatures for I-917, Tim Eyman’s doomed “Yet Another Thirty Dollar Car Tab” (YATDCB) initiative.

Fifteen business, labor and environmental organizations announced the challenge on Tuesday, invoking a 2005 law that requires signature-gatherers to personally sign a declaration that the information on the petition is correct.

Initiative 917 solicitors did not sign the statement on more than 3,000 of the 17,000 petitions, and those pages must be thrown out, the group said.

“The Legislature passed a law to ensure that signature-gatherers are honest and accountable,” said Steve Mullen, president of the Washington Roundtable, the organization of top corporate CEOs. “There has been substantial fraud in other states, and laws like this are necessary to keeping the initiative process clean and to protect the voters.”

Substantial fraud in other states? More like massive fraud, with signature rejection rates surpassing fifty percent with some initiatives.

One of the primary purposes of the 2005 law was to require signature gatherers to identify themselves on petitions so that authorities could better track cases of intentional fraud to individual signature gatherers. But in response to a query from state Rep. Toby Nixon (R-45), Attorney General Rob McKenna issued a rather tortured opinion, arguing that while the law requires the declaration to be printed on the initiative, it does not actually require the declaration to be signed.

Huh? Then what’s the purpose?

That’s what the court is going to be asked to decide — the actual legislative intent behind the declaration — and in an email exchange Rep. Nixon insisted that McKenna got it right:

I’ve seen the opinion and agree with it. In fact, it was me who pointed out the legislative history of the bill

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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. I’m told that Port Commissioner Lloyd Hara will be joining us tonight. Mmm. I love port.

And if you happen to be a liberal drinker on the other side of the mountains, the Tri-Cities chapter of DL also meets Tuesday nights, 7 PM, Atomic Ale, 1015 Lee Blvd., in Richland. Go ask Jimmy for more details.

The good news is, Geov Parrish now has more time on his hands to devote to blogging. The bad news is, that’s because he just gave notice to the Seattle Weekly that he will no longer write for the paper.

In a letter sent out to friends and associates, Parrish explains his decision:

This morning I informed Seattle Weekly’s new Managing Editor, Mike Seely, that effective immediately I will no longer write for Seattle Weekly. I like and respect Mike, and wish him great success in his new job. I regret having made his immediate challenges that much more difficult. However, in recent discussions with him and with corporate owner Village Voice Media’s Executive Associate Editor, Andy Van De Voorde, particularly in the wake of the recent departures of Editor-in-Chief Skip Berger, Managing Editor Chuck Taylor, and Political Editor George Howland, it became clear that my journalistic priorities were not compatible with VVM’s current and future plans for Seattle Weekly. For this and other reasons, I feel it most appropriate to move on immediately.

Hmm. Parrish, Berger, Howland, Taylor and several other key employees have all left the Weekly in the wake of the New Times/VVM “merger.” That’s pretty much the purge we all expected. It’s going to be a dramatically different publication.

Howland has reportedly landed a job with Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata’s office, and Berger tells me he’s looking forward to exploring new opportunities. As for Parrish, well, he needs a job:

So here’s where the “help” portion of this note comes in: I now need a job. I have a Master’s Degree in Political Science and East Asian Studies, and nearly 30 years of experience in both media (primarily print, radio, and online, both in providing content and on the business side) and in progressive political organizing. I have been based in Seattle for the last 16 of these years, and would like to stay here. With the loss of Seattle Weekly, my remaining paid media work is national in scope, but I am comfortable tackling global or local issues, or both. I am most interested in either further media work (national or local, and either print, radio, online, or some combination thereof, doing administrative, editing, and/or content work), progressive political work, or reentering the nonprofit world. Further details regarding my experience, skills, and/or priorities are available for the asking.

I hope Geov doesn’t mind me reprinting his private want ad, but that’s the only help I have to offer. In fact, if you have two jobs, I could use a little income too.

I’m miffed. Rep. Dave Reichert was too scared busy to come on my KIRO radio show Sunday night, but had no problem finding the time to spend an hour on KUOW with host Steve Scher Monday morning.

Whatever. The more the public hears directly from Reichert the better Darcy Burner’s chances look in November.

You can listen to KUOW’s podcast here, or read thoughtful analysis from local bloggers Darryl, Michael and Dan. Then talk amongst yourselves.

Inlander Online has a great feature on 5th Congressional District Democratic challenger Peter Goldmark… only it’s more than just an article about Goldmark, it’s an article about the decline of farm towns in Eastern Washington.

Decline in farm towns has long been considered a function of fewer farmers running bigger farms. But now, Goldmark says, “Even the bigger farmers are leaving, even the larger farms are struggling.”

Corde Siegel, who farms near the Whitman County outpost of Pine City, says, “My accountant says there is not a single grain grower who is making money.”

The math is as simple as it is harsh. Six years ago, Siegel says, his cost per acre for fuel was $5; today it’s $20. Fertilizer penciled out to $20 an acre in 2000 and is $45 today. Chemicals have gone from $12 to $35 an acre in the last six years; labor from $8 to $18 an acre; machinery from $10 to $33; crop insurance from $4 to $12.50.

Meanwhile, “I have farmers harvesting wheat for the same prices their fathers and grandfathers did,” says Gretchen Borck, director of issues for the Washington Association of Wheat Growers based in Ritzville.

It’s a bad equation, Goldmark says. “Here are the people [who] we say are privileged to grow food for the entire world, and now you’ve got to pay to do it.

“Ag families are going to dry up and go away and nobody cares. I care,” he says. “This is the big issue about why I got into the race

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