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Note to Stefan: it’s time to embrace a new scandal.

While the WA state GOP’s favorite conspiracy theorist has tirelessly devoted himself towards uncovering fraud and corruption in King County Elections (I’m sure he’ll find that smoking gun any day now,) he’s totally missing out on a raging controversy that threatens to bring county government to its knees: Mooie the acid-washed puppy.

Of course, I expect the media to pile on this story: it was a horrific, heart-wrenching crime, and… well… everybody loves puppies (except, I suppose, the person who immersed the poor, four-month-old pitbull in muriatic acid.) But I was nonetheless surprised to see my inbox fill with puppy-related news releases nearly two weeks after the incident. If there’s ever a sign that Puppygate threatens to explode into a full fledged political crisis, it’s the elected officials tripping all over themselves trying to prove who is more strongly opposed to dipping puppies in acid.

Yesterday, KC Executive Ron Sims office released a somewhat defensive sounding “Puppy investigation update,” which of course prompted Council Chair Larry Phillips to go on the offensive… lest the executive steal the anti-animal cruelty high ground. Phillips apparently had no choice but to send a letter to Sims urging a “prompt and thorough investigation of this tragic and shocking case” — a letter that somehow managed to make its way onto an animal rights website before it reached Sims desk. Imagine that.

So I asked Sims spokesman Sandeep Kaushik… “what the fuck?”… to which he replied that they’ve never seen public reaction like this before. More than with the 2004 election controversy, I asked incredulously? “Magnitudes greater,” he said.

Spurred on by websites like Dogster and Pasado, animal lovers (or as the FBI calls them, “terrorists”) have been inundating (i.e. “terrorizing”) government officials with impassioned pleas for action. The Executive’s Office, the County Council, Animal Control, the Federal Way Police… they’re receiving thousands of animated and sometimes angry emails and phone calls… some even threatening vigilante action if the authorities do not apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice. No other controversy has come even close to generating such an outcry… not the election contest or the Southwest Airlines deal or any number of issues that impact the daily lives of the region’s citizens.

Which makes me wonder… is the American public so jaded by man’s inhumanity to man, that nothing short of dipping a puppy in acid compels compassion these days? Are our politicians wasting their money on media consultants and handlers, when the secret to shaping public opinion is… puppies? Is the anti-war movement making a huge miscalculation by focusing attention on the human tragedy of the conflict, when the one thing that could finally provoke the American people to stand up and demand an end to the war would be grainy pictures from the Baghdad pound of hooded, shackled puppies with electrodes attached to their testicles?

Now, don’t get me wrong… I love animals (i.e. I’m a “terrorist”,) and what happened to this dog was truly horrible. It’s an appalling, saddening crime, and the pictures made me cringe. I even made my own puppy look the other way. I sure hope they catch the guy.

But it’s a dog, for chrisakes!

I dunno… just thought we might want to readjust our priorities.

The Burien, Tacoma and Spokane chapters of Drinking Liberally all meet tonight. Wow. That’s a lot of liberal drinkers.

The Burien chapter meets tonight (the 4th Weds. of every month,) 7:00 pm at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, 435 SW 152nd ST. State representatives Zack Hudgins (D-11), Shay Schual-Berke (D-33) and Dave Upthegrove (D-33) will be joining the festivities. That’s a great opportunity to sit down and talk shop with some legislators. Wish I could be there.

For those further South and further West, the Tacoma chapter meets every Wednesday, 8:00 pm at Meconi’s Pub, 709 Pacific AVE, and the Spokane chapter meets every Wednesday, 7:00 pm at the Red Lion Pub, 126 N Division St.

Anybody see Ezra Klein’s piece on Al Gore in The American Prospect? Also, if you haven’t done it yet, please vote for HA as Best State or Local Blog in the Koufax Awards… I’m getting my ass kicked!

It was journalist night at Seattle’s Drinking Liberally, with one of the region’s most venerable political writers, The Seattle P-I’s Joel Connelly, duking it out with one of the region’s newest, The Stranger’s Cienna Madrid. Also joining me for our weekly political beerfest was Carl, Mollie, Will, and Lee. (Well, sort of Lee… we actually bumped him for Joel before he managed to say a word.)

Cienna and I continue our tussle over Maria Cantwell, Dirk Kempthorne and how political journalists influence the issues they cover. Then Joel joins in and the discussion ranges from Barak Obama, Al Gore, Mark Warner, John Edwards, John Kerry and the third anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

The show is 53:19, and is available here as a 34.4MB MP3, and archived at PodcastingLiberally.com.

[Special thanks to Confab creators Gavin and Richard for producing our show.]

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. I’ll be there, knocking back a couple of pints of Manny’s, and recording the latest edition of Podcasting Liberally… and who knows, perhaps Cienna will stop by so the two of us can exchange obscenity laden rants?

For those on the other side of the mountains, please join Jimmy at the Tri-Cities chapter of DL, every Tuesday from 5:30 onwards, Tuscany Lounge, 1515 George Washington Way, Richland.

I’ve been told that state Rep. Ross Hunter was disappointed by the reception he and newly minted Democrat Rodney Tom got at last week’s 48th LD Democrats meeting. It wasn’t hostile or anything, they just weren’t welcomed with candy and flowers.

I’m not sure what Hunter expected. Flipping a Republican is big news and all, and Tom will certainly give state Sen. Luke Esser a run for his money — if he wins the primary — but the 48th had already recruited a strong challenger to Esser in Debi Golden.

Or more precisely, the Senate Dems had already recruited a strong candidate in Golden, and so if she and her supporters seemed a bit taken aback by Tom’s challenge, well, that’s to be expected. Commitments were made to Golden, and while I can’t really blame the Senate Dems for switching horses if they truly believe Tom is the stronger candidate, the manner in which they did it was rather ham-fisted.

According to Golden, both the Senate and House Dems recruited her for their respective races as early as July, and by October she had agreed to take on Esser with the assurance that she would have the backing of the SDCC unless Hunter himself decided to enter the race. Tom has told people that he knew he was going to switch parties as early as November, but Golden only started hearing rumors a couple days before he officially announced his candidacy. About an hour after the news broke, Sen. Karen Keiser stopped by to officially give Golden the bad news and ask her to exit the race.

As we now know, Golden refused to drop out, and last week the 48th LD Dems passed a motion affirming her right to stay in the race. This should be a good primary fight between two candidates who are strong in different ways, and I certainly wouldn’t count Golden out. In 2004, after a late start and with little money, Golden came within a couple points of beating Tom. Personally, I just think she’s a better fit for the district, and, well… quite frankly, female candidates tend to have an advantage out here.

I expect the primary to be a good, fair fight, and whoever wins should emerge stronger for it. I’ve heard the Dems have warned Golden not to “go negative” against Tom, but I’m not really sure what that means. Certainly his voting record should be fair game, as long as it is honestly represented.

One final comment on this whole affair. Like Hunter, I certainly encourage other Republicans — several of whom have seen the GOP leave them far behind — to seriously consider switching parties before the 2006 election. But before they do, I think the WSDCC might want to reconsider Section VI, Paragraph C of their nominating rules, which states that to be eligible for the party’s nomination:

The voter must not have been registered as a member of any political party other than the Democratic Party for at least one (1) year immediately preceding filing for office

If they’re going to ask Golden to take one for the team, the least the Dems can do is make certain that they are playing by the rules.

Talk about whatever the hell you want… just vote for Horse’s Ass for Best State or Local Blog. (That Bluegrass Report is kicking my butt! Do you really want HA to be beat by a blog from Kentucky?)

Wampum’s Koufax Awards finalists have been announced, and HA has the distinct honor of making it into the final cut for Best State or Local Blog. All of the finalists are deserving, but because I am narcissistically impaired, and desperately crave the love and affirmation of strangers, I strongly urge you to vote for me. Simply click here, and leave “Horse’s Ass” in the comment thread. (And feel free to leave a testimonial.)

Two of my favorite locally produced blogs also made it into the finals, and in multiple categories, so if you have the time, please show them a little love too:

Most Humorous Blog: Jesus’ General.
Most Humorous Post: Jesus’ General, “Less painful than a crucifix”
Best Expert Blog: Orcinus.
Best Single Issue Blog: Orcinus.
Best Blog, Sponsored/Professional: Orcinus.

Jesus’ General is not only one of the funniest blogs out there, the General is also a constant reminder of the power of satire to effect real change. I love the General… in a manly, heterosexual way. And Orcinus is always a compelling read, both because of its often disturbing coverage of right-wing extremists, and because… well… Dave Neiwert is simply one of the best writers blogging.

So if you think we deserve it (and you want to cater to my fragile ego) please cast your votes. But please keep it honest… one vote, no freeping.

Many of us inhabitants of the liberal blogosphere like to say that we are part of the “reality-based community,” the implication being that our counterparts on the right are not. And yet, the right’s growing dominance over the past couple decades suggests that at least when it comes to electoral politics it is they who are more grounded in reality than us.

Conservatives now hold the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and a majority of governorships and state houses. And while 2006 is shaping up to be a year of political sea change, it has more to do with Republican arrogance, incompetence and corruption than with well planned and executed Democratic strategy.

Liberal Democrats simply aren’t as politically calculating as conservative Republicans, as ruthless or relentless, and certainly not as rigidly and blindly unified. Too bad.

For with the GOP teetering on the edge of the volcano, now is the time for progressives to practice a little realpolitik, join hands… and shove the bastards in! But no… we have to engage in our usual bullshit in-fighting over who is or is not ideologically pure enough… all the time losing sight of what should be our overriding objective: seizing power.

Case in point, Sen. Maria Cantwell and the constant chatter from WA’s angry left, bemoaning the fact that she doesn’t meet our unrealistic expectations… all this wailing and gnashing over her failure to stop a war she couldn’t stop or her refusal to join a filibuster that could not win. And then there’s The Stranger’s Cienna Madrid and her fellow environmentalists over on Slog, who just can’t hold back their contempt for the environmental record of one of the most reliably pro-environment members of the Senate.

Cantwell’s transgression? She “welcomed” Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne’s nomination to be Secretary of the Interior, telling the New York Times that he “understands the Northwest and a lot of Interior issues,” and has “stood up to the administration” over nuclear waste cleanup at a federal facility in Idaho.

Oh Cienna… get real.

Not only is it absurd to suggest that this one comment should negate a five-year environmental record that has made Cantwell’s reelection the number one priority of the League of Conservation Voters, but the ensuing comment thread brouhaha showed a total lack of understanding of exactly what it is we elect our senators to do.

Don’t get me wrong… I really like Cienna. She’s funny, she’s foul-mouthed, and she sure can string a handful of unrelated words together into a coherent and entertaining sentence. No wonder she has a horde of admirers in The Stranger’s forums: talent is a turn on.

(Too bad I’m way too old for her. Unless, of course, she has a thing for older men… in which case I’m only about ten years too old for her. Ah well.)

But while Cienna’s a great writer… she’s also young… and so her passion and prose sometimes gets ahead of her analysis. And in this particular case her ire was certainly disproportionate to the political reality.

See, the reality is that the GOP holds a 10-seat majority in the Senate, and that Gov. Kempthorne is not only a former senator, but one who was well-liked by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The reality is that, evil or not, Kempthorne is going to be the next Secretary of the Interior, and there is absolutely nothing that Cienna or me or even Cantwell can do to stop it.

Cienna and others are outraged that Cantwell would greet Kempthorne’s nomination with such a welcoming statement, but she did so — so aides tell me — not only because she genuinely believes that he is somebody she can work with on issues important to Northwest voters… but because she has no choice. The reality is, he will be confirmed, and thus she will have to work with him, whether she wants to or not.

Sure, Cantwell could have greeted Kempthorne’s nomination with a big, fat “fuck you” — and perhaps that would have given people like me and Cienna a bit of passing pleasure. But what would it accomplish? The first time Cantwell went to Kempthorne on some real life issue that effected real life people in Washington state, she likely would have gotten a big, fat “fuck you” in return.

See, that’s the way things work in Washington… the Washington Sen. Cantwell works in, not the Washington in which she campaigns for votes. No, she may not be the best politician in the world, but she’s a damn fine legislator, and it should be pretty clear to her critics by now that she’s not going to do or say anything that interferes with her ability to do her job. It should also be crystal clear that while she’s reliably progressive on most issues (Progressive Punch rates her at 88.93% compared to current progressive darling Russ Feingold’s 89.56%,) she’s never going to be a Paul Wellstone.

Now… would I personally like Cantwell and the rest of the Democratic party to be a lot more stridently progressive? Hell yes! But the reason we have a war in Iraq and a Supreme Court packed with right-wing justices — and a “weasely, incompetent chode” like Kempthorne running Interior — is not because Democratic senators like Cantwell fail to take bold, symbolic stands… it’s because they’re in the fucking minority!

Welcome to my reality-based community.

UPDATE:
Cienna responds.

The Seattle P-I’s Joel Connelly got to sit down with Barak Obama after Saturday’s event, and came away impressed. The Stranger’s Eli Sanders didn’t get to sit down with Obama, and came away unimpressed. But… well… Eli’s wrong.

I like to belittle Tim Eyman as a “professional” initiative sponsor, but the truth is, he really isn’t all that professional. Case in point, the breaking news that his volunteers and paid signature gatherers have wasted the past month collecting signatures on an invalid petition.

Steve Zemke of Majority Rules reports:

Tim Eyman’s current Initiative 917 petitions for $30 license tabs are invalid and violate Washington state law. He has resent “redesigned” petitions to his supporters but lies and tells them that signatures on the old petitions are “valid”.

This directly contradicts an announcement issued by the Washington State Secretary of State on Feb. 19, 2006 and posted on their website.

I cannot begin to tell you what a major, logistical fuck-up this is… and to add to his embarrassment, it’s not the first time. Steve caught the true meaning of Timmy’s lying letter because it was a near carbon-copy of one he sent to supporters back in 2003, when he inexcusably printed the wrong initiative text on the back of the I-807 petition. The campaign never recovered, and Timmy failed to qualify an initiative for the ballot.

It’s still too early in the signature gathering season to determine whether Tim’s latest screw-up is fatal, but it certainly will prove costly. As of the end of February, the I-917 campaign had already spent at least $90,000 on paid signature gathering, and over $25,000 on printing and mailing… all of it on totally invalid petitions. That’s about a quarter of the budget of a typical signature drive.

But at least as devastating is the chaos and confusion this creates amongst signers. Those who have already signed the invalid petition won’t know that they now must sign the newly “redesigned,” “better” (i.e. valid) petition. And if signature gatherers make an aggressive effort to ask people to sign again, they will likely end up collecting a large number of duplicate signatures.

Anyway, here’s how Eyman screwed up. In 2005 the Legislature amended the controlling statutes to require that all petitions carry a declaration from the signature gatherer attesting that people signed willingly and without compensation, and acknowledging the penalties for forgery and inducement. The new requirement went into effect January 1, 2006, but Eyman — the “professional” — apparently didn’t notice.

Well, apparently somebody else did, because the Secretary of State issued the following advisory on February 9:

It is the interpretation of the Office of the Secretary of State that this declaration must not only be printed on the back side of petition sheet, but must also be signed by the signature gatherer, and the signature gatherer’s name must be printed in the appropriate location. To interpret the law as not requiring the oath to be completed would render the new law meaningless. It is also the interpretation of the Office of the Secretary of State that lack of a signature on the declaration will cause the petition sheet to be rejected pursuant to RCW 29A.72.170(1).

Pretty clear, huh? Petitions lacking a properly completed declaration will not be counted.

Well, not according Timmy. In a letter to supporters sent out last week, Eyman wrote:

“All the signatures, whether on the old petition or redesigned petition, are valid and will count so get them filled out and sent back to me as soon as possible. […] But we ask everyone to start using the new, redesigned petition because it’s better.”

What a lying, sack of shit. Though, yeah… sure… the “redesigned” petitions are indeed “better”… in the sense that these petitions will actually count.

I checked with the SOS and they assured me that their interpretation was written in consultation with the Attorney General’s office. Rep. Toby Nixon has formally asked the AG for an official opinion, but it’s hard to see how a statute requiring this declaration could possibly be read to um… not require this declaration. Eyman is screwed.

And, like I said… a liar.

For the life of me, I simply cannot understand why anybody still takes this guy seriously. Eyman is a serial prevaricator who was caught red handed stealing from contributors, and lying about it afterwards. He has absolutely no grassroots organization whatsoever, and now manages to raise less than $100,000/initiative from his once vaunted contributor list. He can only afford the paid signature gatherers that qualify his initiatives for the ballot through the underwriting of a single, multimillionaire contributor, Michael Dunmire of Woodenville… but to call Timmy a “professional” would be to ignore the inexcusably amateur way he runs his campaigns.

Let’s be honest. If Timmy had been hired to run the signature drive for I-917, and had screwed up big time like this… he would have been fired. And this from the most prolific initiative sponsor in state history… I mean, even my dog eventually learns simple tasks through repetition.

Without Dunmire’s money and the inexplicable attention the traditional media still lavishes on him, Eyman would be nothing but just another lying, angry, right-wing blowhard. Perhaps that’s qualification enough to earn him a spot blogging on (un)Sound Politics, but it certainly doesn’t warrant the guest-column-on-demand status he currently enjoys in our state’s major newspapers.

It is not uncommon to read editorial boards railing against Eyman’s stupid, ill-conceived initiatives. Well here’s a hint guys: stop giving this lying, incompetent, self-serving horse’s ass so much damned free press!

Yet another notch in the belt of the regional progressive blogosphere. Darryl at Hominid Views, whose original post led to national ridicule being heaped on Adele Fergusen’s ridiculous, pro-slavery column, reports that the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal has decided to discontinue her column. Way to go Darryl.

The Seattle P-I’s Joel Connelly was happy just to be out of the house after weeks recuperating from hip replacement surgery… but he seemed especially pleased to be at Garfield High School Saturday afternoon, as Senators Maria Cantwell and Barak Obama prepared to speak in the jam-packed gymnasium. “This is a late New Hampshire primary crowd,” he told me, apparently remarking on both the size and the enthusiasm of the audience.

At this point in his long career I think it is fair to describe Connelly as a touch jaded, having comfortably settled into his role as the curmudgeonly deacon of Seattle’s political press corps. So while I could feel the excitement in the air… what do I know? I came away impressed that Connelly was impressed.

No doubt, Obama is a political superstar, and he draws superstar sized crowds, (the Seattle Times estimated the standing-room-only audience at 1,500,) but some of his aura seemed to rub off on Cantwell yesterday, who drew loud applause and a standing ovation from a very friendly crowd.

The two Senators had come to talk about education, and Garfield was the perfect setting. Cantwell, in her more wonkish, policy-focused fashion struck an “education = opportunity” theme, using her own life story as an example of how government programs can positively impact individual lives. Cantwell was the first in her working-class family to go to college, but couldn’t have done it without the support of federal Pell grants.

Obama for his part hit on some larger themes, admitting that there is a “values component” to education, that it’s not just a function of money and government. Parents have to be involved in their children’s education, he exhorted the crowd, they have to turn off the TV set and help their kids with their homework.

But it is also important that government fulfill its promises, he told the audience… that our schools need both more reform and more money. “Every child is special…” Obama poignantly stated, “but our budgets do not reflect that.”

In fact, I have long been disgusted at our decades-old debate over education reform, for as the recipient of an excellent public education myself, I can bluntly tell you that there is no mystery as to what makes a good public school good. Yes, there are many factors, but way above all others are money and parental involvement… and because of the unjust way we finance education, the two tend to go hand in hand.

The best schools are generally those with the best funding and the most family and community participation. Natural ability aside, the best students are generally those whose parents are most involved in their children’s education. Really… no education reform is worth a damn if you don’t properly fund it and the kids do not receive the support they need at home and in the classroom.

The fact is, we know how to make public schools better — there are good public schools all around us. Smaller class size, special needs tutoring, enrichment programs like art, music, physical education, foreign languages… all of these things cost money. We just don’t want to spend this kind of money educating other people’s children.

And the fact is, due to their own financial or personal circumstances — or due to their own crappy education — there are many parents who simply lack the time, the resources, the skill sets, or yes, the values to help their kids succeed academically. These are the families who need the most intervention and counseling… these are the kids who cost the most to educate… and again, we as a society simply refuse to pay for it.

“The basic notion that we have a mutual obligation to each other has been lost,” Obama lamented. And until we restore that notion, I personally don’t think we have a snowball’s chance of truly reforming public education.

Garfield High was not only the perfect place for the Senators to talk about education… as the symbolic center of Seattle’s black community it was also the perfect place to showcase Cantwell’s support from our nation’s highest profile black elected official, as well as local community leaders themselves.

In yesterday’s Seattle P-I, columnist Robert Jamieson criticized Cantwell’s appearance as political opportunism.

Cantwell’s rare visit to the community feels like a slap in the face to Aaron Dixon, who just announced that he would run against her as a Green Party candidate.

But it was Jamieson whose face got slapped, and by none other than longtime Mount Zion Baptist Church minister and Seattle icon, the Rev. Samuel McKinney. Rev. McKinney made a point of refuting Jamieson’s criticism, insisting that Cantwell was no stranger to the black community, and highlighting the work she’s done on its behalf. In a ringing endorsement of Cantwell’s reelection, McKinney instructed the crowd: “When you are ahead, you don’t change.”

All in all, it was a great program. From the teen rapper who warmed up the crowd, to the presenters introducing educational programs that have had an impact on the community, to the featured speakers themselves… it was an entertaining and informative afternoon.

Having never been there myself, I took Connelly’s word that the event had the feel of a New Hampshire primary, and I walked away wondering if in the current political climate there was any national GOP figure who could generate a similar crowd for Mike McGavick?

Perhaps President Bush could do it… and I certainly hope he comes and tries. For while Obama may only be a first term senator, I’d much rather have his enthusiastic endorsement than that of a lame duck president with 33% approval ratings.

More Coverage:
Will, Carl and Andrew have their own take on yesterday’s event.

I’m off to Obama-a-rama. Will report later. In the meanwhile, talk amongst yourselves.

Hmm. I don’t think The Stranger’s Cienna Madrid much cares for President Bush’s new choice for Secretary of the Interior:

I’m from Idaho and I hate Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne. I hated him when he was Senator Kempthorne. I hated him when he was Mayor Kempthorne. And I am resentfully preparing myself to hate him as Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne:
[…]
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The environment is fucked.
[…]
I bagged his groceries once in the Boise Co-op when I was 16, and that night my parents told me they were getting divorced. Coincidence?
[…]
Every time I have seen Kempthorne “in the flesh”, dogs have been barking at him. Because he stinks of evil.

If I wasn’t straight, Cienna… I think I’d be ladydazzled.