I know that I usually do local stuff, but goddamn the Jason Chaffetz iPhone garbage is super garbage. But as she often does, Imani Gandy has the best take.
So in case you’re wondering how, when it comes to health-care policy, Republicans are going to convince Trump voters that the shit sandwich the GOP is serving up is really a croque monsieur, they’ll continue to employ racial dog whistles that at this point are so loud and piercing one might best call them racial vuvuzelas.
Jason Rantz is being his regular ignorant bullshit spewing self about Sound Transit. I was just going to ignore it, or maybe just make fun of it on Twitter, but, well about half way through, see if you can spot what sets me off.
With no direct voter oversight, the Sound Transit Board of Directors is responsible for spending billions of dollars on transit expansion. That may change thanks to five Democrats teaming up with 24 Republicans in the Senate. Now, transit activists are apoplectic.
I mean ST3 was literally approved by the voters. It was put on the ballot by an elected legislature and governor. The board is made up of elected officials, including King, Pierce and Snohomish countywide elected execs. But when will we let the people have a say?
The lawmakers are pushing legislation that changes the makeup of the board. If passed, the ST board would be directly elected so that board members may face voter consequences for some of their actions (like bilking taxpayers out of car tab fees with an obscenely inaccurate formula). Further, it forces the board to create districts so that King County won’t be over-represented.
Any democratically drawn up district is going to favor the large population centers. King County has more people in ST’s region. There were 829,469 votes on ST3 from King County, 277,141 from Pierce, and 193,114 from Snohomish. If districts have an equal number of voters, there will be more than 60% of King County representatives to just be regular represented. There may be some population variations, but it’s a decent proxy.
Martin H. Duke, a blogger at Seattle Transit Blog, is not happy with these Democrats. In Duke’s world, no Republican supports high-quality transit and Democrats who see a problem with the current ST board structure must not care either.
“This bill is a transparent attempt to override the will of the voters in approving Sound Transit 3 by adding yet more veto points to the process,” Duke wrote.
That’s a great point! If the legislature is willing to give an ST board taxing authority so the region doesn’t have to go back to the legislature hat in hand every time we want to expand transit, that would be a compromise worth looking at. But that’s not the proposal.
He’s wrong. It doesn’t change the results of ST3. ST3 couldn’t be dismantled as a result of this bill. Instead, it’s an attempt to make sure the voters have a say in how their money is spent and that King County transit activists don’t get more money than they should. I am a big supporter of light rail but not happy with how it’s being approached. As a voter, I have no way to impact the decisions of unelected politicians when they waste my money.
Literally 1 of the 18 ST Board members is not elected. That’s the secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation. You literally had the chance to vote on at least one of those people if you’re paying the taxes. Anyway, enough of this disagreeing about how to organize the ST Board bullshit, let’s call Martin Duke a communist in the jack-offiest way possible and for no reason:
Activists like Duke don’t want the board accountable to the voters because the voters don’t support some of the crazy ideas Duke and his “comrades” support. He speaks for a loud but small group of activists. Understandably, he’s upset that he’s about to lose his unearned power over Sound Transit.
Really, “comrades”? Comrades? I might even have ignored it if it wasn’t in quotes. But there’s no way that’s not wink wink nod nod calling Duke and other activists communists. Fuck off. Oh a person wants a different organizational structure for a subregional government agency and so they’re a communist. You know the scariest part of the Soviet Union is how they handled transportation governance in the Ural Oblast. Comrades? Fucking unbelievable.
One of the Democrats who supported the legislation is State Senator Guy Palumbo of the 1st district. He actually supports accountability where Sound Transit represents the voters, not special interests. I supported his efforts to defeat the disturbingly dishonest incumbent, Luis Moscoso.
The First District goes pretty far into King County. You think he should run on “King County won’t be over-represented” in ST next time he’s in a competitive race?
“I supported the bill because I believe that any government organization that manages $54 billion in tax dollars needs to be directly elected and accountable to the voters,” the Senator told me. “It’s a good governance thing for me, it has nothing to do with dismantling ST3.”
Is there a timeframe for that? Oh, it’s between now and 2041. Oh, and it’s in 2041 dollars, so less than that in today’s money and even less in when the voters voted on it dollars.
Senator Palumbo and his colleagues should be celebrated for breaking the Olympia gridlock. Instead, thanks to the reaction of militant transit activists, he’s getting harassed.
Did someone imply he was a communist?
He received an email where he was called a “bastard” with the sign off “Get cancer.” Shameful.
I mean, that sucks. The cancer thing. Bastard is something I’m guessing every elected official at every level has been called. Oh hey, remember when your colleague Dori Monson got people to harass Senator Kohl-Welles for changing state laws that say “fireman” to “firefighter”? I’m sure you were equally outraged about that, but I’m just having trouble finding it.*
“I understand they disagree about an elected board and reasonable people can disagree on policy,” Senator Palumbo told me. “However to paint it as me being anti-transit, or as wanting to roll back ST3 is patently false. I come from New York where there are real mass transit options, unlike the Seattle area. I am an open advocate for large new investments in infrastructure, far beyond what we have done in the Connecting Washington package and ST3.”
So take away another veto point in exchange. Give them the ability to raise an income tax and as much car tab as they want, and to not have to beg the legislature.
This is a common sense bill. It deserves some changes (Palumbo wants to make the board positions paid and I support that), but bully activists want to kill it. They’ve been getting a free ride on the backs of drivers for too long. Let’s change that and come up with policies that are truly supporting multi-modal transportation.
Oh God! The current proposal is to have the part time non experts not even be paid? Why are you going all out for that? Anyhoo, solid ending.
Psalm 94:4-7
God, the wicked get away with murder—
how long will you let this go on?
They brag and boast
and crow about their crimes!
They walk all over your people, God,
exploit and abuse your precious people.
They take out anyone who gets in their way;
if they can’t use them, they kill them.
They think, “God isn’t looking,
Jacob’s God is out to lunch.”
Discuss.
Stephen: “O” Presidents.
Armchair Presidents: The CPAC Report.
The Trumputin Chronicles:
Jon Batiste and friends: Hey White people!
Trevor: The GOP versus constituents.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
Please join us this evening for our regular weekly meeting of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally. Tonight Trump will give a fake State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. (Really…it’s fake. Google it.) The fake-SOTU address begins at 6pm.
We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm. If you wish, show up early to watch the fake-SOTU address.
Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other 213 chapters of Living Liberally, including nineteen in Washington state, three in Oregon and one in Idaho. Find, or go out and start, a chapter near you.
2 Samuel 13:10-15
And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”“No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”
Discuss.
Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.
Young Turks: Arizona’s fascist attempt to ban protests.
PsychoSuperMom: Hypocrisy, thy name is G.O.P..
Stephen: Senators Kid Rock and The Nuge
Young Turks: Bad news for Gov. Failed-trickle-downer.
President “Enemy of the People”:
A Special Four-Letter Tribute to Donald Drumpf:
Late Show: No ObamaCare, no problem–try these GOP home remedies.
Young Turks: Statue of Liberty gets a sweet new sign.
Mental Floss: 28 facts about internet sensations
Stephen: Advice for avoiding campaign scandals–get it out there.
G.O.P. Snowflakes Find Now Town Hall Safe Spaces:
Jordan Peele revives his Obama impression.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
Not content to lose statewide running against Seattle, Senator Miloscia is now opposing safe injection sites. Here’s a press release about it. This is a month old, but I haven’t done a metacommentary piece in a while. Since it just passed out of committee (third item), now is as good a time as any to get back to it.
Sen. Mark Miloscia introduced legislation Monday that would ban the creation of heroin-injection sites in Washington cities and counties. King County has proposed creating two county-operated locations where heroin and other illegal narcotics may be consumed “legally” under medical supervision.
I’m pretty sure it’s not actually legal, since that’s not something a county can do. As such, I’m not sure why it’s in quotes. Who you quoting? There must be a better way to say that. Here are a few off the top of my head:
– without fear of arrest
– quasi-legally
– it’s-really-not-legal,-y’all
– the-legal-status-of-the-drug-use-isn’t-actually-the-issue
– illegally
In any case there will be doctors around in case they have overdoses. They’ll probably refer them to treatment if they think they can, like they do in Vancouver:
Through Insite, clients develop trusting relationships with our health care and social workers, making them more likely to pursue withdrawal management (detox), addiction counselling and other addiction treatment services.
Anyway, back to Senator Miloscia’s month old press release. I don’t know what I’m doing either.
“We must stop the push for decriminalization of drugs,” said Miloscia, R-Federal Way. “Standing idly by while addicts abuse illegal drugs is not compassionate, and it does not solve the problem.”
That’s the fucking plan: To stand idly by. To just hire people to fuck around on their phones while people shoot up. They’ll whistle a tune that they half remember from their youth. Maybe look up passively from time to time and give a thumbs up in the direction of the addicts before turning back to Instagram.
It won’t be harm reduction and redirection of people to treatment where possible. It won’t be making sure that people don’t pass around dirty needles. It’s just sitting idly.
His legislation is a direct response to a report issued by the Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force established by King County and the city of Seattle. The task force recommended two locations within King County where drug users can use illegal narcotics under medical supervision. The county recently approved funding for two injection sites in its 2017-2018 budget.
The people King County put in charge of this unanimously said it’s a piece of how we deal with the problem. But what if a grandstanding state senator decided his plan of do fuck all* was better?
Last year Miloscia toured Insite Coastal Health in Vancouver, Canada, the first supervised drug-consumption site in North America, to study the issue further.
He will proceed to say nothing about what he learned there for the rest of the press release. Instead he’ll take us home with a misleading statistic.
“Canada’s safe-injection site has completely failed and overdoses have skyrocketed,” Miloscia added. “We must focus our time, money and resources on treatment options that get people off illegal drugs, not encourage drug abuse.”
Overdoses are up in Vancouver, it’s true, and it’s tragic. They’re also up in lots of places where there aren’t safe injection sites. The reason seems to be fentanyl and other agents cut into heroin.
The Globe and Mail reports that overdose deaths rose to 914 during 2016. In contrast, there were 510 overdose deaths in 2015. It’s the province’s worst overdose rate in the 30 years it’s been keeping records.
In Seattle, KIRO 7 reports that the Seattle Fire Department has responded to 2,677 overdoses since 2014.
Canadian officials are blaming much of the rise on the inclusion of fentanyl, which is a synthetic opiate that can be cut into heroin. It is cheaper than heroin, yet much more potent, and can lead to overdoses. Fentanyl is suspected to be a factor in the recent surge in overdose deaths in Seattle, as well. What’s worse, is that another synthetic drug, carfentanil, has been found to have been mixed into B.C.’s heroin last fall. It is used as a large animal tranquilizer, and is cut into heroin for the same reasons as fentanyl. Though, it is even more potent.
Call me a dirty hippie if you want, but it seems like safe injection sites would be better places to test for fentanyl than in a hotel room. Or an abandoned lot near your dealer’s house. Or on your bathroom floor while your kids are playing in the next room.
Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorshop.
Jimmy Dore get a call from Ted Cruz after his town hall with Bernie.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse does a science experiment test on the Senate floor.
President Pussy Pinching Putin Puppet:
Samantha Bee: Paul Ryan—a portrait in courage.
Seth Meyers with John Oliver: Obama should chill with the vacation photos.
Jimmy Dore chats with Mitt Romney.
Black History Month:
Bassem Youssef: How to hate right.
Samantha Bee: A break from the apocalypse.
Jimmy Dore chats with Sen. Sharrod Brown.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
Samantha Bee is going to need a bigger closet.
Three unreported attacks by Muslims on US soil.
The twisted history of Valentine’s day.
Fake news investigative journalism.
Mental Floss: Is there an explanation for déjà vu?
Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.
The Narcissistic Swamp with Strong Sociopathic Tendencies:
Mental Floss: 24 scientific studies about food.
Full Frontal: We made a promise.
Sam Seder: Bernie Sanders Vs. Ted Cruz ObamaCare debate.
Bill Maher: New Rule, “Pity slicker”.
Farron Cousins: Angry voters are confronting terrifying GOP members oer potential ObamaCare repeal.
Roll Call: A chat with the first African American Senate Chaplain for Black History month.
Valentines and guns.
Sen. Warren is Turtlehandled!
Armchair Presidents: The big game.
Jonathan Mann: The ballad of Judge Robart:
Pussy hats explained.
America needs Mexico…here’s why.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
Please join us this evening and raise a toast for the small victories at this week’s Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally
We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm.
Can’t make it to Seattle? Check out one of the other 198 chapters of Living Liberally, including ninteen in Washington state, three in Oregon and one in Idaho. Find, or go out and start, a chapter near you.
1 Samuel 18:25-27
“Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
Discuss.
Mental Floss: 38 facts about NASA.
Bill Maher: WTF is going on?
The Thin-skinned, Putin-puppet, Sociopath, Sexual Assaulter-in-Chief.
Ezra Klein: Democrats won the most votes. Why aren’t they acting like it?.
VSauce: The Brachistochrone.
Sisters March:
Bill Maher: New Rule.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
Daniel 11:21
In his place there will arise a despicable person, upon whom no royal authority has been conferred, but he’ll invade in a time of tranquility, taking over the kingdom through deception.
Discuss.
Across the U.S. today, people are marching in support of women. Why? Because we now have a government run by assholes who are openly hostile to women.
Exhibit one: The pussy-grabber-in-chief. That’s right, we are living in bizarro-world where the so-called leader openly boasts about using his position to sexually assault women or walk in on young women changing clothes at their workplace. It’s disgusting.
Americans are responding:
Women’s marches across the U.S. (@billmckibben)
Women’s march brings far more people to D.C. than Drumpf’s inauguration. Sad!
Here in Seattle we have the “Womxn’s March on Seattle” that starts with a rally at Judkins Park, followed by a march to Seattle Center at 11am. Something like 30,000 people are expected to participate. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is an underestimate.
Judkins Park (@KIRO7Seattle)
Judkins Park (@fwd2utopia)
To join the demonstration, check out this information.
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!