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Our Wars

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I’m glad that Senators Murray and Cantwell are among the senators pushing for a draw down of troops from Afghanistan. It’s past time we got serious about getting out. Bin Laden is dead. I’m not sure what good we’re doing there any more.

This is to say nothing of the money we’ve sunk and the lives lost there. So, yes, it’s very good to see Democrats pushing a Democratic president on this.

And yet, with Libya it’s not a lot of mainstream Democrats. Any time Kucinich gets to take the lead on something it’s because there aren’t a lot of other Democrats lined up. While I understand that unlike Iraq, the humanitarian mission isn’t total bullshit, Congressional approval ought to come before the bombs start falling. And that’s a principal that Democrats should stand for no matter who is in the White House. So even though I have nothing but contempt for the people who turned a blind eye when Bush was doing worse, I still hope they succeed in stopping our involvement in Libya.

Higher Ed

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From CNN Money (h/t) more about the increased costs of college.

The numbers confirm what most middle class families already know — college is becoming so expensive, it’s starting to hold them back.

The crux of the problem: Tuition and fees at public universities, according to the College Board, have surged almost 130% over the last 20 years — while middle class incomes have stagnated.

And for better or for worse, a college education is becoming more and more a stepping stone to the middle class in this country. As we’ve moved the factories and other lower skill middle class jobs out of the country, there is a greater and greater premium on post high school education. If we’re no longer going to have a manufacturing economy, the least we can do is to prepare the next generation for the economy we will have.

Of course, there’s so much more to an education than just job training. Hopefully, people come out of college more well rounded and better thinkers, the kind of people we need around the state. Maybe some will create the next industry, maybe someone will find a passion they never had before but maybe some will just be better able to help their kids with homework or become smarter, more well rounded, more engaged citizens. The state shouldn’t short change itself of that, either.

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

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The Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally meets tonight, and there are a few topics likely to be raised over a pint: The Washington state gubernatorial race, Ron Sims’ return to Seattle (running for Gov?), the tunnel-ish vote, last night’s Republican debate, today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court decision, and today’s Prop. 8 ruling in California.

So please join us tonight for drinks, conversation, and even dinner at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00 pm, but a few folks show up around 7:00 pm for dinner.



Can’t make it? Drinking Liberally—Tacoma meets on Thursday, June 16th, 7:00pm at the Hub Restaurant.

Special Event:

Next week, our meeting will be moved from Tuesday to Wednesday (June 22) for a special Drinking Liberally with Living Liberally co-founder Justin Krebs.

Justin is on his “538 Ways to Live, Work and Play Like a Liberal” book tour.

Bring your copy of the book for Justin to sign. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. We’ll meet at the usual spot.

Reagan Dunn is done with The Stranger

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Dear Reagan Dunn,

What a bold move you’ve made in blacklisting The Stranger from your AG campaign press releases. Is it a coincidence that Rob McKenna is also passing over The Stranger? Or is this a recent addition to the Washington State Republican Party platform?

I couldn’t help but notice that The Stranger was blacklisted after their recent acquisition of a certain potty-mouthed, muckraking, filthy, blogging asset from HorsesAss.

Just so you know, since Goldy’s departure, we gone to great lengths to clean up our act. We’ve not uncovered even a single Republican beating up his Mother, we’ve not exposed even one lethal mix of cronyism and incompetence in a top federal agency, we’ve eschewed asking pointed questions about potential brain damage in members of your caucus, and we have made (mild) jokes about Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Why, just recently we rebranded the blog:

The New HorsesAss…Same great flavor, 50% less “fuck.”

Besides that, at the New HorsesAss we are so totally not obsessed with the size of your enormous closets….

I think it’s clear that, of the two publications, HorsesAss is quickly overtaking The Stranger as the more palatable news source to people with language “sensitivities.” And I note we were the first media to break the news that you were running for AG.

So I was wondering…can you please send HorsesAss the press releases you used to send The Stranger?

Thanks in advance!

Darryl

Will Ron Sims run for Governor?

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Via Politico:

…Politico’s Ken Vogel has confirmed that former King County Executive Ron Sims has resigned his senior post at the federal department of Housing and Urban Development. He then wonders if it has anything to do with Monday’s decision by Gov. Chris Gregoire to retire after two terms. Sims lost to Gregoire in the 2004 Democratic primary.

An announcement of a gubernatorial bid from Jay Inslee is imminent. Would a Sims run throw a wrench into the works with the top two primary? I doubt it…we’ll still have a Democrat (probably Inslee) running against McKenna.

Could it be that Sims is really eying a congressional race in the 1st or 7th LD? My gut feeling is that Sims is much, much more interested in an executive position than a legislative position….

Why Obama will win

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I watched most of the Republican debate this evening, and I’ve got to say, it is good news for Obama. He’ll win re-election.

This isn’t partisan wishful thinking on my part. I don’t make the same claim for the Inslee—McKenna race for Washington governor. I have my (very strong) preferences, but the outcome of that race is far from clear.

There isn’t much uncertainty left in the 2012 presidential race. Obama will win, absent of some sort of catastrophe.

You know, some scandal like Obama or Biden shooting a friend in the face, or outing a CIA covert agent, or firing numerous “non-compliant” U.S. attorneys, or getting busted lying about warrant-less domestic spying on Americans, or starting an illegal rendition program, or authorizing torture of prisoners, or misplacing palettes of $6.7 billion U.S. currency. Stuff like that.

I mean, that shit would absolutely sink any President’s chances at a second term…bar none (unless he is a Republican).

Here’s what I have learned from the debate. The Republican candidates (except for Ron Paul) are situated sharply to the right. Ron Paul is a Libertarian kook off in some other political dimension, with zero chance of making it through the primary, but the rest of the pack are extremists! Extremists of the teabagging ilk.

Seriously…at one point (here), a Mainstream Republican in the audience pointed out that he was feeling left out, and asked what candidates would do to take a balanced approach that would include him. Mr. Santorum started out the discussion by pointing out how he had eliminated welfare and set up the template for eliminating other entitlements, like Ryan’s proposals to end Medicade, food stamps. He then pointed out that the “Teaparty is a great backstop for America.” It came off more than a little cccccrazy and not at all inclusive of the mainstream Republican questioner. Bachmann was next and gave a slightly less crazy answer(!)—the Teabaggers R U, she said. Herman Cain started his answer pointing out that the Teabaggers are “not too negative and not too critical.”

Mmm’kay then…feel better, Mr. Mainstream Republican?

Another amusing example of candidates trying to out-crazy each other can be found in the extended exchange on NASA beginning at 7:00 here including the Newtster’s claim that “we’re not a developed country” because of NASA (8:06). What the fuck?

All of the candidates reject the TARP and auto bailouts (at 5:28). So fuck you Detroit! Even Herman Cain, who once support TARP, explains his flip-flop (2:10). The candidates spent most of this debate trying to out-wingnut and out-teabag each other. (Except Paul, who was just being himself—quite sensible about 40% of the time, a lunatic 40% of the time, and too incomprehensible to really tell 20% of the time.)

Everyone knows that candidates swing toward the extremes of their base during primaries and bounce back to the center during the general election. But things are different now. The Teabaggers have dragged Republican candidates not just to the right, but to the extreme right. As they maneuver to out teabag each other, their statements and positions are captured in audio or video in an easy-to-disseminate format.

In the mean time we have Barack Obama, who will not be seriously challenged in the primary. He’s a centrist. He sold himself as a centrist in 2008, and has pretty much lived up to it (or down to it if you are significantly to the left of Obama). He has a solid grip on the center, and he will sit there like a rock through the primary season while the Republicans joust over who is the teabaggiest of them all. The winner of the Republican primary will come out looking like Paul Ryan on Oxycontin wielding the mighty Loofah of conservatism, and will to battle his/her way back to the center, where Obama will be firmly entrenched.

A hope for the Republican might have been to adopt the Bush 2004 strategy: “TERRORISTS, TERRORISTS, EVERYWHERE!” But, oops…Obama killed bin Laden.

He’ll win.

Live By The Shield

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The Washington State reporter shield law that Rob McKenna supported was written in a way that excluded us dirty fucking hippie bloggers. As Goldy explained at the time:

Like those hoity-toity salaried reporters, I often get tips and quotes from sources who choose to remain anonymous, and I don’t see why I should have to go to jail to protect their confidence, when, say Chris McGann wouldn’t? (And I will protect my sources, with or without a shield law, because that’s what journalists do.)

Well, things change. And now Goldy, formerly excluded by the law has its protection.

It’s an odd idea that candidates for public office (let alone an open government champion) should get to pick and choose which professional journalists get to attend their press conferences—and yes, that paycheck I get from The Stranger makes me a professional journalist as defined in McKenna’s own reporter shield law, so suck it up.

And the definitions still seem unworkable. For instance, so long as Goldy is being paid by The Stranger, he’ll have the force of law behind any sources he protects. If The Stranger doesn’t want his services any more and he comes back here, he may have to go to jail to protect sources. If he somehow makes enough money from ads and donations that he can pay the rest of the front pagers, and we break a story with anonymous sources, then I think the protection will apply to us, even as they still don’t apply to him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the shield law we have is certainly better than no shield law. It works for most anonymously sourced news as newspaper, TV, and other “professional” outlets still dominate coverage, especially original coverage of the type that has the most anonymous sourcing. But as a country and as a state we’re moving (however slowly) away from that model. And the people who need the shield the most are the ones who don’t have it.

Eventually, a reporter who doesn’t fall under the statute’s protection is going to have to chose between prison and giving up their source. On principal, I’d chose prison, but it would be hard to justify to my family and to my employer. News is news, and while we amateurs tend to be more partisan and more over the place in terms of quality, we deserve the same protections as the paid media. The law is fairly new, but it’s already time for an upgrade.

Gregoire won’t run again

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It has long been suspected that Gov. Christine Gregoire would decline running for third term in 2012. Several media sources are now reporting that Gregoire will make her retirement “official” at a 10:00 AM press conference today.

Gregoire’s statement clears the way for an announcement from Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA-01) that he will be running for the office. Expect an announcement soon.

Unless something really odd happens because of the top-two primary system, Fall of 2012 should bring us a choice between Inslee and State Attorney General, Rob McKenna (R).

Time to Sprint to Another Provider

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On Thursday, the State Supreme Court ruled against “Jane Roe”, a woman in Bremerton who was fired by TeleTech because she was a medical marijuana patient. The Seattle Times explains why they had no other choice:

The plaintiff, who sued under the pseudonym Jane Roe, was pulled out of her training class after a week and fired Oct. 18, 2006, because she failed a pre-employment drug test. She had a valid medical-marijuana authorization from a doctor.

In court documents, the company said its contract with Sprint required drug testing and makes no exception for medical marijuana.

Thankfully, we have choices in cell phone providers. I’ll be contacting Sprint regarding this case, and asking why their policy makes no exception for medical marijuana. For those of you out there with Sprint coverage, here’s a page edited by Wired that gives you tips on how to get out of your cellular contract.

UPDATE: Danny Westneat has a great column about the Jane Roe at the center of this case.

Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

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Thom: What American has given up for the Bush tax cuts?

Patriotic millionaires have a Message to Congress: “Tax Me”.

Washington Supreme Court rules medical marijuana patients can be fired for testing positive for marijuana:

Liberal Viewer: FAUX News hates solar power?

Weiner Weird & Woeful Week:

Thom: Republicans hold U.S. and world economy ransom.

Mark Fiore: Dogboy and Mr. Dan tackle the debt ceiling.

Herman Cain:

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA-01) leads discussion on Northwest biofuels.

Thom: Is Jon Steward single-handedly bringing down FAUX News?

Patriotic millionaires for America.

Palin around with Craaaaaazzzzzy!!

Politico: Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) ping-pong diplomacy.

White House: West Wing Week.

Jobs:

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) on new doppler radar system.

Cenk: Is Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) corrupt?

Thom: The vast Sesame Street conspiracy.

Rob McKenna announces:

Young Turks: Alabama’s draconian new immigration law.

Sam Seder: Rush pwned by caller on taxes, stimulus or oxy.

Newtany

Pap: America’s new service society.

Young Turks: MA Rep. thinks crimes against illegal immigrants is okay.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Saying no to Norquist.

Maddow with Cenk: GOP now going after privatization of Social Security?

Thom: Kids say the darnedest things (about Bush and Cheney).

Mittens:

Stephen: The Word — Hear no evil.

Young Turks: Rush mocks Cenk, the postmortem.

ONN: Antigay Senator’s horse affair caught on tape.

  • Bill Maher and Jane Lynch give dramatic reading of Weiner’s dirty messages (via Political Carnival).

    • Young Turks: Guilliani for 2012—irrelevant.

    Thom: So…who’s pushing Granny over the cliff?

    Maddow: Anti-choice nut-jobs shoots self in foot re: contraception.

    Pawlenty Cuts Self:

    Santorum wants constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

    Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

    Online Content (II)

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    While last week, I made fun of the Seattle Times’ online content, they do have some original content, and I think the newsroom to make more of a go of it online. In short, it could be worse. It could be The Tacoma News Tribune whose Inside Opinion blog consists of a list of their editorials. In a time of shrinking newsrooms and less news in general, it may be too much to ask the smaller papers to put out content that doesn’t even make it to print.

    And of course I’m not being entirely fair here, there are other blogs on The Trib that provide original content. Still, it feels like the focus is on the paper. What you see on Political Buzz will eventually find its way to the paper. Of course, that focus has value. The Tribune puts out a product that especially on the news end is worth a read for people in the South Sound.

    Roughly, it seems that the dailies tend to ignore online, or they use it in service of the printing and the weeklies (and now the P-I) have more freedom. While yes, you’ll see content on Slog that will eventually make it into The Stranger, it doesn’t feel like with the Trib or Fairview Fanny. Maybe that’s illusory, and if The Stranger had to put out content every day, we’d see more of what’s on Slog in the paper.

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