HorsesAss.Org

Read the comments from a few of my regular righty trolls, and you’d think this was a black and white world in which Republicans are purely on the side of good, and Democrats are dark allies of evil. So I guess there’s a lot of cognitive dissonance this morning among those in the trolling community who read Joel Connelly’s expose on how Republican “revolutionaries” like Jennifer Dunn, Slade Gorton and George Nethercutt are cashing in by joining “the great GOP patronage machine and permanent government.”

Wait a minute! Wasn’t it Gorton who won a third term on the slogan, “He works for you”?

Wasn’t it Nethercutt who argued that House Speaker Tom Foley had become a creature of the capital? Who mocked Foley for building a home there? Who claimed Foley had lost touch with Spokane?

Um… yeah, it was. It was also Nethercutt who campaigned on term limits, only to break his own solemn pledge to voluntarily limit himself. What a liar.

But let’s not be distracted by Republican lies; it’s Republican greed and abuse of power that is the focus of Connelly’s column. Like Tom Delay’s fascist efforts to make our nation a one-party state by denying access to any lobbyist or trade group that hires or contributes to Democrats. Or the unmitigated gall that sends $37.74 per person in homeland security dollars to Utah, while 9/11 target New York only gets $5.41. Or the pork-barrel politics that provides only $220 million for the Alaska Way Viaduct, while Alaska gets $941 million for bridges to nowhere.

I’m not saying Democrats are pure as driven snow; never have, never will. And while I don’t tend to waste pixels on my own party’s foibles (quite frankly, that’s not the job of a partisan, progressive blogger,) no doubt there are some bad Democrats.

But those of you on the right who look the other way at the corruption and abuse of power that is rife within your own party — or who blithely dismiss the “business as usual” policies that enrich your so-called “revolutionaries” at taxpayer expense — simply aren’t living in the real world. Or perhaps you are living in the real world, and your just as much a bunch of lying hypocrites as your Republican party leaders.

[NWPT60]The Seattle Times’ James Vesely and I don’t often see eye to eye, but since his latest column is more observation than opinion, there’s not much for me to disagree with. Vesely reports on the growing frustration of federal officials over our region’s apparent inability to prioritize our regional transportation planning… and stick to it.

No kidding.

Vesely is absolutely dead-on when he writes that our “confusion and indecision about transportation… [is] not imposed on us in Olympia or Washington D.C.” But then, neither is it imposed on us by our local elected officials. Let’s face it, our voters are more than a touch schizo when it comes to transportation issues… after all, where else but Seattle could a truly grassroots project like the Monorail be four times approved by voters, only to be vilified as a product of an arrogant and out-of-control bureaucracy? I know it’s fashionable to blame politicians for failing to respect “the will of the people,” but really, how can you respect a will that’s about as steadfast as that of a toddler who’s missed his nappy time?

Perhaps a dictatorial regime like that of New York’s Robert Moses wouldn’t quite play well with voters accustomed to the nicey-nice “Seattle way”… but at least Moses got things done. The closest we’ve come is Ron Sims unshakeable support for voter-approved light rail, an act of political courage that has earned him the passionate scorn of opponents, a reaction typical of a region that seems to confuse leadership with arrogance. The result is a political gridlock that’s far more intractable than the transportation gridlock we’re trying to fix. And as Vesely points out, it’s not just our own congressional delegation that’s growing frustrated at voters’ mixed messages.

Even more pointed was the statement from transportation chairman Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who told Seattle Times Washington, D.C., reporter Alicia Mundy, “Anyone who thinks of repealing the gas tax is not thinking.”

Young said in The Times of July 1: “Your problem won’t go away just by wishing it away. It’s going (to) cost and you’re going to have to pay for it.”

Again… no kidding.

Initiative 912 backers — like backers of all initiatives — talk about sending a message to Olympia… but I think most legislators don’t need another initiative to tell them that voters would prefer to get something for nothing. The fact is, the gas tax hike was part of a comprehensive transportation plan, that carefully prioritized transportation projects based on a number of criteria, the most important being immediate public safety. Legislators understood that a tax hike would be unpopular, but in this case necessary, and if voters reward their boldness by repealing the increase, the Legislature will likely respond by giving the public the only available alternative… absolutely nothing.

Such inaction would surely cost lives and economic growth… but there can be no statewide transportation planning without statewide funding.

If, as every poll and instinct predict, voters will not hesitate to pass the initiative repealing the added tax on gasoline, the next logical step would be an effort for counties to keep all the tax revenue they raise within the county and not spread it around the state, giving rise to the islands of isolation known as the state of Washington.

This would be bad public policy, but if I-912 passes, it may be the only way to provide a stabile funding source for desperately needed transportation improvements. Anybody want to sponsor an initiative?

The 2005 Rolling Thunder Democracy Festival rolls into Magnuson Park next Saturday, Aug 13th from 12 noon to 8pm, and amongst the many notable speakers — including US Rep. Jim McDermott and special guest, Ed Begley Jr. — will be… me. I’ll be speaking from the main stage at 4:50pm, and I invite you all to join me for a day of live music, fiery speechifying, workshops, food, fun and good old fashioned, grassroots political agitation.

Tickets are $10 at the gate (kids under 12 are free), but you can save time and avoid the long lines by purchasing in advance from Brown Paper Tickets or Elliot Bay Book Company. Or if you don’t have the cash to spare, Seattle Thunder is still looking for volunteers on festival day; email Annarose Lilly for more information.

Bring the whole family and help us put the party back into politics.

Who can afford to live here? My daughter better hope her parents die young, so she can inherit a house.

While I’m watching one of those cool, East Coast thunderstorms, you guys talk amongst yourselves.

Our good friend Stefan over at (un)Sound Politics is obsessing on military ballots again. My daughter’s itching to head to the beach, so I don’t really have the time or inclination to closely examine his “proof” at the moment, but I thought I should take a few minutes to reiterate a few facts.

Overseas military voters received their ballots in time.
Whether ballots were mailed out on the 6th or the 8th or the 10th or whatever, there have been no widespread reports of overseas military personnel who did not receive their ballots from WA state in time to cast their votes. This fact is confirmed by none other than Stars and Stripes:

Joe Hitt, spokesman for Fort Lewis in Washington, said none of the Army Reserve units currently deployed overseas have reported problems over missing or damaged ballots.

“It just seems to be something that’s being blown up in the press,” he said. “We haven’t heard any complaints about ballots.”

Overseas military turnout exactly matched KC turnout
83 percent of overseas military personnel who requested mail-in ballots from King County had their ballots counted in the November, 2004 election. This turn-out rate exactly matches that for King County at large. It is hard to argue that military personnel were disenfranchised when they voted in the same numbers as the rest of the county.

Move the fucking primary!
It’s no secret that due to the unusual lateness of our September primary, all WA counties struggle to get overseas ballots out in time to meet the federal deadline. Indeed, the number one election reform requested by county auditors and Sec. of State Sam Reed was to move the primary to June, or at the very latest, mid-August. And yet, Republican obstructionists like state Sen. Pam Roach have once again blocked just such a move. If Stefan cares more about protecting the franchise of our overseas military personnel than about scoring cheap political points, he should focus his considerable efforts on persuading legislators of both parties to enact this very simple and sensible reform.

Of course, Stefan’s main concern is scoring cheap political points, and his recent posts only reaffirm what I said months ago… that for partisans like him, the whole legally futile election contest was always more about weakening Ron Sims than it ever was about getting Dino Rossi into office. And there’s no question that Sims has been weakened by the constant barrage of attacks. Too bad for Stefan and his GOP buddies that all they could come up with to challenge Sims was a boneheaded candidate like David Irons, so unlikable that even his own mother won’t vote for him.

I spent a busy day digging a gigantic hole in the beach with my daughter and her cousins, so I thought I’d just be lazy tonight, and pile on the story about Robert Novak getting suspended from CNN for swearing on air and then walking off the set of Inside Politics.

Carville and Novak were both trying to speak while they were handicapping the GOP candidacy of Katherine Harris. Novak said the opposition of the Republican establishment in Florida might not be fatal for her.

“Let me just finish, James, please,” Novak continued. “I know you hate to hear me, but you have to.”

Carville, addressing the camera, said: “He’s got to show these right wingers that he’s got a backbone, you know. It’s why the Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show ’em that you’re tough.”

“Well, I think that’s bull—- and I hate that,” Novak replied. “Just let it go.”

As moderator Henry stepped in to ask Carville a question, Novak walked off the set.

Hmm. Under a little pressure these days, Bob?

You can view the clip on Crooks and Liars.

If you’re wondering why Novak got all pissy over Carville’s relatively innocuous comment… um… so am I. But I suppose it could be that he just didn’t want to answer any more questions about Valerie Plame… questions he knew were coming up from host Ed Henry.

That Novak should be disciplined for saying the word “bullshit” when he’s made a career out of spewing it, strikes me as a little odd… so I’m guessing that CNN suspended him for walking off the set, not for the cussing. Other pundits have criticized Novak for his lack of professionalism, but I’m not exactly sure what his profession is. CNN didn’t seem to think it was unprofessional of him to play the role of Karl Rove’s hatchet man by blowing the cover off a CIA operative… or to immediately roll over to the special prosecutor and give up Rove’s name, while other real journalists were willing to go to jail to protect their sources. But apparently, even professional hacks have their standards, and in walking off the set of a live show Novak finally tripped over the very low bar CNN had set for him.

Still, it’s probably all for the best. Outing CIA operatives and libeling Senate staffers is hard work, and Novak could probably use the vacation. So why not join me on the beach, Bob, and grab a shovel… I think you know what to do with it.

It’s a comfortable 79 degrees here in Longport NJ… unfortunately, that’s just the ocean temperature. It’s a blistering 92 and sunny today, a bit too hot and humid for my NW-acclimated likings, but at least we have an ocean breeze (and air conditioning) to cool ourselves down.

Anyway, I’m giving my daughter her annual trip to the Jersey shore with her cousins, so expect some light posting over the next week or so, and forgive me if I’m absent from the comment threads. Even bloggers deserve a little bit of a break.

Second best of…
NWSource.com just came out with their 2005 “People’s Picks” awards, and no, I didn’t win anything. But HorsesAss.org was listed as a “top finalist” (whatever that means) in the category of Favorite Blog. Ah well… you can’t win a “best of” award every day.

Lies, damn lies, and web stats
Just took a look at my webstats and noticed that surprisingly, traffic has continued to climb through the summer at a time when I expected a lull. Don’t you people have anything better to do? Go outside… get some fresh air… play with your friends.

The Seattle Weekly’s “Best of Seattle 2005” just came out, and thanks to you, my loyal readers, not only has HorsesAss.org been named “Best Local Blog,” but yours truly has been named “Best Activist/Hell-Raiser”… for the second year running!

Best Local Blog
Your favorite Seattle-based blog is the one that gives “the straight poop on Washington politics and the press”: David Goldstein’s HORSESASS.ORG (see Best Activist/ Hell-Raiser). Sharing his liberal views on local politics and personalities, Goldy makes sure blue Seattleites have something to cheer or sneer about.

Best Activist/Hell-Raiser
Web pundit DAVID GOLDSTEIN made a name for himself as a staunch opponent of local initiative-monger Tim Eyman; that’s also the campaign that inspired the name of his blog, HorsesAss.org (see Best Local Blog). Nowadays, Goldstein comments on anything and everything, including the recent Enumclaw horse-sex scandal. This is his second consecutive win in this category, so he gets to be the city’s best smart-ass for another year.

Also, big congratulations are due to Andrew and the crew at Pacific Northwest Portal, for winning the well-deserved honor of “Best Local Website.”

But perhaps the most amusing category was “Best Fish Market”:

Yep, PIKE PLACE MARKET again, beating out second-placed . . . Tim Eyman?

Gee… I wonder how that happened?

In a Southern Ohio congressional district that Republicans normally win by 50 percent margins, Democrat Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran running on an anti-war platform, has made it a nail-biter in a special election. Even a close loss is a huge victory for the Dems in a district that’s normally not close to being competitive… and portends big trouble for Republicans in 2006. This is huge!

I’m off to the airport, so get the latest results from the Cincinnati Enquirer or MyDD.

UPDATE:
Hacket down 49,681–48,811 with 662 of 753 precincts reporting. This is likely going to an automatic recount, and considering Ohio’s problems, anything could happen.

UPDATE, UPDATE:
Well, Schmidt beat Hackett 52% to 48% in a district President Bush won with 64% of the vote in 2004. As DailyKOS reported, the Cook Political Report had made the following pre-election analysis:

If Schmidt’s victory margin is in double digits, this tells us that there is not much of an anti-GOP wind in Ohio right now. If the margin is say six to nine points for Schmidt, then there is a wind, but certainly no hurricane. A Schmidt win of less than five points should be a very serious warning sign for Ohio Republicans that something is very, very wrong, while a Hackett victory would be a devastating blow to the Ohio GOP.

The Ohio GOP avoids a “devastating blow,” but Hackett’s strong showing represented an anti-war, anti-Bush vote from a traditional Republican stronghold. 2006 is looking pretty good.

Score one for the American Taliban:

President Bush waded into the debate over evolution and “intelligent design” yesterday, saying schools should teach both on the origins and complexity of life.

In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with a small group of reporters, Bush essentially endorsed efforts by Christian conservatives to give intelligent design equal standing with evolution in the nation’s schools.

Hmmm. I have a theory: George Bush is an uncurious, intellectual lightweight, with little regard for either science or education. Based on my theory, I propose that the President’s meddling with our public schools should stray no further than occasional readings of My Pet Goat, while leaving the content of our science curriculum to people who actually understand and respect science… you know… like, scientists.

The National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have both concluded that there is no scientific basis for intelligent design and oppose its inclusion in school science classes.

“The claim that equity demands balanced treatment of evolutionary theory and special creation in science classrooms reflects a misunderstanding of what science is and how it is conducted,” the academy said in a 1999 assessment. “Creationism, intelligent design, and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science.”

That’s right, intelligent design is not science, it is religion, and as long as we still have a First Amendment, we don’t teach religion in our public schools. If this is the President’s idea of education reform, perhaps what we really need is a “No Child Left Behind in the Middle Ages” act?

But wait… aren’t you being arrogant, Goldy? What of all those “scientists” who question evolution?

The Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank in Seattle that is the leading proponent of intelligent design, said it has compiled a list of more than 400 scientists, including 70 biologists, who are skeptical about evolution.

“The fact is that a significant number of scientists are extremely skeptical that Darwinian evolution can explain the origins of life,” John West, associate director of the organization’s Center for Science and Culture, said in a statement.

Yeah, and I’m skeptical that the Discovery Institute is an actual think tank. It’s not. It’s a far-right Christian propaganda mill, with absolutely no credibility on this or any other issue of scientific discovery… and the MSM should be absolutely ashamed of itself for indicating otherwise. The Discovery Institute is a sham, pure and simple, financed by wealth individuals with a dangerous, far-right-wing political agenda.

When the President of the United States suggests that our public schools should teach this retreaded, creationist bullshit on an equal scientific footing with evolution, the whole world laughs at us. And they should… we are becoming a ridiculous nation. No wonder our high tech industries can’t find enough qualified employees without importing scientists and engineers from overseas… while nations like India and China are retooling to compete and win in a 21st century economy, we’re busy turning our once proud public schools into the Evangelical Christian version of Taliban madrasas.

Bush’s statement in support of intelligent design not only represents a dumbing down of our educational system that our economy simply can’t afford, it is also an offense to those of us who don’t share the President’s faith. Science is about facts, not belief, and thus I no more want President Bush teaching my daughter science than I want Tom Cruise teaching her religion. If Bush wants to teach intelligent design, he should teach Sunday school. But stay the hell out of our public schools.

The newly passed federal transportation bill includes $220 million to help replace the Alaska Way Viaduct, a project I-912 supporters apparently feel is a total waste of money. So I wonder how they feel about the $220 million the bill also gives to the state of Alaska to build a bridge between Ketchikan (population: 8,000) and Gravina Island (population: 50)…? The bridge would be taller than the Brooklyn Bridge, nearly as long as the Golden Gate… and replace a 7-minute ferry ride.

Uh-huh.

But then, since both Alaska and the US Senate are run by Republicans — and the GOP is the party of fiscal responsibility — this must be a wise, thrifty use of taxpayer money, right? And I guess it also makes sense that 8,050 people in Alaska should get as much money as a tiny little town like Seattle.

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens defends the bridge, saying it is well worth the money.

“I remember when I was a young person in California, when people accused the people in Washington (D.C.) of being wasteful in thinking about building a bridge called the Golden Gate Bridge because no one lived in Marin County at the time.”

Um… yeah Ted… only difference is, Marin County isn’t in fucking Alaska!

Just thought somebody should point that out.

“If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier… just so long as I’m the dictator.”
— George W. Bush, Dec. 18, 2000

President Bush is inches shy of achieving his dream. Really. How else can you explain his recess appointment of John Bolton to be UN Ambassador, an act of incredible arrogance that shows an absolute disregard for the separation of powers our founding fathers wisely ensconced in the Constitution? I think Sen. Edward Kennedy summed it up well:

“The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues,” Kennedy said. “It’s bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It’s even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It’s a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton’s credibility at the U.N.”

Republican Sen. George Voinovich, who had previously warned that such a “controversial and ineffective ambassador” would put at risk our nation’s ability to fight the war on terror — and who had made a tearful plea to his colleagues not to approve Bolton’s nomination — said he was disappointed by Bush’s action.

“I am truly concerned that a recess appointment will only add to John Bolton’s baggage and his lack of credibility with the United Nations.”

Hell… why bother with confirmations at all? Why not just have Bush make all his appointments recess appointments, so he doesn’t have to deal with that pesky Senate? Of course, when Bolton’s tenure proves to be a disaster, and when revelations about his prior abuses of power continue to trickle out — including his own involvement in Valerie Plame’s outing — the American public will know exactly who to blame for embarrassing our nation by sending Bolton to the UN.

See, what Republicans label as “Democratic obstruction” was really the proper exercise of the checks and balances provided for in the Constitution. Senators representing a majority of American voters refused to confirm the President’s nominee, and so Bush decided to ignore the advice and consent of the Senate by abusing a rarely used Constitutional loophole… a vestige of a time when Congress was in recess for months at a time, and took weeks to reassemble for special session.

President Bush exercises power because he can, and Americans need to understand that.

Should we suffer a catastrophic terrorist attack on his watch — such as a nuclear detonation in a major American city — Americans should be prepared for Bush to act according to character… to declare a state of emergency, suspend the Constitution, and seize powers that can only be described as dictatorial. This would essentially be the end of our democratic republic. I’m not saying this is likely scenario, but it is certainly one that is easily imagined given the tone, tenor and history of this authoritarian administration. And we need to start talking about it now, while we can still do so freely without fearing imprisonment.

My sincere condolences to George Bush and his extended family for the tragic loss of such a dearly-loved and close family member… King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

Darryl at Hominid Views takes a break from his family vacation to report on the partial collapse of the Dunn Memorial Bridge in upstate New York.

As Darryl points out…

The relevance to the Seattle area is obvious. The Dunn Memorial Bridge was built in 1971; the Alaska Way Viaduct (AWV) was built in the late 1950s. Dunn was inspected a couple of years ago and rated a 5 out of 7 for safety. The AWV has had widely recognized safety problems since the Nisqually earthquake of 2001.

No one was injured or killed, but had the top deck collapsed entirely, it could have taken two other levels with it to the bottom of the Hudson river, with catastrophic consequences for people on the bridge, and the economy of the region. As it is, there are no estimates of when the bridge will reopen.

Will Seattle be so lucky when (not, if) the AWV fails? Let’s hope so, because the Viaduct is a double-decker structure, a collapse of one section could result in a chain reaction, leading to the deaths of hundreds of people. Even a partial collapse similar to that in Albany would result in traffic mayhem in Seattle. Interstate 5 would pick up the majority of the 100,000 plus vehicles that use the roadway on a daily basis, contributing to what is already one of the worse traffic problems in the nation.

Of course, I-912 would repeal funds for replacing the AWV, as well as dozens of other projects throughout the state intended to fix unsafe intersections, interchanges and other sections of roads with a history of accidents and fatalities. But even if we dodge the bullet of a catastrophic AWV collapse….

People will die if I912 passes