Washblog

Two More Candidates in 8th Congressional Race

Two new candidates announced their intention to run for U.S. House in the 8th Congressional District tonight. Menno van Wyk, Founder and CEO of Montrail, Inc. and Paul Abrams, a physician with a law degree from Yale and a background in the biotech industry. I've posted on Mr. Abrams previously. Don't know if they've formally filed yet.

Randy Gordon: Personal Ambition Took a Back Seat to Democratic Unity

Randy Gordon and I talked at the Unity Caucus in Renton on Sunday. He was as energetic as usual -- and obviously at ease with his decision to bow out of the race for U.S. House of Representatives in the 8th Congressional District (8th CD). As many readers will remember, he has just recently withdrawn, leaving only one Democratic candidate in the field -- at least for now -- Darcy Burner. The 8th CD race is of key national importance.

He wanted to discuss a new idea -- the potential of using the funds he raised during his campaign to form a 527 organization that could help support races in the 8th CD this year, including the Congressional race. The funds could be used, for example, for advance purchases of radio or TV ads for the candidate who faces Reichert in the fall. He'd have to get written permission from the donors, he said. I'll sign onto that deal, I said, that's a good one. I had wondered what would happen with the not inconsiderable funds he raised during his race.

There's sharp disappointment here in the 8th CD that Randy has bowed out. I've received emails saying it's unfair, that he was the best candidate and he should have stayed and fought.

If I were in charge .... S.C.R.E.A.M. update.

I refer to those Christian Right noisemakers as SCREAM'ers:
S upreme
C hristian
R epublican
E vangelical
A merican
M oralists

And here's what's on my mind today.

Environment as a non-partisan issue: An interview

We expect our elected leaders to look out for our interests and the interests of future generations, not just those of extractive industries and others with deep pockets who seek short-term profits by weakening the laws that give long-term protection to the American people and the land and creatures we all love. (Rep America)

Rep America, a national pro-environment Republican organization, was founded to respond to what it terms "the unfortunate anti-environmental zeal of many GOP leaders in the 104th Congress () that filled conservation-minded Republican voters across the country with dismay."   This is primarily a lobbying organization -- and appears to be an important conservative voice for good environmental policy in the United States. Recently I spent several hours on the organization's site, reading a good part of the analysis and agreeing with most of it.

We've seen a massive transfer of power from the grassroots -- and the middle class -- to special interests. The erosion of trust and civility in the public dialogue is one of key factors enabling this transfer. People withdraw from what they see as a corrupt, poisonous or simply irrelevant political arena. But the power they relinquish increases the influence of special interests. Rebuilding civic trust is one of the keys to restoring the balance of power -- and a prerequisite, I believe, to long-term sustainable environmental and economic policies. As I read Rep America's statements, I began to think of this organization as a voice of conscience that can help restore civic trust across party and ideological lines.

Jim DiPeso, Rep America's policy director, lives in the Seattle area. I wrote to thank him for his organization's work. Jim agreed to meet with me for an interview. I was interested in discussing two major areas. First, Rep America's environmental policies. Second, I am curious to gain more understanding of Republicanism -- independent from what I see as its most problematic current aspects.

Jim's views on non-environmental issues are his own personal opinions. As an organization, REP takes positions strictly on environmental issues and does not take positions on other issues. Its membership is made up of people with diverse views. The uniting issue is concern for the environment. The exchange recorded here is a reconstruction from hasty notes, not exact quotes.

---

Jim is a lanky person who gives an overall impression of quickness. His conversation has that quality of dimension that struck me as a probable reflection of an historical sensibility -- and perhaps a habit of considering many things at once. His previous profession as a journalist for a daily newspaper led to a four-year assignment covering the environmental beat near Lake Tahoe when it was first facing intensive development. This is the second deepest lake in the United States, Jim noted, renowned for its clear deep water. Unfortunately, the clarity -- and quality -- of the water was compromised by the sudden development of the land around it. Lake Tahoe faced an acute and very serious ecological threat. Much of it was averted because enviromentalists rallied to the cause. Although he had always been pro-environment, this journalistic assignment was a turning point for him, an intensive education in the mechanics and meanings of the environmmental movement.

Noemie: How do you think people who may disagree on many issues can work together help restore governance that represents our common interests?

Jim: We need to find ways to connect politics to real world concerns again. Politics needs to become relevant to people in their daily lives. Part of the answer is finding a way to get the money out. This Arctic thing is our number one pork barrel piece of legislation now. Conservatives have allied themselves with special interests and Congress' Republican leadership has lost touch with traditional conservative ideas of stewardship, saving for the future, and leaving ourselves enough margin for error with our life support system which is the environment. It's not only conservatives who have these problems. All politics -- Democrat and Republican -- has become machine politics. The pursuit of self-aggrandizement has edged out attention to real concerns.

Gerrymandering is another big problem we've got to address. As they say nowadays, it's as if voters don't choose their leaders any more -- leaders choose their voters. Here in Washington we have an independent state commission to do the districting for congressional representation and legislators have to vote yea or nay on their recommendations but can't offer amendments. This makes us a little more competitive.

Senator Stevens: My plan to get the egg off your face.

Dear Senator Stevens ...
Don't waste your time in Seattle trying to scarify them Democrats and Cantwell people.

I like your ideas and want to invite you to my house in Bay Center, Washington - right smack dab in the middle of Willapa Bay (that's South and West of Puget Sound if you go by dogsled Senator.)

What I want you to see is how badly we need a bridge from Bay Center to Tokeland so we don't have to drive 40 miles to get to a town that is less than five miles as the seagull flies.

If I agree to help support drilling in the Reserve up there in Alaska, can we here in Bay Center get in on the pork of your bridge to whereever and move some of that money to the Willapa?

I know that's how politics work and am willing to offer my tit for your tat in helping you get what you want.

I'm willing to drop my support for forcing the oil company execs into taking an oath when they appear before your comittee - but I have to have something in return. A bridge from Bay Center to Tokeland gives your "Bridge to nowhere" money a more plausible and acceptable use of political pork. Sharing part of that $270 million could in fact make our bridge kind of a "sister project" to your bridge up there.

So come on, Senator!

Let's get politcally real. You don't have to stay embarrassed by uppity Democratic women senators. You can make an end run right around Ms. Cantwell by using your vast authority, whining technique and favor-collection skills to do something good for another part of the wilderness.

I know that driving to Tokeland to have Friday night prime rib at the Shoalwater Casino will be more attractive if I can do in five minutes what used to take an hour.

And at the Casino I can spend money to help the tribe prosper, which of course creates income available for Abramoff to slink after and spend on you and your like-minded morally conscientious colleagues.

Everybody wins Senator ... except of course your arch-enemy who has proven more capable than you ... that little Harpy Cantwell.
* * *
Cross posted to my Daily Kos diary

Drilling in ANWR: How WA Reps voted

December 28, 2005 update to this post: I was informed by Jim DiPeso of Repamerica that Reichert supported a Point of Order in the House that would have stripped the ANWR drilling authorization out of the Defense Appropriations bill.

House Resolution 639 waived this Point of Order, therefore allowing the ANWR drilling provision to stay in the bill. Reichert's nay vote on 639 went against the Republican mainstream (there were 21 Republican nays to 179 yeas). The other two Washington Republicans in the US House, Doc Hastings and Kathy McMorris, voted yea.

Sixteen Democrats voted on the other side (for 639). These Democrats were effectively voting for drilling in ANWR. If they had voted no on 639, as Reichert did, the Point of Order would have prevailed and the ANWR drilling authorization would have been stripped out of the appropriations bill in the House. The appropriations bill then went to the Senate, of course, where Washington's Maria Cantwell led the effort to defeat it.

---

It's worth keeping up with how Washington State's U.S. Representatives are voting on the issue of oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This is a particularly acute concern for those of us in the 8th Congressional District, where Dave Reichert has been closely watched on his environmental votes.

Here's the roll call for the version of H.R.2863, "Making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes," that passed in the House today. The conference report section of this bill contains language that will authorize drilling in ANWR if it passes the Senate.

As we see, Reichert, this time, voted for oil exploration in ANWR. (See note at head of this entry)

Reichert's known for breaking ranks with the Republicans on ANWR by opposing oil exploration in that reserve. In fact, he has broken ranks on several environmental issues, pleasing many of his moderate voters here in the 8th. The suspicion -- based on information from several sources -- is that he has been choosing votes carefully to preserve his appearance of being a moderate -- but doing so in ways that don't affect final outcomes. Given the vulnerability of the 8th Congressional District in this coming election -- and the fact that it may prove to be a tipping point in the balance of power in the House -- it is clear that the Republican in the House has a strong motive to shield Reichert.

As far as this scheme to slip drilling authorization into a defense appropriations bill, The Wilderness Society puts it well:

"It is outrageous that Arctic Refuge drilling has been slipped into the defense appropriations bill. This kind of legislative action is the height of cynicism and bad politics. Major national policy priorities must not be hijacked for the sake of personal political agendas. A vote to remove the arctic drilling provision does not threaten funding for the troops, but rather is a vote to move defense funding quickly and in the normal course of business."

It's time to call our Senators on this one:

Murray: (202) 224-2621, Web form
Cantwell: (202) 224-3441, Web form

God and the checkout stand

Group Fights Wal-Mart on 'Happy Holidays'

God's Fundamentalist Capitalist Christian Super Store stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"A group of religious protesters demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart superstore Saturday, hoping to turn away customers by calling attention to the retailer's decision to use "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" in its seasonal advertising."

I wonder if that guy in the Santa hat had to elbow the Salvation Army Bell-Ringer out of the way to get his straightened-out priorities in front of the camera.

But apparently some of the fellow believers ain't got time for orthodoxical nonsense. Out of the way Brother Panties-in-a-bunch! I got Merry-Christmas stuff to buy and Wal-Mart ain't no church.

"I believe in Christ, and I don't like the use of 'xmas' or the use of 'happy holidays,'" said Steven Van Noy, 39, as he left the store loaded down with packages. "The bottom line is that they had what I needed at Wal-Mart, so I went to Wal-Mart to buy it."

When I was a kid growing up 150 miles north of Salt Lake City, every Christmas they preached Comings on Midnight Clears, Silent and Holy nights, Herald Angels Harking and the constancy of the spirit of Christmas against the commercialization of Christmas.

I guess in our evolution toward corporate capitalism, morale values now get subjected to corporate values. True Xtians ain't religious if they don't spend the money they aint got on gifts they can't afford for things not vitally needed. Them there purchases will be downright blasphemous if they get bought in the spirit of Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.

"In an online petition, the American Family Association recently gathered more than 500,000 signatures asking Target to include Christmas in its promotions. Stores such as Sears and Wal-Mart are facing boycotts."

How come we don't see all those irate red faces screaming holy righteousness about the things Jesus said were important?

You think I'd be willing to go to a church where the leadership stood up with a straight face and told me the war on Christmas was more important that who sleeps in a cold doorway on Christmas Eve?

Than who's choosing between spending on eating and pharmacy bills?

Than who's just lost a loved one to a war?

Than who's recent job loss makes Happy New Year look like Armageddon and Merry Christmas a bitter pill?

About 50 protesters took part in Saturday's demonstration, organized by religious leaders. Dick Otterstad of the Church of the Divide donned a Santa Claus costume and greeted shoppers with the message: Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas.

"It is insulting that Wal-Mart has chosen to ignore the reason for the season," Otterstad said. "Taking the word 'Christmas' out of the holiday implies there's something sinful about it. ... This is a part of our culture."

It would have been more  impressive to see this god-awful poser pretending to know what Jesus Would Do greeting shoppers with,

"Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas."

"Drop a bundle in a Salvation Army Bucket."

"Take part of your Merry Christmas spending budget and buy a bunch of gift certificates to the grocery store. Then give the certificates to people you know who are needy. You know who they are and where they are."

"Take a part of your Merry Christmas budget and go pay somebody's heating bill."

"Oh, and don't tell anybody what you did. That's what Jesus wanted."

That's what Jesus said about Christmas ... he told us about the Good Samaritan.

Lonely? Need someone to talk to? Contact your library, request a home visit.

Next time I'm bored, lonely or shut in I'll know what to do.

Contact the Timberland Library in South Bend and order the little red book.

I kinda like the idea that if I send my kid to college I expect that they'll teach him about all them "isms" that scare the bejesus outta McCarthy-like politicians. That way he'll know a fart when he smells one.

Keeping America Safe from a 50 year-old mother of four

There's got to be a better way than the Patriot Act as currently constituted.
Thank you to PapersPlease.org

Next Stop: Big Brother

Meet Deborah Davis. She's a 50 year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Her kids are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier fighting in Iraq. She leads an ordinary, middle class life. You probably never would have heard of Deb Davis if it weren't for her belief in the U.S. Constitution.

This is not America. When honest, law-abiding citizens can't commute to work on a city bus without a demand for their 'papers', something is very, very wrong.

One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand.

On the 9th of December 2005, Deborah Davis will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in a case that will determine whether Deb and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show "papers" whenever a cop demands them.

"Today the world will know my pain"

Besides being a cliched movie line, this is what yesterday's Tacoma Mall shooter texted his ex-girlfriend just before shooting six random people and taking four hostages at a Sam Goody (I've always had an unofficial family boycott against Sam Goody, now I have an actual reason).

Says his ex-girlfriend:

Robison said Maldonado had a rough childhood and that she believed some of his behavior could be influenced by drugs. She broke up with Maldonaldo 6 months ago because she feared for her safety.

"He said he was screaming for help for years that nobody helped him, nobody heard him," she said.

As liberals/progressives, what is our response to this?