Washblog

We need somebody

If Darcy Burner can raise $200k, and pick up two primary challengers, then what the hell is going on in eastern WA?

We got Doc Hastings as someone to run against, and we have nobody as a viable candidate. Sure, Richard Wright has filed, but is he actively fundraising and campaigning? We need serious candidates that are busting their ass raising money, recruiting volunteers, making a website, visiting constituents, and from what I have heard, that is not the case with Mr. Wright.

Cathy McMorris has no opponent, either. With Goldmark dropping out, we are basically ceeding the eastern half of the state to the Repubs, and letting a Tom DeLay abetting weasel like Hastings off the hook.

2006 can be a big year if we run against every Republican in federal, state, and local races. A guy like Hastings has so much dirt, people should be jumping at the chance to take him on. From the looks of it, our next state party chair will have to do the recruiting right away after the election. At least the person who wins will be in a good location to start looking (Now in Kent, shows what I know).

George Bush is a pitiful leader...

A Republican President with a Republican controlled Senate and House; A President whose fans claim he is a natural born leader of men and women; a President who was going to bring honesty and principles to the White House.

And what does this President do when he needs to make some political appointments?

George Bush appoints 17 people while Congress is not in session because he is too cowardly to face his own political party to get these appointments approved in the regular fashion.

But maybe it's not as bad as I'm imagining. Perhaps it's merely that he and his staff are too INCOMPETENT to select the correct nominees and prepare them for confirmation hearings. Maybe Bush is not too COWARDLY to face the political appointment process, but is instead NOT A GOOD ENOUGH LEADER to make the process work even with his own party in control of all the steps.

A sad day in the annals of "leadership"...

Big Time Patriot

On race, fairness, and leadership

Continuing the discussion Noemie began about David Postman's recent article about the State Party Chair race, I think it's time to talk about race and dispel some rumors.  To begin, I want to reprint a letter that a friend wrote.  Lawrence is one of the more brilliant people I know, who tends to disarm with humor, but when engaged is capable of cutting through deep lines of bullshit to grab onto an issue and bring it to full light.  With his permission, his letter in its entirety:

Dear Friends--

Over the weekend I read an article in the Seattle Times wherein State Senator Margarita Prentice implied that State Party Chair candidate Dwight Pelz might be "racist" because he has run against people of color in the past.

Now, we've all dealt with the press, and know how easy it is to have one's views misrepresented. I would like to think that has happened here and that Senator Prentice's statements have been turned into something they were originally not. I have spoken with Senator Prentice on the phone in the past, during the Dean campaign, and I know that she is a wise and thoughtful person.

However, because the article spun her position the way that it did, I've been thinking about what the implications are. Several things strike me:

I'm just sayin'

I know, we're a local blog and I'm going off the farm.  But the recent revelations and   Bush's response to them got me to thinking, and my muse refused to comply and give me words.  So I decided to use a different medium to make my point.  Click on the image to see a short movie I did (sorry, kids - I'm not technical, so it only works on Windows Media Player)

Hope you guys will bear with me.

Double Johnson Darling-of-the-BIAW Trouble

Yesterday, Brian reported here on Washblog on Steve Johnson's decision to step down from his 47th District state Senate seat to run for state Supreme Court.

Today, we learn from a PI article that Steve Reichert, Representative Dave Reichert's brother, will be running for Johnson's Senate seat.

Dave Reichert, has emerged as a real force for double-speak on the national scene. Consider, for example, that Dave won by 5 percent here in the 8th Congressional District because he portrayed himself as independent from the Republican machine -- but that he then turned around and took $150,000 from Tom De Lay's PAC and also voted to gut ethics rules to protect DeLay's position in the House. It's an irony that his brother is now stepping in to replace Johnson, thus freeing Johnson to benefit from the extremely creepy business of the Building Association Industry of Washington (BIAW) and its fixing of our state judicial elections.

Yes, as the PI reports, Stephen Johnson has announced that he'll be running for Washington Supreme Court and that he expects the oh, potentially dispositive, financial backing of the BIAW. That's the Mr. Johnson whose role on the State Senate Rules committee this year likely helped the BIAW maintain its ability to pour vast sums into our judicial races. More on that later.

Pot, its Kettle. You're black

The Seattle Times latest engagement in 'gotcha' politics, the last bastion of hope for the State Republican Party, is pathetic. The Times has been a right-wing apologencia rag of bullshit for a long time now, but tabloid trash should be reserved for NewsMax and other overtly GOP friendly echo-chambers. And you wonder why readership of the Times continues to drop?

Trying to raise up in righteous indignation over a bumper sticker, Rep. Doug Ericksen? Where were you when in 2003, State Representative Lois McMahan described Islam:

"the Islamic religion is so … part and parcel with the attack on America"

And on a radio show shortly after those remarks were made:

She giggled through remarks she made about Mormons and Jews, while maintaining that the Islamic religion worships the wrong God, and is bent on murdering people.

And when her and fellow Republican Gary Condotta walked out of the morning prayer offered by a Muslim cleric? Hmmm?

The wingnuts have a long history of being hypocrites, so the fact that a bumper sticker can espouse it all in such a small space is a testament to how fundamentally backward the pro-life/pro-death "christians" are. I can't think of anything more anti-christian than that.

Should we now expect the Seattle Times to discuss how right-wing merchants peddle the advocating of genocide?

Can we get an amen?

The MOAB of smackdowns, aka 'This has been needed to be said from someone who can properly articulate it, for the longest time.'

"You guys are pathetic! Pathetic!"

So says Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA) in this article about yesterday's debacle ensuing from Jack Murtha's proposed amendment to begin withdrawal from Iraq. 

Murtha, a 37-year Marine veteran and considered the voice of the Pentagon brass on Capitol Hill, suggested that since our mission in Iraq has been accomplished (depose Saddam - check, start democracy - check, stop WMD production - check by default), and our troops are now nothing more than walking bullseyes and recruiting posters for insurgents, it's time to begin withdrawal from Iraq.  His amendment called for redeployment at the earliest "practicable date", establishing a quick-reaction force and Marine presence in the area, and pursuit of stability through diplomacy.  Of course, such measured approaches to withdrawal are anathema to the Republican mind, which reads all this as "cut and run".

Conservative student cries “poor little me!” in Pullman

Two wonderful paragraphs set the stage and tell you all you need to know about Ed Swan:

Ed Swan considers himself a basic social conservative, opposed to gay marriage, affirmative action and the notion that affluent white men are responsible for a lot of social injustice.

The Washington State University student also opposes abortion and wrote "diversity is perversity" in the margins of a textbook.

So he’s against gay marriage, abortion and affirmative action – frankly, normal Eastern Washington Republican stuff. Not harmful; there are Republican teachers all over the place (despite their pig-like squeals to the contrary, conservatives DO exist in academia). He’s opposed to the "notion that affluent white men are responsible for a lot of social injustice"??? WTF? Um, that isn’t exactly a liberal belief – there’s a reason so many conservatives complain about the "liberal elite"…they think we’re run by a bunch of affluent white men creating social injustice for THEM.

But writing "diversity is perversity" in a textbook? What kind of crazy-ass thing is that to do? I guess my question about that is, did he try to re-sell it to the school or something? Because it raises a very real concern about his ability to keep his opinions to himself when teaching kids.

Eastside perspectives

[please welcome a new eastern wa blogger from wenatchee -Brian]

I was browsing through the horses' ass site and read about Eyman and property taxes.

75% of my property taxes go to schools, not roads and other amenities. Since it seems that the schools are a money pit that continually need and get more money but none ever seem to make it to the class rooms (where does all of that money go??) I really don't feel a need to continually feed the monster until some real reform is made in how all of the funding is spent.

Citizens were outraged when the courts allowed private entities to condemn properties so that they could "upgrade" and "improve" neighborhoods. Everyone was screaming private property rights but not one peep about homes being lost to taxes, which is a major disregard for property owners and private property rights.

Why is it that they only apply to developers and other 'for profit' groups or individuals? If some one that has lived in an area for years and likes it because it is clean, quite and safe would like to keep it that way they are against private property rights and 'progress', but the developer that comes in to the area and wants to pollute, disturbed and basically screw up the whole neighborhood is a great defender of private property rights - because he is making money by doing it. If a group like Futurewise, Nature Conservancy or a land trust purchases land to keep as open space so all of the people can enjoy it, they are land grabbing socialists (a quote from one of the BIAW publications) but developers can take a piece of prime farmland or habitat and turn it into blacktop and houses that can never be used for anything else again and they are NOT land grabbers. At least not by BIAW standards (which are not very high to begin with.) All of these agricultural bills being passed to make it easier for farmers to develop their farmland in order to ease the burden of farm cost have nothing to do with helping farmers. They are created, backed, and supported by developers, realtors and their good friends in the BIAW.

You may hear the Farm Bureau toting the greatness of these bills, but one of their close associates is Dino Rossi who was the BIAW's choice bought and paid for to be our next governor. Another big supporter of farm bills that allow increased development, breaking up farmland into smaller and smaller parcels and ag tourism is Senator Linda Parlett. Although Senator Parlett is not a farmer her husband is a land use attorney and developer.