Washblog

The over all integrity of a nation will most immediately and powerfully be impacted by the models presented by its political parties.

That modeling ought to be a natural attention-grabber.

That modeling ought to present a public affirmation of concern for good of the country rather than political opportunism as the height of its most significant values - or the depth of its apathetic depravity.

Updated 2-10-2013

Unfunny humor about gun control

"There seemed to be no point to the gathering other to give some gun owners an opportunity to show off their toys in public.

What gets me, every time I see black-clad guys and gals strutting around with their weapons, is how little they have to be proud about. It takes zero courage and zero skill to own a gun. All you need is a VISA card. Shooting defenseless animals from long range, or defenseless targets, earns zero "guts points."

I respect people who take risks ... for having the guts to risk getting hurt in the course of developing their skills.

Ditto for combat soldiers who use their guns to fight guys who also have guns. But walking around the Oregon Capitol with an AR-15... that's ridiculously lame."

After a lengthy hiatus and a move to Eastern Washington, I have returned to writing on Washblog

The failed Republican civic behavior is only worsened and made more complicated with the pitiful public relations failures of Flush Limbaugh and Fox News with its stupor stars, Squawk Hannity and The Fracture O' Reilly.

They have all now childishly teamed up to become a significant part of the problem with no relationship to the solution.

The absence of any sense of civic responsibility is overwhelmingly louder than any party or broadcast rhetoric itself.

How would you like it if these kinds of Kindergarten Konservatives were teaching your children civic values?

As most of you know, years ago Tim Eyman launched an successful initiative effort to require a two-thirds majority in the Washington State Legislature for the passage of new taxes.  The two-thirds majority movement has gone local.  

The Spokane City Council recently voted in favor of placing Prop 1 for two-thirds rule on the local February ballot (along with two other issues including Prop 1 for independent investigative powers for the Spokane Police Ombudsman).  The effort for the 2/3 majority ballot title was supported by Mike Fagan (in the picture to the right), freshman city council person, and frequent co-sponsor of Eyman initiatives to reduce state revenue needed for parks, education, environmental protection, and other services from the State of Washington. Because of the number of seats on the Spokane City Council, this would effectively be a five-sevenths (5/7) majority needed to pass new revenue proposals.

You likely have already figured out whether you are voting for President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. However, what about for the Commissioner of Public Lands? Or Initiative 1185? Judicial races? The ProgressiveVotersGuide.com by Fuse Washington can help.

The [2012] election has huge implications for our families, our communities, and our state. Our goal is to make smart, informed voting based on progressive values easier for you. We worked with Washington's leading progressive organizations to produce a Progressive Voters Guide based on their endorsements - your ticket to highly informed recommendations about the races on your ballot. The Progressive Voters Guide identifies the candidates with the most progressive track records and the ballot measure positions that will protect or promote progress in Washington.

"I wish to state that under no circumstances would I support Matt Shea for any public office," Senator Bob McCaslin (R) stated to the Spokane County Commissioners as they were deliberating who to appoint to a vacate seat to State House.

"He [Matt Shea] is dangerous enough in the House, and would be a serious menace to good governance as a Senator" --Gary W. Smith, Spokane Valley 4th District Republican

He was speeding like he usually does. He admits it. Leroy Norris likes to put the pedal to the metal, and last November he was returning home to his residence on the South Hill at a fast clip in his Chevy Lumina.

Then, a pickup truck drove along-side of Leroy, and the driver pulled a handgun out of his glove box in plain view of Leroy. Leroy freaked out, and he took off at an even higher speed in fear for his life. Really, who wouldn't be afraid?

With little or no concern for the safety of other drivers, pedestrians, or kids playing in the neighborhood, the driver of the pickup truck proceeds to chase Leroy Norris up the South Hill on Monroe Street. One or both vehicles exceeded 60-miles per hour at times through the residential area.

The driver of the pickup truck was Washington State Representative Matt Shea (R). Despite Matt Shea's minor celebrity status as a local elected official, an officer of the Spokane Police Department recognized a threat to the community when he saw one. The good'ol boy network did not work for Matt Shea. Lt. Dan Torok of the Spokane Police Department cited Republican Matt Shea, Spokane Valley, for two violations of State firearms law in the road rage incident. Leroy Norris was not cited for any offense. To the right is a YouTube video that was produced by Eastern Washington Voters about the firearms incident involving Matt Shea with more info at SpokaneWatch.net

"I am Sheryl Gordon McCloud, and I am running for the Washington State Supreme Court. In fact, I am the front runner for the Washington State Supreme Court now coming out of the primary election and going into the November general election. I have spent twenty-five years arguing in favor of constitutional rights in front of the Washington Supreme Court and my expertise in that has been recognized by endorsements from the Spokesman Review over to the Seattle Times. I intend to be a justice that is fair and who carries on my practice of creating a level playing field even for those who cannot afford a lawyer: Cheryl Gordon-McCloud for the Washington State Supreme Court." --Filmed and Edited by Eastern Washington Voters in Pullman, Wa, at the 2012 Lentil Festival this last August.

Below are links to resources I see as especially helpful for people doing GOTV. Most of them are from a reprint of an email that I received from the League of Women Voters of Washington this morning. I've added several links on restoration of voting rights for people with prior felonies from ACLU - and information on registration deadlines (in-person voter registration is possible through October 29 in Washington) from Washington's Secretary of State.

I was impressed with Kathleen Drew, candidate for Washington State Secretary of State, when I met her at the Lentil Festival in Pullman a few months ago.  She had a good clear grasp of the issues affecting the Office of the Secretary of State,  including the need to more fully fund the Washington State Voters' Guide, or the Voter's pamphlet if you will.

Below is the text of the youtube video of her, compliments of Eastern Washington Voters.  

Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke recently got some unwanted press.  Developer Lancze Douglass asked Todd Mielke for some help with some county business.  Todd Mielke allegedly turned around and asked him for a campaign contribution.

However, Lancze Douglass would not have anything to do with it, so he told Mike Prager of the Spokesman Review the story.    

The Stimulus Act of 2009 has been working, and we appreciate that Jay Inslee supported it when he was in Congress.  The Act has helped create jobs in Liberty Lake, WA, and boost Washington employment in general.

The Demand Energy project in Liberty Lake, WA, will retain and create about 90 Liberty Lake jobs in the County of Spokane. As part of the 2009 Stimulus Package, the company Demand Energy received a $1. 5 million grant to make energy storage devices for on-site users of electricity.

As a typical egotistical, arrogant, columnist/blogger, I usually think I can express my viewpoints better than anyone else. But when it comes to summing up the Ron Paul situation, the conservative blogger Erick Erikson says everything anyone needs to know.

This is from Erick's column today in www.redstate.com:

"Let me get this straight.

Twenty years ago someone put some crazy, racist stuff in newsletters bearing Ron Paul's name and written in the first person as if they were from Ron Paul.

Ron Paul never read them.

Ten years ago, when confronted with some of the crazy stuff (I'm trying really hard not to use "crazy s**t" here), Ron Paul says he wrote them, but they must be taken in their whole context to understand them.

Fast forward to the present and Ron Paul never wrote them, does not know who wrote them, cannot recall the names of anyone who worked for him who might have written them, is shocked to learn he made big money off them, and people think this guy has the qualifications to be President of the United States?

Letting someone write bat crap crazy stuff under your name, not knowing who they are or what they are doing, profiting from them, then taking responsibility before denying responsibility is credible?!

If we're to take Ron Paul at his word, maybe we need to get him an Alzheimer's test. he is old. Hell, if pigs did fly and he did get elected President, he'd be 81 at the end of his first term."

Eric may normally be wrong about, well, everything, but he sure nails this perfectly

Right-wing lunacy has won again! MSNBC yesterday forced itself to apologize for telling the truth about Mitt Romney's rhetorical ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

I got a weird little story about my friend Blitz Krieger to bring to you today.

He's had a crazy car problem, he has, and over the past few months he thought he had found a solution - in fact, he thought he had found the solution of his dreams - but in the end, he's discovered that the things you dream about often don't go according to plan.

The way it's worked out for him so far, it's been a lot of anticipation followed by a sudden wave of frustration, but I feel like he's a lot better off having his particular problem with his car...because if he'd had cancer instead, he'd surely be dead by now.

I don't feel very good about this country this morning, and as so many of us are I'm thinking of how Troy Davis was hustled off this mortal coil by the State of Georgia without a lot of thought of what it means to execute the innocent.

And given the choice, I'd rather see us abandon the death penalty altogether, for reasons that must, at this moment, seem self-evident; that said, it's my suspicion that a lot of states are not going to be in any hurry to abandon their death penalties anytime soon now that they know the Supreme Court will allow the innocent to be murdered.

So what if there was a way to create a compromise that balanced the absolute need to protect the innocent with the feeling among many Americans that, for some crimes, we absolutely have to impose the death penalty?

Considering the circumstances, it's not going to be an easy subject, but let's give it a try, and see what we can do.