Not that the "good old days"...

...were always all that good, but on the way home from the perfect tavern tonight I couldn't help notice the political yardsigns standing upright everywhere I looked.

Halloween just ain't what it used to be.

It's the witching hour…

…of Halloween eve. Time for a (not quite) random ten - ghosts and goblins style…

Danny Elfman - This Is Halloween
Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs - Haunted House
The Big Bopper - Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor
Kenny & The Fiends - House On Haunted Hill
Ryan Adams - Halloweenhead
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Halloween Spooks
Johnny Cash - Ghost Riders In The Sky
The Moontrekkers - Night Of The Vampire
Jimmy Buffett - Vampires, Mummies & The Holy Ghost
The Surf Trio - Monster Beach

Good advice…

...from Citizen Steve.

Vote for Democrats, because you might be mad…but they are CRAZY.

Sanity, too, it seem, has a liberal bias.

From the "Me too" file.

Gordon...

I took an oath once. I never un-took it, but I reaffirm it here and now:

I, Gordon E. Moore, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God

Me too.

All those yaboos whining about "taking their country back" might find there's hell to pay if they try to take my country, the one I fought for, away.

About your disappointing Democrat…

…if helping my own personal Congressman keep his chairmanship isn't good enough reason to vote for any damn Democrat on your ballot, maybe keeping this guy from keeping his will help...

U.S. Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas), the congressman who ruffled feathers on Capitol Hill last summer by making a public apology to former BP CEO Tony Hayward, is "confident" he will become the next leader of the House Energy and Commerce Committee if Republicans win the U.S. House in next week's elections.

Every Democrat counts. Vote.

And if you're in the upper left, fill the damn thing out and mail it in today.

From the "Just the facts…" file.

In 2008, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month. That's a difference of nearly five million jobs between Bush's last year in office and President Obama's second year.

In FY2009, which began on September 1, 2008 and represents the Bush Administration's final budget, the budget deficit was $1.416 trillion. In FY2010, the first budget of the Obama Administration, the budget deficit was $1.291 trillion, a decline of $125 billion. Yes, that means President Obama has cut the deficit -- there's a long way to go, but we're in better shape now than we were under Bush and the GOP,

On Bush's final day in office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 closed at 7,949, 1,440, and 805, respectively. Today, as of 10:15AM Pacific, they are at 11,108, 2,512, and 1,183. That means since President Obama took office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 have increased 40%, 74%, and 47%, respectively.

Elections have consequences.

Hat tip to Jed Lewison, who has source links and more.

It must be true…

…I read it on the internet!

Due to the expected large voter turn out a special day has been added to the normal election day of November 2. In order to expedite the vote counting process all voters voting with the Democratic party will now be required to have their votes in on November 2. All voters voting with the Republican party will now be casting their votes on November 3. Independent voters wishing to cast their ballots favoring one of these two parties should cast their vote on November 2 for the Democrats or on November 3 for the Republicans.

Finally some good news…

…about what they're doing to my Army. Via Richard Allen Smith at Vet Voice…

The Army plans to phase out all incandescent lighting within five years as one of many newly announced steps it is taking to cut energy consumption at its facilities 45 percent below 2003 levels by 2020.

****

"Energy security, sustainability and efficiency are national security imperatives," Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and the environment, said in a news release. "This policy supports the Army's global missions in a cost-effective, safe and sustainable manner that will benefit Army soldiers, families and the entire nation."

…and elsewhere...

Sgt. Sherri Gallagher of Fort Benning, was named the U.S. Army’s Soldier of the Year, the first woman to receive that honor.

Good for Sgt. Gallagher, good news for the Army.

Heck, good for news for America.

Here comes the calvary!

The D-Trip is putting another 21.5 million dollars into independent expenditures across the country, and a pair of races in the upper left are among the beneficiaries.

In the 2nd District, they're more than doubling their investment in Rick Larsen, adding $344,383 to bring the total DCCC spending in the district to $605,930. According to recent polling, Larsen seems to have consolidated the majority that he split with challengers from the left in the primary, and these dollars will help seal the deal in the 2nd.

Down in the southwest upper left, Denny Heck, the Democratic nominee for the open seat in WA-03, will benefit from another $562,384 investment from the Party. That brings the total D-Trip spending in the 3rd to $1,728,123. It's a tough race, open seats in swing districts always are, but Denny's a candidate who deserves the support.

Hat tip to the Swing State Project.

From the "Sad but true" file.

Via mistermix...

The sad fact is that if we do lose the Senate and/or House next week, and usher in two years of stasis, subpoenas and division, it will be because a few thousand registered Democrats just couldn’t be bothered to take a couple minutes out of their day to put a little mark on a piece of paper.

As much as I miss my polling place, I've got to admit our universal vote-by-mail elections eliminate most any excuse voters in the upper left can come up with.

Fill the damn thing out and mail it in.

An early endorsement.

Susan Sheary won't be seeking re-election as Chair of the King County Democrats, and the first candidate to emerge is longtime local activist Steve Zemke. I don't know if any other candidates will emerge, but I'm sure no better candidate will. Steve brings decades of experience and success as an organizer and advocate for issues ranging from tax fairness to the urban tree canopy.

Plus, he's a blogger. There's a solidarity issue here.

Steve knows how to work within the system, how to work the system and how to raise a little rabble when the occasion requires. He'll be a great Chair.

Help a guy out here?

No, not that. The Blogiversary Begathon is over (though the PayPal link is always active). Something else.

I've used Bloglines as my RSS reader about as long as I've been writing this blog, but Bloglines is going offline in a few days. I've got my feeds loaded into the Google reader as a lifeboat, but I'm not crazy about it.

So, what do y'all use? Have any Bloglines refugees out there found a new home that's similar in look and operation?

Help a guy out. Thanks.

Yesterday's quote?

Yeah a bit late, but too good to waste, and still true. Andrew Sullivan…

"On Fox News, if you say something bigoted, you get rewarded, you get promoted, and you get celebrated -- and that's a direct media strategy."

Hat tip to Steve Benen.

One more time.

…the obligatory Blogiversary Begathon link to PayPal.

If you can, click.

The House, then…

…as promised. Here in the upper left, we have we have two state reps for each district, and Democrats in the 32nd District are playing a pair of aces.

I've known Ruth Kagi since my time as District Chair when she first ran for the House. She was already well known in Olympia for her citizen lobbying efforts on behalf of children and families. As a legislator, she has continued to display effective leadership on those issues, rising to Chair the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee, but she also points to achievements in drug sentencing reform, truck safety and drop-out prevention. She's a thoughtful, diligent and accessible legislator who has earned the re-election I expect she'll receive.

Cindy Ryu's rise on the local political scene is more recent, but no less impressive. Though the only elections she's won have been non-partisan City Council races, her activism in the Democratic Party is well known and she's snagged a bushel full of progressive endorsements. In fact, I think she may thrive in Olympia's more partisan arena.

That's not to say her tenure as a non-partisan was undistinguished. During her time on the City Council, her colleagues chose her to represent the City of Shoreline as Mayor, the first Korean American woman to achieve that distinction in any American city. Cindy, a past president of the local Chamber of Commerce, will bring a strong small business focus to the legislature and will be a strong and welcome addition to our local delegation.

I promised to do better…

…by the local legislative ticket, so I'd better get to it while there's time. All three Democrats on 32nd LD ballots have active Republican opposition, and I've been cautioned against over-confidence. Still, the average Democratic vote in the primary was 60%, and there were factors that tended to skew the turnout in that election rightward. I don't anticipate any surprises in the general, but that's based on expecting everyone to do what needs to be done between now and election day. Confidence is not a rationale for inactivity.

All that being said, I expect my next State Senator to be Maralyn Chase, now a State Representative. Full disclosure - Maralyn's been a personal friend and political ally for a couple decades now. That's not to say that we've agreed on each detail of every issue or election, but at the end of the day, you can count on Maralyn's vote for the rights of working people, protection of the environment and main street economic opportunity. When she's ahead of her colleagues, she can be impatient in the effort to bring them along, and when she's set a course toward a goal she can be aggressively straightforward in her pursuit. While some of her detractors (and a few of her supporters, I suppose) will point to those characteristics as a sign that Maralyn can be hard to work with, those of us who know her well recognize them as a reflection of her strong dedication to the social and economic justice she's devoted a lifetime to pursuing and the kind of core integrity that we so often claim to want from our public officials, though we less often reward it when it's displayed.

Reward Maralyn with the Senate seat.

Next up, the Representative races in the 32nd.

The first random ten...

...of the next seven years.

Mott The Hoople - All the Young Dudes
Southern Culture On The Skids - Drunk And Lonesome Again
Van McCoy - Mr. D.J.
The Five Keys - I'm So High
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Battle Of New Orleans
Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride
Champion Jack Dupree - Shake Dance
Bobby Vee - Look At Me Girl
Derek & The Dominoes - Key To The Highway
Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Betrayal Takes Two

Yep, that Bobby Vee. Pretty good track, too.

Oh yeah, here's the obligatory Blogiversary Begathon link to PayPal. I don't really have a particular tale of financial woe to tell this time. I'm broke. Who isn't. I get it.

If, however, fortune is smiling on you these days and you appreciate what I do here, I'd appreciate your support more than I can say.

7 years.

8738 posts. 336,699 visits. A million thanks to all of y'all who've joined the adventure.

In other words, happy blogiversary to me!

In honor of the occasion I'm going to run a little begathon through the weekend. Things aren't quite as desperate as the last time I dragged the PayPal link off the sidebar and into a post, but times being what they are, a few extra shekels in the PayPal account couldn't hurt.

It's also a way to drag out the celebration a bit. Seven years. Whee!

Map of the day.

Via Information Is Beautiful...



As usual, it'll click bigger.

Kinda humbling, huh?

I'm not a bigot, but…

…these are bigoted statements...

…whenever I see a Mexican wearing chinos and a white t-shirt, I check my car keys.

…whenever I see a Jew wearing a yarmulke, I check my wallet.

…whenever I see a black guy wearing warm-ups instead of Dockers, I stay between him and my woman.

Every bit as and no more bigoted than what Juan Williams said. The only real difference is that he meant what he said.

This is not about freedom of expression. He's as free to say what he said as I am to type this post. The New York Times, however, is not obliged to publish my snark and NPR is not obliged to broadcast Juan Williams' bigotry.

It's just commerce - Williams is no longer a brand that NPR chooses to feature. He's been a tough sell to a lot of the NPR customers for awhile anyway. He won't be much missed there. It'll be interesting to see how hard right he tacks as a full time FOX propagandist, though.

Good question…

…from Goldy's feature story in The Stranger...

...when longtime Reichert observers started speculating that his recent head injury may have resulted in permanent brain damage, the first question I had to ask myself was: “How would you know?”

I dunno, how would you?

I'll tell you something I do know - if I lived in WA-8 I'd vote for Suzan DelBene.

About that disappointing Democrat of yours...

I'm luckier than most Democrats. My own personal Congressman, Jim McDermott, is a liberal legend, a champion of working families, national President of Americans for Democratic Action and the co-author of single payer health care legislation. The list goes on and, well, obviously, I feel very well represented.

It's a nice feeling. I've spent too many years of my life in districts represented by entrenched Republicans, meaning I wasn't much represented by my Representative at all. It's not just blue folk in red districts that feel unrepresented, though. I know some of y'all have a Blue Dog or some other incarnation of what you think of as Republican-lite on your ballot, and some of y'all ain't at all delighted with the prospect of voting for the right label on the wrong person, someone who makes a partisan claim to your allegiance at election time but will almost certainly disappoint you on the House floor come legislation time. There are no doubt more than a few of you are pining for a Jim McDermott to vote for.

Well, when you vote for your somewhat disappointing Democrat, whoever that might be, you're also voting to retain the majority that makes it possible for Jim McDermott to be the chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. Because of our Democratic majority - because of your periodically disappointing Democrat - Jim McDermott is able to apply his progressive priorities and the budgeting skills he honed as Chair of the Ways & Means committee in the Washington State Senate to meeting the needs of the neediest of us on behalf of all of us.

Jim's not just my own personal Congressman. He's a subcommittee Chair. Our subcommitee chair. Your subcommittee chair. Only, though, because of our Democratic majority which your Democratic member of Congress, even if he or she is the bluest of dogs, is part of.

That's right, if you were wondering if it was worth holding your nose and voting for someone who doesn't seem to remember what a Democrat is from time to time, or practically all the time, well, you can cast that vote with pride and confidence. When you vote for your Democrat, you're voting to re-elect Jim McDermott to his chairmanship.

That matters, and it's something you should be enthusiastic about.

From the "Since you asked…" file.

Sarah Palin ponders...

"Some in the GOP -- it's their last shot. It's their last chance. We will lose faith, and we will be disappointed and disenchanted from them if they start straying from the bedrock principles... if they start straying, then why not a 3rd party?"

Since you asked, no reason at all! Sounds like a great idea! Get started right away!

From the "Me neither" file.

Goldy...

I don’t know what’s more insulting, the suggestion that Reichert is brain-damaged, or the insistence that he’s not.

Me neither.

From the "Do Something" file.

Al Giordano at The Field...

There is no use complaining that big money interests rule the airwaves if while doing so you are forfeiting your power to rule the ground!

Ring a doorbell. Make a call or two. Talk, text or tweet or whatever, wherever or whenever you think you can drum up a vote or two.

Do something.

Do anything.

Who knows, if we play, we just might win.

From the "Reagan wept" file.

Teapublican Senate candidate Joe Miller, on border security...

"If East Germany could, we could.”

Heck yeah, we could! We've got the plans and everything...



Of course, that hasn't always been the Republican position...



Kinda makes me miss the old warmonger...

Hat tip to DougJ.

Some of this...

...bunch of that. Ten altogether. All random.

Jose Feliciano - A Day In The Life
Gene Autry - Blueberry Hill
Paul Revere & The Raiders - Paul Revere's Ride
Boxcar Willie - Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
The Intruders - Cowboys To Girls
Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents - Keeping Time
David Gans - Four Strong Winds
Bill Anderson - Still
Indigenous - Leaving
The Great Society - Where

A public service announcement.

The Washington State Labor Council wants you to know…

"Dino Rossi works for them. Senator Patty Murray works for us."

Where, of course, them = BP, Fox, JPMorganChase, Walmart, AIG, Philip Morris, Citigroup, Pfizer, McDonalds, Comcast, AT&T, etc. and us = well, us.

She only works for us if we vote for her, though. Ballots are in the mail hereabouts. Use yours promptly and wisely.

Vote for us.

Hat tip to Howie.

We can always use a little good news.

Darryl delivers...

...the October polls, taken as a whole, support the idea that Murray would win with a 94.5% probability in an election held now. Here is the picture...

Pretty picture, isn't it?

From the "Credit where it's due" file.

When she's right, she's right. Christine O'Donnell...

"What I believe is irrelevant."

From the "Me too" file.

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday told reporters she supports I-1098, the income-tax initiative on the November ballot that targets high-wage earners.

Despite my typical antipathy for the modern initiative process, me too.

(Not) The truth.

Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, via the NPI Advocate…

If it was true, what they say about taxes, then the best opportunities would be in the places with the least taxes... like Somalia. But it's not true, is it? Is it? It's not true. The best opportunities to create great wealth, in this country — and in the world — are in high-tax places.

OK, that last bit is the truth, but the first part? Nope.

Map of the day.

Via the New York Times...

This map shows each state re-sized in proportion to the relative influence of the individual voters who live there. The numbers indicate the total delegates to the Electoral College from each state, and how many eligible voters a single delegate from each state represents.

(It clicks a bunch bigger.)

Hat tip to Nicholas Beaudrot at Donkeylicious.

Ballot envy.

Jonathan Bernstein...

...we in Texas have the magic button that allows us to vote a straight ticket with one touch, and I believe, although I'm not certain, that it's a 100% partisan ballot.* We don't have any ballot measures. We do have judges, but they're partisan, so that's helpful.

Wow. No initiatives. Straight ticket voting. Partisan judicial races. Sounds a little bit like heaven to me.

Texas. A nice place to vote, but otherwise, I'm afraid, I wouldn't want to live there.

The truth.

Via Goldy...

The truth is, Rossi wrote the 2003-2005 state budget much in the same way that Dave Reichert caught the Green River Killer, in that he didn’t.

Yep, it's true.

Chart of the day

Via artistdogboy...

The question is…

…when will Christine O'Donnell host Saturday Night Live?

It's gotta happen, doesn't it?

As is my wont...

...an early AM random ten.

Paul Simon (as Jerry Landis) - Bigger And Better Things
Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do
Mary Gauthier - Wheel Inside The Wheel
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Texas Blues
Grateful Dead - Me & My Uncle (12-31-73)
Dead Kennedys - Let's Lynch The Landlord
Amos Lee - Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight
Fats Domino - Before I Grow Too Old
Dwight Twilley Band - Look Like An Angel
Bullmoose Jackson - Keep Your Big Mouth Shut

The Paul Simon tune, with Simon using his Tom & Jerry era moniker, is a classic bit of teen angst, worth tracking down.

Chart(s) of the day.

Via Paul Rosenberg at Open Left...

Joe Biden knows...

...real men wear purple!



At least smart pols do when they appear on campus at UW-Tacoma. Okay, it's kinda bluish on my monitor, too, but Andrew was there in person for the NPI Advocate, and he says Joe was sporting Husky colors. It's one of those contrivances you've got to appreciate.

Anyway, Andrews got some coverage of the Vice President's praise for both of our Democratic Senators during his visit on behalf of Senator Murray's re-election campaign. We've truly got a pair to be proud of!

(Personal to Andrew and the NPI gang - the shirt is great! Thanks!)

The truth…

…about Patty Murray, according to the Seattle Times...

The truth about Murray is she delivers for Washington and the Northwest.

According me, too.

Congrats for the endorsement, Senator!

Something to think about…

…if you're wondering whether elections matter. Todd S. Purdum in Vanity Fair...

...it’s an interesting thought experiment to imagine what the first two years of a McCain-Palin partnership in the White House might have produced. There would probably have been no stimulus bill, and the country’s economic condition would be no better (and probably worse). General Motors and Chrysler would have been allowed to go bankrupt rather than helped to emerge into a state of healthiness, as they may well be doing. There would have been no significant new regulation of the financial industry. The Bush tax cuts for those Americans with the highest incomes—something McCain had opposed before reversing himself—would have been extended. There would have been only modest health-insurance reform, at best—McCain’s proposals were Republican boilerplate and meant for use in the campaign, never a serious program. Perhaps there would have been greater progress on immigration, though McCain had already abandoned that issue, and it’s easier to imagine his taking the more nativist stance he has since adopted. There would be no Supreme Court justices Kagan and Sotomayor, but there would likely be two more conservative justices, and the days of Roe v. Wade would be numbered. There would be no troop drawdown in Iraq. The United States might well have bombed or blockaded Iran in response to that country’s flawed election last year, or in response to its nuclear program. There would have been serial feuds between aides to the president and vice president, but the fact that Vice President Palin had an independent power base, far larger and more enthusiastic than McCain’s own, would have limited what President McCain could do about it. The “Ground Zero mosque” dispute would probably have arisen anyway, and McCain might have been hard put to do anything but side with the opponents. The Palin-family soap opera would now be daily fodder for the national press rather than mainly the tabloids. Like Obama, President McCain would probably have been asked to give the commencement address at Arizona State University. Unlike Obama, he would probably have been awarded an honorary degree.

Yep, they matter.

What you do for the next three weeks matters, too. We dodged a bullet in '08, but they're sending artillery with air support this time, but we can still win this battle on the ground. Get out there and get out the vote.

What we want...

…or, apparently, don't. The former half-term governor of Alaska says she'll run for President if the American people want her to. Guess she's not running. Via Salon...

According to a new CBS poll, America really doesn't care for Sarah Palin. She is viewed favorably by 22% of Americans, and unfavorably by 48%. Those are not great numbers for a potential 2012 candidate.

Does not great = not running? Well, yeah, unless she's lying. Of course, she's a Republican, so...

What we have.

A reminder from Dave Johnson...

We have: Work that really, really needs doing. People that really, really need work. Borrowing money is really, really cheap.

Really.

Quote of the day.

Bill Maher, via Blatherwatch...

“There really isn’t extremism on both sides [of the political spectrum]. That’s a canard.” The left, he says, "moved to the center, and the right moved into a mental institution."

Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten ahold of the keys to the ward.

Chart of the day.

Via Meteor Blades...


40% of the population has been pushed right off the economic map. I don't see how we can preserve our democracy if we don't address this glaring and growing disparity. We face no greater threat.

Be sure to check out Meteor Blade's post for more information and instructive analysis.

From the "Signs of the apocalypse" file.

"Glee" cast passes Beatles for Billboard record

From the "Me neither" file.

Joan Walsh...

Christine O'Donnell is not me!

Me neither.

Time to lay off O'Donnell for awhile, I guess, but the woman is a treasure in her own way.

Quote of the day.

Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, via The Note...

“I'm not a witch.”

From the "Sad but true" file.

Will Durst...

Conservatives know the importance of banding together to do whatever it takes: lie, cheat, steal, obstruct. Progressives, on the other hand, need to be goosed to get off the couch when it’s on fire.

I'm afraid so.

Hat tip to Gordon, who has an extended excerpt of the rant. I might not say it the same way myself, but...

On a local level...

...I've been a bit derelict in my duty to the local D's, but, frankly, they don't need a whole lot from me. I heartily endorse the ticket, of course, and will doorbell my precinct on their behalf, but there's no reason to believe that there will be anything but a Democratic triumvirate representing us in Olympia come next year. I'm lucky in that, I suppose. Similarly, my own personal Congressman is unthreatened, if not unchallenged.

I do want to give our candidates, Rep. Maralyn Chase for State Senate, former Shoreline mayor Cindy Ryu for Maralyn's current seat and Rep. Ruth Kagi for well-deserved re-election, a shout out for the Democratic sweep of the Seattle P.I.'s 32nd District endorsements, and a promise to do better by them between now and the general.

Most of us…

…are, well, us. Via Political Wire...

A new Newsweek poll finds voters said "they trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle pretty much every problem currently facing the country: Afghanistan (by 6 points), health care (by 12), immigration (by 2, though that figure is within the margin of error), Social Security (by 14), unemployment (by 12), financial reform (by 14), energy (by 19), and education (by 19). Voters even prefer Democrats to Republicans on federal spending (by 4 points), taxes (by 5), and the economy (by 10)--the GOP's core concerns. The only area where Republicans outpoll Democrats is the issue of terrorism, where they lead by a 6-point margin."

We are the mainstream.

Doesn't mean a thing, though, if some of us don't get the rest of us out to vote.

As sure as the randomizer must be fed…

…the randomizer must, ahem, disgorge. Ten off the top…

Marianne Faithful - House Of The Rising Son
Ray Charles - Don't Tell Me Your Troubles
Herman's Hermits - Ace, King, Queen, Jack
Warren Zevon - Play It All Night Long
Katy Moffatt - Billy Gray
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Money (That's What I Want)
Merle Travis - Information Please
Nimat - Crazy 4 U
Dave Clark Five - Reelin' And Rockin'
Irma Thomas - It's Raining

Another nice mix, I think.