Heh™.

Via The Obama Diary...

Sunday funny.

bildungblog, via Bluegal...

Bet I'm not the only one...

...who'll never see Sarah Palin's name or image again without thinking "...pit bulls are delicious."

Chart of the day.

The Republican war on kids...

You've heard all the heavy groups...

 ...it's time for morning maniac music...

Herman's Hermits - Silhouettes
Roseanne Cash - Tennesee Flat Top Box
Tim Rose - Hey Joe
Jimmy Buffett - Nautical Wheelers
Dory Previn - Mary C. Brown And The Hollywood Sign
Sheryl Crow - Leaving Las Vegas
Robby Hecht - If I Needed You
The Who - Boris The Spider
Guy Mitchell - Singing The Blues
Rosie Flores - Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

She may be elected to the House...

...but Cathy McMorris Rodgers isn't very representative of a lot of folks in her district. Publicola, via Carl...

...Republicans in the House, led by Washington State Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA, 5) are pushing an alternative proposal—which McMorris Rodgers, incredibly, said will protect “the true victims of domestic violence and sexual assault”—that does not provide any of the Senate version’s protections for Native American women, gay women, rural women, and some illegal immigrants. (The latter provision is aimed largely at protecting so-called child and mail-order brides brought into the country illegally and under false pretenses.)

It's noteworthy that in addition to vast tracts of rural land, McMorris Rodgers' district encompasses the reservations of the Consolidated Confederated Tribes (including the Sapoils, Nespelems, Okanagons, Sinkisuses, Nez Perces, Colvilles and Seijextees), the Spokane Tribe and the Kalispel Tribe.


Seems to me the gentle lady from the far side of the Cascade Curtain has a lot explaining to do to a lot of constituents.

Ten more lies...

...this week.

Only ten?  Benen doesn't miss much, so Mitt's apparently not even trying. Surely he can come up with at least two or three whoppers a day.

C'mon, Mittens, get in the game!

Signs of the times.

Via The Stand...

From the Department of Redundancy Department.

Rob McKenna is a deeply partisan Republican and a liar.

Good question…

…from Michael Hiltzik in the LA Times...

Isn't it curious that the same people who insist that America is the greatest, richest country in the world, ever, are those who insist that there's no way we can afford to provide for our elderly, our disabled and the survivors of our deceased workers to the same degree as the rest of the industrialized world?

Yes, it is.  All the more so when you bear in mnd that... 

Federal taxes — personal, corporate and excise combined — amounted to about 15.4% of our gross national product last year, according to the Office of Management and Budget. That's lower than the level of every other industrialized country, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

We should be talking about what America can do, and what Americans can have, instead of what we can't do or must do without.  Hiltzik's piece is a good example.

Hat tip to Robert.

Heh™.

A somewhat bittersweet Heh™, perhaps, but Heh™ just the same. Fran. via After The Bridge...

Chart of the day.

Via Crooks & Liars...

Feel any safer?

Map of the day.

Via Think Progress...

Have I mentioned lately...

...that I hate what they're doing to my Army?

The number of U.S. soldiers testing positive for heroin in Afghanistan rose more than tenfold from 2002 to 2010, according to the Army. Eight soldiers died of overdoses in 2010 and 2011, Army reports also show.

Talking about my service, I sometimes joke about my gratitude to the country that sent me to the drug and prostitution capitals of the world, and yes, I opened wide in wide-open Amsterdam and the girls on TuDo Street could always hook you up with some herb before you went upstairs, but that exposure had tragic consequences for the guys who couldn't resist opiates, and we weren't stationed at ground zero for the world heroin trade.

This was completely predictable. The war planners must have known going in that the cost would include the threat of addiction and death by overdose by some number of young American men and women who otherwise would have lived their natural lifespans without exposure to heroin.  They had to know.  They had to count it an acceptable cost.

One more reason to bring 'em home and keep 'em home until there's a mission worthy of their service and sacrifice.

Chart of the day.

Via David Atkins...

Heh™.

H/T Ron Chusid...

I'm always a bit surprised...

...when these lists come out this way, because I tend to listen to more female than male artists when I'm picking on my own.  On the other hand, it shouldn't surprise too much, since, while I have at least as many, if not more, women artists represented in the collection, there are probably more tracks by men, because of the dozens of Dylan songs, along with lots of John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, Grateful Dead, etc., etc.  Anyway, here 'tis...

Willie Dixon - I Got A Razor
The O'Jays - Love Train
The Lovin' Spoonful - Darlin' Companion
Roy Head - Treat Her Right
John Lennon - Working Class Hero
George Harrison - Try Some Buy Some
The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
Chuck Mead - Cat Clothes
The Grateful Dead - New, New Minglewood Blues
Sam Cooke - Chain Gang

 

Way back when...

...while I was President of the Young Democrats of Washington, one of the highlights was the presence of Brock Adams attending our state convention, where we became the first party organization to endorse his campaign for the US Senate. Over beers after the meetings adjourned, Adams was asked how he was going to defeat the apparently formidable Slade Gorton, who had never lost a statewide election.  Simple, said the future Senator.  He could beat Slade because "Even his friends don't like him."

Sounds like Mitt's got the same problem.

21 lies...

...this week.  Steve Benen chronicles Mitt's Mendacity. Fourteen posts so far.  I figure it'll be book length before November.

Chart of the day.

Via AFL-CIO Corporate Watch...

Signs of the times.

Hat tip to The Stand.

Maybe...

Via the DNC blog...

Good advice...

...from Jessica Hagy...

The trick, of course, is figuring out which stuff is stupid.

Good question...

...from Washington State Democratic Chair Dwight Pelz...

"Dennis Kucinich has to decide what his legacy is going to be. Will he be remembered as a principled member of Congress or the narcissist who lost two Congressional races in two states the same year?" 

Of course, Dwight's made it pretty clear what he thinks all along.  I think he's right. Dennis, though, wants to know what you think.  I encourage you to discourage him.

Early returns from SHL-32 0558!

Obama won.

And I got to meet a new Democratic neighbor, a recent transplant from New York, attending his first precinct caucus. Both he and I are moving forward as delegates.

The LD caucuses next week should be somewhat livelier, but I consider today's activities time well spent.

Something old, something older...

 ...but none of 'em as old as me.  The random ten...

The Young Rascals - Groovin'
Richie Havens & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Trouble In Mind
Jay Farrar - Fly High
Jerry Lee Lewis - There Stands The Glass
Cross Canadian Ragweed - Constantly
Lesley Gore - That's The Way Boys Are
Johnny Cash - I Won't Back Down
Ivan - Real Wild Child
New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Panama Red
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - 455 Rocket

Stuff I learned on the internet.

O'Doul's is an exotic microbrew. At least Ed Kilgore seems to think so...

At a minimum, it's probably time to lay to rest the chesnut that the most important question in a presidential election is with which candidate Americans would prefer to drink a beer. Hell, I might actually prefer hoisting a few with Mitt, who probably knows about some exotic microbrews I've never tasted--so long as he is picking up the tab.

 Better just meet him for coffee...

From the "Delayed gratification" file.

Those of you who were able to resist attempting mischief in the Republican caucuses and thereby retained your eligibility for the Democratic caucuses can collect your reward this Sunday, as Washington Democrats begin the process of selecting 130 folks to represent us at the Democratic National Convention.

(It clicks a bunch bigger)

The main driver for caucus attendance is usually a hotly contested nomination race. This year there's no such motivation.  President Obama will be our nominee, and I fully expect our delegation to be unanimous in that regard. The nomination isn't the only question before the caucuses, though.  As the chart above shows, there is the opportunity at every level to move resolutions and platforms that reflect the principles and positions of the Democratic Party.  In that regard, this is where Washington Democrats can join the movement to include a marriage equality plank in the national platform.

I've already endorsed the language proposed by Freedom To Marry, but I'd happily settle for the language in our own 32nd Distict Democrats platform, which supports...

The right of every adult to marry the person of his or her choice without gender restrictions upon that choice, and to enjoy the same civil and legal rights accorded to all marriages.

Whatever the final language may be, it's time for the national platform to make our support for marriage rights explicit. Officials including the National Convention Chair, at least four former Democratic National Convention and a list of elected officials that includes our own Senator Patty Murray agree.

President Obama, I'm sorry to say, doesn't. Maybe I'm not such an Obamabot after all, but I don't think the Party should, as tradition would suggest, yield this plank of our platform to the nominee.  If he finds leading a Party committed to marriage equality uncomfortable, perhaps it's the irritant necessary to spur his evolution on the issue.  

I'll be caucusing Sunday afternoon, and running for delegate to the LD/County level with a pledge to support the nomination and re-election of President Barack Obama and the inclusion of explicit marriage equality language in the county, state and national platforms.  I'll be asking for a similar commitment from those who seek my vote for delegate to any level as the process advances.

Your precinct caucus is at 1:00 this Sunday afternoon.  If you don't know where, use the Washington State Democratic Party's caucus locator.  

From the "Me too" file.

Via Ron Chusid...

Me too.

You may, I suppose, consider me an Obamabot for the duration.

From the "Not Exactly News" file.

It's Mitt.

But you knew that, even before you knew this...

Ricky's out.

Meanwhile, Newt, like Charlie, is staying in.

Elsewhere, Allen West has gotten so far out that he should think about checking himself in.

Chart of the day.

Via Graphjam...

Crossfile it under "Misplaced Priorities."

From the "Me too" file.

Via Robert's Daily Dose...

Me too.

Sunday funny.

Via Chipsticks...

Signs of the times.

Real church, real sign. Via Millard Fillmore's Bathtub...

.

Stuff backs up...

...and I've got a couple hundred songs that haven't been sorted into the various drives and directories that make up my collection. Here's a random dip into some of the latest stuff I've picked up - some brand new, some not so...

Uncle Tupelo - Wipe The Clock
Punch Brothers - Movement And Location
Flaming Ember - Going In Circles
Dave Van Ronk - John Henry
Chris Smither - Surprise, Surprise
Jonathan Wilson - Desert Raven
Hank Penny - The Solitary Blues
Bob Dylan - Man Gave Names To All The Animals
Joan Osborne - I'm Qualified
Jonathan Byrd & Chris Kokesh - I Wish I Was An Oak Tree

From the "Good news for John McCain" file.

Mitt Romney's support among Republicans is lower than President Obama's job approval rating among all Americans.

Good advice.

From Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, for those who doubt there's a Republican war on women...

"If you don't feel this is an attack, you need to go home and talk to your wife and your daughters."

This presumes, of course, that men who sincerely doubt there's a Republican war on women allow their wives and daughters to talk. That's possible, I suppose, but almost certainly not universal...

Letter to the Editor of the day.

The Stranger is the lucky recipient...

Dear Editor,

Only when every richly powerful and powerfully rich person on this earth is living in constant and abject fear of being cooked and eaten alive will there be peace in our world.

Sincerely Yours,

Leland Mellott

Mount Vernon, Washington

Chart of the day.

Via Zandar...

Here's a stimulating idea - maybe we should do some more of what works.

This post is brought to you by the number zero.

Via the White House blog...

Hunter, on Republican "liberty and freedom..."

The liberty is the liberty to let people die on the streets; the freedom they speak of is the freedom of not giving a damn if it happens.

Entirely true, and exactly why...