Washblog

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. What you sow you shall reap.          

No matter how carefully Mormon political consultants (some of them paid handsomely by Church members' donations) tried to script a Mormon "grassroots" relationship to the Yes on 8 campaign, talking themselves and the members of their insular world into the legitimacy of these arrangements, it was naive and foolish to think that such a campaign could be conducted without significant consequences.

... One of these consequences is that the Church has now branded itself as the leading anti-gay-rights religion in the country. That's an expensive bit of turf to hold in an unsustainable legal and political fight.          

Every day, I read news stories from across the country about Mormons. And let me tell you, this movie alone has gotten ten times more coverage than the Church's incredible humanitarian efforts in Haiti and the greening of its chapels combined. - 8: The Mormon Proposition gets it right.  Joanna Brooks, Religion Dispatches

Brighton, Colorado (FNS)--Attorneys from the Republican Study Group (RSG) descended upon the 17th Judicial District courtroom of Judge John T Bryan today to present an amicus brief and associated oral arguments in order to prevent a settlement in a lawsuit related to an automobile accident in this Colorado city.

The intervening attorneys claim the settlement reached between the two parties to the accident is a "shakedown" because the plaintiff had not yet exhausted all possible legal remedies when the agreement was finalized, and because the agreement was executed in the presence of the plaintiff's brother, a well-known local attorney.

They hope Judge Bryan will decline to approve the settlement in today's hearing, and that he will order the parties to move forward to trial.

"What we have is government transferring property from one party, an admittedly unattractive one, to others, not based on preexisting laws but on decisions by one man, a car czar", said Crush Mimbaugh, attorney for the RSG, "and we are here today to protect all Americans from this legally sanctioned rape of an innocent driver."

Honestly, I am absolutely sick of commercial air travel these days. Just dealing with security is bad enough, but then there's the airlines, and...hey, all you really need to know here is that there has to be a pretty good reason for me to fly cross-country.

Well, I had one Saturday night, which is how I came to be in the Colonnade Room of the Fairmount Hotel, Washington DC with about 250 of my closest friends, in a classic shawl-collar tuxedo, attending one of the most exclusive "passing of the torch" ceremonies in recent Washington memory.

And when it was all over, Douglas Feith was a happy man.

It's part two of our "Netroots Nation Goes To Vegas Piano Bar Extravaganza", and in keeping with tradition that means we are again taking a story request.

This time we won't be talking about energy security or "climate security"; instead, we'll discuss retirement security, keeping your money for yourself instead of paying it out in "mystery fees", and how one of the "usual suspects" is at it again.

And if all that wasn't enough...we also have pie.

Netroots Nation will be in Las Vegas in just a few weeks; with that in mind we are going to play "piano bar" and fulfill a couple of requests, one today and one tomorrow, from folks who would like to bring a couple of things to your attention.

Today's topic: climate change.

As you know, there is a lot of legislation floating around Capitol Hill that would begin to use some sort of market-based mechanism to reduce the amount of carbon we emit.

None of it will move unless it moves through the Senate, and today, that's what we'll be talking about.

Matter of fact, they will be too.

Dear The United Kingdom,

I just wanted to take a minute to say hello and to see how things have been for you lately, and to maybe bring you up to date on a bit of news from here.

Well, right off the bat, we hear you have a new Conservative Prime Minister and that his Party and Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems are in partnership, which I'm sure will be interesting; you probably heard that us Colonials are again having Tea Parties, which has also been very interesting.

I have a Godson who's getting married this September, so we're all talking about that, and I hear Graham Norton was even better than last year at hosting Eurovision, despite the fact that it's...frankly, it's Eurovision.

Oh, yeah...we also had a bit of an oil spill recently that you may have heard about--and hoo, boy; you should see how the Company that spilled the oil has been acting.

Those who are regular visitors to this space know that I post stories across the country, and to do that I have to follow stories from a number of states.

Because I post at Kentucky's Hillbilly Report, I've been paying particular attention to the Rand Paul campaign, and the news from the Bluegrass State (via "The Rush Limbaugh Show") is that Paul's planning to write his own balanced budget proposal for the Federal Government.

But there's a catch.

He doesn't plan on doing it until after the election.

Well, now, why in the world would a guy who's running for office based on his really good ideas want to hold back the best one?

That's not a bad question, and if we make the effort we can probably figure out the most likely answers.

We are again having to take a short bypass on our planned writing journey; this time to a place that's, according to their Facebook page, about 148 beer stores north of Toronto, Ontario (which, for the benefit of the less-geographically aware reader, is in Canada).

It's a crazy place, where duct tape is more truly the coin of the realm than loonies, but we're going to try to explain it all today...and in the effort we may even learn about a few things that really matter, like the unimportance of importance, and the kind of quality of life that comes from having a junk pile and a sense of adventure.

So grab the bug spray, Gentle Reader, because it's time to visit Possum Lodge.

We're now into day way too many of the BP oil spill, and the President has just yesterday been down on the Louisiana coast--again.

There have been suggestions that the Administration should take action to essentially push BP out of the way and take over the work itself, particularly as it relates to the cleanup.

It may have even occurred to you that an official declaration of some sort might be needed, in order to bring the full power of the Feds into play.

That's some good thinking, but before we go jumping right into declaring things we better understand the law, because if we don't, we could actually make things worse.

Senator Ken Jacobsen (D-46LD) is retiring. I miss him already.

Jacobsen helped protect the integrity of our elections. He's a Hero of Democracy.

There's a nationwide push to adopt internet voting. Sam Reed (Sec of State) is totally on board. He proposed a bill last session allowing casting ballots via email (HB 2483 / SB 6238 - Concerning Overseas and Service Voters).

To his tremendous credit, Jacobsen listened to our objections. Despite my snarkiness. Despite already supporting Reed's bill. Despite Reed's cheap "men in uniform" theatrics. Jacobsen did his own research. I believe that as a result, he and other senators allowed Reed's bill to die in the Senate (after sailing thru the House, ahem).

People have said some pretty mean things about Jacobsen. I've learned that there's always more to the story.

Jacobsen has always treated me well. And this last legislative session, Jacobsen did right by me.

Tonight, the 46 LD Democrats are doing the nomination process to replace Jacobsen. I'm deeply ambivalent. With Jacobsen's departure, Democracy loses an ally. To be replaced by a wildcard.

I miss Jacobsen already.

[Front paged: NM]

By Alison Holcomb, Drug Policy Director, ACLU of Washington

Last Thursday, the AP ran a ground-breaking piece of investigative journalism. It spelled out how U.S. taxpayers have financed a $1 trillion "War on Drugs" that, 40 years after its launch, has failed to meet any of its declared goals.

Originally posted at The Left Shue

On Saturday, May 15th delegates to the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) met at the labor organization's C.O.P.E. (Committee on Political Education) convention to vote on their endorsements for the 2010 campaign. While many have seen this event as a sort of kumbaya moment for Labor and incumbent Democrats in the past, recent legislative setbacks for Labor and the emergence of the new "DIME-PAC"; established to more effectively target labor friendly candidates, helped to produce more than a couple of surprises.

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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander, The New Press, 2010

When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment, Mark A.R. Kleiman, Princeton U. Press, 2009

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Michelle Alexander at Rainier Valley Cultural Center, Seattle Washington, April 14, 2010		Mark A.R. Kleiman at Seattle Town Hall, April 22, 2010

Moritz College of Law professor Michelle Alexander and UCLA professor of public policy Mark A.R. Kleiman, recently made the rounds in Seattle.

Alexander, formerly Director of the Northern California ACLU Racial Justice Program, spoke with an audience of students, lawyers, civil rights leaders, and professors at the UW School of Law William H. Gates Public Interest Law Program.  The following day, she did an interview with Dave Ross on KIRO radio, spoke with correctional officers and inmates in the prison at Monroe and then, in a benefit for 3-Strikes reform, addressed a community audience at Rainier Valley Cultural Center.  Senator Adam Kline, King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, and former 3-Strikers Stevan Dozier and Vance Bartley also spoke that evening. I was one of the event organizers with the primary sponsoring organization, Justice Works!

Kleiman's visit was hosted by Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess, a former Seattle Police Department officer and detective.  Kleiman met with criminal justice and elected officials to discuss research on crime and incarceration reduction and then gave a talk at Seattle Town Hall followed by a panel discussion.  Panelists included Secretary of Washington State Department of Corrections Eldon Vail, King County Superior Court Judge Wesley Saint Clair, King County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Larson, and Washington ACLU Drug Policy Director Alison Holcomb.  

L-R: King County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Larson, Secretary of Washington State Department of Corrections Eldon Vail, King County Superior Court Judge Wesley Saint Clair, ACLU Drug Policy Director Alison Holcomb, Mark A.R. Kleiman, Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess

Baton Rouge (FNS)—Facing both a massive oil slick from a sunken offshore drilling platform and a second year of declining tourism revenues along the Louisiana Gulf Coast caused by high gas prices, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today introduced a new tourism promotion that he reports is going to “...make lemons into lemonade”.

Jindal, flanked by British Petroleum's Director of Marketing Dick Timoneous and the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Tourism Board, Jenna Talia, announced that the “All The Oil You Can Carry Festival” would officially commence today just east of New Orleans, and last at least through the month of May.

Compassionate Action Network, Fetzer Institute, Seeds of Compassion, and Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education hosted a celebration and daylong symposium on compassion on April 24, 2010 at The Center for Spiritual Living.

The day began with a ceremony honoring the affirmation by Seattle's Mayor and City Council of the Charter for Compassion and their declaration that Seattle is a participant in the Ten Year Campaign for Compassionate Cities. Seattle is the first city, worldwide, to adopt the Charter.  The Charter for Compassion and additional photos appear below the fold.

Above: Panel Discussion on Personal and Intergenerational Compassion

Left to right:

• Moderator Ruby Love. College Success Foundation
• Artist Isa D'Arleans (her mural, Peace Freedom and Hope, donated to the City of New York and currently on tour, is the backdrop of the discussion)
• Founder of Voices Education project, Andy Himes
• Community of Mindful Parents founder, Deb Grover
• Program Supervisor at Office of Seattle Public Instruction and Compassionate Schools Initiative founder Ron Hertel