Robbed! We wuz robbed!

Looks like the judges for TPM's Golden Duke Awards were dipping into the holiday punch bowl excessively, picking Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) over our very own Richard Curtis.

I'm gonna need some time to recover from this. Looks like reader "J" and I won't be splitting up the coffee mug after all.

Happy New Years to all!

The excitement builds!

The anticipation is building for the announcement of the winners of TPM's Golden Duke Awards, and it looks like Richard Curtis has at least one vote, from contest judge Susie Bright:

Best Scandal -- Sex and Generalized Carnality

My pick: Richard Curtis

If I choose sheer trashy lunacy, something that would make Britney Spears look like a novitiate, then I have to pull my lever for Richard Curtis.

This married, fundie Christian Republican legislator and world-class hater, the joke of Western Washington, shows up one night in his negligee and stethoscope to have some hard-to-picture bareback sex with a down-on-his-luck porn star, named Cody Castegna. Curtis had picked up this kid at a local casino. Dude bargains the boy down to $1000 to have unprotected anal sex- that's the part that makes me cry- then has the nerve to stiff Cody, and call the police to complain a whore ripped him off!

WTF!
It strains credibility that Curtis could have done any of this sober, and I am still waiting for the drug investigation- this has "meth fiend" written all over it. Really, the only thing missing was an inflatable sheep, and that might've just been left off the report.

(I almost gave my nod to Bob Allen, but I already knighted him in the Best Local category. See how nice I am?)

Hopefully, the lobbying efforts to sway the judges with complimentary toy stethoscopes worked.

Tribal casino projects in trouble?

From the New York Times comes an article on the resiliency of Las Vegas:

By contrast, casinos elsewhere are not proving so resilient. From the riverboats of the Midwest and tribal casinos scattered across the country to gambling halls in less exotic parts of Nevada, operators are reporting slowing growth rates in recent months. In a number of places, revenues are actually down, sometimes by 5 percent or more.

Businesses in a variety of sectors that attract the most affluent customers and take advantage of foreigners from countries with strong currencies who are drawn to the glitter of Las Vegas and Manhattan are doing very well, while those dependent largely on middle-class buyers are having a harder time.

In Las Vegas, one extra factor has been a booming Chinese economy, as wealthy Asian players are risking — and losing — money in record numbers inside the city’s most exclusive V.I.P. lounges.

That sounds about right, and it augurs a potential derailment of the Cowlitz tribal casino project in La Center. Investors like a sure bet, and if tribal casinos no longer represent a sure thing, it's due to the middle class being tapped out. While CNBC and Neil Cavuto can claim nightly that the economy is "doing great!", that's only a reality for the select few in the investor class that Bush so jealously protects.

A sub prime meltdown sandwich might not be appetizing to the investor class, but it has very real impacts on the middle class already being whipsawed by a devaluation in the dollar and price inflation in fuel, combined with no real wage growth since Superfly premiered. Alas, proposed projects such as the Cowlitz tribal casino can't rely on being a destination for Asian gamers, and that's too bad, as La Center could really use a good Chinese restaurant or two.

Touring the debris of the Cold War

John Scalzi goes looking for missile silos out in Eastern Washington and brings back some amazing photos to ponder:

The site was terrifically sobering to both me and tillyjane. My mother grew up in the days of duck-and-cover drills, and basements stocked with government cheese and canned water with which to rebuild the American dream after the cleansing fire had washed over the land. This place featured in that nightmare which lies at the center of the house of memory of any thoughtful survivor of the Cold War.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, it always seemed like the Cold War was conducted somewhere else. You knew about the silos in Montana, the B-52 bases in North Dakota, or the sub pens in Bangor, but the Portland area had seemingly stuffed the Cold War into the darkest recesses of the mind. So it's a wake up call that the silos were just up the Gorge after all.

Note: Scalzi's Creation Museum photo stream is a do not miss tour as well.

The nomination will be televised

Someone out there is lobbying extensively for Richard Curtis' Golden Duke nomination in the Best Scandal: Sex and Generalized Carnality category.

Go Richard, Go!

DeBolt: It's just a flesh wound

The Olympian has a good write up on House Minority leader Richard DeBolt discussing his absolutely disastrous year:

First, a recap of the bad news he’s weathered in recent months:

Decisions by strong caucus members to leave — Joyce McDonald next year for a Pierce County Council campaign; David Buri of Colfax immediately to take a job with Eastern Washington University; and Chris Strow of Freeland to take another job. A gay-sex scandal that forced Rep. Richard Curtis of LaCenter to quit. A gaffe with sexual overtones that led DeBolt and Democratic leaders to discipline Jim Dunn of Vancouver, stripping him of committee assignments and limiting his expense reimbursements. A big ethics fine against Shirley Hankins of Richland. Catastrophic floods that forced hundreds of DeBolt’s constituents out of their homes two weeks ago. Last week’s decision by moderate Fred Jarrett of Mercer Island to jump ship and join Democrats, then to run next year for a Senate seat.

Flooding? Gay sex scandals? What next, locusts? With that kind of misery, the hardcore fundamentalists have got to wonder if this is God's divine punishment.

Short of an outbreak of itchy skin rash hitting his entire remaining caucus, things couldn’t get too much worse for DeBolt. His Republicans are now outnumbered 63-35 by Democrats in the House.

Ah, but it's only a flesh wound:

DeBolt said he thinks his caucus is at a “turning point,” or “tipping point” for regaining lost seats and touted replacements for several departed lawmakers. He said strong candidates in swing districts also are in the works

With DeBolt, and his right-hand man Kevin Carns, the only thing guaranteed is more stunts like the Sex Offender notification postcards. Given the increasing irrelevance of the House Republican caucus, it remains to be seen who's going to foot the bill for the fun and games. Business interests give money to those in charge.

Curtis nominated for coveted Golden Dukes award!

TPM today announced that former state senator Richard Curtis (R-Summer Lovin') is up for a coveted Golden Duke award in the "Best Sex and Carnality" category. He's in the august company of fellow Republicans Larry Craig and David Vitter ("for generalized whore mongering in several cities").

The final winner will be announced on December 31st. Getting nominated for a Golden Duke is a true honor, just like an Oscar nomination, albeit in blog world. It's important that Southwest Washington pull out all the stops in getting Richard Curtis past the finish line. Although many will consider Curtis to be a dark horse in this race, that's whatever everyone said about Roberto Benigni when he won his Oscar. Surely, the judges will realize the totality of Curtis' actions on their merits.

Would it be over the top to send marketing collateral with toy stethoscopes to the judges? I think not.

The summer wind

The autumn wind, and the winter wind - have come and gone
And still the days, those lonely days - go on and on
And guess who sighs his lullabies - through nights that never end
My fickle friend, the summer wind

Frank Sinatra - Summer Wind


KXLY Spokane reporting:

Police say Castagna had sex with Curtis earlier this summer and then threatened to tell people about the rendezvous if Curtis did not pay him thousands of dollars. Last week, prosecutors charged Castagna with six counts including conspiracy, theft and extortion.

Earlier this summer? Late October, when the revelations first of the "tryst" first broke, would not fall into the summer time frame, according to my authoritative Snap-On Tools pin-up girl calendar.

There's also a detail that Spokane Police are sharing information with Seattle PD, widening the net so to speak on Castagna's activities in Western Washington.

Fascinating.

Some last minute Christmas gift ideas

Who knew that former state representative Richard Curtis (R-Clarktucky) could provide so much holiday cheer with some exciting gift ideas!

After a long workout, or exhaustion from holiday shopping, everyone needs a performance boosting power drink:



And what holds out the promise of some Christmas loving better than flavored condoms:


And for that aspiring medical student, or those who just like to "play doctor":



Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!

Shorter Columbian: Herrera is teh awesome

Who needs the Republicans to write love letters for their electeds? The Columbian will do it for them:

Poised and thoughtful, Herrera is hardly a novice at policymaking.

[...]

"In her time here, she was extremely proactive,"

[...]

Young, female, Hispanic, conservative and smart, Herrera possesses an attractive combination of political attributes. In November 2008, she'll have to run for the seat to which she was appointed.

Included in the full story is a photo of PR dreams, where the gleam of light almost shines off of the pearly whites and gives an audible "ding". What's not asked is how the party of Herrera reconciles with the party of Jim Dunn. For some reason, I think the caucus (and The Columbian) probably keeps those two apart, although a "Team Clark County" Republican group photo would not be out of the question at this point.

Republicans are clearly losing ground amongst suburban women voters, and Herrera's appointment is a reaction to that reality. So the further question remains, how will the good ol' boys in north Clarktucky take to not only a woman, but a Hispanic woman? Mind you, this is the place where editorial writers at the Columbian get to pontificate on the threat of high school violence increasing the more Hispanic students you have.

Do the vaunted NASCAR dads of 2004 turn out in force to support this candidate? Or do they sit at home bemoaning being pushed around by the Centralia Faction?

Well, that's something at least

The Olympian reports:

HJR 64 says the 2002 congressional resolution that allowed President Bush to use military force against Iraq cannot be construed to allow force against Iran.

“It is a perfectly reasonable request. It’s a well-written resolution, and I agree with it and will support it,” Baird said.

Baird acknowledged that he became more aware of the measure after learning activists were bringing petitions to his office.

As a more astute political observer than I noted, what Baird needed to do to recover from the Iraq flip-flop ("I was against the war before I was for it!") was to have a definitive position opposing Commander Guy's policy on Iran. With the release of the National Intelligence Estimate last week showing that Iran had indeed suspended its nuclear program, Baird has taken a small step in repairing some of the bad blood that developed over the past three months.

He's also throwing the activist base of the party a bone by indicating that he became educated on the issue by that base. Baird has incredible gifts as a politician, and it's good to see him using those skills for something good for a change. The fact remains though that passing HJR 64 will be no small undertaking with such a fractured Democratic caucus in the House. This is unfortunately not a time for the peace community to take a breather, but they probably already know that. But it is heartening to see Baird move in a positive direction.

Either that, or we're all being played for chumps.

Castagna Indicted

From the Spokesman-Review:

Spokane County prosecutors charged a 26-year-old waiter and part-time porn model with extortion Wednesday in connection with a sexual encounter in October that ended the career of a Washington State representative.

Cody Michael Castagna, of Medical Lake, faces four felony charges after he received money from then-Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center. According to police records, Curtis dressed in women’s lingerie and met Castagna Oct. 26 at an adult book store on East Sprague during a taxpayer-sponsored trip to Spokane. He resigned Oct. 31, due to fallout from the scandal.

Curtis, 48, could not be reached for comment, but Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz said he is cooperating with the investigation and has not been charged with solicitation. Three other defendants are also charged in the case.

The Republicans are washing their hands of the whole mess:

Lisa Fenton, communications director for the House Republican Caucus in Olympia, said she had not been in recent contact with Curtis.

“We have no idea how to get ahold of former Representative Curtis, so we have no comment,” Fenton said.

But no so fast, as Castagna's attorney, for his part, advocates:

Castagna’s attorney, David Partovi, said he now will start the process of researching all of Curtis’ past votes, acquaintances and other encounters.

Curtis was “a state employee. It’s the state versus this kid,” Partovi said. “Are we going to drag Curtis through the mud for a year? I’m going to make this one hurt.”

Indeed, it is time to "make this one hurt". What Partovi needs to do is ask is following questions in undermining Curtis' credibility:

1. Why was Curtis in a tribal casino the night of the "tryst" as an ex-oficio member of the gaming commission?
2. Curtis asserted to The Columbian that he wasn't gay, and that he did not have sex with Castagna, and yet the police reports tell a completely different story.
3. How many other trips did Curtis take where he cruised for gay sex?

Again, Castagna is no altar boy, but why isn't Curtis being charged with solicitation? Why does one set of justice apply to a former state representative and another apply for everyone else? The jury is going to have to decide beyond a reasonable doubt between a serial petty hustler and an elected Republican living a double life who gave completely false statements to his hometown newspaper.

Uncool Auntie Hillary Strikes Again!

I'll admit it, I burned out entire galaxies of brain cells on illicit drug usage back in the day. Let's just say I experimented more than a couple of times, inhaled fully, enjoyed it, and I don't deny it, unlike a certain ex-president. It's not something I've done in a couple of decades, but it is a part of my past as well as millions of other Americans, Democrats and Republicans. And a proxy of Auntie Hillary is there to waggle the index finger at Obama for doing the same:

"The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight ... and one of the things they're certainly going to jump on is his drug use," said Shaheen, the husband of former N.H. governor Jeanne Shaheen, who is planning to run for the Senate next year.

Billy Shaheen contrasted Obama's openness about his past drug use -- which Obama mentioned again at a recent campaign appearance in New Hampshire -- with the approach taken by George W. Bush in 1999 and 2000, when he ruled out questions about his behavior when he was "young and irresponsible."

As TPM says:

A top Hillary campaign official attacked Obama for candor and contrasted that unfavorably with Bush's handling of such questions? Seems like an unorthodox approach in a Dem primary.

Of course, the Hillary campaign is disassociating themselves from the remarks, since they've already been thrown and are in the press:

The Hillary campaign is condemning remarks made by New Hampshire co-chair Billy Shaheen, who said earlier today in an interview that Barack Obama's past drug use could be used against him by the GOP, thus calling his electability into question.

I've blogged about this earlier, that Auntie Hillary is just about as uncool as they come, whether it be her serving as president of her College Young Republicans chapter:

She was a Goldwater supporter while in high school, and was President of the Young Republicans at Wellesley College.

Goldwater supporter? Say what? Or going after the video game industry:

Well well… here we have another politician talking about how videogames are bad for children, yet these same politicians haven’t played a single game in their entire life.

What's that smell? It's not contraband burning, it's desperation by the Hillary campaign as both Obama and Edwards continue to make this a race, Obama more so nationally, and Edwards specifically in Iowa. The surrogates for Hillary are in full blown smear mode, as witnessed by this and last week's Obama = Islamofascist fiction.

Mielke's In

Looks like we got a primary over on the Republican side on who's to replace Betty Sue Morris:

Tom Mielke, a former four-term state representative who ran for Clark County commissioner in 2004 and 2005, announced Tuesday that he will mount a commissioner campaign next year.

Mielke, 65, a Battle Ground-area Republican, will run for the District 1 seat that Commissioner Betty Sue Morris intends to vacate at the end of 2008.

And he'll open up the floodgates to developers, just as we're entering the meltdown in the mortgage securities market:

Mielke said he believes the county's recently updated growth plan doesn't plan for enough development and doesn't provide enough large parcels for heavy industry.

The plan envisions 2 percent annual population growth, but Mielke said the county should have planned for a higher growth rate to reflect recent history. In the past 10 years, Clark County's population growth has fluctuated between a low of 2.14 percent and a high of 3.54 percent.

The county's plan will foster traffic gridlock and encourage high-density housing, Mielke said.

"I would never want to raise my children in an apartment building," he said.

Why yes, everyone must live in detached housing, since everyone in north county can afford detached housing. And the Industrial Site Location Fairy will magically attract heavy industrial factories to north county to live in harmony with those brand new detached houses. Brothers and Sisters, it's time to get it together and extend sewer lines county-wide! He's essentially running on the same messaging as 2005 in his race against Steve Stuart, when he carpetbagged into that district.

This insane way of changing growth management plans whenever the county commissioner roster changes is a prescription for disaster.

Police: Castagna has a pattern of extortion

Things are not looking so good for Cody Cuddles:

After Major Crimes Detectives identified Castagna as a suspect in the alleged extortion of former State Representative Curtis, Sergeant Joe Peterson with the Spokane Police Department expressed concern that this was not the first instance of extortion that Castagna may have committed.

“There were multiple threats and multiple payoffs in this instance and it just seems like this was not the first time,” Sgt. Peterson said. “And we've been told by other people that this is not the first time the suspects in this case have done this type of thing.”

That sounds about right. It's pretty clear by now that Mr. Castagna has a long list of offenses ranging from petty theft to the usual traffic violations.

So great, my state legislator got forced out of office by DeBolt and the Centralia Faction of the state Republican party for being the victim of a serial extortionist.

Here come da Judge, headed to diversity training

I don't make it a habit blogging about judges, since you never know when you might be brought before said judge, but Judge John Wulle is certainly the talk of the town today:

Clark County Superior Court Judge John Wulle was censured Friday for "demeaning, offensive and shocking" behavior at a training conference last year.

[...]

According to a nine-page document [link added] posted on the commission's Web site, Wulle used profanity, made an obscene gesture in response to a request to lower his voice and referred to Clark County's group facilitator as "the black gay guy" while at the Los Angeles event. Also, after the facilitator said, "Clark County gets a star" for finishing an assignment, Wulle said, "I don't need a star. I'm not a Jew."

[...]

"(Wulle's) actions not only reflected poorly on himself, but also on his fellow team members, his court, Clark County and the state of Washington," the commission wrote. "(Wulle's) inappropriate behavior significantly undermined the team's respect for him. Witnesses at the conference variously described his actions as embarrassing, demeaning, offensive and shocking.

So if you're Jewish, or gay, or black, you might want to get a different judge. I'm just sayin'. Especially with this next graf from the commission's report:

During the same session, the facilitator mentioned he was required to
conduct a follow-up visit with the team in Clark County. In response to the facilitator’s comment, Respondent questioned out loud whether the facilitator, who is African American, would be welcomed or allowed in Vancouver, suggesting the community was “awfully white” and alluding to the term “BIV.” (In this context, “BIV” was meant as an acronym for “black in Vancouver,” which is locally understood by some to refer to perceived problems historically associated with racial profiling in Vancouver.)

What the..... Last time I checked, the Klan wasn't running things around here, but maybe they are. It's maybe funny when an African American comedian does a bit on "DWB" or Driving While Black, but coming from a judge, not so much.

What an embarrassment to the political establishment of Clark County, and shame on Tom Koenninger for so shamelessly defending the indefensible. So now we have the two very recent examples of bad behavior made by public officials when out of town, but the hometown paper is right there to be the apologist for the behavior.

In Wulle's case, he even went to The Columbian and showed them a copy of the censure prior to the hearing, which is a violation of confidentiality rules. And he claims that he wasn't aware that he'd be kept to a higher standard (as if foregoing the use of racial slurs is some high standard) when out of town:

From these allegations I have learned that I cannot step out of my role as a judge even when I’m 2,000 miles from home.”

Ya think?

Your story has become tiresome

Kind of buried in the today's Columbian story on Jim Dunn is this tired old yarn:

Dunn said the Democrats' true goal was to capture four more seats in the House, including his 17th District seat. He said that would enable the party to muster a two-thirds majority to pass any bill, even a proposed constitutional amendment, without Republican support.

We've already been down this path before, with Don Benton's claims of the very same calamity in September.

Note to the Columbian: You cannot pass a proposed constitutional amendment without the vote of the people.

Friends of Clark County Fundraising Event

This sounds like a good time in support of a worthy cause:

Please join us for an evening dedicated to a better future for Clark County!

Friends of Clark County is helping Futurewise raise money to pay legal expenses for their appeal of the Clark County 2007 growth management plan.

Enjoy the music of Singer/Songwriter Tom May.

A gourmet dinner will be catered by Val Alexander.

Featuring Guests Speakers:
• Senator Craig Pridemore
• April Putney, Futurewise

Cost is $30 per person; $100 to host; $150 2 hosts.

See you Saturday, December 8 at
Fire Fighters Union Hall
2807 NW Fruit Valley Road
Vancouver, WA 98660
(Fruit Valley Road and 4th Plain Boulevard)
Contact April Putney at 206.343.0681 X 120 or april@futurewise.org for more information or to RSVP.

Find out more in the full Friends of Clark County newsletter.

Governor Eyman defends bloggers who lie

Well, I guess I'll know who to go to when I start engaging in libelous content:

Anti-tax advocate Tim Eyman was forcibly removed from a Yakima City Council meeting after ranting against a council member.

Eyman had attended the meeting to read a statement making light of a blogging scandal that has dogged a newly elected city councilman.

But when Eyman began to attack the loser in the race, Councilman Ron Bonlender, and refused to stop speaking, Mayor Dave Edler called security and had him removed from the meeting.

"It was all theater from my perspective," Edler said Wednesday. "We all realized this was just a venom-laced attack on Ron Bonlender. He's not gonna come into the city chambers and attack a member of the council like that."

Eyman, meanwhile, complained that he was the victim of censorship at the Tuesday night meeting.

For the less-than-political-junkies among us, this is a follow up to a nasty Yakima city council race, where the Republican-backed candidate's wife blogged accusations against the incumbent, claiming that he had "secret" arrests for drunken driving, which turned out to be fabricated lies. The Republican-backed candidate won the race by a couple of percentage points, but in light of the blogging scandal, has been asked to resign, and even the Yakima County Republicans issued a statement disowning the candidate.

Since Governor Eyman is the all powerful political god of the state right now, he felt it necessary to step forward and attack the victim of the libelous blog. What a class act. He's more than anti-tax, he's anti-civility. But of course, it's only Democrats who are called shrill, never uber-patriots like Governor Eyman. Eyman is that guy in high school who kept running for class president on the platform of "round up all the preppies and ship them off to France"*.

And still, this is the guy who the Democratic super-majorities couldn't wait to roll over for in reinstating I-747. With I-5 still under water in Chehalis, and no money available to find a permanent solution to the floodwater problem, Governor Eyman rules our world.


*Yes -- my high school really had a candidate like that, in even stronger language, not re-printable here.

Update: Goldy has a much better take than mine. Don't tase me bro!

I-5 in Lewis County to remain closed

I'm still blaming the Centralia Faction of the Republican Party for the closure of I-5, since they're so adverse to paying for any infrastructure maintenance or improvements, but then Jeff Mapes of The Oregonian fills us in on the real culprit on why I-5 is still shut down:

After Katrina...the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers no longer had any realistic hope of affording its portion of the project. The cost of hurricane repair and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also made it "highly unlikely to all the local agencies and the state that there was going to be money in the next five to 10 years," Gernhart said.

The closure is now expected to last several days. I have to admit, the commute over I-5 from Vancouver to Portland has been a dream since the closure, so hey, don't fix it. But it is galling that spending all the money fighting the terrorists over there means that we're exposed to the elements over here.

When anti-tax godfather Grover Norquist describes drowning the federal government in a bathtub, this is exactly what he had in mind.

Richard Curtis up for Golden Duke Award

Some local Vancouver writer nominates Richard Curtis for the Golden Duke Award at TPM in the Best Scandal -- Sex and Generalized Carnality category:

Forget Larry Craig, the scandal involving former Washington state Rep. Richard Curtis, R-Vancouver, is my nominee for Best Sex Scandal for 2007.

Curtis, a representative who voted against gay marriage and domestic partnership legislation, was found to be the alleged victim of an extortion attempt by gay escort/porn model/casino thief Cody Castagna while out of town attending a Republican caucus meeting in Spokane, Washington. As we learned in the detailed police reports, there's a little bit of everything, from toy stethoscopes to collecting DNA evidence, to an alleged failure to pay for an unprotected sex act.

Even further, there's the initial denial of any wrongdoing to Curtis' local paper that he isn't gay nor did anything illegal, followed by the release of the police reports which led to the resignation. A damaged legislator, combined with a damaged GOP brand pedaling furiously to shore up the flood gates. Later reports showed that Curtis paid for the hotel room of the alleged acts using state reimbursement. What is still uncovered is why an ex-oficio member of the state gaming commission (those designated to vote on tribal casino matters only) was gambling in a tribal casino property the night of the encounter with Mr. Castagna.

Some will probably nominate Larry Craig for this esteemed award, but some foot tapping in a bathroom stall pales in comparison to what is documented by the Spokane police department in reference to Richard Curtis.

Thank you to the Academy for your consideration of this nomination.

That might be the first mention in a national blog of Curtis' visit to a tribal casino on the night in question, so that's good to see. Hopefully Curtis wins the award.

Larry Craig is just some guy with a shaky-leg syndrome. For real sex scandal value, Richard Curtis should win this award in a walk.

Shorter Hillary: Barack Osama is a Manchurian Candidate

Oh boy:

A day after the Hillary campaign hit the Obama camp for bullying voters in nasty phone calls, the Hillary crew has just acknowledged that an Iowa county chair volunteering for the campaign passed along the now-notorious email that smears Obama as a Muslim by repeating the false claim that he attended a madrassa as a child.

I'm not surprised. The surrogates and supporters for Hillary play hard ball old school politics involving heavy usage of whisper campaigns. It was just a matter of time before the combative 90's politics developed by the Clinton machine was turned against a serious challenger within the party. The discipline that the Clinton campaign exhibits does not let this kind of stuff just slip by mistake.

The question remains though, are Democratic primary voters in the key states of Iowa and New Hampshire ready for a new kind of politics? Or will they cave to the sense of "inevitability" built up by Camp Hillary, thus guaranteeing a thirty-two year run of having either a Bush or a Clinton in the executive branch? Recent Iowa polling shows a virtual three-way tie, so Clinton supporters are starting to pull out all the stops.

Insurgent Democrats take a lot of flak from establishment Democrats for getting out of line. Even though there's no 11th Commandment on the Democratic side, I'd argue that Hillary has definitely crossed the Donald Segretti Line.

Use signal flares instead

Look, we don't need the some new fangled digital radio technology to replace the old fangled analog radios for emergency communications, signal flares will work just fine. A system of firing off flares to indicate the severity of emergency is good enough -- the more flares, the more assistance is needed. If it was good enough for Paul Revere, than it's good enough for our modern day emergency front line personnel.

Signal flares would be much cheaper than:

Clark County voters will be asked next April to add another 0.1 percent to the sales tax to replace the county's emergency radio system.
[...]
The cost to replace the system remains a moving target, with estimates ranging from $30 million to $50 million. The Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency has included $200,000 in its 2008 budget for a consultant who will help design the system.

Raising the sales tax? Governor Eyman does not approve! And here's some technical mumbo-jumbo about megahertz and stuff:

The county's 800-megahertz radio system is slightly more than 10 years old, but it will be obsolete in about five years as part of the nationwide conversion from analog to digital technology. After December 2012, Motorola will no longer manufacture replacement parts to keep the current system operating.

All very confusing, that megahertz stuff. I thought they used CB radios, and if they were good enough for C.W. McCall, they're good enough for our county sheriff. Here's an enlightened citizen on the problem:

My "beef" is with whomever decided we have to switch everything from analog just because there's a new digital technology. Why should the people have to pay to upgrade when the old systom works fine!

These "digital" people with their upgrades! First it was my record collection, then came my television, now my emergency communications system, the mind truly boggles.

All snarkiness aside, why isn't some of that Department of Homeland Security cheddar paying for this?

Brokaw announces county commissioner bid

This has been in the works for quite some time:

Ridgefield Democrat Pam Brokaw­ launched a campaign Monday­ to succeed Betty Sue Morris­ on Clark County's board of commissioners.

Brokaw, 54, directs a Vancouver-based transitional-housing nonprofit, Affordable Community Environments.

Brokaw definitely has the experience:

A former aide to U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, Brokaw ran unsuccessfully for the state House of Representatives in 2004.

She lost to Republican Richard Curtis, 55 percent to 45 percent.

Brokaw was chairwoman of Clark County's Democratic Party from December 2006 until last month, when she stepped down to prepare for this race.

She's also worked in the county's public relations office and managed the city of Vancouver's Water Resources Education Center.

Pam is definitely one of the nicest, most genuine people I've encountered in local politics. She learned quite a bit in her 2004 loss to Curtis, and then spent the next couple of years putting the nose to the grindstone working for Brian Baird, doing the constituent service and building a formidable political network. Out of all the candidates in 2004, Pam's campaign definitely had some of the better branding, with the distinctive blue and orange signs and literature pieces.

Losing to Richard Curtis is probably not such a bad thing at this point, as voters can rightfully claim that they made a mistake, that no one knew the sordid details of his double life.

Lastly, I'm not sure what to make of this:

Her endorsers include county Democratic chairwoman Dena Horton, all of Clark County's Democrats in the Washington Legislature and former County Commissioner ­Judie Stanton.

[...]

Not on the endorsement list Monday: Morris, whom Brokaw described as a "mentor," and Democratic Commissioner Steve Stuart.

Betty Sue's last endorsement of note was for former Clark County Republican chair Brent Boger for his court of appeals bid, so her lack of endorsement is just following a pattern of not endorsing fellow Democrats for anything.

Stuart's either following company orders at this point, or just doesn't feel like getting involved. It's a sign that he's really not all that involved in local party politics, and I can't say that I blame him. On the other hand, his lack of an endorsement can be spun as simply not wanting the political exposure, and not being a team player. Obviously, one would think that he's weighed all of that pretty carefully.

Margarita Prentice to face primary challenger?

The Slog reports:

Several sources who watch politics in Olympia confirm that Juan Martinez, who works with the left-of-center Washington Tax Fairness Coalition, is planning to challenge State Senator Margarita Prentice (D-11, S. and West Seattle, International District, Burien, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila).

Prentice long ago sold out to the payday loan industry:

She often gets around the state capital in a yellow Hummer driven by MoneyTree lobbyist Gary Gardner. She has received thousands of dollars in contributions from MoneyTree and other payday lenders, adding fuel to the fire of opponents who criticize her bulldoggish resistance to legislation that would cap payday-loan interest rates at 36 percent. Prentice, who now chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee, wrote the original bill allowing the lenders to operate in the state in 1995.

Is it too much to ask Democratic state legislators to not hang around payday lender slime balls?

There's extreme displeasure amongst progressives who don't see any point with Democratic super majorities in the state House and Senate that only enact non-progressive legislation when it comes to big item legislation. It is very difficult to go in front of the voters and claim that you're the party of the working folk when powerful interests inside your own party are selling you down the river. Voters aren't stupid, they can smell politicians a mile away who only wield power for power's sake.

It's not good enough to have the Speaker claim that the dog ate his homework when pointing to all the progressive legislation that has been accomplished. Kowtowing to Tim Eyman and getting chauffeured around Olympia in Humvees are both concrete and symbolic of the amount of rot that has infected this caucus. Thankfully, challengers are stepping up, and they'll get real support.

Progressives have had to compromise for years within a party structure that prized discipline above all. Dissension was quashed in the need to appear unified and cement working majorities. But post-partisan progressives realize that there is a core set of issues that will not be bargained away for rides in a Humvee.

It's as Goldy says, in light of the Governor Tim Eyman debacle:

Oh, it’s not like most of us progressive activists would ever abandon the party, or refuse to cordially work with representatives who cross us, it’s just that I want to make it absolutely clear that those who accuse bloggers like me of being “tools of the Democratic Party” have it exactly backwards: the Democratic Party is our tool, and we intend to use it to enact our agenda. And that’s how it should be.