Archive for August, 2006

And he wasn’t exactly nice about it…

Last Tuesday I attended a candidate forum held in Benton City Washington.  There were a variety of local candidates (of which I will write about in the near future) but what I was there to see were the 4th Congressional District Candidates.  While there was a rumor Richard (Doc?) Hastings would be there, as I suspected he was not (he sent a surrogate).  But Democratic Candidate Richard Wright and Republican primary challenger Claude Oliver were. 

And is that Oliver ever a fireball.  When an audience question on immigration was posed, Oliver broad stroked the issue into one of national security and accountability…

This is another element that I look at… absentee responsibility.  This congressman (Hastings) should be right here in front of you tonight telling you what he hasn’t done, and what he will do, and asking for your forgiveness to keep him in office.

You can listen to a brief clip here (e-mail me for the full audio).

Chalk much of that rhetoric as grandstanding but I suspect it wouldn’t have been much different if Hastings had been there.  Hastings absence was said to be that he was on vacation in Aruba (on who’s dime we may never know) and yet his ability to show at Mike! McGavicks fundraiser “Starring Laura Bush” in Kennewick, displayed a level of arrogance that (generalizing Hastings behavior) Joel Connelly yesterday called stupidity.

Washington has been largely free from this behavior. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., was shielded behind aides last year, as his actions as chairman paralyzed the House Ethics Committee. But the duck dive was more a function of stupidity than hubris.

Perhaps it was a little of both.  With polls trending towards democratic candidates for congress this November, Hastings primary challenge from Oliver could prove difficult.  One insider source notes however, that Oliver has less recognition outside of the Tri-Cities than perhaps Richard Wright. 

Oliver is a curious anomaly to me.  In some circles I hear he is fiercely independent, and in others I hear he is as far right as they get.  One suggestion I have heard is that he is willing to tell folks whatever they want to hear.  Flannel-mouth populist rhetoric is easy if you know which buttons to push so this may well all be true.  But either way, he is racking up some support in amongst democrats and republicans alike.  He knows the support for nuclear technology is high in this district and has been a proponent for it, and a thorn in the side of DOE when they abandoned promising facilities like the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) and quietly attempted to avoid paying area taxes dating back to the 1940’s.  Yet his seeming alliance with newly hatched press Tri-City Citizen and it’s penchant for extremely partisan rhetoric from former Tri-City Herald writer Ken Harvey leave me with a lot of questions.  I mean, Harvey is fucking out there!  Most of what he writes reminds me of ultra right wing extremist chain mail and and is so easily shot full of holes that it is surprising he (if he’s not already) isn’t on the payroll of some right wing organization. 

So who really is Claude Oliver?  I hope to find out…

Ahh, more on Peter Goldmark.  I gotta tell you I have been thinking that this is the guy a district like Washington’s 5th needs since I first heard his name.  After doing a little research it became obvious that Peter could reach out to voters across party lines with a progressive and fundamentally sound message that transcends the identity his district has absorbed. 

Lynn Allen at Evergreen Politics spoke with him during his recent “Amber Waves” tour. 

He told a story about a group of conservative Republican cattlemen who’d come to hear him in Wauconda a day earlier.  They asked him a bunch of questions and nodded at his answers.  At the end they said they agreed with everything he said.  Then they asked him, “So, how come you’re not a Republican?” 

Goldmark said, “The Democrats work for the little guy, the folks getting the dirty end of the stick.  The big guys don’t need help.  It’s the little guys hurting.” 

This is exactly why I like this candidate.  From my point of view, if the republicans in control of Congress were truly out there fighting the good fight for folks, honestly working for a better future for this country, and carefully addressing their concerns, I might actually be in their camp.  Instead, a group of morally bankrupt authoritarians bent on driving this country blindly into an ideology both fiscally and philosophically are in control and making the lives of the people who trusted them worse. 

A comment on Lynn’s blog sums it up, and perhaps this is how Peter might have responded.

“This is the way Democrats approach these issues. So, how come you’re not Democrats?”

That my friends, is what I call a good question.

(Learn more… see more courtesy of Gerald…)

Update:  I am going to try and catch the Candidate Forum in Benton City.  I hear Richard (aka Doc) Hastings will be there.  Maybe he will crush under the pressure of…. questions!  You know… the kind of questions not asked at GOP fundraiser’s.  My secret hope is he will be announcing his retirement under the burden of a guilty conscience. 

Update Update:  Richard (Doc) Hastings was a no show… on vacation in Aruba.  Hmmm… But he did send a surrogate (I’ll find the name when I review the audio).  If I counted right he used the words “Honest” and “Trustworthy” six times in his brief, less than 2 minute stump.  In a strange quixotic way, I think he let on an admission on Doc’s behalf. More on this later…

It’s Tuesday and I think the nice cool breezy afternoon combined with a cold Hefe’….mmm.  Sounds good to me.  You? 

Drinking Liberally in the Tri-Cities

Atomic Ale

1015 Lee Blvd. Richland Washington

7:00 pm until?

Want to find out more about Drinking Liberally? Then check out Drinkingliberally.org.

And if you want to join the Tri-Cities Chapter of Drinking Liberally e-mail list? It is as simple as just clicking here.

The Peter Goldmark Campaign is changing the solid red status of Washington’s 5th Congressional District.  Congressional Quarterly has updated it’s rating of the fifth’s race and calling the Golmark Campaign a “Credible Threat” to the supposed “rising star” seemingly lifting Cathy McMorris above competition.  As part of a CQ interview with CQ Goldmark had this to say:

When it was clear that the conflict in Iraq was going nowhere, when fuel prices were spiraling up and nobody was stepping forward to say, “This is wrong and we need to find a way to hold fuel prices down and hold big oil accountable.”… Congress is just way out of balance, and we have to bring it back toward the center where people become important again and the issues that affect the everyday lives of everyday people are on the calendar.

One of the great things about this campaign I have noticed is how it has traversed the 5th CD.  Folks are no longer just paying attention to their own congressional districts but are even starting to look beyond for change.  If this is a national trend we may yet see even more dramatic changes.  While those in the 5th who may not yet know of Peter Goldmark, there are people out there who understand that you should.  Opportunity is knocking.  It is time for you to answer.

[Ed.  When the opportunity to do this interview came about, I was up to my ass in alligators busy.  But a good friend and former blogger Douglass was willing (sucessfully recruited that is) to act in my stead.  Thanks Douglass and thank you Peter Goldmark! - Jimmy]

Interview With Peter Goldmark - United States Congressional Candidate in Washinton’s 5th District. 

D: We’re here today with Peter Goldmark, who is running for the congressional seat in Washington State’s fifth District. Peter has graciously agreed to do an interview with us to post on McCranium.org. I will start things out by asking the classic question: Why are you running for Congress?

PG: I’m running for Congress because we need to change things in Congress, and we need to change the direction of our country. We need look no further than the price of gas, no further than the corruption and problems in Congress, no further than the agricultural crisis in eastern Washington, no further than the escalating cost of health care, and no further than the fact that nobody seems to be paying any attention or taking care of those issues. It is my intention to go back to Washington, DC and address those issues. People out here need a representative that we will work on these issues on their behalf.

D: For 32 years the seat was held by Tom Foley, who was Speaker of the House in 1994, when he lost to George Nethercutt. Democrats really haven’t been competitive in the fifth Congressional District since then. Can you tell me what’s different this time?

PG: Well, there are two obvious things that are different. I think the first and foremost difference is exactly what I’m feeling and that many people throughout the district and indeed many people throughout the nation are feeling. I want to use a word that is even stronger than disgusted. People are very, very upset and dismayed about the direction of our country, and this includes Democrats, independents and Republicans that I talk to. Across-the-board there are many issues that upset people, and I think one of the major ones that I find across party lines is the lack of attention of Congress to the needs of everyday people and the abject lack of any spending discipline there that has us spending between $250 and $300 billion a year more than Congress is willing to appropriate. There is this deficit that is piling up the alarms many people.

D: My next question was going to be whether you thought this election going to be decided on issues, and if so which ones, but could you just elaborate on what you think is key in this race. Is it just this sort of general feeling of disgust, or is it more focused toward specific grievances?

PG: I should backtrack for a moment here. I only got to the issue of why this election is different, and that was the national mood and the mood within the district. Because really the failure of the Bush administration and the failure of the Republican Congress to deal with issues that people in this country care about is the first issue. The second real issue is that I’m a different kind of candidate. I have real roots in the district. I’ve lived in the district my entire life and I have already served the public in a number of different capacities mostly on a volunteer basis, including agriculture and education both K-12 and higher education and also served as director of agriculture. So I understand the needs interests of the district. That’s what sets me apart. Now as to what issues are going to be important in the election this year, it’s just what I talked about. Congress’ deaf ear to the needs of this district that the voters of this district, and, in particular, the incumbent’s blind ear and blind eye to the needs of our district, following the direction of Tom DeLay and the rest of the leadership in Congress at the expense of the voters of Eastern Washington.

D: While that leads nicely into my next question, what is the biggest difference between you and the incumbent?

PG: We’re different in many ways. I’ve been in agriculture my entire life. I’ve served on my local school board, and I’ve served on the Board of Washington State University in the educational system. I’ve run a business for 33 years. I’ve written my name on a payroll check, many, many times over that period of time. So I’ve been an employer, and a husband and a father. Understanding what it takes to raise a family to put kids through school and then on to college. There are whole wide array of differences between myself and the incumbent. I’m not a career politician. I’m a career working person, and a family man, who cares a lot about the district and has experience that has helped me understand why people are having problems here.

D: Let’s broaden it out and look at the bigger picture. In your estimation, what’s the biggest mistake that the Bush administration has made?

PG: The biggest mistake that the Bush administration has made was to go into Iraq under false pretenses, under trumped up reasons, and with no plan, and not being able to follow through on an ill conceived invasion to start with. I think we see the fruits of that now. We’re bogged down. We have absolutely no idea how we’re going to reach success or what success will look like. And this is draining the financial resources of this country horribly, while killing some of the finest citizens on almost a daily basis. Not only that, but hundreds of Iraqis, innocent Iraqis, who are being consumed in a conflict at the same time. I know it is hard to get exact numbers about how much spending is going on over there, but it is at least in the tens of billions on a monthly basis, and that money could be much better put to use here in this country to keep it strong, to increase our own national security, to solve our own security problems at the borders, and at the ports, so we are indeed safer, because it would be harder for terrorists to get in here. I’m concerned about national security on a continental basis here because I think were exposed. So, to put it in a nutshell, it is the expenditure of all our precious resources overseas, instead of here locally where we need them.

D: The war in Iraq is obviously ongoing, so the question is, what would you do differently from your opponent to end that situation?

PG: Well, I call it an occupation of Iraq, because in all deference to our fine military, they did what they were trained to do very well in the first 3 to 4 weeks in the sense that early on, in 2003, they went in and eliminated any significant opposition. The Republican guard, the Iraqi army, were essentially decimated and destroyed by our fine military. That was a war. But what has followed has been a period of occupation of our forces in Iraq, which they really have never been trained to do, and which is a very difficult mission. What I would do differently is I would not, as the president has said and my opponent has supported, just stay the course indefinitely. I think that sends the wrong message to the Iraqi government and the Iraqi government needs to understand that it’s their country, that they need to take responsibility for it and provide for their own security. It is like a 26-year-old Johnny who’s got back to mommy and daddy after going to college and just hangs out in the bedroom, because they don’t need to do anything on their own. They’ve got mommy and daddy taking care of things, paying the bills, and it’s kind of like the Iraqi government. They are in the Green zone. We are protecting them and they’re not making the effort to form a government that is effective in protecting their country and dealing with the ethnic problems which are continuing because of the conflict over there. So we really need to put the boots to the Iraqi government to let them know in no uncertain terms it is their responsibility, they need to get on with it right away, because we are going to leave soon.

D: Let me pick up on your theme of keeping people’s feet to the fire. How would your presence in Congress keep the Bush administration honest, and what changes would you like to see in how the legislative branch interacts with the executive branch?

PG: I would be my hope that I would go back and turn the House into a different majority, a Democratic majority, where we can start to hold public hearings, have the power of subpoena and look into a whole host of domestic and international issues which the current Congress has been unwilling to deal with. The current Congress has been basically passive, and a rubber stamp for the Bush administration at the expense of the American people. I just hold up the examples of Katrina and all of the wanton excesses in Iraq. There is no accountability. Congress, which represents the American people, is doing nothing to provide accountability and the surety that our resources are being well spent and our policies are wise and are carried out in the best interests of the nation.

D: For the last decade or so, the right wing, particularly the right wing AM radio, have demagogued the label “liberal” to the point where a lot of Democrats will run from it. Would you call yourself a liberal, and why or why not?

PG: I don’t call myself a liberal because I don’t think I fit into any sense of the term. As I’ve already said, I’m very fiscally conservative. I’ve run a business, and I’ve had to support of family for a long period of time, and I know you have to be very careful with precious financial resources. I am a family man, I care a lot about family. I’m also a rancher, and in that regard I might have different beliefs than people who call themselves liberals. I believe in the rights of citizens to keep and bear firearms. We need firearms on the ranch. They are as important a piece of equipment as anything that we have around. We use it with respect and treat it with deference, but we use it, and I think it’s important that Americans continue to have the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. I also believe in the death penalty. I think there should be clear and swift punishment for the taking of an innocent life. So those are two examples of what would set me apart from what some would call a liberal Democrat.

D: Let’s follow up on your background as s a rancher. Are there any changes that you would like to see in the agricultural policy of the Bush administration?

PG: Well, I would hope so. The wheat farmers in Eastern Washington are struggling mightily now, in part because there is no effective voice in Congress to speak and work on their behalf. Right now the price of wheat is little different than it was when I started 33 years ago and yet the prices, particularly for fuel, have gone up over tenfold. And yet we still have a very low price for wheat. This is untenable to me. Not only is nobody doing anything about it, but nobody speaking out about it. None of our representatives, nobody in our government is saying this has gone on too long; this is unfair. We are treating these people like second-class citizens. We need to change our farm policy to give them a chance and to treat them like respectful citizens. That’s what I’ll do when I go back there. We also have some opportunities. In the middle of this agricultural crisis, we also have an energy crisis. I think that farmers can play a vital role in growing renewable energy resources such as canola and other oil-rich seed crops, or corn or other things that can be converted into ethanol, and we can really turn his depression, and I’ll call it a depression, in the Eastern Washington communities into an opportunity for them to reap the benefits of producing energy. Instead of shipping our dollars overseas for every barrel that we buy from Saudi Arabia, imagine if those dollars stayed in our communities and circulated through our families and businesses. That’s what I want to work for.

D: Wrapping up, is there any final message that you’d have for those who are inclined follow politics by reading liberal blogs?

PG: If I sound like a candidate that people want to support, they need to understand that the basic thing that I need in terms of help is financial resources. It takes dollars to run a campaign. I’m working really hard. I’m raising about 98% of all of my campaign funds from individual contributors. I don’t have any big corporations helping me, and I’m not getting lot of help from the PACS. I’m not getting any help from the national party, and I would really appreciate help from people, small and large dollar donors. Those dollars will make a huge at huge impact in my campaign, and I would very much appreciate their support. If they want to help transform the way Congress works, and help change of the direction of our nation, it is one very direct way that they can help that happen.

D: If I could just follow up on that very briefly. Some of the people reading this might not be following the race too closely. Can you give them an idea just how efficient you can be with their dollars in the Eastern Washington media market, and just how close this race is and how close you are to going over the top?

PG: The media market is a lot more reasonable here. Now in terms of the race, it’s a race where there is a clear opportunity. The polls show that the incumbent by no means has this wrapped up. But I have to be able to communicate with the voters to let them know who I am and what I stand for. If they’re listening to my message, which is a populist message, to represent the people here instead of the big boys back there, I hope it resonates with them. I will work for the voters here, and appreciate your reader’ s support.

D: You do have a television commercial running currently, is that correct?

PG: That’s correct.

D: And they can view that at your website, isn’t that right?.

PG: That’s correct. http://www.votepetergoldmark.com

D: Let’s end on that note. Thank you very much for your time, Peter, and we wish you the best with your campaign.

[The race between Goldmark and McMorris is an important one in the 5th CD.  Mr. Goldmark is going to need all the financial help he can get to beat back what I am guessing will be (the only think the McMorris campaign understands) a smear fest.  Peter needs his name and message out there and he needs your help to do this.  Please log on to http://www.votepetergoldmark.com and support the best candidate (and future Congressman) Washington's 5th CD may ever see.] 

Holy Shit!

I don’t care if Mike McGavick got a DUI, got a divorce, or even feels guilty for laying off more Safeco employee’s than intended.  I have been through a divorce and a DUI (haven’t had the opportunity to lay a bunch of folks off yet) and I can tell you it sucks.  But this is life and I didn’t, or ever will, look for sympathy for screwing up my marriage or drinking and driving.  So why is McGavick’s press release so important?  Well, only if you want to get out in front of something that is going to bite you in the ass you do it before your detractors do.  That is nice and all but it really says something about McGavick… and this loudmouth blogger doesn’t care. 

A civil campaign has been promised from him.  No partisan bicker… right?  Well I gotta tell you.  These things are common knowledge.  The divorce and DUI are nothing but useful fodder but not really major news.  For McGavick to claim to expose this before his opposition does is a ploy because frankly, we didn’t care.  Isn’t it enough that his position on major issues ranging from his position on the recent minimum wage bill to his alliance with big oil enough to sweep him aside this November?  We have bigger things to deal with than your drinking habits and marital problems.

Good luck with all that Mike!

The choice is yours….

This “Cheap Shot of the Week” brought to you by: McCranium.org

Give to the Richard Wright Campaign on my Act Blue Page and make Washington’s 4th Congressional District Proud!

Do it now or you will get “The Finger”.

Cheers!

Peter Goldmark posted a diary on Daily Ko’s today.  If you live in the 5th, and don’t know the name (or the candidate) read on…

A vote for Peter Goldmark is a vote for:
*    a leader who listens to voters, speaks out for their interests, thinks independently,
*    a leader who asks tough questions and faces tough issues head-on,
*    a leader who has run an successful business and ranch,
*    a leader who knows the challenges of running a family farm and making ends meet.
*    a leader with integrity and ethics who will work hard for the Fifth District.

Just like working at the ranch, there are always more campaign tasks than hours in the day, but we’re making progress every day. I anticipate having positive, perhaps even surprising fundraising numbers to report on August 30. Our second television ad is running on Spokane and district television. An article in Spokane’s weekly Inlander has given us some good local exposure. We’ve even had some national attention with an article in Roll Call and a radio interview on a San Francisco program about
“How to unseat an incumbent.” I hope that’s a good sign of things to come.

[snip to comments section]

Our campaign raised $210,000 in the second quarter ending June 30. In the two months since that time, we have raised about $230,000. We are on track to reach our goal of $1 million. In our media market, that amount should be enough to get our message out. And our polling results show that when we get our message out–we win.

It is as simple as that.  Republicans are out of touch with all but their most extreme base… of that… headway is being made. 

White evangelicals have become such a crucial part of the GOP base that many political observers now see them as the key to Republican victories at the polls. Karl Rove certainly seems to agree. He left his policy position at the White House last month partly to repair relationships with conservative evangelical leaders who are disappointed that the president they helped elect twice has given them nothing (two Supreme Court justices aside) in return. When these old-guard members of the Christian right supported Bush in 2000, they thought they would get a president who would fight tirelessly to outlaw sexual immorality. 

But Rove is also reportedly worried about another group of evangelicals: the nearly 40 percent who identify themselves as politically moderate and who are just as likely to get energized about aids in Africa or melting ice caps as partial-birth abortion and lesbian couples in Massachusetts. These evangelicals have found the White House even less open to their concerns than their more conservative brethren have. 

Not to rail on evangelicals at all, but more to illustrate the point that Eastern Washington moderate voters can look to a candidate like Peter Goldmark and be confident he will represent them well. 

Tonight’s the night… Right?  I can’t be there but you can… (if I can get my chores done I will show)

Drinking Liberally in the Tri-Cities

Atomic Ale

1015 Lee Blvd. Richland Washington

7:00 pm until?

Want to find out more about Drinking Liberally?  Then check out Drinkingliberally.org.

And if you want to join the Tri-Cities Chapter of Drinking Liberally e-mail list? It is as simple as just clicking here.

I am off the blogging payroll slog through the weekend to take in a funeral (she will be dearly missed) and a wedding (sadly odd huh?).  Backatcha Monday.

Awhile back I wrote this post about media coverage and the Richard Wright campaign.  And in that post I also posted an e-mail I sent to the Tri-City Herald’s Ken Robertson:

I find it interesting that the Herald covers candidate events as a matter of fact (you know… this is happening on X day at X time. Perhaps you could cover those events and talk with candidates about their views, positions on important issues, introduce them to their constituents so they know them. I have heard the Tri-City Herald complain about campaign finance reform in the past so perhaps you could do something about it and actually report on candidates rather than wait for the full page “paid” advertisement. Are not newspapers a responsible source for information on elections or have they become part of the problem with campaign financing? Reporting is not the same as announcing sponsored events. You can still do that. But maybe send a reporter to ask tough questions, report those answers, and let the voters have a read. What say you?

And got this response:

During the primary and general elections, the Herald reporting staff and editorial board members will likely spend hundreds of hours covering candidate speeches and appearances, meeting with and interviewing dozens of candidates and publishing a lot on information on them, both on the Web and in the newspaper.

A handful of them will not be terribly responsive, and some will practically hide behind their staffs, but most will talk openly and candidly about the issues we raise on the behalf of our readers. We’ve been doing this kind of service as long as I’ve been at the Herald - 30 years - and we are the only newspaper in Eastern Washington to have reporters stationed in both Olympia and in Washington, D.C., to cover government and politics.

During previous elections, we have helped organize and sponsor candidate forums with the League of Women Voters and regularly cover dozens of events.

We don’t go to every one of them, but we do try to attend all that appear likely to offer significant information about the candidates and their positions on various isses.

We do our best to cover the politics of the state, the nine counties in Washington and Oregon where we have subscribers and the federal issues of concern to our readers. If you haven’t been reading Olympia bureau reporter Chris Mulick’s blog (Olympian Dispatch at http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/blogs/mulick/) and his Sunday column, you’re missing out on regular information about our politicians and what’s happening in the state Capitol. I think any time you invest in the Herald’s coverage and our Web site will be well spent if you want to find out more.

Wow, that’s great Ken, but I think you don’t understand.  I do read and that is why I pester the TCH in the first place.  I guess I should have introduced myself as a 40 something political activist/blogger/loudmouth and avid reader to ensure I wasn’t treated like a 16 year old at the county fair.  Frankly Ken, that was trite and condescending.  Especially when the Herald’s coverage on this race really does suck! Let’s talk about the easy freebee’s you have been giving Richard Hastings (aka “Doc”) without talking the issues with his opponent(s) for a perfect example.  Especially since, during election time, these softball issues are so localized.  I have to ask… is the Tri-City Herald getting ready to endorse Richard Hastings for Congress.

Well, my rant is over.  What do you think?

Update:  A special thanks to The General for coming out this way.   Somehow I feel more enlightened about the Glorious Christian Conservative Cultural Revolution… yet strangely horrified… 

It’s Tuesday again, just like last week and just like it will be next week.  It just keeps happening.  Is your life a bore?  Has today’s political climate got you down?  Are you just thirsty?  Well, Drinking Liberally has the cure.  Come on down and have some fun, meet like minded folks and drink Atomic Ale’s great beer (or whatever you fancy). 

Tonight we have a special guest as The General will be joining us at Atomic Ale.  So come on down and learn the true art of conservatism from one of the nations most irreverent bloggers. 

Please note the time change back to 7:00pm.  We are not in the heatwave anymore!

Drinking Liberally in the Tri-Cities

Atomic Ale

1015 Lee Blvd. Richland Washington

7:00 pm until?

Want to find out more about Drinking Liberally?  Then check out Drinkingliberally.org.

And if you want to join the Tri-Cities Chapter of Drinking Liberally e-mail list? It is as simple as just clicking here.

From the Yakima Herald’s, Leah Beth Ward:

Fruit grower George Allan gave a quiz at last week’s Southwest Yakima Rotary lunch where Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, was the featured guest. He asked the group to name two Democratic congressmen who had represented the heavily Republican 4th Congressional District.

Somebody correctly guessed Jay Inslee, who was elected in 1992 but defeated by Hastings in 1994. (Inslee now represents the 1st Congressional District from Bainbridge Island.)

Most memories failed on the other correct answer: Mike McCormick, 1971-1981.

But we know someone in the audience who could have shouted out McCormick’s name. That would be Richard Wright. He’s the Kennewick Democrat who now wants Hastings’ job, and he has sought advice from McCormick. Wright didn’t crash the Hastings’ lunch; he’s a Rotarian, too.

Yeah, whatever… Unless some wise ass Mid-Columbia radio producer wants to put me on the radio forgettaboutit!!  But what we can do is tune in over here on the east side of the mountains to the web broadcast version of “The David Goldstein Show” on 710 KIRO from 7 to 10 pm tonight.  The streaming audio version is just as good as the radio version so tune in. 

[Technical note: If for some reason, when you click the "Listen Live" button and just get a commercial, try right clicking and select "save target as" and open that file.  Non-Internet friendly folks might be challenged by this but it isn't too hard and you will figure it out.  All it is doing is saving an "announcement file (pointer)" that points your media player to the stream.  It might not be a problem but just in case of problems, there is a workaround.]

And tonight’s show is a no-show with a will-show.  Apparently Dave Reichert has once again passed (or is once again unavailable - It is a call-in appearance for chrissakess!) on the opportunity to answer tough questions from David (or anyone else for that matter), so in his place will be his opponent, the always available to take your questions Darcy Burner. 

Reichert’s inability to be confronted (or even stay for a whole debate) is well known and will be, in part, a focus of my next post on candidates and the media.  So listen in and while you are at it, think about this… Would you want representation that could effectively communicate through the media?  You know, the stuff you listen to and read every day?  Or would you rather have a benevolent leader to unquestionably trust?