Archive for February, 2009

More here from Wonkette…

Salon’s Glenn Greenwald - Fox News “war games” the coming civil war - article has been talked up on the internets pretty well so I won’t expand on my shared sentiments.  I’ll just share my favorite quote.

In sum, they dressed up in warrior clothing to fight against Bill Clinton’s supposed tyranny, and then underwent a major costume change on January 20, 2001, thereafter dressing up in cheerleader costumes to glorify George Bush’s far more extreme acquisitions of federal power.

Who’s the food taster…

DALLAS — A month after leaving the White House, former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, moved into their new Dallas home Friday.

[...]

Dallas police and Secret Service agents have set up a barricade in recent days limiting access to the neighborhood. They have even turned away delivery vans; packages must be dropped off with security personnel, who hand-deliver them.

The big story may not be the selection of Grant’s sucessor [Laura Grant-Herriot], but rather the coming election they will face, and more importantly when.  It’s no secret Republicans would like to gain a seat in the legislature and given the nature of the 16th LD, this may be the place to do it.  And the sooner that seat can be challenged the better.  While the State Constitution provides for vacancies in the Legislature, it gets a bit ambiguous in its application.  Here’s the text that I believe applies in the State Constitution:

[...]and from the list of nominees provided for herein, appoint a person who shall be from the same legislative district, county, or county commissioner or council district and of the same political party as the legislator or partisan county elective officer whose office has been vacated, and the person so appointed shall hold office until his or her successor is elected at the next general election, and has qualified: Provided, That in case of a vacancy occurring after the general election in a year that the office appears on the ballot and before the start of the next term, the term of the successor who is of the same party as the incumbent may commence once he or she has qualified and shall continue through the term for which he or she was elected[...]

The problem appears to be within the definition of “qualified” whereas the successor or appointee has not been “elected”. The “qualified” definition doesn’t address this by simply defining a successor as not “qualified” and the SOS office assumes that this requires a special election.  Is the SOS office just pulling this out of thin air?  What about a successor vs. appointee definition?  What decides which was which, and when?  Would an appointee would be just that until the oath is taken and then they could be defined as successor?  Or, to be a successor you must be elected and “qualified”?  It simply doesn’t say that and provides for an aweful lot of wiggle room for decision making.

And neither the RCW or the state constitution say what actually triggers a special election in that context.

As noted above, the current position of the Sec. of State office is that there will be a special election in November for this seat.  In an email reply they wrote:

The vacant legislative offices will be up for election in 2009 for the remainder of the terms, which end in 2010.  The appointees will serve until the 2009 General Election, at which time the winner of the 2009 General serves (or continues to serve).

Some people are misinterpreting RCW 42.12.040(2) to claim that the appointees serve until the end of the term, 2010.  This is incorrect.

This RCW contemplates that the incumbent did not run again at the end of his/her term, a successor was elected, and then the incumbent vacates office in December, between the General and the end of the term.  In that narrow scenario, the successor can just take office immediately.

It states, “the term of the successor … may commence once he or she has qualified [RCW 29A.04.133]…”  The RCW does not refer to an “appointee” but to the “successor” who has “qualified.”  An appointee cannot “qualify” because he/she has not been elected.

It also says, “…and shall continue through the term for which he or she was elected.”   It assumes that the “successor” was elected.

Head spinning yet?  Here is the definition of  “qualified”

“Qualified” when pertaining to a winner of an election means that for such election:

     (1) The results have been certified;

     (2) A certificate has been issued;

     (3) Any required bond has been posted; and

     (4) The winner has taken and subscribed an oath or affirmation in compliance with the appropriate statute, or if none is specified, that he or she will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office to the best of his or her ability. This oath or affirmation shall be administered and certified by any officer or notary public authorized to administer oaths, without charge therefor.

As I understand it, the state Democrats are looking at whether or not to challenge the decision for a special election.  And, as I understand it, the SOS has not released a final statement.  I also asked the SOS office if there were any similar situations in a vacated office.  They knew of none. 

I guess my biggest problem with this is that I can see it the arguement from both postitions.  But without a legal precedent, and/or clear language and even clearer definitions, the door is left wide open for partisan shenanigans.  Republicans would much rather have see an election this November for Grant-Herriot than allow her to establish herself for nearly two years in the legislature. Knowing that makes the Republican controlled SOS decision appear partisan - whether it is or not.

This is a big day for the 4 counties that comprise the 16th LD here in Washington. This afternoon, commissioners choose who will replace the late Rep. Bill Grant. Grant, one of the very few democratic legislators in Eastern Washington, was highly regarded for his ability to bring partisans together and for his legislative effectiveness. With Grant’s passing, the open seat will go to one of three democrats - George Fearing, Rebecca Francik or Laura Grant-Herriot (Bill Grant’s daughter).

Having recently run a congressional campaign against US Rep. Doc Hastings, Fearing appears to be a front runner for the seat but after some recent press about Fearing’s resident status, the playing field may be slightly leveled for Francik and Grant-Herriot.

More this afternoon…

[Update] Congratulations to Laura Grant-Herriot.

I had a chance to briefly meet Laura in January and I think she will do great.  But speculation about the all-republican group of commissioners choice has it’s merits.  As the Tri-City Herald reported this morning:

The 11 commissioners who made the selection all are Republicans, and speculation has been rife that they’d pick the weakest candidate so they could get a Republican elected in November. But Loney said he thought Grant-Herriot might be the hardest to unseat because of her pedigree and her father’s popularity.

Two Republicans already have said they plan to run for the seat in November — Dayton lawyer Terry Nealey, who failed to unseat Grant in November, and Walla Walla County Commissioner Greg Tompkins.

Tompkins did not take part in the vote on Friday.

Fearing was the top choice of 16th District Democrats, who urged commissioners in a letter sent Thursday to respect their choice.

Grant-Herriot was the third choice of party precinct committee officers in the district.

And with the heavily partisan republican Benton County Commissioner, Jim Beaver, being the deciding vote it’s suspect.  But… that’s the way it works according to the state constitution and Laura is a great choice.  With an election that very well could be months away, she better get busy.  Yes, I said months away. More on that coming up.

… in the news on dope.

Reducing penalties for possession of weed:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008729814_webpot10.html

And you know… I’ve never been a fan of Adam Kline.  But I love this quote.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, joked that marijuana was in fact a gateway drug: “My own experience shows that marijuana is. I used to grow my own dope and now I brew my own beer.”

But alas… All good news comes with bad news.

Pot usage may increase the risk of testicular cancer.

Apologies to all you stoners out there…

So much for getting off this planet.  Enough sattellites collide there could be too many high speed projectiles to dodge!

It happened some 490 miles above northern Siberia, at around noon Eastern time. Two communications satellites — one Russian, one American — cracked up in silent destruction. In the aftermath, military radars on the ground tracked large amounts of debris going into higher and lower orbits.

Damn it!  Oh well… it’s not that big of deal yet…

“There are actually debris from this event which we believe are going through space station altitude already,” he said. The risk to the station, Mr. Johnson added, “is going to be very, very small.” In the worst case, he said, “We’ll just dodge them if we have to. It’s the small things you can’t see that are the ones that can do you harm.”

Huh?!