Washington 3rd Congressional District Nominating Convention - Napavine, WA
Chaired by State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz
Speaking for Brian Baird: Paul Berendt
Cheryl Crist, Speaking for herself.
I needed to post this, to explain why I’m going to Napavine tomorrow morning, to vote for Cheryl Crist, who is challenging sitting incumbent Brian Baird for the party nomination to run for the 3rd Congressional District seat in the U.S. Congress. It is not an easy explanation for me to make.
I dissolved any ties I had (albeit loose ones) with the Washington State Republicans back in the late 1980s. An Evangelical Christian faction had basically taken over the party, and I could not stomach seeing the likes of the people who were rising to become leadership in the Legislature. I was revolted and turned off by them, in comparison to the Libertarian ideals which had drawn me, along with the cushy patronage jobs I kept secured by illegally campaigning for the state Republican Party. The illegal campaigning was all been done with orders from my boss in the House Republican Caucus Communications office, Leslie MacMillan, and the blessings of the House R Caucus Executive, and “sin industry” lobbyist Vito Chiechi, under the direction of none other than Jennifer Dunn, who later became one of our U.S. Senators. “Both sides do it, it’s okay, we’ll protect your jobs, just fill out these sick-day forms, and we’ll turn them in if the other side asks us why you’re missing” is what we were all told. From this experience, I feel I learned a lot about how people cut corners to get ahead, and why they should never do that when it comes to politics and their responsibilities in the public arena.
Alas, I’m older now, (and much more principled, I think) and feel I have to do something now to change the direction in which our country is headed. I was against the War in 2003, and I’m even more against it now. In fact, I’m against using war, weapons, and violence as a means to solve any economic, social or political disagreement, and I vow never to participate in such foolishness, but instead to help those who may be hurt in our community by such actions. (To some, this is a subversive statement, go figure.)
So tomorrow I travel to Napavine, to cast my vote as Precinct Committee Officer for my district as the Democrats try to re-assert control over who runs on their party ticket following repeated findings by courts that the primary process in Washington is unconstitutional. I will vote for Cheryl Crist. I don’t do it with glee, as I like Brian Baird well enough, I’ve communicated with him, and given advice on Telecommunications issues that affect consumers, and overall he’s done a decent job. However, he abdicated his responsibility as a Congressman under the constitution to declare war, and instead gave president Bush a blank check, and more war powers to the Presidency. He still feels we need to stay in Iraq, and that is too troubling to me to not do something to remove him from office.
Tags: olympia, washington, baird, congress, democrats, caucus, nomination, crist, peace, anti-war, republicans
How can the people be so easily hoodwinked? How can so many people watch Fox(un)News and think it’s anything other than revolting?
Stop watching Springer, put down the remote and read a goddamn book, you foolish foolish sheeple!
God help us if we elect that crazyman John McCain (”I’m Brian Fellows, you’re CrAZy”*) And I thought Bush was whack!
* Brian Fellows joke courtesy of Dingo, and of course, Tracy Morgan and SNL. 
You can never be sure, you can never fully trust the people you hire to govern, or the people to be governed. What do you do? I’ve decided this year to believe. To believe that our country can be healed. I’ve decided to come off the fence, and declare my support for Barack Obama
Please click on the image above, to see a bit more about why I’ve chosen to believe, against reasonable hope, perhaps, that our country can be united, and people can start to believe in the precepts of tolerance, welcoming immigrants of all nations, faiths, and ethnicities, and strong funded public education.
“The ‘we’ we’ve been waiting for to come and fix our problems is us!” It’s time to take back control of this country, and put the scoundrels who have damaged our country into jail where they belong!
If you live in Washington, please attend your caucus today!
Blogged with Flock
Tags: barack, obama, barack obama, olympia, washington, caucus, democrat, election, president, presidential election
I’m sitting here eating breakfast at my favorite breakfast place in Olympia, which I scheduled for low volume, with few customers coming and going. The smooth jazz is playing, as I watch a singular street person (derelict, bum, homeless, metallly-ill?) wander past the fenced in parking lot of the decrepit “ghetto Safeway” which has been closed since last june, and languishing due to “no retail stores clause in the sale agreement.” As I sit here, the logs trucks come by occasionally, loaded with their “National Forest Booty Give-Away” lumber. No question I’m in Olympia, for sure.
My Friday appointments and plans have all been pooched my schedule, (always bad timing) and now I set forth on a whole set of different priorities.
I’ve have done about 3 hours worth of research on Apache/PHP/Drupal tuning, and monitoring a server hosting a site on which I’m doing some “sys-adminy type” consulting, and performance tuning. Of course the problem with being a consultant, is you only get to bill for about 1/4 of your time, as you often have to do research to figure out what do to, and most of that is not billable.
I’ve brought a Belkin Wireless Access Point down to put in the restaurant (Cicada) to include them in the wildly popular Zhonka! Surfbreak program of free (no-marketing, no data-collection, no-logging, and no “give us your name and click here” website re-directs) WiFi Hotspots, our contribution to the “DIY, power to the people!” ideal I care so stongly about.
My AT&T 3G wireless card is serving me until the access point is in place. (Must eat first for strength!)
You can see my results (Olympia to California on AT&T’s 3G network, and back to Olympia via Intertubes), speeds not bad, but still pricey at $60 month ($80 without AT&T Mobile Phone on plan).
This of course reminds me that my iPhone has a pooched transmitter (or antenna connection problem), and that I received my over designed pre-paid FedEx mailer for service. They have a little white iPhone sized box with foam pad, and little pouch to put it in. Also included in the package was my Apple(TM) officially issued “paper-clip”, in a little parts baggy with a pictograph on how to remove the sim before sending. Wish me luck!!
Blogged with Flock
Tags: iphone, apple, at&t, 3g, speedtest, zhonka, drupal, apache, schlomo, theunabonger, cicada, olympia, washington
Here are some audio highlights from last night’s (November 11th, 2007) Community Forum on the Police Response to Port Protesters, called by T.J. Johnson, and held at City Hall, recorded by yours truly.
T.J. Johnson Pre-Opening Remarks:
Robert Whitlock’s Testimony:
Drew Hendrick’s Testimony:
Gus Kroll’s Testimony:
Daisy Montague’s Testimony:
Noah - Testimony on Police Gay Bashing:
Unknown - Trauma - Plum Street Blockade Assault:
Unknown - Nuremburg - Assaulted by Police:
Unknown - Panel Testimony:
Blogged with Flock
Tags: olympia, washington, port, port of olympia, port protest, police brutality, fascism, rob whitlock, robert whitlock, drew hendricks, Gus Kroll, Daisy Montague, T.J. Johnson, TJ Johnson, Olympia City Council, Impeachment, illegal war, anti-war, non-violence, police violence, police riot
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Clubside Podcast
