A Different Christmas Poem
A Different Christmas Poem The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded... [read more]

Attention PCO's -- KC GOP complaint filed
King County GOP PCO's should review the following public complaint in your consideration of who to elect as your future Officers of the County Party ... http://www.exordia.net/kcgopcomplaint/ West Seattle GOP PCO... [read more]

6 Phases of a Project
Whenever you get frustrated by your government, keep this in mind ... THE SIX PHASES OF A PROJECT 1 - Enthusiasm 2 - Disillusionment 3 - Panic 4 - Search for the Guilty 5 - Punishment of the Innocent 6 - Praise and Honor for the Non-participants -- Chart found on the wall of the Dallas offices of the defunct Superconducting Super Collider Lab. (From an article by Bruce Sterling, F & SF Magazine, July 1994 .)... [read more]

3rd party holds KC GOP accountable
As a King County GOP PCO I am none too pleased that the County Party must find accountablity from a 3rd party in the form of a PDC complaint. I do not appreciate political Treasuries that cannot meet public deadlines, and possibly lose donor money, or at best improperly account for donor money. I will be following this closely this week before the Dec. 2 KC GOP org meeting, and how the incumbents respond to these accusations. PDC complaint against... [read more]

Proposed Legislation Expands Wounded Warrior Benefits to Uncovered Veterans
Fewer that 1 in 100 Americans serve in the Armed Forces. I believe that if more civilians understood the sacrifices of those who serve and the sacrifices of those who love them, we would be more than willing to pick up the phone and lobby our Congresspersons to pass legislation to take care of our service members and their families. A specific piece of legislation that could use your support is at the end of this post. Today I want... [read more]

Real Thanksgiving lesson
Colonial socialists died. Colonial marketeers thrived ... Great Thanksgiving Hoax... [read more]

Waiting for apology ...
While Michael Richards grovels his apology across national TV, I won't hold my breath waiting for this murderous bigot to apologize for his policy of genocide. This sick piece of humanity can't argue he was drunk, or being heckled by the evil white man ...... [read more]

Taking Back Our Culture: A Proposal
Taking Back Our Culture: A Proposal The diminishing of right and wrong in our culture is like an anchor around our collective necks pulling us to the bottom of the river. Each time our cultural moral standards are ignored, or rejected we sink a little further, into the dark cold abyss headed to the bottom. Some examples of the rejection of right and wrong are clear for all to see while some are more subtle and not so easy to... [read more]

The War Against Cars
Mayor Nickels is at it again, this time proposing to eliminate the minimum parking space requirements for development around Seattle. So let's run down the potential impacts of this new rule: 1. Developers build condos with few or no parking spaces, and jack up the prices for those units that have a parking space. Developers save $20,000 - $30,000 for each parking spot they do not build, but charge only slightly less for the unit, pocketing the difference in profit.... [read more]

Big Government, Big "Savings"?
There is an article in the PI discussing the King County Councils brave (my description) move to shave $24 million from the 2007 budget. Now, while this sounds like a lot of money, it does fall short of being respectable. The budget is $500 million more than 2006, making this "savings" only 4.8% of the increase. The total budget is $3.86 BILLION. The savings is .0062% of the whole budget amount. BIG DEAL. The King County Council shaved $24 million... [read more]

Brain Death at DSHS.
DSHS once is again is reverting to its brain dead, bureaucracy bound, and baffling mode of operations. They are canceling the Permanent Placement Family Program (PPFP). PPFP identifies kids in high-risk situations where the parents either through case history, or severity of the situation are not likely to be able to regain custody of the children. These kids are place with a foster family that is already identified as the most probable adoptive home. This program minimizes the children's moves... [read more]

It's in the Daily O
I saw this letter in the Daily Olympian today. It just goes to prove how us vets have always known the left feels about the military. Veterans Day was confusing this year Veterans Day amazed me. On Thursday, I went to the Thurston County Sheriff's Department about 3:45 p.m. to get some paperwork done that I had not found the time to do recently. The sign there said they quit taking such work at 3 p.m. Great. Then the gentleman... [read more]

Veterans and Military Families Get Political
"My Path from Civilian to Veterans & Military Family Political Activist" My husband Mike joined the Army at 18 and put in 13 years. When he got out in 2000, he met and married me, moving to Seattle to work in law enforcement. I didn't know anything about military life or being a military spouse. In fact, I was pretty comfortable in my life as a civilian. After a year or so, he asked if he could join the local... [read more]

Senior Democrat wants to reinstitute the draft!
Fox news is reporting that Congressman Rangel is planning on introducing legislation that will reinstitute the draft. WASHINGTON -- A senior House Democrat said Sunday he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military draft, asserting that current troop levels are insufficient to sustain possible challenges against Iran, North Korea and Iraq. There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if... [read more]

Don't overlook continuing bias at the Seattle Times
See update at the bottom. ----- Sent this morning to Seattle Times Editor at large Michael Fancher: Good morning Mr. Fancher, I wanted to just say "Hi" and say I'm still here and still troubled with the Times coverage, even in this post-election world. I don't read many Seattle Times stories, but it's so interesting that when I do I see such questionable journalistic integrity. First let me say I've had my share of experience with local papers and trying... [read more]

Bill Gates wants accountability
A fantastic Bill Gates editorial on education appears in the Times today, which advocates just about everything the WEA opposes. Starting with math and science standards for public schools, comparing our pitiful requirements in Washington with those of Texas. Yes Texas, that bastion of liberalism where they actually require four years of math and science to graduate - the horror! While he does not come out and say that the unions are responsible for the failure and lack of accountability... [read more]

You can't win over stupidity by using logic.
In today's Seattle Times letters to the editor page, I found the following: Yes, there's a lot of grousing about taxes. The Democrats are going to tax the heck out of Republicans. It's all so unfair. Just think how awful it would be if our wealthier citizens had to pay the same proportion of their income in taxes as the middle class [pays of its]. Horrors! -- Jim White, Lake Forest Park How do you have a rational debate about... [read more]

I wonder if they'll care
The US Bishops have issued some mighty stringent documents that SHOULD take many of the new majority in Congress to task. I wonder if they'll care. The document denounces what has come to be called "cafeteria Catholicism" in which a person gives "selective assent" to Catholic teachings. Since the 2004 US federal election, the question of reception of Communion for Catholic politicians who vocally oppose Catholic teaching and vote contrary to their Catholic conscience, has been the most prominent and... [read more]

Darcy Burner: Huge Loss for Nutroots!
Darcy Burner's 8th CD campaign is finally coming to a failed end. This is a significant loss for the Nutroots movement which heavily backed Burner and other candidates like Peter Goldmark in the WA 5th CD and Ned Lamont for Democratic Senator for Connecticut. It's doubtful that Nutroots activists like David Goldstein of HorsesAss.org will have the courage to admit this embarrassing defeat, but that is exactly what it most certainly was. Darcy Burner should not have been picked as... [read more]

And So It Begins...
Ed Rogers, deputy manager of the 1988 presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush, has a column out in WaPo titled, "The Election Is Over. Let the Election Begin." Obviously he is giving an early round-up of the GOP front runners, but he has some great observations on the challenges face by the Democrats, as well. Meanwhile, Bill Curry bloviates in the Hartford Courant on why the Democrats won last week, and how they can sustain their majorities in the run... [read more]

McDermottville
Here's the stats for Jim McDermott, 2000 to 2006 (2006 not final) ... 2006 Jim McDermott Democrat 133,578 79.2847% Steve Beren Republican 26,965 16.0050% Linnea S. Noreen Independent 7,936 4.7104% 2004 Jim McDermott(D) 272,302 80.6754% Carol Cassady(R) 65,226 19.3246% 2002 James McDermott D 156300 74.07% Carol Cassady R 46256 21.92% Stanley Lippmann L 8447 4.00% 2000 Jim McDermott D 193470 72.79% Joe Szwaja GRN 52142 19.62% Joel Grus L 20197 7.60% It appears, regardless of what any opponent does, the... [read more]

Sound Politics PCO's - your KC org vote?
The two Sound Politics editors / authors who appear to be voting PCO's in King County are ... SEA 34-1504 Matt Rosenberg SEA 36-2164 Andrew MacDonald (please correct me, if I'm wrong) As a fellow KC GOP PCO I would welcome some commentary from these authors about who they will vote or lobby for KC Officers and Reps to the State Committee, at the coming PCO Central Committee meeting (Dec 2?). Are the incumbents, in these positions, worthy of another... [read more]

Tebelius Must Go
Diane Tebelius has led the Washington GOP to a singularly pathetic showing. She ditched traditional Republican candidates, stiffarming them in favor of spectacularly worthless candidates like Mike McGavick. Diane Tebelius must go, and the RINOs who have hijacked our Republican Party must go with her. Now. Without preamble or ceremony. Traditional Republicans who are faithful to the foundational values of our Party must act now. Act with your checkbooks. Act with your voices. Act with your votes. But by all... [read more]

I Told You So.
I posted this entry on my personal blog on August 15, 2006: There's a word for the prevailing attitude among the Republican Party: Hubris. That is, overbearing pride, blind complacency, and arrogant presumptuousness. The Mehlmanites watch the meltdown at "Jackass Central" with no small measure of satisfaction. They pat themselves on the back for their self-perceived savvy and laugh at the utter confusion and autoimmune dysfunction that has beset the Democratic National Committee. At The DNC, self is no longer... [read more]

It begins with PCO's - where's the nominations?
As an elected GOP PCO I've been reading the various rants across select blogs about the abject condition of the Party, with various generic recommendations of the necessary changes. Some of these can be found ... Reagan Wing Phil Spackman (now a PCO?) ... and of course at Sound Politics (main and public). I've heard, unofficially, that the KC GOP org meeting, where PCO's vote for Officers and Reps to the State, will occur Sat, Dec 2. As a PCO... [read more]

Sadly things did not go well
So now we have a shift in power on our hands. Now we will be treated to glowing reports on the economy and how well it's doing. I have to wonder what to do now. I don't want to complain about dems for the sake of complaining, I do want to continue to point out how their ideology is not the right direction for this country. I am going to make an effort to do it constructively. I have been... [read more]

A Brief Postmortem of the Republican Loss
Now that the handwringing over the election of over and Sean Hannity and Mark Levin have started the official Boo-Hoo Fest, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the GOP leadership was well and truly warned by all the hardworking grassroots Republicans that this day would surely come. Remember us Mr. Mehlman? Remember us, Ms. Tebelius? The Americans whom the Party leaders have treated like a floozy on the morning after since 2005? I bet you... [read more]

Why does counting take so long?
I am curious, maybe someone knows the answer. How is it that Snohomish County can count 94,000+ ballots on election day and only about 6,000 ballots on the following day? I noticed this during the primary too. As the daily reports came up on the States web page, SnoCo could only seem to count 8-10,000 ballots a day after election day. Anyone know why there is such a drop off? It could be that they count the ballots before election... [read more]

More things that bug me about my absentee ballot
Hi, I'm new to the forum but a concerned American and needed a place to voice my concern. Hopefully this forum will eventually be found and read by someone who can or will affect a change. Obscure ballot measures hide the issue proposed to the people. More to the point; the way many Initiatives, House Measures, and Referendums are written (specifically to amend or repeal earlier measures) makes it nearly impossible for a voter to accurately understand that which they... [read more]

Things that bugged me about my absentee ballot and its instructions
Hi, I'm new to the forum but a concerned American and needed a place to voice my concern. Hopefully this forum will eventually be found and read by someone who can or will affect a change. Let me start by saying that I have nothing against Americans for whom English is a second language. I think this great country was founded by immigrants with great determination to leave oppressive other countries to make a new life for them selves and... [read more]

Campaign Post-Mortems
Personally, I thought McGavick's campaign sucked! Being "civil" has it's limits when you are being pounded by someone like Cantwell, who is as useless as boobs on a boar-hog.... [read more]

The Indian Revolution
http://www.badeagle.com/ David Yeagley's Latest Editorial from the Bad Eagle Forums The Indian Revolution by Rod Van Mechelen This article is by Rod Van Mechelen (enrolled Cowlitz), American Indian journalist and political commentator. It is slightly longer than our usual 750 op/ed pieces, but the information is most useful. I should like to have posted this at least two weeks ago, before the Nov. 7 election, tomorrow! There are those who have questioned my position on American Indians and conservatism.... [read more]

Fourth Grader Suspended After Refusing to Answer WASL Question
Sounds harsh, but true.  A student who refused to answer a WASL question was suspended. Has the State and its flawed WASL gone too far? Via Bloomberg  Tyler Stoken was a well-behaved fourth grader who enjoyed school, earned A's and B's and performed well on standardized tests. In May 2005, he'd completed five of the six days of the Washington State Assessment of Student Learning exam, called WASL, part of the state's No Child Left Behind test. Then Tyler came... [read more]

Dominatrix demands votes
This is the funniest thing since "Borat" ... What's a voter to do when their Dominatrix speaks? And the Seattle City Council worries about lap dancers ...... [read more]

Hacking Democracy
Some very interesting stuff in this HBO documentary, with a disturbing demonstration of a voting tabulation card hacked to produce desired results, regardless of ballots run through the scanner. Stalin would be pleased ... YouTube segments: Hacking Democracy Remember, your tax dollars are paying for this kind of voting security.... [read more]

...and if it Rains on Election Day?
...the Dems will not be happy. As the King County Journal reported Sunday in a story from the St. Petersburg Times, "A new study of voter behaviour confirms something political operatives have long suspected: rain hurts Democrats and helps Republicans. The study found that 1 inch of rain reduces overall turnout by slightly less than 1 percent and cuts the Demoratic vote by 2.5 percentage points." "By analyzing weather and voting data since 1948, (visiting professor of political science at... [read more]

Beren vs. McDermott on YouTube
http://www.berenforcongress.com/youtube.html... [read more]

Much more likely to be separated at birth
http://www.berenforcongress.com/picture.html... [read more]

Call for Anti-933
I got a call from an "Out of Area" caller tonight. (Caller ID was masked). The woman on the line started telling me how unfair I-933 is and that research has shown that it is going to cost money. During her spiel she mixed up the numbers, easy enough to do. After she finished I asked where she was calling from. She told me Florida. I told her that if the anti I-933 campaign was willing to pay out of... [read more]

"Republicans" on the ballot?
Remember those good old days when "Republicans" ran for elected office? I remember those days, back in September 2006, the primary ballot was full of them. Including myself, as a GOP PCO candidate. But ever since then it's become really hard to identify the "Republican" candidates for the General election, at least for the Federal offices. Mike McGavick now describes himself as Independent. Dave Reichert is uber-Independent. Since brand marketing is a "use it or lose it" process, I guess... [read more]

Election Predictions CONTEST
So enter your 2006 election predictions - 1. US House XXX vs. XXX (example 240D, 195R) (1 point for the difference between your prediction and reality for both R's and D's) 2. US Senate XX vs. XX (example 51D, 49R) (5 points for each seat difference between your prediction and reality for both R's and D's) 3. Reichert vs. Burner XX.X% vs. XX.X% (example 51.2%D, 48.8%R) (2 points for each percentage difference between your prediction and reality for both R's... [read more]

In case you Liberals didn't get the message: Jihadis Agree Vote Democrat!
This is for all the liberals, and those liberals who claim they are conservatives that are going to vote Democrat, out there who like to come and rant about the war on terror. Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND.... [read more]

Intresting information from an Arab translater
Check this out about what was sent to the IAEA and their lack of answers.... [read more]

Republicans are you hearing "JAWS" music
Don't have your hearing checked yet -- it's real and will get worse until Nov 7th, when you have to find a new job. Oh Dave Reichert, just like the lady you got fired for flipping you off. This election cycle is so sweeeeet. As a "Cheap Date" Republican this could not get any better. THE PARTY HAS STARTED!... [read more]

The "Cheap Date" EXPRESS
According to Matt Rosenberg, a Sound Politics Editor and Staunch Republican, conservative pro-life Republicans are "Cheap Dates". What was the context of his prejudice against pro-life Christians? The context was they are good for support around election time, run a few bills that will never pass to whip up their support, and then forget about them in between elections. Naturally the Internet has a lot of definitions of a "Cheap Date" most of which I would not write here. So,... [read more]

Is John Kerry really sorry?
I would have to say absoulutely not. John Kerry has posted on his campaign website the editorial from yesterday's PI. If he truly meant the apology to the troops and it truly was a botched joke then why would he post this editorial on his website as if to justify his remarks?... [read more]

The Female Vote?
I'm on the downhill side of 50 and I was born and nominally raised a Catholic, so I can just remember when people talked quite seriously about the Catholic Vote. Heck, if you are old enough to remember the last Presidential Election you can remember some murmurings about whether Kerry would get this "block." In 2004 we discovered there was no longer a Catholic Vote, but here in the State of Washington, with 2 US Senators and a Governor who... [read more]

WSU College Republicans Face Verbal, Physical Abuse for Immigration Stance
From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:Tempers flare at demonstration; WSU College Republicans erect chain-link fence to support Bush border plans By Erin Madison, Daily News staff writer Washington State University College Republicans put up a chain-link fence on campus Thursday to show their support for plans by President George Bush and Congress to construct a fence or wall along part of the Mexican border. For Marisol Badilla, it was painful to see the fence on the Glenn Terrell Mall. "It really... [read more]

David Goldstein: "Exploiting children is art."
You may be familiar with the flap, if not, here are the details: David Goldstein, local liberal blogger and founder of HorsesAss.org, posted an open comment with this video. The video is supposedly an ad for a band, "The Bastard Fairies." Goldstein calls the video art. If you watch the video, you'll see that it is a lot more of a political message, and a lot less of an ad for a band. Hat tip to commenter RagnarDanneskold here on... [read more]

97 Reasons Democrats Are Weak On Defense And Can't Be Trusted To Govern In Wartime
Here is an editorial from Investors Business Daily posted at Investor. It shows what has happened to our country from the start of the Carter Administration till now. It is long, but it is a great read. Pass it on to all your friends and family.... [read more]

SnoCo Voting Machine Hacking, and Revealing My Votes
I voted yesterday, and found out more information about hacking Snohomish County's voting machines, and about why you can see who I personally voted for in the primary.... [read more]

Marcy/Darcy Burner: Willing Beneficiary of Child Exploitation
Renounce/Denounce them Marcy/Darcy!... [read more]

John Kerry's continuing service to our nation
I hope every terrorist in the world hears what John Kerry said about our troops being uneducated idiots. And I hope they believe it because it is an insult on par with "You got beat up by a girl" or "my little sister could take you" How humiliating is it for Muslim terrorist to face daily defeat at the hands of America's worst losers? I never doubted that John Kerry was a war hero, and I hope he keeps up... [read more]

ACORN is busy
ACORN has now been formally charged with voter fraud in Kansas City (ACORN Indictments ). The same group that couldn't get votes turned in on time and wants to sue King County or Washington State because their ballots were late. The same group that Ron Sims forced Dean Logan to accept their ballots that should not have been counted. The same group that turns in incomplete voter forms and then threatens to sue if the fraudulent forms aren't accepted. The... [read more]

McGavick's "spoiler" leverage
One of the most clever ads this season comes from the McGavick campaign for a smooth "spoiler" leverage using the Dixon and Guthrie campaigns. The "Iraq/Decisive" ad ... OPENS with recognition of the Dixon and Guthrie campaigns' positions on the Iraq war, in a positive manner. For a short time I wondered why any campaign would have anything positive to say about another campaign's position on the war, then it was clear this is a very clever "spoiler" appeal to... [read more]

Seattle Times prints, then quickly replaces on-line story that demonstrates bias
UPDATE: Wow, guess what? The Seattle Times has now completely deleted their original story, "GOP rips Kerry over Iraq quote; he comes firing back," from their website. In another switch of their URL links, the original link is now pointing to a new story, "Kerry apologizes for "botched joke," says he meant no offense to troops." The archive link is now pointed to, "Some Democrats join GOP in calling for Kerry apology," and the original story printed in 220,000 papers... [read more]