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July 01, 2009
A Tiny Bit Of Credit Where A Tiny Bit Of Credit Is Due
by Jim Miller, 03:04 PM, 48 Comments
While making his pro-regime propaganda film, Rick Steves missed, completely, the very large number of Iranians who were dissatisfied with the regime. Very dissatisfied. On Sunday, the travel writer, who should be apologizing for missing a story that big, gave... [read more]
June 30, 2009
Dave Ross Says the Darndest Things, Example 2
by Jim Miller, 02:06 PM, 114 Comments
This morning I learned from one of our local leftwing talk show hosts that we have a "rampant free market health care system". Ross believes that our "rampant free market" explains why our health care costs are higher than those... [read more]
June 29, 2009
Michael Jackson Coverage
by Jim Miller, 11:06 AM, 19 Comments
How would you rate the amount of coverage of Michael Jackson's death?Way too little.Too little.Just right.Too much.Way too much. pollcode.com free polls... [read more]
June 22, 2009
In 1993, Mindy Cameron Did Something Brilliant
by Jim Miller, 03:57 PM, 0 Comments
At that time, Cameron was the editorial page editor of the Seattle Times, and a good one, in my opinion, though she and I did not always agree on issues. Here's how Cameron explained her decision. That was back in... [read more]
June 15, 2009
Is Rick Steves Surprised By What Is Happening In Iran?
by Jim Miller, 02:50 PM, 120 Comments
The travel guru should be, if he believed his own propaganda film. An enterprising journalist — and there must be a few of them in this area — should ask Steves that question. I wrote "if" because I have never... [read more]
June 08, 2009
Sirota Begins To Suspect That He May Be The Rube
by Jim Miller, 02:09 PM, 120 Comments
Lefty columnist David Sirota notices, with dismay, that Obama is breaking campaign promises. But, then, behavior by President Obama suggests a more systemic assault on the campaign promise is under way. It started in December when he was asked why... [read more]
June 01, 2009
The Gang Of Four Ignore The Obama Deficits — Again
by Jim Miller, 05:10 PM, 44 Comments
Last Friday, KUOW's Gang of Four had their usual discussion of the week's news. And, as they have done again and again on previous Fridays, they ignored Obama's immense deficits, which you can see many places, including here. You might... [read more]
May 20, 2009
Mind Boggling
by Jim Miller, 10:40 AM, 15 Comments
This announcement. In a widely expected move, Ryan Blethen has been named editorial-page editor of The Seattle Times. Blethen, 36, had been associate editorial-page editor at the paper, and his promotion marks the ascendancy of a fifth generation of the... [read more]
April 28, 2009
But other than that, the story was accurate
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:01 PM, 26 Comments
Saturday's Seattle Times print edition included this Associated Press article on the settlement of my records case. The AP story itself, by Eugene Johnson, was fair and accurate. The Times headline editor added this wildly inaccurate subheading, which only appeared... [read more]
April 06, 2009
Sprechen Wahrheit an die Macht
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:51 PM, 24 Comments
David Horsey: Europe swoons for Obama:President of the United States Barack Obama has conquered Europe. ... How do the Obama's [sic] do it? They are simply naturals. The combination of talent, life experience and predisposition that makes them who they... [read more]
April 05, 2009
Rick Steves, Useful Idiot
by Jim Miller, 08:06 PM, 48 Comments
Three weeks ago, the local cooking and old pop music channel held another fund raising drive. To attract donations, they showed, naturally, some of their greatest hits. One of those hits was a propaganda film promoting Iran. The film was... [read more]
March 26, 2009
Mind Boggling
by Jim Miller, 12:30 PM, 22 Comments
Pick your favorite metaphor for an unlikely event. Perhaps you like pigs are flying, or possibly the more traditional hell is freezing over. Whatever you pick will apply to this piece by David Horsey. I won't give away the... [read more]
March 23, 2009
Great moments in local journalism
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:01 AM, 18 Comments
Erica Barnett, "news" editor for The Stranger, made some news of her own last week, per the Seattle Weekly:Barnett took a deal [Mar. 17] to avoid trial and dodge a criminal record after allegedly boosting an $8.99 bottle of wine... [read more]
Some Demonstrations Are More Equal Than Others
by Jim Miller, 07:49 AM, 14 Comments
Last week I saw a story on an anti-AIG bonuses demonstration here in Seattle. The brief video clip on Q13 was up long enough so that I could count the demonstrators. (Who all looked as if they had come from... [read more]
March 18, 2009
SeattlePI.com
by Eric Earling, 10:59 AM, 14 Comments
In a way, it "debuts" today. Early reviews are not good, here and here. I'm willing to give a little more slack as the staff makes the tricky jump from print-based institution to online-only denizen. And surely the last few... [read more]
Did The Seattle PI Make Mistakes?
by Jim Miller, 08:10 AM, 33 Comments
On this post, I need your help. Yesterday I watched the Q13 story and read the Seattle Times story on the newspaper's closing. Neither mentioned any mistakes by the PI. In particular, neither mentioned the way the newspaper has... [read more]
March 16, 2009
Three Keepers
by Jim Miller, 04:03 PM, 0 Comments
As you probably have heard already, the Seattle PI will publish its last print edition tomorrow, and will become a pure on-line newspaper. As such, it will need far fewer staff. There are two current employees and a contributor, that,... [read more]
Official: Last print P-I is tomorrow - UPDATED
by Eric Earling, 10:32 AM, 22 Comments
...and then its online only. Related note, David Horsey has stated his intention to stay on with the digital version. That could be beneficial if it works out. We here at Sound Politics may disagree with Horsey a lot, but... [read more]
March 09, 2009
Breaking: Elected Officials Use Facebook
by Eric Earling, 09:31 AM, 10 Comments
Yes, not exactly a newsflash, yet it finally makes the pages of the Seattle Times. No doubt we'll get an article focusing some new fangled thing called Twitter in a few months. Priceless moment in the article: In several weeks... [read more]
March 06, 2009
It's Official: Online only P-I in the works
by Eric Earling, 10:45 AM, 8 Comments
Per the AP: SEATTLE (AP) -- Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has made offers to some staffers to participate in an online-only version of the newspaper, the P-I reported Thursday. An unspecified number of the P-I's 181 employees... [read more]
March 05, 2009
Important: Joel Connelly Thinks Tim Eyman Controls GOP
by Eric Earling, 09:11 PM, 36 Comments
Connelly's latest: Just as Rush Limbaugh has seized the soul of the national Republican Party, professional initiative sponsor Tim Eyman seems to set the Republican agenda in this state. [snip] In this Washington, Eyman holds sway. He has set the... [read more]
Least Surprising News of the Day
by Eric Earling, 08:30 AM, 21 Comments
A major stake in the Seattle Times valued at... ...zero: The McClatchy Co., which owns 49.5 percent of The Seattle Times Co., has again cut the value of its share of the Seattle newspaper company -- this time to nothing.... [read more]
February 27, 2009
Friday Pity Party
by Eric Earling, 01:47 PM, 23 Comments
Joe Turner at the TNT says what needs to be said about the languid pace of Olympia this session: This week, Chopp was mildly complaining that we in the Press Corps have not given House Democrats enough credit for what... [read more]
February 26, 2009
Might Be Some Negatives There, Too
by Jim Miller, 03:25 PM, 16 Comments
Seattle Times reporter Kristi Heim knows why former Washington governor Gary Locke was picked to be Secretary of Commerce. Locke has close ties to Communist China. Locke perhaps is best known for cultivating close ties to China — and... [read more]
February 23, 2009
The Permanent Campaigner
by Jim Miller, 01:10 PM, 15 Comments
Seattle PI cartoonist David Horsey worked hard to elect Barack Obama president. Horsey is now complaining that our elected officials won't stop campaigning. From day one of the Obama administration, Republicans and Democrats inside the Beltway have jockeyed for advantage... [read more]
February 16, 2009
How To Sell Me A Newspaper, Example 2
by Jim Miller, 07:29 AM, 12 Comments
Congressman John Murtha is visiting this area. Either the Seattle PI or the Seattle Times can sell me a newspaper by sending a reporter out to ask Murtha some questions. Questions about what? Here are some possibilities: Questions about his... [read more]
February 10, 2009
Dave Ross Says the Darndest Things
by Jim Miller, 12:53 PM, 26 Comments
This morning the Seattle talk show host told his listeners that Barack Obama is a "pretty conservative guy". Seriously. Ross really did say that.... [read more]
February 08, 2009
A Raw Deal for Michael Phelps? - UPDATED
by Eric Earling, 09:40 PM, 62 Comments
Joel Connelly thinks so: A box of Kellogg's cereal sits in my Dumpster, part of a vow not to patronize the cereal maker's products after it dumped Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps as a product endorser. Phelps has gotten a... [read more]
February 06, 2009
Or maybe they're just as gullible and ignorant as Lance Dickie
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:28 AM, 24 Comments
Lance Dickie: "Voters understood the value of investing in mobility"Voters in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties ... spoke loudly in November as a second phase of light rail, express bus service and commuter rail was approved by 56 percent ...... [read more]
February 04, 2009
12% Pay Cuts at the Times?
by Eric Earling, 10:18 PM, 21 Comments
Potentially rough news for the staff at the Seattle Times. Dude.... [read more]
Hope-n-Change? - UPDATED
by Eric Earling, 08:08 AM, 40 Comments
Memo to those on the left still befuddled by GOP concerns with the current "stimulus package," see this lede in the Washington Post: Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill... [read more]
February 03, 2009
Lance Dickie, Call Your Office!
by Eric Earling, 01:46 PM, 1 Comments
Per shots taken at Dickie here and here: McCain, Others Offer Stimulus Alternative Waiting for Dickie to declare this option also as "only knee-jerk criticism" of proposals from the One and House Democrats...... [read more]
February 02, 2009
Opposition to Stimulus Isn't Tough to Figure Out - UPDATED
by Eric Earling, 08:23 PM, 55 Comments
It's safe to say a number of left-leaning folks are honestly flummoxed by GOP opposition to the "stimulus" currently sitting in the Senate (see posts over the weekend here and here). Such objectors to objection do seem firmly to believe... [read more]
February 01, 2009
More Perspective On GOP Stimulus Positioning in the Press
by Eric Earling, 08:08 PM, 12 Comments
Earlier this weekend I was very hard on Lance Dickie and Joel Connelly for their erroneous and flawed take on the current state of the GOP. In contrast to their ostrich-like approach to matters, David Horsey has a very fair... [read more]
January 31, 2009
Credit Where Credit is Due
by Eric Earling, 02:00 PM, 18 Comments
So much of the description of our current economy in the media in recent months has been woefully inaccurate from a historical perspective. "Worse economy since the Great Depression!" Not exactly. Jon Talton, writing for the Seattle Times, actually got... [read more]
January 30, 2009
Hate Fest, Love Fest, Blank Fest
by Jim Miller, 03:48 PM, 5 Comments
Two weeks ago, KUOW's Gang of Four discussed President Bush. One week ago, the Gang discussed President Obama. On both days, they discussed the likely demise of the Seattle PI. The first discussion was a hate fest, the second... [read more]
Balter v. Reality
by Eric Earling, 08:46 AM, 16 Comments
Yesterday's Joni Balter column: President Obama wants to make government cool again. At a time when the private sector has failed spectacularly, the new Obama administration holds the hope of shoring up a failed economy, creating millions of new jobs,... [read more]
January 28, 2009
Antiquated MSM in action
by Eric Earling, 09:12 AM, 23 Comments
More proof, via Scott St. Clair: In Olympia, the capitol press corps used to number 30 or more reporters. Now it's down to nine or 10 with the departure of veteran reporter Chris McGann who used to write for The... [read more]
January 27, 2009
Credit To Horsey And Westneat On The Stimulus Plan
by Jim Miller, 05:33 PM, 5 Comments
David Horsey did a pretty good cartoon on the plan, which Eric showed you, a few posts down. And Danny Westneat wrote a decent column, expressing some of the same skepticism you can find in the cartoon. Neither man is... [read more]
January 25, 2009
How To Sell Me A Newspaper, Example 1
by Jim Miller, 08:19 AM, 14 Comments
As I said in this post, I hope that the Seattle PI and the Seattle Times survive. And so I am going to give them a little marketing help in a series of posts, beginning with this one. The PI... [read more]
Credit Where Due
by Jim Miller, 07:13 AM, 2 Comments
The Seattle Times published an editorial cartoon making a conservative point, something the newspaper does not do often enough. And the cartoon is pretty funny, unlike most editorial cartoons at the newspaper. Granted, the editorial cartoon did not appear on... [read more]
January 23, 2009
The Seattle PI Will Probably Close Soon
by Jim Miller, 01:55 PM, 24 Comments
Two weeks ago, the Hearst corporation said they would try to sell the newspaper. If they were unable to find a buyer in sixty days, they will close the newspaper, or, possibly, convert it to a web-only newspaper. This will... [read more]
January 21, 2009
David Horsey Gets Ready
by Jim Miller, 12:56 PM, 13 Comments
Here's the Seattle PI cartoonist preparing to hold Obama accountable, after the many fair-minded cartoons he drew of President Bush. Thanks to the artist, who prefers to remain anonymous. (The cartoon is in answer to this request.) Cross posted at... [read more]
My Apologies To Our Canadian Friends
by Jim Miller, 10:23 AM, 25 Comments
For this nasty Joel Connelly column. In it, the Seattle PI columnist attacks both Canadians: As Barack Obama takes center stage, and George W. Bush flies off to Texas, our country's inaugural will hopefully silence a group of annoying neighbors... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:10 AM, 25 Comments
Joel Connelly, Jan. 13, pleading for the P-I's survival:..much of what this paper does consists of holding big government accountable. The Pugetopolis needs media competition, and feistiness, critical coverage of politicians and investigative reporting ... It's keeping the big boys... [read more]
January 19, 2009
Racial Parody?
by Jim Miller, 10:54 AM, 7 Comments
As far as I can tell, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat did not intend for this column to be a parody, in spite of passages such as these: Everybody's talking about what Obama's inauguration means to them. For me, it... [read more]
January 17, 2009
Remedial TV
by Jim Miller, 03:10 PM, 12 Comments
When I was growing up, my family did not have television. On the whole, I think I came out ahead because of that. But I did miss many of the cultural references that others got from television programs. For... [read more]
January 15, 2009
The Seattle PI Admits They Have A Double Standard
by Jim Miller, 01:53 PM, 36 Comments
(At least. They may have a triple or quadruple standard.) In an editorial on the Geithner nomination. There's another problem here: transparency. Obama's staff told senators about the tax problems on Dec. 5. We should have been clued in, say,... [read more]
No One Is In Favor Of Terrorism
by Jim Miller, 11:00 AM, 11 Comments
I learn the most interesting things when I listen to the Dave Ross show. Some might think all those gentle folks blowing themselves (and others) up shows that at least a few people are in favor of terrorism. Others... [read more]
January 11, 2009
Perspective on Death of the Newspaper
by Eric Earling, 03:51 PM, 47 Comments
David Horsey's latest makes an antiquated point: Horsey's overall lament is well-taken. Whatever one thinks of the P-I as a stand-alone institution, the importance of free and independent press to democracy remains valid. That said, does "press" have to equate... [read more]
January 09, 2009
P-I all but dead in print form
by Eric Earling, 06:11 PM, 25 Comments
It's official. Given the current inability of the Times to offer reliable, unique content online, that will leave a bit of a market void to be filled on a number of topics - such as sports and editorial opinion. It... [read more]
January 08, 2009
Death of the P-I?
by Eric Earling, 07:36 PM, 70 Comments
KING 5 breaks the supposed story. The P-I and the Times have coverage, generally expressing surprise...including from Frank Blethen. If the story turns out to be true, it would appear Blethen's stubborn streak beat the Hearst Corporation's reality-based accounting. An... [read more]
January 05, 2009
Let's Help Dave Ross Choose A New Car
by Jim Miller, 10:13 AM, 37 Comments
Last week, I suggested that talk show host Dave Ross help Detroit (and the UAW) by buying a car built by UAW members. This is not an unreasonable request; I am just asking Ross to do what most Republicans do,... [read more]
January 02, 2009
Bush Derangement Syndrome In Aspen
by Jim Miller, 09:17 AM, 26 Comments
Here's the story. After delivering a series of crude gasoline bombs to two Aspen banks and bringing life in the ski town to a virtual halt, after promising a "horrible price in blood," Jim Blanning drove out of town, parked... [read more]
December 31, 2008
Let's Help Danny Westneat
by Jim Miller, 07:34 AM, 2 Comments
In this column, Westneat confesses to a few mistakes. Mistakes, I made a few. Yes, year's end is supposed to be about hope and joy. But my family has a long tradition of also using the season of light to... [read more]
December 30, 2008
The Dave Ross Detroit Bailout Plan
by Jim Miller, 07:03 PM, 0 Comments
First, some background: For years, Republicans have been supporting the United Auto Workers in the most important way possible; Republicans have been buying vehicles built by the UAW. If Democrats had been as willing as Republicans to support the UAW... [read more]
December 19, 2008
Helpful Hint for the Times
by Eric Earling, 08:45 PM, 9 Comments
Today the Seattle Times printed a story on the magically disappearing press corps in Olympia. It's a decent piece, though somewhat limited by the under 900-word size. Here's the thing. I was interviewed by Andrew Garber for the story, though... [read more]
December 17, 2008
Will It Hurt The Democrats?
by Jim Miller, 02:01 PM, 17 Comments
I did not have time Friday to do a full report on KUOW's Gang of Four show. But I did listen long enough to hear their discussion of the Blagojevich scandals.... [read more]
December 15, 2008
Orbusmax Should Be Back Soon
by Jim Miller, 09:31 AM, 3 Comments
Here's the message I just received from Jim Walker. (the Orb) My host provider (Dreamhost) has been experiencing severe hardware problems for most of the weekend. My site is down and I can't receive email through Orbusmax.com, so I... [read more]
December 08, 2008
The Seattle PI Should Make Up Their Mind
by Jim Miller, 04:58 PM, 32 Comments
There were two editorials in today's PI. In the first, the PI told us that more jobs are needed. (I agree.) Last week's job report was an urgent call for more action by the federal government. More than a half... [read more]
December 02, 2008
Local WA Artist Hates the Constitution, Christmas, and America
by pudge, 10:39 PM, 158 Comments
Deborah Lawrence was offered an opportunity, by the Congress and the White House, to make an ornament for the White House tree. She said the offer "nauseated" her at first -- because she hates Christmas, and presumably because she also... [read more]
Did Anyone Here Foresee The Washington Mutual Collapse?
by Jim Miller, 01:53 PM, 32 Comments
Let me start by saying that I am not asking that question rhetorically. I knew, from the volume and tone of mortgage ads, that something was wrong with the mortgage business, but I paid no attention to individual companies, because... [read more]
November 30, 2008
The Missing Conservative Voice in Seattle Print Media
by Eric Earling, 09:50 PM, 14 Comments
Many more than one Sound Politics reader this blogger knows has asked why the web site has a uniquely strong readership base. One possible answer: the gaping void of conservative voices in Seattle's print media. And no, the Seattle Times... [read more]
November 21, 2008
Virtual Cartoon Number 2
by Jim Miller, 12:59 PM, 18 Comments
This one will, I am afraid, require considerable artistic skill. But it makes an important point, so I hope that someone who can draw will attempt it. Seattle PI cartoonist David Horsey has been one of the worst American cartoonists... [read more]
November 19, 2008
Taking Names
by Jim Miller, 01:08 PM, 8 Comments
For years, I have wondered how outsiders like myself could improve our news organizations. And I think that I have finally thought of a tactic that might work. What I have found over the years is that journalists will generally... [read more]
November 14, 2008
Probably Not
by Jim Miller, 06:22 AM, 23 Comments
Yesterday's Seattle PI had a front page article on a new runway at Sea-Tac. For a headline, some editor chose: "Third runway about to open, but will it fly?"... [read more]
November 13, 2008
The Missing Mahoney
by Jim Miller, 12:55 PM, 67 Comments
KUOW's Gang of Four are fond of sex scandals. They loved talking about Idaho Senator's Larry Craig's little problem, even though there was no sex, and probably not even a law broken. During the 2006 campaign, they had much to... [read more]
November 12, 2008
Stu Elway: Still Claiming He's Right
by Eric Earling, 07:49 PM, 2 Comments
Dude, is this really necessary? I repeat: Stuart Elway's last poll had Gregoire +12%. SurveyUSA's final product had Gregoire +6%. Final actual result: Gregoire +6%. I know I didn't major in math in college, but I'm pretty sure Elway wasn't... [read more]
November 08, 2008
David Horsey's PDS
by Eric Earling, 09:44 AM, 49 Comments
That would be Palin Derangement Syndrome, on display: Yes, yes, it's just an editorial cartoon and he's trying to make some point based on whatever entirely trustworthy and bias-free coverage he reads from the New York Times (or hears from... [read more]
November 07, 2008
The Joel-acle Speaks
by Eric Earling, 07:28 AM, 87 Comments
The headline says "Wrecked GOP must abandon extremism," though the column itself spends more time warning against Democratic over-reach than anything else. Connelly's latest does also include some more on where the local GOP should head, in addition the comments... [read more]
November 05, 2008
David Horsey's Narrow View of the World
by Eric Earling, 08:29 PM, 107 Comments
In tomorrow's paper: It's fair to point out the bulk of negative ads run against Christine Gregoire in this cycle were run by independent groups, not the Rossi campaign. And as much as conspiracy theorists like to believe that candidates... [read more]
October 29, 2008
The Shrinking Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 04:00 PM, 0 Comments
No, I am not about to discuss their shrinking circulation, or even their shrinking staff. Instead, I am going to discuss their their shrinking ideological boundaries. A newspaper which was once open to many views has become, more and more,... [read more]
October 27, 2008
Unintentionally Comedic Headline of the Day
by Eric Earling, 07:07 PM, 3 Comments
"Gregoire campaigns in Lynnwood, says Rossi would create deficit" The mind reels.... [read more]
First Cartoon
by Jim Miller, 02:56 PM, 0 Comments
In this post, I asked for some help, since I can't draw. Specifically, I asked for someone to draw this cartoon: Obama, looking much like Lucy in Peanuts, is holding a football labeled "tax cuts". Joe Voter, looking much... [read more]
Patterico's Site Has Been Moved
by Jim Miller, 08:31 AM, 2 Comments
At least temporarily. Here's the latest in the strange story. I read the site often, and sometimes learn something from the posts. (That's next to my highest accolade.) Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.... [read more]
October 26, 2008
Good sign for Rossi or sign of the apocalypse?
by Eric Earling, 07:53 PM, 9 Comments
Joni Balter: I have been predicting, yes, even betting friends and relatives, that Republican Dino Rossi will win the super-close governor's race in Washington. Dude.... [read more]
October 24, 2008
Style Versus Substance
by Jim Miller, 02:06 PM, 0 Comments
Yesterday, the New York Times and the Seattle PI had big front page stories on Sarah Palin's campaign wardrobe, a matter of no importance to voters. On Wednesday, the National Review published this fine summary article on Palin's record as... [read more]
October 22, 2008
"Time for Seattle to say no to taxes"
by Eric Earling, 07:22 AM, 19 Comments
Those still miffed at why property taxes can be a big issue, even in communities that otherwise vote Democratic, should read Joel Connelly's latest.... [read more]
Worth Saving
by Jim Miller, 05:07 AM, 2 Comments
And sharing. Today's Michael Ramirez cartoon. (Which will almost certainly not appear in your daily newspaper.) Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.... [read more]
October 20, 2008
Joel Connelly should check blog post time stamps
by Eric Earling, 07:33 PM, 12 Comments
The remaining dean of the local political press corps takes issue with our own Stefan Sharkansky today over at Strange Bedfellows. Connelly has a host of issues with Stefan that I wouldn't presume to get in the middle of, yet... [read more]
October 19, 2008
New Media vs. Old
by Eric Earling, 11:09 AM, 6 Comments
Today's Seattle Times includes a story on the frontpage of the local section discussing the RGA's ads hitting Christine Gregoire's dealing with tribal casinos. Funny thing is those casino ads started running on September 3rd. The RGA switched over to... [read more]
October 18, 2008
What Do Leftwing Journalists Think Of Conservatives?
by Jim Miller, 05:43 AM, 36 Comments
Timothy Egan, who works for the New York Times, tells us. This was the one where Bill Ayers finally came up. The "old, washed up terrorist" in John McCain's words, who went from entitled brat with bomb fantasies to Chicagoan... [read more]
October 16, 2008
Stop Whining
by Eric Earling, 07:51 PM, 0 Comments
Peter Callaghan uses a column to chide the whiners on all sides of the Evergreen State gubernatorial contest. Given that just about every political hack out there expected this would be an exceptionally hard fought, competitive race - with all... [read more]
October 14, 2008
Thanks To Kirby Wilbur
by Jim Miller, 09:12 AM, 31 Comments
For the nice plug he gave to this site, this morning. (He liked our coverage of the gubernatorial race, so Eric Earling probably deserves the biggest share of credit.)... [read more]
October 11, 2008
Selective views of the politically deranged
by Eric Earling, 11:25 AM, 55 Comments
Why does the top of the frontpage of today's Seattle Times [pdf] headline a story of McCain pushing back against nutjobs at a campaign rally? Honestly, because the MSM is much more comfortable assuming that the Republican faithful are ignorant... [read more]
October 09, 2008
October 08, 2008
Did You Try Google?
by Eric Earling, 07:40 PM, 8 Comments
I hate to appear to be picking on Joe Turner since he is a relatively prolific contributor to the best political blog from a local newspaper left standing in the wake of glaring attrition in the Olympia press corps. Yet,... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:33 PM, 34 Comments
In today's P-I, contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly reminisces fondly about his meeting with unrepentant domestic terrorist and Obama patron Bill Ayers. Connelly conveniently ignores or downplays Ayers' acts of terrorism, lack of remorse, current radicalism, extent of his alliance... [read more]
October 05, 2008
Balterdash: Sunday Edition
by Eric Earling, 01:29 PM, 58 Comments
Kidding via the title aside, today's Joni Balter column is a fair representation of the center-left Establishment's befuddlement with the extremely close nature of our not-so-low-profile race for Governor. Within that construct, there is not much with which to argue..... [read more]
October 03, 2008
Worth Reading
by Jim Miller, 09:31 AM, 31 Comments
Dominic Lawson on guilty Democrats. Here are the first two paragraphs: Of all the characteristics of a successful politician, none is more essential than bare-faced cheek. Never has this been more evident than in the past fortnight, as senior Democrat... [read more]
September 30, 2008
Who at the Seattle Times Watched that Ad?
by Eric Earling, 09:44 PM, 12 Comments
At the risk of sounding like a jerk, it may be a fair question to ask in the wake of today's Seattle Times story on an ad from Dino Rossi's campaign attacking Christine Gregoire's semantic denial about the state's looming... [read more]
Any Honest "Mainstream" Journalists In This Area?
by Jim Miller, 05:54 AM, 0 Comments
Yesterday, Instapundit Glenn Reynolds published this post on bias in the newsrooms. Here's the message he received from a mainstream journalist: A READER AT A MAJOR NEWSROOM EMAILS: "Off the record, every suspicion you have about MSM being in the... [read more]
September 26, 2008
The Head Of State Is Not Always The Leader
by Jim Miller, 04:27 PM, 17 Comments
The Seattle Times tries to trip up Sarah Palin — and goofs. Here's the mistake: Sarah Palin's trip to New York this week was billed as the Republican vice-presidential candidate's first chance to meet with foreign heads of state.... [read more]
September 25, 2008
In Case You Missed It: TNT Unloads on Gregoire's Stem Cell Stunt
by Eric Earling, 08:55 PM, 16 Comments
In the wake of the Seattle Times likewise calling Gregoire's bluff, from today's Tacoma News Tribune editorial page: We suggest that Gov. Chris Gregoire's campaign go back and look - real hard - for legitimate campaign issues. That wasn't so... [read more]
September 24, 2008
Correction On Valerie Jarrett
by Jim Miller, 01:40 PM, 5 Comments
In this post, I quoted the the American Spectator saying that Obama supporter Valerie Jarrett was "Iranian-American". The quotation was correct, as they usually are when you cut and paste, but the American Spectator was wrong. The anonymous author of... [read more]
The Gang Of Four Gets Gleeful
by Jim Miller, 12:31 PM, 24 Comments
Do you have any friends who work for Washington Mutual? For Lehman? For AIG? Then you know that some people are greatly worried about their jobs. And some who don't work for those companies are worried about the financial mess.... [read more]
September 22, 2008
Joel Connelly Fights Bigotry
by Jim Miller, 04:15 PM, 15 Comments
The Seattle PI columnist and I have had our differences over the years, but I admire almost everything he said about the Washington state fight over Initiative 1000. Proponents of the initiative have made harsh attacks on one of the... [read more]
September 20, 2008
McFeatters Gets Research Spending Wrong
by Jim Miller, 04:38 PM, 2 Comments
Columnist Ann McFeatters goes to a press conference — but doesn't bother to check boring budget numbers. As a result, she gets the Bush record on support for research wrong, wrong, wrong. President Bush did little for eight years to... [read more]
September 19, 2008
Steve Kelley Has A Sly Sense Of Humor
by Jim Miller, 12:39 PM, 10 Comments
(I think.) I don't look for political jokes in the sports pages, but when I find a good one, I share it. Today, over lunch, I found this one in a column in the Seattle Times on the University of... [read more]
September 17, 2008
Joel Connelly Interviews Valerie Jarrett
by Jim Miller, 09:07 AM, 24 Comments
And fails to ask her any interesting questions. Near the end of the 1996 campaign, the Seattle PI columnist had a chance to interview Bill Clinton. At that time, the Chinagate scandal was beginning to emerge, beginning to become... [read more]
September 12, 2008
Unprofessional
by Jim Miller, 01:19 PM, 32 Comments
This "article" by Seattle PI reporter Levi Pulkkinen. He begins with this: Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott wants to see George Bush impeached, whether or not, he says, Bush is still in office. He ends with this quote from McDermott: "There's... [read more]
September 09, 2008
Liberal Condescension Defined
by Eric Earling, 06:58 AM, 44 Comments
From today's P-I:... [read more]
September 06, 2008
The P-I in a Nutshell
by Eric Earling, 07:45 PM, 19 Comments
Glancing over the P-I's main webapge, I noticed something at the top of the "most read" list that caught my eye; a column titled "Disregard the current polls." Of course, it was a Dan Rather column. Figures.... [read more]
On a Lighter Note
by Eric Earling, 11:28 AM, 4 Comments
Frank Hughes, Seahawks writer at the Tacoma News Tribune has a post about his travel travails that leaves me much less envious of the life of a sports reporter. We've all been there. And I know just what he means... [read more]
September 05, 2008
Good news and bad news
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:47 AM, 23 Comments
David Postman is leaving the Seattle Times for a position with Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. I wish Postman the very best in the next stage of his career. But his absence from journalism will be a loss. While too much... [read more]
September 04, 2008
48 Percent To Go
by Jim Miller, 05:07 PM, 8 Comments
We have work to do before November. Only 52 percent of Washington's registered voters now think that the media is rooting for Obama. (8 percent think the media is rooting for John McCain; 35 percent think they are being fair... [read more]
September 03, 2008
Worth A Look
by Jim Miller, 12:44 PM, 2 Comments
Today's Devericks cartoon. A little childish, but still quite funny. In fact, it is better than today's Ramirez cartoon. (Though not nearly as good as yesterday's Ramirez cartoon.) I hope Devericks doesn't get into trouble for this departure from... [read more]
Goldy to Re-evaluate HA in November 2008
by pudge, 09:51 AM, 26 Comments
David, the man who runs a local liberal web site bemoans the lack of liberal advertising on his site (warning: not safe for work), as well as the complaints he gets for allowing conservative advertising. He says he will re-evaluate... [read more]
August 28, 2008
Some Advice For Lance Dickie:
by Jim Miller, 10:18 AM, 3 Comments
If you are going to make arguments about one party, then you have to be willing to make the same arguments about the other party. (He will almost certainly ignore this advice, but he shouldn't.)... [read more]
August 27, 2008
About those "legions of Republicans"
by Eric Earling, 08:30 PM, 6 Comments
Seattle Times editorial writer Lance Dickie thinks former Republican Congressman Jim Leach's speech to the Democratic convention last night was a big deal: Leach was speaking for legions of Republicans who twice voted for President George Bush and can barely... [read more]
August 26, 2008
Wishful Thinking?
by Jim Miller, 04:00 PM, 19 Comments
The Seattle newspapers both praised Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his running mate. First, the Seattle Times. Joe Biden adds heft to the Democratic ticket and brings few liabilities. The senior senator from Delaware gives Barack Obama some things... [read more]
August 24, 2008
Any Cartoonists Out There?
by Jim Miller, 10:43 AM, 0 Comments
From time to time I think of a cartoon that I think would go well with Sound Politics. Unfortunately, my artistic skills are limited. I can draw a picture of a stick figure — that looks something like a... [read more]
August 23, 2008
Irony Watch: Subtle Cheerleader Edition
by Eric Earling, 02:10 PM, 11 Comments
One local reporter seems perturbed that the AP did this crazy thing - called reporting breaking news - rather than wait for the Obama campaign's promised text message to announce early this morning what the political world had already figured... [read more]
August 15, 2008
More Cartoons The Seattle Papers Don't Want You To See
by Jim Miller, 10:10 AM, 24 Comments
From Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez. My favorite in the current batch is from August 13th, but you will probably find a number that you like. I have never quite figured out why the Times and the PI refuse to... [read more]
August 06, 2008
More Numbers On Gore's Proposal
by Jim Miller, 04:00 PM, 12 Comments
Which Barack Obama has adopted, in part. This time from the Wall Street Journal. Currently, alternative sources -- wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal -- provide less than 7% of yearly domestic consumption. Throw out hydro and geothermal, and it's... [read more]
Don Ward Wants You ...
by pudge, 03:24 PM, 4 Comments
Don Ward Wants You to check out his new gig at Seattle Weekly. Today he is in search of some good anti-war protestors.... [read more]
July 31, 2008
"A Curious Ambivalence"
by Jim Miller, 01:34 PM, 18 Comments
That's what the Seattle Times feels about the indictment of Senator Ted Stevens. The indictment of Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens on seven counts of making false statements on financial-disclosure forms stirs a curious ambivalence. The long-serving Republican is the meanest,... [read more]
July 30, 2008
Some Numbers On Gore's Plan
by Jim Miller, 09:02 AM, 28 Comments
Rough numbers, but numbers nonetheless, from Ron Bailey. As a very rough low estimate, Gore's 10-year no-carbon energy plan would cost about $300 billion per year for the next ten years. According to the Brattle Group consultancy, "new and replacement... [read more]
July 28, 2008
Carbon Free In Ten Years?
by Jim Miller, 10:49 AM, 52 Comments
After former vice president Al Gore gave this demagogic speech, I thought that everyone — well, almost everyone — would laugh at what he was proposing. Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity... [read more]
July 23, 2008
Thus, the bias
by Eric Earling, 09:53 PM, 41 Comments
A note from an otherwise interesting P-I article on the environmental activism/beliefs of some fervent Christians: Even opposition from evangelicals, the Christian group considered least likely to embrace warnings of climate change, might be lessening. This is the problem with... [read more]
Coverage Of Veterans For McCain Rally
by Jim Miller, 02:09 PM, 18 Comments
You can find it here and here. The first post has more pictures, the second a better description of what was said, including a powerful quote from Mark Halpern.... [read more]
July 19, 2008
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:03 PM, 22 Comments
Dorothy Parvaz is applauding Seattle initiative I-97 ("Divest from War"), "An ordinance to divest Seattle Employees' Retirement System funds from stocks and bonds funding war and occupation in the Middle East". I-97 is a one-sided campaign to both undermine the... [read more]
July 18, 2008
The Solution Is Obvious
by Jim Miller, 12:10 PM, 55 Comments
Today, on KUOW's Gang of Four show, Eli Sanders (subbing for Knute Berger) was complaining that Republicans had mocked Al Gore and John Kerry, and are now — horror of horrors — beginning to mock Barack Arugula Obama.... [read more]
An interesting coincidence
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:54 AM, 18 Comments
Seattle Times editorialist Bruce Ramsey is complaining about the US. DoJ's efforts against Peter Egner, the Serbian-born Bellevue resident who is accused of lying on his U.S. citizenship application to conceal his membership in a Nazi death squad which slaughtered... [read more]
July 16, 2008
Now that is funny
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:33 AM, 37 Comments
Lynne Varner of the Seattle Times editorial page says, without irony, that "The Obamas are not that funny"It is difficult to spoof the couple who may occupy the White House because they do very little that could be deemed ha... [read more]
July 14, 2008
A modest proposal
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:29 PM, 63 Comments
The Seattle Times applauds Greg Nickels' proposal to tax disposable grocery bags, both plastic and paper:The mayor goes further by including the fee on paper bags, arguing it takes a lot of energy and resources to make paper bags as... [read more]
July 12, 2008
The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 12:46 PM, 0 Comments
May need another proofreader. The death of James Paroline is a sad story, which didn't need this comic touch. According to police, the girls were in a car and argued with Paroline to move the cones. He refused. Things went... [read more]
July 11, 2008
Kudos To Don Gulliford
by Jim Miller, 05:09 PM, 22 Comments
For catching an error in this op-ed by University of Washington assistant political science professor, Christopher Parker. Here are the first two paragraphs of Gulliford's letter. As a U.S. Air Force veteran, I thought University of Washington political science professor... [read more]
July 08, 2008
More Historical Mistakes From Joel Connelly
by Jim Miller, 06:24 PM, 8 Comments
Hoping, perhaps, to spoil my July 4th celebration, the Seattle PI columnist produced this reminiscence on World War II, and managed to get several facts wrong. Even so, I probably would have not have bothered to do this post except... [read more]
July 01, 2008
Yes we can!
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:56 AM, 24 Comments
Seattle Times: "Puget Sound-area commuters are getting creative to avoid rising gas prices"Feeling the pinch at the gas pump, local workers and employers are not waiting for City Hall, the federal government or OPEC to ease the pressure. Instead, they... [read more]
June 30, 2008
The journalism is as objective as the scholarship
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:01 PM, 37 Comments
Today's Seattle Times insinuates that Dave Reichert's well-deserved reputation for independence is merely a facade, and gets supporting quotes from three supposedly objective scholars:"If he can't represent himself as a moderate Republican, he's dead in the water," said [UW communications... [read more]
June 29, 2008
Laying in that Bed You Made
by Eric Earling, 09:12 AM, 21 Comments
The flip side of the PC-infused discourse many on the left have promulgated is that pillars of the MSM Establishment tend to hold everyone accountable for failing to adhere to such standards. Hence, today's very public scolding of the state... [read more]
June 28, 2008
"7 simple ideas to help solve global warming"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:01 PM, 29 Comments
Today's Seattle Times has an excerpt from the Sierra Club book Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet: Everyday Things to Help Solve Global Warming. As could be expected, the 7 ideas aren't really all that simple, and the article offers... [read more]
June 26, 2008
Let's Help Dave Ross
by Jim Miller, 10:15 AM, 12 Comments
During his discussion of the Supreme Court Heller decision, talk show host Dave Ross said that the United States has the "largest standing army" in the world. That's such an revealing mistake that I thought we should help Ross correct... [read more]
June 25, 2008
Let's Just Call a Spade, a Spade
by Eric Earling, 10:38 PM, 7 Comments
David Postman offers some coverage of the looming spending coming from a PAC of Democratic interests (past Sound Politics coverage of the group here and here). Without saying it directly, the underlying message is that a collection of "powerful special... [read more]
Blame The Candidate
by Jim Miller, 01:32 PM, 6 Comments
As you may recall, on Sunday, the Seattle Times editorial page editor, James Vesely, said that you should not blame the candidates, for breaking a promise to use public financing for the general election, and other sins. (I may be... [read more]
June 24, 2008
A Drink at the Bar of Things Left Unsaid
by Eric Earling, 08:04 PM, 25 Comments
Shot: Chaser: "Many top hedge fund managers back Obama" More here. UPDATE: the comment thread at Horsey's cartoon reminded me of something I almost forgot: Chelsea Clinton works at one.... [read more]
Hey, I Know That Guy
by Eric Earling, 07:28 PM, 12 Comments
One of my most trusted friends in politics, former Slade Gorton chief-of-staff Tony Williams, has an op-ed in today's Seattle Times examining the implications of Obama's youth vote. Williams says Obama voters are more likely to either not finish their... [read more]
June 22, 2008
"Don't Blame The Candidates"
by Jim Miller, 01:04 PM, 50 Comments
When they break their promises, and defy the spirit of our campaign finance laws. So says the Seattle Times editorial page editor, James Vesely. Don't blame the candidates. They are not fully in charge. They are as much the creatures... [read more]
June 21, 2008
Speaking of Joel Connelly and Global-warmist hypocrisy...
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:08 AM, 13 Comments
One wonders how many tons of greenhouse gasses the professedly anti-gasoline Connelly blows out of his automobile every year while commuting between his neighborhood in Seattle and his "REAL home" on Whidbey Island.... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:00 AM, 18 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly reports that the Anti-Defamation League has condemned the BIAW for a newsletter article that compared environmentalists to Nazis. The BIAW article, which Connelly doesn't link to, is here on p. 8. Reasonable people can debate... [read more]
It is in the P-I
by Eric Earling, 09:54 AM, 5 Comments
NASA's recent activity on Mars may have caused a slight realignment of the celestial order, because today's P-I contains a remarkably fair story discussing outside money on both sides of the Governor's race. The coverage does a more than reasonable... [read more]
June 20, 2008
Violin Teacher?
by Jim Miller, 08:27 AM, 49 Comments
Or convicted ecoterrorist? The Seattle Times prefers the first label, but the second label is more appropriate for this story. Briana Waters, a California woman convicted in March of assisting in the 2001 arson that destroyed the University of Washington's... [read more]
June 06, 2008
KUOW's Gang Of Four Gets More Politically Diverse
by Jim Miller, 01:50 PM, 12 Comments
By bringing in a supporter of Hillary Clinton, Erica Barnett* from an alternative newspaper, the Stranger, to join the usual four, all of them supporters of the candidate who must not be middle-named, Barack Obama. One can't say that the... [read more]
May 30, 2008
The KUOW Gang Of Four Gets Even More Partisan
by Jim Miller, 05:10 PM, 15 Comments
Those who have followed this occasional series will recall that the show seldom has much partisan balance. But with the Democratic nomination contest approaching an end, and the general election contest starting up, the gang has become even more partisan.... [read more]
May 27, 2008
P-I Editorial Board: Call your office!
by Eric Earling, 11:07 PM, 8 Comments
The liberals of Elliot Ave are fond of lecturing us that Iran isn't really a threat to the United States or the West, the mullahcracy is simply misunderstand...or something like that (past coverage here, here, and here). Perhaps recent confirmation... [read more]
The Revolving Door Between the Media & Democrats
by Eric Earling, 09:40 PM, 16 Comments
KING-5 political reporter Robert Mak is the latest to take the plunge from journalist to political operative, signing on as Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' Communications Director. Recall that Seattle Times reporter Alex Fryer jumped to Mayor Nickels' team in 2007,... [read more]
Catching Up on Your Reading
by Eric Earling, 07:42 AM, 30 Comments
Notable stories, if you missed them over the holiday weekend: 1) The Seattle Times profiled both state party spokespersons, including former blogger and current WSRP wearer of many hats, Patrick Bell (P.S. does Steele look like a non-obese Michael Moore?).... [read more]
May 21, 2008
No, Former Army Chaplain James Yee Was Not Exonerated
by Jim Miller, 12:42 PM, 28 Comments
Even though the Associated Press says so. The Associated Press is up to their usual tricks with this one. According to our post back on March 20, 2004, Yee was certainly not exonerated or cleared; the charges were dropped, according... [read more]
May 19, 2008
Appeasement redux
by Eric Earling, 07:41 AM, 106 Comments
Bruce Ramsey has a follow-up post to his original discussion of appeasement that caught Stefan's attention as well as that of a number of national blogs, including HotAir. I'll have more to say on this later as a broader point... [read more]
May 18, 2008
Gary Chittim, Ignorance, and Bias
by pudge, 11:51 AM, 32 Comments
Last year I wrote a piece criticizing reporter Gary Chittim of KING-5 in Seattle, exposing his bias in uncritically, and ignorantly, accepting the claims of "environmentalists." At the time what set me off was his blind acceptance, and repetition, of... [read more]
May 16, 2008
Bruce Ramsey: "Hitler's demands were not unreasonable"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:17 PM, 74 Comments
Seattle Times editorial writer Bruce Ramsey on the Times editorial blog today:Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to "negotiate with terrorists and radicals" is "appeasement." The Democrats took it as a... [read more]
May 15, 2008
60 Million Dead? No Big Deal
by Jim Miller, 02:05 PM, 0 Comments
This morning I was listening, briefly, to local talk show host Dave Ross. Ross is what you might call a member of the Defeat Now! caucus. He wants an American defeat in Iraq, and he wants it now. I came... [read more]
May 14, 2008
Welcome to the Northwest, Red County!
by Eric Earling, 07:01 PM, 7 Comments
Right-of-center website and magazine Red County has branched out into our lovely backyard with a Washington State offering. From talking with them, it looks like one can expect focused coverage of the Governor's race as well as state initiatives too...plus... [read more]
May 12, 2008
Did Somebody Drink My Kool-Aid?
by Eric Earling, 06:46 PM, 13 Comments
Coverage of Obama so bizarre it even raises an eyebrow over at the Stranger. Very cute.... [read more]
May 05, 2008
Unintended Comedy
by Eric Earling, 07:55 AM, 26 Comments
Danny Westneat offers an anecdote-rich view of trying to "go green" with the family automobile, confirming that whatever the merits of lessening dependence on oil, the current biofuel phenomenon appears headed toward its own entry in the unintended consequences hall... [read more]
April 28, 2008
Credit For President Bush
by Jim Miller, 02:17 PM, 28 Comments
From the Seattle PI. Which is not in the habit of giving President Bush (or any other Republican) credit for anything. President Bush's great achievements in fighting the HIV pandemic need an early, decisive extension by Congress. That would send... [read more]
April 23, 2008
The Heart of the Issue
by Eric Earling, 09:29 PM, 35 Comments
Lynne Varner's column today is worth a read, since it digs deeper into the story of a Seattle-area teacher refusing to administer the WASL. The crux of Varner's point: arguments about the WASL aside, ongoing inertia from the status quo... [read more]
April 21, 2008
Global Warming, The Scientist, And The Incurious NPR Host
by Jim Miller, 02:19 PM, 71 Comments
First, the basic data for the last ten years, which I have taken from this open letter.... [read more]
April 15, 2008
Behold, the Fruit of the Bigger Dance
by Eric Earling, 07:31 PM, 8 Comments
Yes, that Bigger Dance. The famous - or infamous - KJR AM contest mimicking the NCAA tournament, where the winner of the official bracket contest wins a trip for two to a sporting event anywhere in the world. Regular readers... [read more]
April 14, 2008
Obama Should Have Lied
by Jim Miller, 01:12 PM, 89 Comments
Even if he was speaking privately. Or so Dave Ross says. This morning, while waiting for Eric Earling to speak his few lines, I listened to about half an hour of the Dave Ross show. As you might expect,... [read more]
April 13, 2008
Blogger Radio
by Eric Earling, 08:01 PM, 9 Comments
Tune in tomorrow/Monday am to KUOW for a bloggers hour from 10-11, as part of the regular Weekday program. You can listen via radio, live online, or via MP3 at the Weekday webpage after the fact. The line-up, as moderated... [read more]
April 09, 2008
Three Cheers for Alex Alben!
by Eric Earling, 09:24 PM, 20 Comments
No joke. Read his op-ed calling the bluff of Republicans and Democrats alike who ascribe the President - or the federal government for that matter - with decisive powers over our national economy. Well said, Alex. The federal government, and... [read more]
April 08, 2008
Now That Cartoonist Michael Ramirez Has Won His Second Pulitzer Prize
by Jim Miller, 09:19 AM, 11 Comments
Maybe editorial page editors Mark Trahant and James Vesely will consider running some of his cartoons. (In recent years, most Pulitzer prizes in journalism have been best viewed as reprimands, since they usually go to journalists who have done shoddy... [read more]
April 03, 2008
Democrats & Trade
by Eric Earling, 07:58 AM, 42 Comments
The Seattle Times editorial board takes the Democratic Presidential contenders to task for their selective and convenient positioning on trade. It's about time.... [read more]
March 30, 2008
... the worst of Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:45 PM, 70 Comments
Today's Seattle Times calls for more candidates to run for state Supreme Court:An intriguing choice would be Ronald Cox, who has quietly built a solid reputation on the [state Court of Appeals]. Cox is African American.Why is Cox's ethnicity even... [read more]
March 26, 2008
Kudos To The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 08:06 AM, 0 Comments
For publishing Captain Aaron Bert's blog, The Other War, describing his experiences in Afghanistan. As I write, there are just two entries, but both are interesting. In the first, he makes this surprising comment: There is an abundance of fresh... [read more]
March 24, 2008
Time to play "Name that Party!"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:43 AM, 94 Comments
The Seattle Times website currently carries an AP article on yet another political sex scandal:Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a one-time rising star and Detroit's youngest elected leader, was charged Monday with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages contradicted... [read more]
March 23, 2008
It's In the P-I
by Eric Earling, 07:53 PM, 1 Comments
What a splendid day to view what passes for critical thought in some liberal circles. Behold today's P-I opinion page: 1) An unsigned editorial expressing utter befuddlement about the situation in Iraq based on the number of US & Iraqi... [read more]
March 16, 2008
Some Advice For The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 05:47 PM, 15 Comments
Don't imitate the Los Angeles Times. Not if you want to stay in business, anyway.... [read more]
March 10, 2008
Time to play "Name that party!"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:47 AM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer website has a breaking news story from the Associated Press: "NY governor linked to prostitution ring" The New York Times is reporting that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a... [read more]
March 05, 2008
On the radio - link updated
by Eric Earling, 07:05 PM, 2 Comments
I took a timeout from being a salary-slave to the man today to hop on KUOW's "The Conversation" with some fellow local bloggers. You can listen here. I came on second after the Stranger's Eli Sanders dissected yesterday's Democratic exit... [read more]
Bring Back Tammany Hall!
by Jim Miller, 02:07 PM, 10 Comments
From time to time, I have argued that most leftists are actually reactionaries. That would explain, for instance, their support for 19th century forms of transportation, such as rail transit and trolleys, or their support for the kind of government... [read more]
March 04, 2008
Innumeracy At The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 10:50 AM, 37 Comments
Yesterday's newspaper had an op-ed by Gary Locke and Sue Donaldson with an astonishing mistake. Low-wage workers pay a disproportionate share of their incomes to taxes. Even if they don't pay any federal income taxes, they pay sales taxes and... [read more]
Finally Saying It Publicly
by Eric Earling, 07:19 AM, 11 Comments
Liberal columnist Joel Connelly says in print what many politicos have been saying for years: the Sierra Club is not a fair-minded, issue advocacy group. It's a partisan front-organization. And Connelly defends John McCain. The notion of the presumed GOP... [read more]
March 02, 2008
Let's Not and Say We Did
by Eric Earling, 07:15 PM, 30 Comments
An editorial in today's Everett Herald was depressingly parochial and careless in expressing dismay about Boeing's failure to win the much-anticipated contract to replace the Air Force's tanker fleet. Now, there are reasons to raise questions and expect related answers... [read more]
February 29, 2008
WFB Tribute (Update)
by DonWard, 12:48 AM, 12 Comments
Erstwhile Sound Politics commenter Scott St. Clair "Piper Scott" took time away from his bagpipes - and baiting emotionally handicapped trolls on HA - to pen a eulogy about William F. Buckley's passing; explaining how the founder of National Review... [read more]
February 24, 2008
The Wrong Line of Defense
by Eric Earling, 02:11 PM, 12 Comments
David Horsey doesn't think much of critics of the New York Times's recent attempt at an expose on John McCain. His reasons why leave something to be desired. He says critics allege the Times "concocted" the story. That really misses... [read more]
February 22, 2008
Kudos To The Seattle PI
by Jim Miller, 07:45 AM, 61 Comments
And Managing Editor Dave McCumber. For what they didn't print. I chose not to run the New York Times story on John McCain in Thursday's P-I, even though it was available to us on the New York Times News Service.... [read more]
February 21, 2008
Poor Timing
by Jim Miller, 07:04 AM, 22 Comments
Two examples, one from each Seattle newspaper. On Monday, the Seattle Times editorial board made this prediction. How will he do it, how will President Gen. Pervez Musharraf rig Pakistan's parliamentary elections today to ensure his hold on power?... [read more]
February 16, 2008
Open "Stefan Sharkansky" Thread
by pudge, 05:49 PM, 102 Comments
A lot of people have been asking about Stefan Sharkansky -- the proprietor of this establishment -- most particularly why he is posting without allowing comments. I have no answers; I don't really care. My guess is that he doesn't... [read more]
February 15, 2008
The Gang Of Four Get Obamania
by Jim Miller, 01:54 PM, 22 Comments
Today, there were two substitutes in KUOW's Gang of Four. KUOW's Marcie Sillman was filling in for host Steve Scher, who is ill, and Naomi Ishisaka of Colors Northwest was filling in for Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times. The... [read more]
Coming Next: the Page 3 Girls
by Eric Earling, 07:20 AM, 27 Comments
It not a bad guess to presume the P-I will end up becoming a liberal tabloid-style newspaper or an online-only publication at some point. Today's Joel Connelly's column on our tight local race for Governor hastens the move toward the... [read more]
February 13, 2008
That Insight Madrassa Story Pops Up Again
by Jim Miller, 05:05 PM, 12 Comments
Today, the Seattle PI published Joel Connelly's column listing errors by other pundits in the region. Amusingly, Connelly makes a mistake of his own in the column. Here are the key paragraphs: The conservative online magazine Insight "reported" last year... [read more]
Some Perspective From 2004
by Jim Miller, 03:32 PM, 8 Comments
As I suspect most of you have done, I have followed the controversy over Luke Esser's release of partial caucus results, and his claim that McCain was most likely the winner, with some bemusement. For one thing, as a number... [read more]
February 11, 2008
McCain Media Press Conference
by DonWard, 04:29 PM, 11 Comments
As promised here is the audio from the rolling press conference aboard McCain's Magical Media bus. After the Arizona senator touched down at Boeing Field he parried questions from Seattle's finest political writers for 30 minutes. A lot of presidential... [read more]
Not Bad
by Jim Miller, 09:36 AM, 22 Comments
But he should have asked some follow-up questions. As regular readers know, I am quite critical of most "mainstream" journalists. (For an example, see this post.) But I had a good experience with one local journalist, KOMO Radio's Charlie Harger.... [read more]
February 09, 2008
I'd Like No Sense of Humor for $400, Alex
by Eric Earling, 08:03 PM, 7 Comments
Dan Catchpole, intern reporter and contributor to the P-I's Strange Bedfellows Blog evidently thinks cracking jokes with a Biblical reference isn't funny. Um, if a former Southern Baptist minister - typically considered one of the most fundamentalist denominations in the... [read more]
February 07, 2008
Some Help For Local "Mainstream" Journalists
by Jim Miller, 12:52 PM, 21 Comments
The Democratic candidates for president, and their surrogates, will be visiting Washington in the next few days, hoping to capture the hearts of the party apparatchiks, and the votes of the Democratic caucuses. Some of our local journalists may have... [read more]
Quote of the Day
by Eric Earling, 07:41 AM, 20 Comments
From an Everett Herald story on the questions that will be asked of Democratic caucus attendees: "We're not as obsessed with categorizing Americans as our Democratic friends," state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser said.... [read more]
February 06, 2008
Game Changer
by Eric Earling, 10:42 PM, 16 Comments
Casey Corr has single-handedly made me more enthusiastic for the GOP Presidential ticket this fall: the notion, remote as it might be, that Jay Inslee could be the Democratic nominee for Vice President. No. Thank. You.... [read more]
February 04, 2008
Washington's Caucuses
by Eric Earling, 09:31 PM, 25 Comments
There's some truth to the P-I's story on the possible impact of the Evergreen State caucuses on Saturday. That impact is likely to be more serious on the Democratic side, with both candidates looking for wins in what looks to... [read more]
The Seattle PI And The Stranger Agree With Me
by Jim Miller, 11:23 AM, 43 Comments
Tacitly. Both the PI and one of our local alternative newspapers have endorsed Barack Obama. (You can find the PI endorsement here; I generally don't link to the Stranger because it is not suitable for sprogs, but you should be... [read more]
February 03, 2008
Please stop saying foolish things
by Eric Earling, 10:08 PM, 15 Comments
I've been generally disappointed with the overall quality of local news coverage via newspapers, radio, and TV of Presidential race topics, but this article from the P-I really takes the cake for amateur analysis. Equating number of donors to projected... [read more]
February 02, 2008
P-I Presidential Endorsements - UPDATE: Times for McCain too
by Eric Earling, 04:36 PM, 94 Comments
Sunday's editorial discussing their chosen ones for both is online. Barack Obama for the Democrats. No surprise. John McCain for the Republicans. No surprise. Key reasons for the McCain endorsement: "very sensible positions on immigration, fiscal policy, global warming and... [read more]
January 31, 2008
KIRO cancels Goldy
by DonWard, 01:08 AM, 44 Comments
As the Western Union of local radio show cancellations here at Sound Politics I have the duty to inform you of the demise of the "David Goldstein Show" on KIRO 710. Personally I am rather sorry. It is obvious that... [read more]
January 30, 2008
Worried About Even the appearance of Conflict of Interest
by Eric Earling, 09:54 PM, 8 Comments
I think the story of the Seattle Times encouraging all newsroom employees not to participate in the upcoming party caucuses and primaries is fascinating. Encouraging the political reporters to stay out of it is one thing, though I don't see... [read more]
I Won't Miss John Edwards
by Jim Miller, 01:43 PM, 36 Comments
Now that he is leaving the race. Here's what the New York Times had to say about his exit: John Edwards, the progressive Democratic candidate who made a populist, antipoverty message the centerpiece of his campaign, announced his exit... [read more]
January 27, 2008
Endorsements Away
by Eric Earling, 08:57 AM, 69 Comments
The Seattle Times has endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President. Their GOP endorsement is forthcoming next Sunday. I would like to place a wager that we'll see the Times backing John McCain, with many a kind word... [read more]
January 23, 2008
Good Point
by Jim Miller, 12:28 PM, 32 Comments
The Seattle PI approves of banning plastic bags at "large chain grocery stores", but thinks the ban should be more general. Letter writer Patricia Warren replied, suggesting that the PI give up its own plastic bags. (Don't count on that... [read more]
January 14, 2008
Connelly in Nevada
by Eric Earling, 07:45 AM, 10 Comments
In the era of dwindling newsroom budgets, the P-I has again stepped up to the plate by sending Joel Connelly to cover the Democratic caucuses in Nevada. We have our disagreements with Connelly here at Sound Politics, but I applaud... [read more]
January 04, 2008
Are You Talking?
by Eric Earling, 10:17 PM, 25 Comments
Ryan Blethen has a column lamenting that the also-ran Presidential candidates are finally starting to be excluded from Presidential debates. Blethen says this does "voters a disservice by excluding serious candidates." Specifically, he is troubled by these criteria: The limits... [read more]
Re: Locally Known Pollster A Big Part of National Story
by Eric Earling, 08:27 PM, 8 Comments
There appears to be confusion about the story discussed below. Davis Postman's reporting discusses the issue in terms of Moore Information being accused of "push polling," which they deny. Josh Feit's liberal heart leaps with the joy at the hope... [read more]
January 01, 2008
Joel Connelly Does Iowa
by Eric Earling, 04:56 PM, 20 Comments
We here at Sound Politics often find ourselves in disagreement with the P-I's Joel Connelly, but props to that paper for actually investing the resources in sending its top political reporter to Iowa to cover the political story dominating the... [read more]
December 21, 2007
KUOW's Gang Of Four Get Religion:
by Jim Miller, 05:41 PM, 29 Comments
Well, not really. But last Friday, the Gang of Four did spend much of the Weekday program discussing religion and politics. Since none of the four has any religious beliefs, the discussion reminded me, at times, of four monks discussing... [read more]
December 18, 2007
Something to Like About Joel Connelly
by Eric Earling, 10:13 PM, 68 Comments
He's been beating the anti-Jim McDermott drum for quite some time. The latest installment is here.... [read more]
Hide the Kids, the Apocalypse is Upon Us
by Eric Earling, 08:19 PM, 5 Comments
Michael Hood over at blatherwatch spoke truth recently, chiding the gray-bearded thinking over at KUOW. The idea of getting past the supposed sages of the dead tree press and hearing from the new media is, however, seemingly beyond the scope... [read more]
December 14, 2007
This Morning I Saw Something Extraordinary On A Local TV Station
by Jim Miller, 02:12 PM, 0 Comments
Q13, the local Fox affiliate, ran a positive story on the war on terror. It is the first positive story I can recall seeing in months on a local news program, though I have once or twice seen reports that... [read more]
December 12, 2007
Read This Article
by Eric Earling, 08:00 PM, 1 Comments
On a bit more serious note than the below post, but along the "we heart Obama" theme, do take the time to read Eli Sanders's coverage of Obama in Iowa that I linked to yesterday. I've had the time to... [read more]
Why Campaigns Give Papers Exclusive Interviews
by Eric Earling, 07:52 PM, 6 Comments
They often get turned into the journalistic equivalent of fellatio. Sometimes twice in the same paper. Makes for nice afterglow from the campaign's perspective as they blow town.... [read more]
December 11, 2007
Reason #7,453 I don't trust the MSM
by Eric Earling, 10:02 PM, 24 Comments
This one is a bit in the weeds, but an example of when journalists get significant facts in stories I know a lot about wrong, it makes me not want to trust they stories I know less about before reading... [read more]
December 05, 2007
Lurking Behind the Scenes...
by Eric Earling, 07:34 AM, 26 Comments
Beyond the actual words of today's Seattle Times editorial on Iran, one gets the feeling from its argument - and others of like mind - that the author honestly thinks against all logic that a number of people in the... [read more]
December 04, 2007
Some Stories I Would Just As Soon Skip
by Jim Miller, 06:18 PM, 26 Comments
Such as this one. A member of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's staff has been charged in federal court after a sting operation in which he allegedly solicited sex from what he thought was a 13-year-old boy. James Michael McHaney, 28,... [read more]
November 30, 2007
Great Column By Nicole Brodeur
by Jim Miller, 01:39 PM, 68 Comments
No, really. Here are the first two paragraphs. You don't want to go down there. Not even in broad daylight, and certainly not alone. That was the warning I got from some Seattle Parks and Recreation employees the other day.... [read more]
November 25, 2007
I'll Take Captain Obvious for $200, Alex
by Eric Earling, 09:23 AM, 23 Comments
Today's Seattle Times breaks the stunning story that persons and organizations with issues before state government are donating to an incumbent Governor after spreading their money around when the seat was open four years ago. Campaign hands across the state... [read more]
November 24, 2007
The Sunday Funnies - Impeachment Edition
by Eric Earling, 12:43 PM, 66 Comments
The P-I's website is kind enough to provide them a day early.... [read more]
November 20, 2007
Modest Fellow, Isn't He?
by Jim Miller, 03:14 PM, 27 Comments
Near the end of this column by the Seattle Times editorial page editor, Jim Vesely, is this claim: Media companies, especially newspapers, are by default nearly the lone agents of the democratic form of government.... [read more]
Headline of the Day
by Eric Earling, 07:12 AM, 18 Comments
From the P-I online: Angelina Jolie is the antidote to despair Even my wife agrees. Oh, wait, that's not what the column is about...... [read more]
November 17, 2007
Another radio host bites the dust
by DonWard, 03:23 AM, 54 Comments
Fall is upon us. And it looks like it isn't just the Thanksgiving turkeys that are getting their heads lopped off around here what with the string of local radio personalities given the axe. Apparently 770 KTTH no longer needs... [read more]
November 16, 2007
Who Are Those "Anti-War Protesters"
by Jim Miller, 08:30 AM, 87 Comments
The Port of Olympia has had a long series of protests, targeting the movement of military equipment. Our local news organizations commonly refer to the often violent demonstrators as "anti-war protesters", as you can see in this example. Five anti-war... [read more]
November 14, 2007
Outrage Continues Over Flaying of Archbishop Murphy
by Eric Earling, 07:27 AM, 39 Comments
High school sports writer Craig Smith, aka "Sideline Smitty," took a swing in yesterday's Seattle Times sports page at the Archbishop Murphy debacle. Smitty expresses the stunned disgust I have yet to see disputed by any soul I've spoken to... [read more]
November 13, 2007
Update: Bryan Suits MIA?
by DonWard, 06:50 PM, 91 Comments
It looks like Bryan Suits left a message in the comment thread of my last post. So it isn't lost in the midst of the Sound Politics readership mourning and wake I've copied it here. 160. You can contact me... [read more]
November 10, 2007
Bryan Suits MIA?
by DonWard, 03:34 AM, 229 Comments
It looks like Bryan Suits is no longer hosting the 3-6 p.m. drive-time slot at 570 KVI. In fact it looks like he is no longer working at the radio station period. After attending the FCC Hearing on Media Ownership... [read more]
November 08, 2007
Some Stories Are Important, Some Aren't
by Jim Miller, 07:37 AM, 12 Comments
That's the lesson of this op-ed by journalism professor Andrea Otanez. In the middle of the column, Otanez makes this admission: Still, the mainstream media are condemned for not reporting successes [in the Iraq war], and maybe rightly so. Maybe?!?... [read more]
November 05, 2007
Chuckle
by Jim Miller, 01:13 PM, 43 Comments
A month ago, I put up this post to encourage people to understand what "neoconservative" means, rather than just to use it as a term of abuse. (And cross-posted it here, in the hope that we would get more knowledgeable... [read more]
November 03, 2007
Wonder If She Has Ever Read Any Heinlein?
by Jim Miller, 12:42 PM, 42 Comments
That was my reaction to this piece by Nisi Shawl, who "reviews science fiction for The Seattle Times". Her piece begins with this paragraph: The face of fantastic fiction is changing. More than just its face: This former locus of... [read more]
November 02, 2007
KUOW's Gang Of Four Gets Another Republican Sex Scandal
by Jim Miller, 02:07 PM, 34 Comments
And they were delighted. In my description of these four journalists, I say that "nothing delights them more than a Republican sex scandal". Today's Weekday Program illustrated that point, one more time. Today, there was more good news on the... [read more]
October 31, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:33 PM, 23 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly reveals today why he doesn't like initiatives, e.g. I-960, which put the brakes on runaway state taxing and spending:The ferry system recently has experienced an upward spiral of rates, part of it brought on by... [read more]
D. Parvaz Can Understand Why Someone Might Commit Arson
by Jim Miller, 06:22 AM, 23 Comments
If they select the right target. It's one thing to set fire to The Man at the Burning Man festival a few days early -- at least the effigy is built to be burned, albeit at a specific hour. But... [read more]
October 30, 2007
Things that make you go "hmmm" (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:36 PM, 17 Comments
A working journalist e-mailed regarding my previous post about journalists who have gone on to work for politicians:You're missing the forest for the trees. If you look at the same page you linked to, the other contact person is listed... [read more]
Things that make you go "hmmm"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:42 PM, 16 Comments
Earlier this year Seattle Times reporter Alex Fryer persuaded his management to run an advocacy series on climate change. I just noticed today that Fryer is now a spokesman for Greg Nickels (in the Office of Sustainability and Environment). His... [read more]
Because Joni Balter doesn't like other people encroaching on her turf?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:52 AM, 3 Comments
Seattle Times editorial: "Stop the slime, Della"... [read more]
October 29, 2007
Crosscut announces blog
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:24 AM, 17 Comments
Crosscut announced today that it is starting a blog. Huh? I thought that Crosscut already was a blog.... [read more]
October 28, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:38 PM, 17 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly has posted a simple desultory philippic against independent-minded political commentary:interim King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg gets pummeled by a popular Republican-aligned Web site, whose proprietor can't stand his moderation or that he gets support from... [read more]
October 27, 2007
It's (no longer) in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:54 AM, 11 Comments
Word comes that some P-I staffers are upset that independent columnist Ted Van Dyk ended his seven year association with the newspaper last week after editors spiked his column -- because it repeated his criticism of Prop. 1. Van Dyk... [read more]
October 26, 2007
The Democracy Paper
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:06 AM, 6 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial against I-25 is so puerile that it (unwittingly) presents the perfect case for I-25:Electing an elections director will politicize the office because the individual in office may operate in ways that lead to re-election.That's the whole... [read more]
Reporters ask the least interesting things
by DonWard, 06:52 AM, 23 Comments
I generally try to avoid commenting about the foibles of my fellow press jackals. Glass houses, burning bridges, that sort of thing. Plus I'm a native Washingtonian; because of my breeding I'm usually pretty laid back. Yesterday, though, all my... [read more]
October 25, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:58 PM, 15 Comments
Editorial I: "Climate Change (part I): Age of mega-fires"Today, California's burning. Tomorrow, who knows? The wildfires and the unprecedented evacuations are a phenomenon that is likely to grow across the West as unchecked climate change wreaks havoc with temperature and... [read more]
October 24, 2007
Reminder To The Editors At The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 02:21 PM, 8 Comments
You still haven't corrected this error. (Unless your search routine isn't working correctly.) It was an embarrassing mistake, and the longer it goes uncorrected, the more embarrassing it will become. Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.... [read more]
October 23, 2007
Media Bias You Say?
by Eric Earling, 09:09 PM, 13 Comments
Personally, I think a lot of what we conservatives see as bias in the MSM is unintentional, the product of group-think, conducted in a cocoon of similar minds, devoid of more ideologically diverse perspectives. The Seattle Times was kind enough... [read more]
October 19, 2007
Oops!
by Jim Miller, 01:05 PM, 4 Comments
A sharp-eyed emailer spotted this mistake in today's Seattle Times. Washington state last went for a Republican presidential candidate in 1988, picking George H.W. Bush over Michael Dukakis, 54 percent to 46 percent.... [read more]
Joel Connelly Makes Progress
by Jim Miller, 12:16 PM, 9 Comments
No, I am not being sarcastic. Today, in an unexceptionable column on candidates and personal morality, he said this: By 3 p.m. Thursday, [Venus] Velazquez was being written off by bloggers left (the Stranger) and right (Sound Politics). I expect... [read more]
October 18, 2007
Open Thread On Power Outages
by Jim Miller, 05:01 PM, 27 Comments
And other storm damage. (I have seen no damage from where I live in Kirkland, which is south of downtown and a few blocks from Lake Street. Though I haven't seen a hummingbird visit my feeder today.) Update: I had... [read more]
October 15, 2007
How Did The Times And The PI Cover Lieutenant Murphy's Medal Of Honor?
by Jim Miller, 08:06 AM, 43 Comments
After reading that the New York Times has, so far, completely ignored Lieutenant Michael Murphy's Medal of Honor, I wondered how the two Seattle papers had covered (or not covered) the same story.... [read more]
October 14, 2007
Congratulations To The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 09:27 AM, 12 Comments
And to reporters David Heath and Hal Bernton, for this fine article on earmarks. First, some bottom line numbers: People who benefit from earmarks generally give money to those who deliver them: Of the nearly 500 companies identified as getting... [read more]
October 12, 2007
KUOW's Gang Of Four On Al Gore And Light Rail
by Jim Miller, 03:32 PM, 10 Comments
Today,the second half of KUOW's Weekday program began with a commercial for the station. It is fund raising time for this NPR affiliate. The plea reminded me why I don't contribute, and why I urge others not to contribute, either.... [read more]
October 11, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:41 AM, 12 Comments
Thursday's P-I says vote NO on I-25. The only arguments against I-25 are weak, but the P-I's arguments are completely bankrupt. The P-I admits that the question of electing an elections director "could be a good discussion item". But rejecting... [read more]
October 10, 2007
Danny Westneat's stunningly childish argument for light rail
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:30 PM, 62 Comments
Today's Danny Westneat column is stunningly childish: "Light rail: We will love it". Westneat reports on his trip to Portland, where he rode the light rail a few times, loved the experience and concludes that Seattle "really, really needs" light... [read more]
October 09, 2007
The Seattle Times Editorial Writers Agree With The Rickert Decision
by Jim Miller, 12:44 PM, 11 Comments
And quote a good line from Justice Johnson. The law forbade a candidate from telling a lie, with malicious intent, about an opponent. But who determines which statements are lies, and which intents are malicious? The law empowered the Public... [read more]
October 08, 2007
The academic dark age of Christine Gregoire
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:18 PM, 36 Comments
Today's Crosscut posts an item from UW Computer Science professor Ed Lazowska, complaining about the lack of research funding from the Bush administration: "The scientific dark age of George Bush". But farther down in the article are observations which indicate... [read more]
October 06, 2007
Some Iran Reading for the P-I Editorial Board
by Eric Earling, 03:53 PM, 13 Comments
Given the P-I editorial board's fervent and bizarre position on Iran, including defense of the Revolutionary Guards, a review of this Christian Science Monitor article summarizing the Guards' role in Iran is in order. In short, they're much akin to... [read more]
Chuckles For Today
by Jim Miller, 02:32 PM, 8 Comments
It's a gray day, and the Mariners didn't make the playoffs, so some may be feeling a little down. It is kind of the editorial writers at the PI and the Times to try to cheer us up.... [read more]
But...But....I Said It Was For the Kids...AND I MEANT IT!
by Eric Earling, 09:53 AM, 157 Comments
If David Horsey's recent cartoon on the SCHIP issue was an obnoxious form of the non sequitur debate unfolding on the topic, yesterday's Seattle Times editorial was a more temperate stroll down the same errant path. The Times assesses that... [read more]
October 05, 2007
KUOW's Gang Of Four Meets RTID-ST2
by Jim Miller, 04:22 PM, 12 Comments
Today, KUOW's Gang of Four began by discussing the recent Washington Supreme Court decision that the state should not decide which politicians were lying in their campaign ads. Somewhat to my relief, all four agreed with the decision, and Danny... [read more]
Surrender Dorothy
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:21 PM, 24 Comments
Unlawfully registered Seattle P-I editorial writer Dorothy ("D.") Parvaz cancelled her voter registration today, mooting a registration challenge, says King County Elections Director Sherril Huff. Perhaps this item in today's Tri-City Herald convinced Parvaz to correct the record: "Prosser man... [read more]
October 04, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:13 PM, 4 Comments
P-I Associate Publisher Kenneth Bunting in Friday's column:I couldn't agree more with those who say that personal character attacks and name calling hurt the quality of discourse in politics, and communications in generalI guess it's Bunting's distaste for name-calling that... [read more]
What Is A Neoconservative?
by Jim Miller, 08:14 AM, 0 Comments
For months, I have been planning to write this piece. Now Joshua Muravchik has done it for me, and has done a better job than I would have.... [read more]
October 03, 2007
But, It's For the Kids
by Eric Earling, 09:46 PM, 66 Comments
True to form, David Horsey's latest encapsulates the Democratic mantra that President Bush's opposition to the version of SCHIP reauthorization sent to his desk must be because he hates kids. Especially sick kids. A local liberal blogger likes the meme... [read more]
October 02, 2007
Bad Headline Department
by Eric Earling, 07:25 AM, 23 Comments
"Will court kill voters' plan for elections?" asks the Everett Herald in its coverage of yesterday's Supreme Court hearing on the state's "Top 2" primary system. The problem is the headline implies the Supreme Court is going to be the... [read more]
September 29, 2007
Credit to the P-I
by Eric Earling, 09:54 AM, 24 Comments
An editorial in yesterday's paper included two facts one doesn't often hear from the left-of-center side of the Social Security debate. 1) Social Security was a great deal for some generations, it's terrible for those younger than workers currently nearing... [read more]
Compliments for Postman
by Eric Earling, 08:53 AM, 9 Comments
RealClearPolitics's Reid Wilson has paid our own David Postman a high compliment, in a post summarizing the latest in a pending Gregoire v. Rossi rematch, calling him: "irreplaceable" and "Washington State's version of David Yepsen or John DiStaso." That's high... [read more]
September 28, 2007
KUOW's Gang Of Four Meets Ahmadinejad
by Jim Miller, 01:16 PM, 29 Comments
Today, KUOW's Gang of Four began the Weekday program with Mahmoud's Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia University. The four journalists agreed on what they clearly considered the main point: Columbia University President Bollinger was rude to this mobster's mouthpiece. Bollinger... [read more]
September 26, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:50 AM, 22 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly writes in today's P-I:The Senate received a blood transfusion in 2006. Several of its reactionary and intellectually challenged members -- Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and George Allen, R-Va. -- went down to... [read more]
September 25, 2007
What Would Change Parvaz's Mind?
by Jim Miller, 01:35 PM, 8 Comments
In her column last Saturday, D. Parvaz recounted some of the charges against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the mouthpiece for the evil Tehran regime. He's tight with President Bush's bombastic nemesis, Hugo Chavez. He's quoted as saying that Israel should be wiped... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:09 AM, 53 Comments
The folks over at the P-I have developed a strange and muddled fascination with Holocaust denial. Contumelious columnist Joel Connelly now habitually uses the epithet "Holocaust denier" to disparage anybody who raises scientific questions which challenge his personal beliefs about... [read more]
Say What?
by Eric Earling, 06:50 AM, 2 Comments
I have to confess I'm completely with Dan Savage on yesterday's editorial in the Seattle Times on the topic of...what I'm not quite sure. Following a paragraph discussing the porn industry with this sentence is simply mind boggling: "The Beaver... [read more]
September 24, 2007
Oh you nasty boys
by DonWard, 08:42 PM, 18 Comments
Joel Connelly's latest column has his take on the possible gubernatorial rematch between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi in 2008. Basically it is a list of what advantages and disadvantages both candidates go into the race possessing. Curiously, Connelly couldn't... [read more]
September 23, 2007
MoveOn.org still the topic
by Eric Earling, 10:40 PM, 42 Comments
The Seattle Times editorialized today against the "childish ad hominem attacks on a general" from a group that "embarrassed itself and its position on the war with an over-the-top and unnecessary attack." This from an editorial page that currently finds... [read more]
September 21, 2007
Dueling headlines
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:45 PM, 12 Comments
Seattle Times: "Survey: State still falling short in foster care services" P-I: "Foster care survey 'good news' overall, says DSHS" When in doubt, I always believe the government. And the P-I.... [read more]
September 20, 2007
The "Wives" Debate
by Eric Earling, 09:47 PM, 12 Comments
Love David Horsey's politics or hate them, there's are reasons he won a Pulitzer Prize. Here's one of them.... [read more]
September 19, 2007
Those who supported unconstitutional acts should pay the consequences
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:15 PM, 35 Comments
Liberal journalists are outraged that the attorneys who successfully represented Seattle school parents to overturn the unconstitutional race-based student assignment plan are asking the Seattle school district to pay their fees, which they're entitled to collect under federal law (see... [read more]
Horsey on RomneyCare
by Eric Earling, 07:22 AM, 21 Comments
David Horsey takes a shot in his latest toon at Mitt Romney and his reaction to Hillary Clinton's health care plan. Horsey's argument, like others on the subject bandied about the new fangled Internets, is that any similarities between Romney's... [read more]
September 17, 2007
Brier Dudley Is Worried
by Jim Miller, 06:40 PM, 15 Comments
Here's why. Microsoft is saying its upcoming "Halo 3" video game "will make entertainment history." I wonder, though, if the company will make another kind of history by releasing a provocatively themed war game in the throes of a horrible,... [read more]
September 14, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:24 PM, 16 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly is shocked, shocked! that political parties are engaged in partisan campaigning over the officially partisan office of King County Prosecutor, with the Democrat Party accusing the Republican nominee of being "partisan", and vice-versa:It's time to... [read more]
September 12, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:28 AM, 50 Comments
Today's P-I reports on a UW study which found an association between a neighborhood's median property values and its prevalence of obesity. One proposed explanation is that residents of poorer neighborhoods have less access to affordable healthy food, particularly fresh... [read more]
September 10, 2007
The Stranger & GOP operatives share a bond
by Eric Earling, 07:41 PM, 2 Comments
The post immediately below this one discusses news of a Democrats endorsing a major Republican candidate for local office. Joel Connelly speculated Jenny Durkan's name on that list would be cause for concern here at the lovely confines of Sound... [read more]
September 08, 2007
He Gets It, Partly, But It Took Him A While
by Jim Miller, 04:24 PM, 124 Comments
Seattle PI columnist Robert Jamieson notices something about the American left. Whatever your answer, it seems we've lost the fine art of polite disagreement. People are unwilling to hear something that jousts with their point of view. They just can't... [read more]
September 07, 2007
The Worst Clinton Era Scandal?
by Jim Miller, 11:08 AM, 0 Comments
Unquestionably, Chinagate. The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy was an alleged effort by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to influence domestic American politics prior to and during the Clinton administration and also involved the fund-raising practices of the... [read more]
September 06, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:53 AM, 32 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly has a second-hand report on Sen. Maria Cantwell's visit to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which he opens by disparaging the first-hand reports of others who have visited ANWR:In their drive to drill for oil... [read more]
September 05, 2007
An Open Letter To James Vesely*
by Jim Miller, 01:36 PM, 9 Comments
Dear Mr. Vesely: Today's column by journalism professor Floyd McKay contains much nonsense. Here's the worst paragraph: At home, the president has often stated that he pays little attention to the news. He reads little and is known for... [read more]
September 04, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:52 AM, 5 Comments
The P-I recently reported on Tim Eyman and I-960, the Taxpayer Protection Initiative. Unfortunately, the article was chock full of errors. See Tim Eyman's rebuttal in the Sound-Off section:They say that I-960 requires 2/3's legislative approval for tax and fee... [read more]
August 31, 2007
More creative fiction from the Seattle Times editorial page
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:28 PM, 14 Comments
The Seattle Times editorial page (which, BTW, admits to making stuff up) recently chastised Disney Corp. for disputing a UW press release:Disney has a lot of nerve attacking the University of Washington's scholarly research into the benefits of baby videos,... [read more]
August 29, 2007
Erica Barnett: incompetent or deliberately untruthful?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:10 PM, 141 Comments
The Stranger's Erica Barnett continues to exploit the frightful mistakes of Seattle waitress Steffany Bell, who lost her job last week for unprofessional conduct. I won't recite here the long litany of Barnett's own unprofessional conduct and narrative-distorting inaccuracies in... [read more]
August 27, 2007
Seattle Times editorial editor admits: "We make stuff up"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:23 PM, 60 Comments
Seattle Times editorial editor Jim Vesely responded to my inquiry about yesterday's editorial, asking for either the factual basis of this interpretation of Judge Bridge's ruling, or a retraction:Much fuss has been made about how the elections director is not... [read more]
August 26, 2007
Does the Seattle Times editorial board just make stuff up?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:30 PM, 13 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial argues against I-25. The core argument is, I paraphrase, "Voters want to elect their elections director, and what do they know? So the county council shouldn't let them the vote on this question!". The editorial makes... [read more]
August 20, 2007
Here's Some Advice For Nicole Brodeur
by Jim Miller, 09:45 AM, 4 Comments
Commit journalism. The Seattle Times columnist drew national attention for her confession (boast?) that she cheered in the Seattle Times newsroom when she heard that Karl Rove had resigned. I cheered in that meeting because I think Karl Rove is... [read more]
August 19, 2007
The P-I has jumped the shark
by Eric Earling, 04:26 PM, 23 Comments
Well, that's not exactly news. But today's editorial on U.S. policy toward Iran shows how far to the left the paper has gone. Not content to simply disagree with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the P-I seems upset to even... [read more]
August 17, 2007
Lamestream Media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:24 PM, 8 Comments
The P-I website carries this article about the personal blog of Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States. Moustapha is an official representative for one of the most corrupt, backward and repressive regimes on the planet, and I'm... [read more]
August 16, 2007
What, Was Google broken?
by Eric Earling, 08:12 PM, 18 Comments
A personal pet peeve of mine is when newspapers run terribly outdated file photos of prominent individuals in the news. Local weeklies are the usual purveyors of such errors, but today's dead tree version of the Seattle Times caught my... [read more]
Oh, That Liberal Media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:25 AM, 49 Comments
Editor and Publisher has an item about the Seattle Times newsroom meeting where some employees cheered the announcement of Karl Rove's resignation. E&P posts a memo from Times Executive Editor David Boardman to staff:If we wore our politics on our... [read more]
August 14, 2007
Credit Where Credit Is Due
by Eric Earling, 10:13 PM, 24 Comments
David Postman certainly didn't have to share this tale of newsroom etiquette gone awry...a breach of one of the cardinal no-no's of journalism. But he did, to his credit. Contrast that to Dan Savage's screed on the topic. Which, upon... [read more]
August 11, 2007
Democracy Held Hostage: Day 33
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:13 PM, 16 Comments
Top Ten Reasons the Seattle Times hasn't reported on King County's scandalously slow and expensive verification of I-24 and I-25 petitions 10. "$50,000 is hardly any money. Frank Blethen spends that much every time he pisses!" 9. "The last time... [read more]
August 10, 2007
Democracy held hostage: Day 32
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:21 PM, 12 Comments
Top Ten Reasons the P-I hasn't reported on King County's scandalously slow and expensive verification of I-24 and I-25 petitions 10. "Ron Sims told us that they aren't doing anything wrong and we always believe him!" 9. "This issue is... [read more]
August 09, 2007
Newsroom priorities
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:05 AM, 18 Comments
Today's Seattle Times has yet another article on the senseless manufactured outrage over the Masai docents at Woodland Park Zoo. Why does the Seattle Times even consider this non-story newsworthy? It's not as if there aren't any scandals in local... [read more]
Liberals unlabelled
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:32 AM, 25 Comments
From today's Seattle Times article on a programming shake-up at radio station KIRO:The shuffle, an attempt by KIRO to retake its once-dominant position, means listeners will hear the conservative [Dori] Monson immediately after Dave Ross, whose show airs 9 a.m.-... [read more]
August 03, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:59 AM, 14 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly today applauds liberal "net roots" bloggers and derides other political bloggers:Web sites on the right continue to function as attack dogs. One in Seattle is still foaming at the mouth over the 2004 race for... [read more]
August 01, 2007
Evidence, Please
by Jim Miller, 08:39 AM, 62 Comments
This PI editorial, written, it appears, by D. Parvaz, makes some harsh charges: Big ups to Rep. Jay Inslee for proposing the impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Too bad Inslee has not yet gotten much support. According to The... [read more]
July 25, 2007
Here's A Hint For Danny Westneat
by Jim Miller, 01:01 PM, 47 Comments
In today's column, he wrote: On paper anyway, the case against the death penalty is a no-brainer. It's often unfairly applied. It fails to deter serious crime.... [read more]
July 23, 2007
P-I: Four elections systems instead of two!
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:26 PM, 19 Comments
Last year the P-I cheered mail-only elections, repeating the mantra that:it no longer makes sense for the county to operate essentially two distinct elections systemsIt's a dishonest argument. There aren't "two distinct elections systems"-- There's one voter database and one... [read more]
July 19, 2007
Times welcomes Tom
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:32 AM, 49 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial welcomes Rodney Tom into the 8th congressional district primary race and simultaneously marginalizes Darcy Burner. I won't go so far as to predict that the Times endorses Tom in the primary, but I'd wager a modest... [read more]
July 17, 2007
Because We Say So, That's Why
by Jim Miller, 04:44 PM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Times, perhaps inspired by a strange New York Times editorial, calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. There is no good time to get out of Iraq, but once we know we must leave, there is no excuse to... [read more]
July 16, 2007
Danny Westneat, real-estate mogul
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:43 PM, 61 Comments
Danny Westneat continues his campaign against the real estate market with Sunday's column, complaining about this:There's a new landlord in town. It's called the "Lease Rent Optimizer." The Optimizer is software developed a few years ago by Archstone, which manages... [read more]
July 15, 2007
Learning From Houston
by Jim Miller, 03:31 PM, 35 Comments
The New York Times begins a light-hearted article on parking spaces with these two paragraphs: In Houston, $225,000 will buy a three-bedroom house with a game room, den, in-ground pool and hot tub. In Manhattan, it will buy a parking... [read more]
July 12, 2007
An ignoble assessment
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:43 AM, 7 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorializes about the race for King County Assessor. But instead of assessing incumbent Scott Noble's record, or challenger (Seattle Monorail Board member) Jim Nobles's alternative plan, all the Times offers is this baseless innuendo:Selecting this office and... [read more]
July 11, 2007
Can't Anyone Here Play This Game?
by Jim Miller, 11:42 AM, 16 Comments
That's the question Casey Stengel asked about the original Mets, and that's the question that came to mind when I read this Bruce Ramsey column. Here's what the Seattle Times columnist says about an old controversy: One of the... [read more]
July 09, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:28 AM, 22 Comments
Joel Connelly, the P-I's contumelious liberal columnist, today fulminates against Taxpayer Protection Initiative I-960: "Look to California for the wisdom of Eyman's new folly". Connelly doesn't actually explain what I-960 does, but draws an arc between its requirement of a... [read more]
July 06, 2007
The Gang Of Four, Part 1
by Jim Miller, 01:41 PM, 10 Comments
Every Friday, four local journalists discuss current events (and, often, their own columns) on the Weekday program on our local PBS affiliate, KUOW. Usually, the host is KUOW's Steve Scher, and the three journalists are Knute Berger, who edited an... [read more]
Swing and a Miss
by Eric Earling, 08:03 AM, 15 Comments
Behold, Seattle P-I editorial board weighs in on John McCain's sinking Presidential hopes. Amazingly, their list of possible wounds to his candidacy includes mention of the Beach Boys-style "bomb Iran" diddy but omits immigration reform. They seem to think McCain... [read more]
June 29, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:59 AM, 25 Comments
Contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly writes today that Mrs. Gregoire is a force to be reckoned with. Connelly, whose own contributions to voter fraud probably account for 2 votes of Gregoire's 133-vote margin of "victory", issues a predictable column: he... [read more]
June 27, 2007
Affordable housing crisis
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:37 PM, 23 Comments
Danny Westneat is bemoaning rising housing costs: "Rents soar through the roofs" Rising rents might have something to do with demand for housing outpacing supply, exacerbated by government action which constrains development, artificially raises construction costs, continually inflates property taxes,... [read more]
June 26, 2007
Shouldn't Ads Be Clearly Marked?
by Jim Miller, 02:17 PM, 13 Comments
Today the Seattle Times ran this ad for Michael Moore and his new movie, Sicko. But they did not mark it as an ad, as they usually do. Even stranger, whoever created the ad hired a Seattle Times reporter, Mark... [read more]
Should "Mainstream" Journalists Hold Democratic Officials Accountable For Their Failures?
by Jim Miller, 09:48 AM, 10 Comments
Put that directly, most people, maybe even most "mainstream" journalists, would say yes. But in practice, those journalists are unwilling to make the most obvious follow-ups on the most horrific of failures, such as this one.... [read more]
June 25, 2007
No Mas!
by Eric Earling, 11:19 PM, 3 Comments
The Everett Herald put a local twist on a national news story I could have done without today...or ever. It's not the Herald's fault really. The story is too good not to tell, but this warning from the maker of... [read more]
If the Shoe Fits...
by Eric Earling, 10:55 PM, 3 Comments
Local journalists reading Sound Politics may not enjoy periodic references and allusions to the liberal bias in the MSM perceived by many conservatives. Here's polite hint accordingly to avoid being tagged with that label: when you do a story about... [read more]
June 21, 2007
Socialist Realism in the Seattle Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:51 PM, 33 Comments
Lynne Varner's editorial in yesterday's Seattle Times reminds me of this painting Gregoire herself recounts a story that places her in soft lighting but also serves as a headline for her tenure as leader of our state. The narrative goes... [read more]
What Can You Do With A Journalism Degree?
by Jim Miller, 05:16 PM, 17 Comments
You can become a hip-hop artist who advocates the assassination of President Bush. Sage Francis never flinches when discussing the instigative ingredients he sometimes uses to season his edgy raps. Well, almost never. Questioned about a potentially controverisal [sic] line... [read more]
June 20, 2007
Pick on the Stranger day
by Eric Earling, 10:09 PM, 6 Comments
Well, if you define a day loosely. Anyway, Joel Connelly started things off yesterday expressing his undying fondness for the crew at the Stranger. David Postman followed it up today with a lengthy, public chiding of Josh Feit for playing... [read more]
June 19, 2007
Welcome to Seattle!
by Eric Earling, 10:54 PM, 13 Comments
It just wouldn't be right for a major Republican to come to town without being greeted by a shot across the bow from Joel Connelly. Mitt Romney: welcome to town! Connelly is disgruntled with Romney's position on abortion, tossing out... [read more]
June 13, 2007
Why People Don't Trust Liberals with National Security
by Eric Earling, 10:51 PM, 23 Comments
It's no secret Democrats have struggled for years at the national level to rid themselves of the residue of liberal foreign policy excesses toward the end of the Vietman era. Simply put, liberals - though not always Democrats writ large... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:05 AM, 18 Comments
In today's column, contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly mentions:Ted Stevens -- the tantrum-prone, self-enriching, pork barreling senator-for-life from Alaska.Good thing Connelly is above name-calling!... [read more]
June 12, 2007
Follow Up On John Cramer's Experiment
by Jim Miller, 07:48 AM, 6 Comments
As you may recall, two months ago UW physicist John Cramer was looking for contributions so that he could try to make light particles go backward in time. Today, we learn from Tom Paulson's PI article that Cramer has received... [read more]
June 07, 2007
For the uninitiated
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:43 AM, 32 Comments
The Seattle Times' Lynne Varner had an editorial yesterday about the Technology Access Foundation, a private organization that teaches technology skills to K-12 students. Varner's main point is a good one:My applause for all of this is bittersweet because I'm... [read more]
June 03, 2007
Pick Up A Copy Of The June Eastside Sun
by Jim Miller, 04:00 PM, 7 Comments
If only for the two page spread on what our Marines are doing in Iraq. The article ends with this story: Got a tough but heartwarming story and a picture of a medical Chief, John Gebhardt in Iraq This little... [read more]
June 02, 2007
Abort Goldstein?
by DonWard, 06:08 PM, 116 Comments
As a rule, I don't generally comment* about what goes on over at Horsesass. Mostly this is because the site's proprietor, Mr. Goldstein, is a little more than irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Besides, life is just too... [read more]
May 31, 2007
This Story Is Touching
by Jim Miller, 06:18 PM, 52 Comments
But incomplete. King 5's Susannah Frame tells us about the scandal. KING 5 News has learned that a court has paved the way for a little boy to sue the state agency who was supposed to protect him. Snohomish County... [read more]
May 24, 2007
Balterdash
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:12 PM, 22 Comments
Joni Balter in today's column reports on a Pew survey of 18-25 year olds. Balter trumpets the finding that these young voters "are identifying more and more with the Democratic Party"Candidates hoping to do big business in 2008 should carefully... [read more]
May 21, 2007
It's OK To Recycle An Old Joke
by Jim Miller, 03:21 PM, 8 Comments
But they ought to get the punch line right.... [read more]
May 18, 2007
On TV this weekend
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:31 PM, 32 Comments
This weekend, KING 5's Up Front with Robert Mak will feature three bearded Jewish bloggers. Be sure to watch. Sunday on KING-5 @ 9:30 a.m. and NWCN @ 8:00 p.m.... [read more]
The Eastside Sun
by Jim Miller, 03:11 PM, 25 Comments
For almost a year now, I have been seeing piles of another free newspaper, the Eastside Sun, around Kirkland. I paid little attention to it, thinking it just another Stranger or Seattle Weekly, with slightly different advertisers.... [read more]
May 16, 2007
Re: It's in the PI - Third Reich art
by DonWard, 01:43 PM, 30 Comments
Historical ignorance bugs me. It annoys me even more than hyperbolic political rhetoric. So after reading P-I columnist Joel Connelly's most recent column and Stefan's subsequent post I felt compelled to correct a few mistakes. To recap, Connelly alludes to... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:37 AM, 30 Comments
In today's column, contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly characterizes Republicans who seek to limit taxpayer funding for the National Endowment for the Arts as Nazis:With a view of culture more befitting the Third Reich than the Third Millennium, reactionaries in... [read more]
May 15, 2007
Signs Of Intelligent Life At The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 10:18 AM, 21 Comments
Well, one sign anyway, in David Postman's blog. Postman actually thinks that journalists should find out the facts in the fired US attorneys controversy, and that journalists should ask those making serious charges to substantiate those charges. Or, as I... [read more]
May 10, 2007
Joni Balter, Luddite
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:18 AM, 13 Comments
Joni Balter says: "Thumbs down to text messaging"I'm all for new ways of communicating, though this mode has a certain anonymous, no-face-time quality to it. Phone manners are neither learned nor necessary. Good grammar and spelling r 2 b 4... [read more]
May 09, 2007
Spot the bias
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:46 AM, 27 Comments
The AP reports on yesterday's state Supreme Court hearing on property tax limit measure I-747, which had been overturned by a lower court:Attorney General Rob McKenna asked the state Supreme Court Tuesday to uphold a voter-approved property tax limit, saying... [read more]
May 08, 2007
Words Versus Deeds
by Jim Miller, 05:05 PM, 7 Comments
Joel Connelly looked at what John Edwards says. I just finished looking at what John Edwards has done, and gave him a 0.1 on the Vilsack meter. I think you will find the comparison between our two approaches interesting. (If... [read more]
May 02, 2007
Al Gore for President?
by Eric Earling, 07:27 PM, 32 Comments
It's not uncommon to find a critique at this site of various writings in the local MSM, but to their credit both the P-I and the Times seem to do a decent job of keeping the true nutjobs off their... [read more]
April 30, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:22 AM, 24 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorializes on the state Supreme Court ruling upholding John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur's right to advocate for initiatives on the radio:they have the right to talk (and even be activists), but is that a fair use of... [read more]
April 29, 2007
Re: How Joel Connelly can become relevant
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:56 PM, 17 Comments
Along with other errors in Joel Connelly's Friday column that we've already mentioned (here and here), one other falsehood is worth debunking, as it's not unique to Connelly:The Republican and right-wing think tanks regularly deliver snarling attacks on teachers unions.... [read more]
Child Abuse
by Jim Miller, 05:23 PM, 17 Comments
That was my first reaction to the list of ten books in this Seattle Times article, books recommended by children's librarian Nancy Pearl. (Or, as the headline in the print copy calls her, our own "rock star librarian".)... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:37 PM, 16 Comments
In today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Joe Copeland celebrates Rachel Corrie, the Olympia student who perpetrated an act of suicide terrorism by throwing herself in front of an Israeli military vehicle while it was conducting an anti-terrorist operation: "Activist Corrie personified Northwest... [read more]
April 28, 2007
Re: How Joel Connelly can become relevant
by Eric Earling, 12:30 PM, 31 Comments
Let me add another point to Stefan's response of Joel Connelly's latest column. In addition to the just objection to labeling this site as an "unofficial Republican voice," it's fair note Connelly is arguing with a caricature of the GOP.... [read more]
How Joel Connelly can become relevant
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:36 AM, 15 Comments
You have to feel sorry for Joel Connelly, the contumelious liberal columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. His relevance is dwindling with the P-I's circulation and the poor fellow isn't very good at his job to begin with. He writes obsessively... [read more]
April 26, 2007
Balterdash
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:41 PM, 34 Comments
In today's column, Joni Balter wonders why the voters don't like Mrs. Gregoire very much. Gregoire is proving to be an adept governor, but for whatever reason, the public warms to her ever so slowly ... Why hasn't she gained... [read more]
April 25, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:02 PM, 14 Comments
The following letter was published in Tuesday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:To have a real Earth Day, first we need to have a wake for Tim Eyman. After that, we could all breathe a huge sigh of relief and get down to creating... [read more]
Here's A Question For David Postman
by Jim Miller, 01:40 PM, 10 Comments
Does he think that these kinds of decisions on what goes in the "newshole" have anything to do with these kinds of results? Anyone thinking the declines in circulation should ease when the Audit Bureau of Circulations releases its spring... [read more]
April 24, 2007
Maybe Khami World should also offer 'spelling pens'
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:18 PM, 3 Comments
P-I headline: "Khami World to ofer 'talking pens'"... [read more]
April 23, 2007
Undignified Mess at Seattle Times Editorial Board
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:44 AM, 4 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial, "Undignified mess at Port of Seattle", criticizes the attempt to give recently retired Executive Mic Dinsmore an unearned golden parachute.What remains at the Port of Seattle Commission is an undignified mess. Commissioners need to make some... [read more]
Worth Reading
by Jim Miller, 08:43 AM, 18 Comments
Art Thiel explores alternatives for the Sonics, though he does put the best one in second place. Build it privately The owners of the San Francisco Giants tried four times to get public funding for a new ballpark before paying... [read more]
April 22, 2007
Democrat legislature recklessly overspends; media applaud the restraint
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:17 PM, 17 Comments
Today's Seattle Times sums up the legislative session "Democrats spent big but showed restraint"The Democrats put together a $33.4 billion two-year budget that spends $4 billion more than the previous biennium ... The budget adds nearly 3,000 new state jobs,... [read more]
April 20, 2007
Mannekin P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:26 AM, 2 Comments
hat tip: Eli Sanders. And this is totally off-topic, but of course the Mannekin Pis will always remind me of my honeymoon, which included a few days in Brussels.... [read more]
April 18, 2007
It's on the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:18 PM, 7 Comments
Finally, the Horse's Ass blog has a post that's worth reading. I wouldn't necessarily believe anything I read over there, but the story is moderately amusing, though scatological, and not inconsistent with my expectations of the people who write for... [read more]
April 17, 2007
The Value of the New Media
by Eric Earling, 10:39 PM, 5 Comments
Ryan Blethen at the Seattle Times likes to talk about the value of local newspapers for a healthy public discourse (latest example here). He has a point to a degree, and I'll even acknowledge Seattle's media is more interesting with... [read more]
April 16, 2007
The P-I is the Voice of the Northwest
by Eric Earling, 06:56 PM, 4 Comments
Well, that's debatable...and mighty arrogant, if I might add. Circulation numbers tell a different story (click "next" at the link to see the 2nd picture with relevant graph). The P-I plunged from 191,167 in average weekday circulation in 1999 to... [read more]
Gentle PC Toilet Seat Liners
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:03 PM, 17 Comments
The Seattle Times Co. and Hearst have settled their dispute over the Joint Operating Agreement such that we'll still have the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to kick around for the indefinite future. Oh well. This also means that Darcy Burner will have... [read more]
April 12, 2007
Dan Savage Speaks Truth...
by Eric Earling, 09:29 PM, 31 Comments
...about the Duke Lacrosse case: And at the risk of incurring ECB's wrath, I gotta say that I think the stripper ought to be prosecuted too. Back in the bad ol' days a woman who claimed to have been raped... [read more]
April 11, 2007
Kudos To Dan Sytman And David Boze
by Jim Miller, 01:42 PM, 9 Comments
For bringing physicist John Cramer on to their talk show to discuss Cramer's efforts to test one of the stranger ideas from quantum physics, time travel. The Seattle scientist who wants to test a controversial prediction from quantum theory that... [read more]
April 10, 2007
Diversity in the newsroom
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:29 AM, 26 Comments
A guest editorial in today's P-I complains "Nation's newsrooms preach but don't practice diversity":When is [the American Society of Newspaper Editors] going to come clean with the Hispanic community -- as well as the black, Asian and American Indian communities... [read more]
Groundbreaking, Are You Sure?
by Eric Earling, 07:36 AM, 4 Comments
Yesterday's AP profile in the Seattle Times of a gay, men's college lacrosse coach raised an eyebrow with me. The story made a big to do of Kyle Hawkins, declaring him "the nation's first openly gay male coach at the... [read more]
April 09, 2007
Evidence Would Be Helpful
by Jim Miller, 06:59 AM, 18 Comments
Seattle Times editorial writer Lance Dickie began a piece on the problems of Puget Sound with these two assertions: Puget Sound is ailing and in decline. The problem is, almost no one believes it.... [read more]
April 07, 2007
Kudos To The Seattle Times
by Jim Miller, 03:13 PM, 5 Comments
For this sensible editorial on same-day registration. Voter registration all the way up to Election Day is an idea full of hazard and cost, and yet a bill that would accomplish this sailed through the state Senate. It is a... [read more]
Editorial Comic
by Ron Hebron, 09:34 AM, 0 Comments
Brian Bassett (our former neighbor here) gets into controversy in his Adam @ Home comic strip on Friday in the Seattle Times. The characters loudly proclaim that entire continents are at risk due to flooding caused by global warming. Is... [read more]
Letters from my hometown
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:22 AM, 11 Comments
I don't know what could explain this, but today's Seattle Times Letters to the Editor page has 5 letters and every one of them makes sense -- 3 letters criticizing Greg Nickels' $240 million bicycle plan 1 letter that starts... [read more]
April 06, 2007
Danny Westneat Learns Something About Immigration Policy
by Jim Miller, 02:14 PM, 28 Comments
On Friday mornings, I sometimes listen to the KUOW Weekday program at 10. I do so in somewhat the same spirit that a pathologist looks at diseased tissue; I think that "mainstream" journalism has serious problems, and I am interested... [read more]
April 04, 2007
Sound Politics Trivia
by Eric Earling, 07:32 AM, 21 Comments
So, how did you do in your March Madness bracket? Listeners of local sports radio know it's time for a different bracket-filling-out contest: the Bigger Dance. As you can see at the link, instead of picking college basketball teams, you're... [read more]
April 03, 2007
Guerillas Usually Lose
by Jim Miller, 09:05 AM, 50 Comments
That conclusion is not controversial among military historians. But that conclusion would surprise many journalists. Yesterday, for example, an editorial writer for the Seattle PI wrote this: Very well, the troop-surge deployment is still in its earliest stages and, sure,... [read more]
April 02, 2007
Crosscut saw
by DonWard, 04:35 PM, 8 Comments
The long awaited debut of Crosscut has finally arrived... The entirely online "newspaper" debuted this morning. It is the creation of David Brewster, "founder of the Seattle Weekly and creator of Town Hall Seattle". So is Crosscut a lousy read?... [read more]
April Fool!
by Jim Miller, 10:25 AM, 18 Comments
Yesterday, the Seattle Times celebrated the first of April by running this very funny spoof, satirizing the hyperpartisan Democrats who have been trying to create a scandal where there is none.... [read more]
March 29, 2007
Meet the patsy
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:38 AM, 17 Comments
Here's a guy who is only too happy to be the shnook who gets to pay for the state Democrats' fiscally irresponsible budget.... [read more]
March 28, 2007
Sometimes The Seattle Times Is Embarrassing To Read
by Jim Miller, 04:58 PM, 13 Comments
For example, when they assign Mark Rahner to interview (by email) physicists Brian Greene and Stephen Hawking. Mark Rahner may know something about pop culture, but he does not know enough about science to interview these two men, at least... [read more]
Newshole
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:47 AM, 38 Comments
Postman reports that the media has successfully inflated the non-story of the President's replacement of political appointees: "U.S. Attorneys story is officially the big story". Postman cites the "Project for Excellence in Journalism", which claims that the [non-]story fills "18%... [read more]
March 27, 2007
Tim Blair Catches An Old Joel Connelly Mistake
by Jim Miller, 10:18 AM, 12 Comments
Along with others on the left, Connelly believes (or believed) that American cars don't meet Chinese standards. Blair has the facts here. (Our favorite PI columnist wasn't alone in making that mistake, or similar mistakes. It is odd, by the... [read more]
Outrage? Not yet.
by Eric Earling, 07:56 AM, 49 Comments
When the mere thought of the United States not adhering to the Geneva Conventions was on the front page there was great outrage in certain local circles. The blogosphere said we had lost our "moral grounding" in the world. The... [read more]
March 26, 2007
Vehicles burn; I suspect human error
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:55 PM, 14 Comments
P-I: "Vehicles burn in suspected arson"Twelve city vehicles are charred ruins after they deliberately were set on fire early Monday morning in a city lot on South Royal Brougham Way, Seattle fire and police officials said.I'm confused. There's no suspect... [read more]
March 25, 2007
Another Reason Conservatives Get Annoyed with the MSM
by Eric Earling, 05:58 PM, 17 Comments
I'm belated in getting to this editorial cartoon from David Horsey earlier in the week. As with his usual fare, his artistic talent in the genre of editorial cartoons is impressive, his use of caricatures, effective. The rub is the... [read more]
Westneat defends McKay
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:32 AM, 28 Comments
Danny Westneat today writes that John McKay was fired for being too honest. Westneat praises McKay for heading the Legal Services Corp. under Clinton and defending the agency from partisan Republican attacks. (Westneat neglected to note that McKay's LSC was... [read more]
March 19, 2007
More dumb reporting on the Viaduct vote
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:20 AM, 9 Comments
David Ammons is the latest reporter to completely misread the results of last week's Seattle Viaduct vote:On Tuesday, the voters said no to both projects - or "no" and "hell, no" as the wags put it.When the wags said "no... [read more]
March 05, 2007
"The odd world of Val Stevens"
by Eric Earling, 07:49 AM, 130 Comments
The Seattle Times called long-time Snohomish County legislator Val Stevens out on the carpet over the weekend. That's likely a good thing. The tipping point in question for the Times seems to have been Stevens's mention of bestiality and necrophilia... [read more]
March 02, 2007
Credit Where Due
by Jim Miller, 11:53 AM, 50 Comments
Part Credit. In this post, I wondered whether the Times and PI would cover Al Gore's enormous energy use. Both newspapers did, though neither made the comparison to the Crawford White House that I think they should.... [read more]
February 27, 2007
Will The Times Or PI Publish This Story?
by Jim Miller, 07:25 AM, 74 Comments
It's amusing and timely. Last night, Al Gore's global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy. Gore's mansion, located... [read more]
February 22, 2007
What Should We Call Hillary Clinton?
by Jim Miller, 08:19 AM, 46 Comments
Last week, Seattle PI columnist Susan Paynter said that calling her "Hillary", or "Mrs. Clinton" is unfairly dismissive. (That column got enough reactions so that Paynter wrote this follow-up.) We should, said Paynter, call her "Senator Clinton".... [read more]
February 21, 2007
Editorial Cartoons The Times And PI Won't Publish, #1
by Jim Miller, 05:37 AM, 29 Comments
Yesterday, I received a call from a woman who wanted to sell me a subscription to a Seattle newspaper. I gently explained that I thought a 46-2 imbalance in editorial cartoons showed too much bias for my tastes. (She... [read more]
February 18, 2007
"A voice from Iraq worth hearing"
by Eric Earling, 04:59 PM, 54 Comments
Robert Jamieson had a thought provoking column yesterday about the thinking of one soldier in support of the fight in Iraq. A passage from Jamieson jumps out in the course of his discussion of Lt. Ehren Watada's refusal to deploy... [read more]
February 13, 2007
Is Lornet Turnbull Prejudiced?
by Jim Miller, 01:11 PM, 13 Comments
After reading this Seattle Times article, James Taranto thinks the answer is obvious. So when "conservative Christians" complain of religious discrimination, it's because they are "more provocative," "less tolerant" and "more emboldened." When Muslims do it--and they do it more--their... [read more]
February 12, 2007
Today Is Lincoln's Birthday
by Jim Miller, 05:13 PM, 7 Comments
If I were to judge by our news organizations, his birthday is not something we should celebrate, or even notice. A search of Google News on "Lincoln's birthday" this afternoon got just 323 hits, an absurdly small number. But I... [read more]
February 11, 2007
I read the news today, oh boy
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:47 AM, 11 Comments
P-I headline: "Sheriff's car found full of bullet holes" Okay, some lame-brain fired a bunch of bullets into an unoccupied sheriff's vehicle. But what a headline. It makes about as much sense to describe a car as being full of... [read more]
February 01, 2007
Should Journalists Correct Their Errors?
by Jim Miller, 05:12 PM, 0 Comments
That's the question I have for four local journalists*, Knute Berger, Susan Paynter, Steve Scher, and Danny Westneat. First, some background: Last September, after the Plame "scandal"** collapsed, David Broder wrote a column urging journalists who had hyped this "scandal"... [read more]
January 29, 2007
Were You Offended?
by Eric Earling, 08:18 AM, 64 Comments
Mike Fancher's weekly column in yesterday's Seattle Times covered the outrage of some locals over a front page story discussing less-than-warmly dressed baristas at a smattering of local coffee stands. Judging from Fancher's column, a not insignificant chunk of the... [read more]
January 26, 2007
The 20 Minute Anti-War Commercial On KUOW
by Jim Miller, 02:50 PM, 26 Comments
KUOW is Seattle's NPR affiliate, so they are not supposed to carry commercials. But they often have commercials anyway, and I am not just referring to the thinly disguised "commercials" from their sponsors. No, what I am referring to are... [read more]
January 24, 2007
Best of Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:44 PM, 12 Comments
Westneat: "Is viaduct monorail deja vu?" Ramsey: "Judge Gates Foundation by what it spends, not how it invests"... [read more]
January 22, 2007
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:20 PM, 30 Comments
Joel Connelly, the contumelious liberal columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, writes today: "Sexism's alive and well on the right". Among his "examples": the far-right Soundpolitics.com Web site directing ceaseless, often personal nastiness at Gov. [sic] Chris Gregoire.How pathetically baseless. We... [read more]
Two newspapers in one
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:26 AM, 69 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial "Climate change heats up" Virtually all regions of the state and its economic sectors dependent on water will feel the consequences of global warming. Washington is already living with declining snowpack and earlier peak stream flows.... [read more]
January 10, 2007
Let It Snow
by Matt Rosenberg, 10:05 PM, 30 Comments
Here's my Bush, all Green with snow, thanks to iPhoto. Listening to the breathless radio reports this afternoon about the snow falling in Puget Sound - now wonderful fluffy inches deep - you'd suppose something really challenging and darkly obstreperous... [read more]
January 04, 2007
From the 'Man Bites Dog' file
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:05 PM, 10 Comments
Seattle Times: "Woman Hits Car in Issaquah"... [read more]
January 03, 2007
Michael Hood: Seattle's most chronically wrong journalist
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:02 PM, 41 Comments
Michael Hood reacted to my recent post "Who's the most vulnerable Seattle City Councilmember?" by leaping to an astonishing conclusion:Ace-boom Seattle Republican blogger, Stefan Sharkansky, left the tea leaves in the bottom of his cup, Thursday, for all to read.... [read more]
Gun Show Loophole
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:52 PM, 43 Comments
My good friend Josh Feit at The Stranger reports today Given that the Capitol Hill murders and the Jewish Federation shootings rocked Seattle last year, and came back to haunt us in all the local Year in Review wrap ups,... [read more]
January 02, 2007
It's Called Freedom Of Speech, Mr. Horsey
by Jim Miller, 04:21 PM, 37 Comments
The Seattle PI cartoonist asks a revealing question. Unquestionably, there are good things resulting from the democratization of the media. The best bloggers are delving into issues and information that may be bypassed by professional journalists. But with everyone... [read more]
December 31, 2006
'"It's a new day" as secrecy fades'
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:07 AM, 8 Comments
Congratulations to the Seattle Times for its successful efforts to open King County Superior Court case files. It has been routine practice for years for courts to seal files entirely upon request of either party. Unfortunately, that has prevented the... [read more]
December 28, 2006
King County Journal, R.I.P.
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:24 PM, 27 Comments
On the P-I website: "King County Journal to close". And on the Times website: "King County Journal's owner announces paper is closing". No mention, at this hour, on the Journal's own website.... [read more]
World's Smallest Violin (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:33 PM, 35 Comments
Joel Connelly is understandably disappointed about recent storm damage to some of his favorite local hiking areas. Although somehow, he makes the bad weather out to be Bush's fault! "Starvation of national parks, land angers me"several destinations are now inaccessible... [read more]
December 27, 2006
Floyd McKay Flirts With Bigotry
by Jim Miller, 02:11 PM, 80 Comments
In today's column, the emeritus journalism professor gives us more reason to suspect journalists, particularly those trained at Western Washington, where he taught. He begins by equating the three Abrahamic religions. We kill, they kill, we all kill in the... [read more]
December 23, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:24 AM, 22 Comments
Today's P-I has an urgent news bulletin: In recent years, as people's lives have become busier, eating Chinese food on Christmas Day has become more of an American tradition. Going out for Chinese has been a famous Jewish Christmas tradition... [read more]
December 21, 2006
Ignorance-is-bliss journalism
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:15 PM, 14 Comments
In yesterday's column, the P-I's Susan Paynter scores an own-goal against her profession's and the public's interest in transparent government : "The media may know too much". Paynter thinks it's wrong that a file of City of Seattle employee names,... [read more]
Danny Westneat Tells a Funny Story
by Jim Miller, 02:31 PM, 28 Comments
Though you might find it more infuriating than funny, if you happen to live in Seattle. When a cedar tree with a trunk 3 feet thick fell across Seattle's 33rd Avenue, the folks there saw it as a symbol of... [read more]
Balterdash
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:58 AM, 23 Comments
In today's column, Joni Balter creatively spins Mrs. Gregoire's craven avoidance of a decision on the Viaduct into an act of political genius, or something. The column includes this hilarious line: Seattle voters are among the most generous in the... [read more]
December 18, 2006
Worst News Story of the Year
by Eric Earling, 06:57 PM, 15 Comments
Stefan has issued a call for nominations for assorted awards and such below. I'll leave that task to readers but should chime in on a category I don't think Stefan envisioned: worst news story covered in the local press. I... [read more]
December 17, 2006
Best Info During The Storm?
by Jim Miller, 05:50 PM, 34 Comments
In the thirty or so hours that the power was out here, I looked hard for information about the storm. I listened to the radio and used my laptop with a dial-up connection to check sites on the internet.... [read more]
December 15, 2006
Joel Connelly Reports Myth
by Eric Earling, 08:09 AM, 1 Comments
Today, Joel Connelly shares some interesting conversations he had with Congressmen Brian Baird and Adam Smith. Baird for one acknowledges the lack of cogent thought that exists on the extreme of his party (remarkably similar to the demands for purity... [read more]
December 14, 2006
Jimmy Carter: Not Just Four Years in their Lives Americans Would Like Back
by Eric Earling, 06:53 AM, 46 Comments
David Postman recently spent some time with Jimmy Carter, the man who holds the high honor of being disliked by conservatives even more for his affairs after the Presidency than his abysmal service in it. This the same Jimmy Carter's... [read more]
December 13, 2006
Strangernomics
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:58 AM, 21 Comments
An item in this week's The Stranger is baffled by a conundrum: ROOTS, a U-District youth shelter with 25 beds, has seen an increase in the number of homeless people they serve, despite higher city and state funding for homeless... [read more]
Scooped By Michelle Malkin!
by Jim Miller, 07:27 AM, 18 Comments
Malkin has the best take I've seen on the House ethics committee report on Seattle congressman Jim McDermott's ethics violations. (Yes, we should have covered it yesterday at Sound Politics, but there are so many Democratic scandals, and so little... [read more]
December 10, 2006
Speaking of the death of the mainstream media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:41 PM, 9 Comments
Friday's Seattle Times has two generations of Blethens editorializing against "media consolidation". Blethen-fils: "Media-consolidation foes make wonderful bedfellows"; and Blethen-pere, identified as a "guest columnist" in his own newspaper: "America's democracy at risk" . While the rhetoric of protecting "diversity"... [read more]
December 05, 2006
Apartheid?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:33 AM, 19 Comments
Yesterday's P-I editorial alleging a "hateful, comprehensive U.S. apartheid system" was so over-the-top that it deserves more comment. One member of the P-I editorial board, associate publisher Kenneth Bunting, happens to be African-American. In his role at the P-I, he... [read more]
December 04, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:49 PM, 27 Comments
Today's P-I editorial asks the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the Seattle School District's wish to use racial profiling in school assignments. While I frequently criticize the P-I for factually incorrect and/or foolish editorials, this one is completely unhinged: The... [read more]
December 03, 2006
Shapley's Audition
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:37 PM, 22 Comments
Today's P-I editorial repeats the trope: Washington state should increase education spending. The line about underfunded education has been repeated so long by educrats and employee unions, and parroted so faithfully by the liberal media, that few among us question... [read more]
December 02, 2006
Well-known GOP activist Bi-partisan government insider held in sex-predator sting
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:32 PM, 49 Comments
Today's Seattle Times updates yesterday's irresponsibly biased article about former county employee Larry Corrigan, headlined "Well-known GOP activist held in sex-predator sting" Today's article admits that Corrigan was active in campaigns for a wide variety of politicians: including Maleng, U.S.... [read more]
November 25, 2006
Annoying unwanted calls
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:44 AM, 23 Comments
Among the unwanted calls I find most annoying are those from telemarketers trying to sell me a subscription to the P-I.... [read more]
November 21, 2006
Vote for America's worst newspaper
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:13 PM, 30 Comments
REPOST: The Powerline Blog has now posted its poll: "Which is the worst newspaper in the country?" Two of the 15 nominees are WA state papers: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Olympian. The explanatory blog post is here. The poll... [read more]
November 20, 2006
Here's A Telling Slip
by Jim Miller, 01:56 PM, 25 Comments
Now that the election is over, the Seattle Times is beginning to tell us more about the Democrats they helped elect. They are even beginning to criticize those Democrats from time to time, as they did in this editorial on... [read more]
November 15, 2006
Sometimes Bias Shows Up Most Clearly In The Smaller Things
by Jim Miller, 03:05 PM, 17 Comments
For example, in the choice of editorial cartoons at the Seattle Times and the Seattle PI. Some time ago, I began thinking that I never saw a pro-Bush, pro-Republican, or pro-conservative editorial* cartoon in either paper. This morning I decided... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:04 AM, 17 Comments
"P-I Special Report: Women still struggling to break the glass ceiling" Women have reached the apex of Washington's political landscape, but they are almost nowhere to be found in executive offices and boardrooms in the state's biggest publicly held companies,... [read more]
November 14, 2006
I nominate the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:08 AM, 21 Comments
The Powerline Blog is holding a contest for the worst newspaper in the United States. How about a readers' poll on the question, with desrving candidates nominated by readers? In the interest of fairness, the newspaper must be accessible online... [read more]
November 12, 2006
Where Is Okanogan County?
by Jim Miller, 04:45 PM, 21 Comments
Don't know? Then you are in good company; neither does the Seattle Times editorial page editor, James Vesely, as Fred Jessett points out in a letter to the editor: James Vesely, report immediately to ninth grade! You need a refresher... [read more]
November 10, 2006
More on the statehouse GOP implosion
by Stefan Sharkansky, 06:24 PM, 23 Comments
We'll have post-mortems on the state GOP's legislative implosion later, but here's what other folks are saying about it. Thursday's article in the Times and Thomas Shapley's laphamized Sunday column in the P-I attribute the statehouse losses mainly to the... [read more]
Thomas Shapley, time traveller!
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:23 PM, 4 Comments
Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Thomas Shapley has performed a Laphamization and published a column based on events that have not yet transpired. In his column pre-written for this Sunday's paper and posted this afternoon, Shapley reports that: As of Friday's tallies,... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:56 AM, 40 Comments
Today's P-I editorial is a "Memo to Dino" Take note of the trouncing your party took in this state on Election Day. Not only did voters shift dramatically the balance of power in both houses of the Legislature, but the... [read more]
November 08, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 06:50 PM, 9 Comments
Joel Connelly today: The Building Industry Association of Washington and religious-right groups set out to topple three Washington State Supreme Court justices in this year's election. The BIAW opposed only two justices this year, Gerry Alexander and Susan Owens. It... [read more]
What The Seattle Times Doesn't Want You To Know
by Jim Miller, 02:09 PM, 15 Comments
This article appeared in the Washington Post on November 6th. The Seattle Times runs many articles from the Post, but they skipped this one.... [read more]
November 07, 2006
Hastings Versus Hastings
by Jim Miller, 10:01 AM, 8 Comments
While I have been writing a few sharp words about Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings, for example here and here, Seattle Times staff columnist Kate Riley was attacking a different Hastings, Republican Doc Hastings... [read more]
November 06, 2006
And speaking of silly endorsements
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:30 PM, 8 Comments
I was dumbstruck by the Seattle Times endorsement of reinvented-as-a-Democrat Rodney Tom over Sen. Luke Esser: Tom offers the right blend of progressive politics -- pro-choice and stem-cell research supporter -- with fiscal conservatism that is in sync with his... [read more]
King County Journal didn't give Franz a chance
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:14 PM, 8 Comments
The King County Journal issued its complete slate of endorsements yesterday. I agree with most of their endorsements. One of the exceptions is for incumbent Democrat Pat Sullivan in the 47th LD. Sullivan has a worthy Republican opponent, Andrew Franz,... [read more]
Hyperbole Watch...
by Eric Earling, 07:57 AM, 33 Comments
...and a Vietnam flashback to boot. All nicely contained in today's editorial from the Seattle P-I. While imploring people to vote in this election, the editorial board says: "it's about the war, the war, the war, the war." Uh, huh.... [read more]
November 03, 2006
Sound Politics Radio
by Eric Earling, 06:59 AM, 3 Comments
Well, not quite. But I will be appearing on KUOW's Weekday program with Steve Scher from 10 - 11 am today. I'll be joining columnists Danny Westneat from the Seattle Times and Susan Paynter of the Seattle P-I. You can... [read more]
November 02, 2006
A Trifle Overstated, Professor McKay
by Jim Miller, 01:45 PM, 33 Comments
Yesterday's column by retired journalism professor Floyd McKay included a number of gems:... [read more]
Seattle P-I in a death spiral
by Eric Earling, 07:29 AM, 28 Comments
Since 1999, the Seattle P-I's circulation has plummeted, while the Seattle Times has suffered only a modest drop (Note: at the link, click "Next" at the picture tool to the right to see an interesting chart on this score). Is... [read more]
October 30, 2006
It's in the P-I New York Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:15 PM, 11 Comments
Today's P-I (sorry, it's the New York Times. The latter's ever-falling standards had me confused) has an article about Bellevue and the 8th District: "Liberal Republican Suburb Turns Furious With G.O.P.". The article is mostly notable for its exemplary liberal... [read more]
October 29, 2006
"Ask an Uptight Seattleite"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:15 PM, 18 Comments
The recently remodeled Seattle Weekly started out with a Q&A column called "Ask a Mexican", borrowed from its Southern California sister weeklies. "Ask a Mexican" fell flat in Seattle and was thankfully terminated. It's now been replaced with "Ask an... [read more]
October 27, 2006
A Joke For Josh Feit
by Jim Miller, 09:39 AM, 6 Comments
It's an old joke, but it often applies to current events.... [read more]
October 26, 2006
It's on the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:01 PM, 7 Comments
I should read the P-I's group blog, Strange Bedfellows, more often. Joel Connelly posted a worthwhile write-up of Monday's Johnson v. Empty Chair debate that Connelly co-moderated. I regret I didn't see the post earlier. Today Daniel Lathrop looks at... [read more]
The Press, the Supreme Court, and You
by Eric Earling, 07:52 AM, 16 Comments
The Everett Herald takes exception to recent remarks by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in an editorial today. The Herald seems to miss the point of Scalia's statements. Perhaps Scalia scans too many tabloid headlines and doesn't spend enough... [read more]
October 22, 2006
Understanding Newspaper Endorsements
by Eric Earling, 09:47 PM, 18 Comments
It seems some of our friends in the liberal blogosphere are immensely confused about the process of newspaper endorsements. Indeed, some conservatives would question the value I place on them at times. A brief discussion of both points is in... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:43 PM, 3 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has endorsed incumbent Republican state Sen. Luke Esser over his (former Republican, now Democrat) challenger, Rep. Rodney Tom. The P-I's reasoning is a bit tweaked, prefering the more conservative Republican out of fear that the nominal Democrat... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:01 AM, 37 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer endorses Darcy Burner over Dave Reichert. The endorsement itself is no surprise. What's worth noting is its intellectual dishonesty. Note how the editors lowered their past standards for the same seat in order to portray Darcy Burner... [read more]
October 21, 2006
The P-I isn't in it
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:28 PM, 2 Comments
The Washington News Council is holding an open hearing today to air grievences alleged by the King County Sheriff's Office against the Seattle Post-Intelligencer over the P-I's recent series of articles about the Sheriff's Office, "Conduct Unbecoming". The News Council... [read more]
October 19, 2006
Don't be So Modest, Mr. Westneat
by Jim Miller, 01:44 PM, 19 Comments
In this column, Danny Westneat slams our current campaign: This is the 10th local or national election I've covered as a journalist, dating to 1990. It's the shallowest, most platitudinous campaign I've ever seen. And then blames — I'm not... [read more]
October 15, 2006
Media fixation with Mark Foley -- on-target or wishful thinking?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:09 PM, 38 Comments
Postman, in Friday's column: Mark Foley's "Do I make you a little horny?" has replaced President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" as the phrase most likely to sweep Democrats back into power The column elicited a disputatious voicemail which Postman transcribed on... [read more]
October 13, 2006
McGavick v. Cantwell Connelly and Balter
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:55 PM, 12 Comments
KING-5's Robert Mak's recent profiles of the Senate candidates are online and worth watching: "Who is Mike McGavick?" and "Who is Maria Cantwell?" Most of the McGavick profile was an interview with the candidate himself. The Cantwell profile includes file... [read more]
Politicians personal lives. A double standard?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:28 AM, 20 Comments
How has the local media covered Republican politicians' personal lives in the recent past? Consider Congressman Rick White, who unseated Maria Cantwell in 1994. White divorced in April 1998. The local media seems to have made White's personal life an... [read more]
October 11, 2006
NYT Columnist Frank Rich Visits Seattle
by Jim Miller, 03:25 PM, 2 Comments
The Seattle Times assigned staff writer Mark Rahner to interview Rich. That may have been a mistake, as you can see from the first two questions in the interview. Q: How did your background in theater prepare you to write... [read more]
P-I's Connelly: GOP's Conrad Burns An Enabler for Bush-Hitler
by Matt Rosenberg, 10:40 AM, 35 Comments
Veteran Seattle Post-Intelligencer political columnist Joel Connelly had to go and ruin what for him was actually a fairly decent piece on Montana's bumptious, pork-friendly, but appropriately tough-on-terrorism incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, who faces a stiff challenge from... [read more]
October 09, 2006
Shawn Kemp Loves Children
by Jim Miller, 01:57 PM, 17 Comments
And the former NBA star is trying for a comeback. Those were the two conclusions I found in this column by the Seattle PI's Robert Jamieson. The second I am willing to believe; the first is harder to swallow, in... [read more]
Bad Reporting Snapshot
by Eric Earling, 07:45 AM, 11 Comments
Charles Pope of the PI embarrasses himself today with this article on this year's Congressional races in Washington state. Pope does accurately convey, the two districts held by Republicans -- the 4th District by Doc Hastings and the 5th District... [read more]
October 08, 2006
Signs that your local media suffers from liberal bias (III)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:01 PM, 40 Comments
While the liberal media studiously avoids the 800-pound corpse in Maria Cantwell's closet, they'll eagerly parrot any silly accusation that left-wing crackpots level at Mike McGavick. The latest such charge is that McGavick's ad which uses the word 'illegal' to... [read more]
October 03, 2006
Cantwell divorce file resealed by court, yet to be explored by mainstream press
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:21 PM, 75 Comments
The Cantwell divorce file was resealed yesterday. Dotzauer's attorney argued that the pro-tem commissioner who unsealed it last week at my request was out-of-line. It's also clear from yesterday's filing that somebody had been trying to unseal the file before... [read more]
September 28, 2006
Signs that your newspaper suffers from liberal bias (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:06 AM, 24 Comments
One sign is when a reporter defends a Democrat candidate from accurate attack ads. Yesterday's TriCity Herald "Attack ads on Rep. Grant not quite accurate" The ad also states Grant "voted with Christine Gregoire for the largest tax increase in... [read more]
September 27, 2006
Driver In Alki DUI Deaths Extolled Drinking And Driving, Online
by Matt Rosenberg, 11:09 AM, 30 Comments
A drunk driver took another life in Seattle last weekend, in South Park, as the P-I reports today. With the cases of Susan West and Mary Jane Rivas fresh in mind, tolerance for intoxicated drivers is wearing awfully thin. And... [read more]
September 24, 2006
Signs that your newspaper suffers from liberal bias (I)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:56 AM, 41 Comments
One sign of liberal media bias is when articles routinely brand conservative policy institutes as "conservative" or "Republican" while omitting the partisan and philosophical leanings of liberal advocacy groups. For example, the Washington Policy Center, which calls itself a "non-partisan... [read more]
September 20, 2006
Monson Versus Postman
by Jim Miller, 08:02 AM, 18 Comments
Yesterday, talk show host Dori Monson and Seattle Times reporter David Postman both tried answer some of the questions I raised in this post: What does Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott think about the FBI raid on the Islamic charity (or,... [read more]
September 18, 2006
Joni Balter: Washington's laziest editorial writer?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:01 PM, 33 Comments
Joni Balter on KUOW Weekday this morning as an alleged "expert" on the Supreme Court races. (audio clip @ 5:58) Hands down, the group that's spending and spending this year is the Building Industry Association of Washington. And you know,... [read more]
September 17, 2006
Seattle Times endorses Stephen Johnson, Gerry Alexander John Groen
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:48 AM, 15 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial page recaps its endorsements and gets to the essence of the race between Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander and John Groen:The court's most important job is to limit the overreaching of the executive and legislative... [read more]
September 13, 2006
"Eat The State" Shows True Colors
by Matt Rosenberg, 05:39 PM, 3 Comments
There's genteel hatred of the U.S., as revealed today in a post by Stefan, via the blog, Seattlest. Then there's the raw unvarnished variety. Putting together a longer post today over at Rosenblog in my ongoing "News Of The Skewed"... [read more]
September 12, 2006
Implausible numbers in today's Seattle Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:05 PM, 22 Comments
Today's Seattle Times has this article by Lornet Turnbull about children of gay and lesbian parents in public schools: "Finding schools that strive to be inclusive". Turnbull's advocacy tone is typical of her reportage. More astonishing here are the credulity-stretching... [read more]
This Is The P-I On Drugs
by Matt Rosenberg, 10:40 AM, 2 Comments
Hempfest screed: Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial, today: "..America has tumbled into a swamp of hubris, prisoner abuse, secret courts, secret prisons, 'renditions,' warrantless wiretaps and flouting of international law...The number of American soldiers killed in Bush's military adventure in Iraq approaches... [read more]
September 11, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:52 AM, 11 Comments
Joel Connelly, the P-I's contumelious liberal columnist, is troubled by Astroturf PACs which "hide the identities of people" paying for political campaigns. But Connelly's selective outrage, (at conservative groups) ignores the fact that Democrats play this game too. For example,... [read more]
September 10, 2006
It's in the P-I (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:06 AM, 8 Comments
The Shi'ittle Post-Intelligencer can never publish enough anti-Israel screeds, no matter how lurid or one-sided. Today's editorial page has a guest op-ed about the environmental damage incurred in the Hizbullah war "After the bombs, environmental calamity" -- The piece is... [read more]
It's in the P-I (I)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:41 AM, 21 Comments
Mark al-Trahant, editorial page editor of the Shi'itle Post-Intelligencer finds this White House statement on Iran to be disconcerting : "This summer's crisis in Lebanon has made it clearer than ever that the world faces a grave threat from the... [read more]
September 06, 2006
Actually, We Are Getting Smarter, Mr. Horsey
by Jim Miller, 02:27 PM, 15 Comments
Last Saturday, David Horsey published the answers to his "Burning Question" of the week before: "Are Americans Getting Dumber?" Almost all of those who replied thought that we were. This way of deciding the question reminds me of the (possibly... [read more]
Schram it!
by DonWard, 02:03 PM, 53 Comments
This morning was the first time I've tuned in to "The Commentators" at 570 KVI. The new show is hosted by John Carlson - 13-year talk show veteran and runner-up in the 2000 Washington state gubernatorial race - and Ken... [read more]
September 05, 2006
Tom Maguire Wants Our Help
by Jim Miller, 05:29 PM, 23 Comments
The blogger who knows more about the Plame "scandal" than anyone else is making a little list of those who were fools enough to believe former ambassador Joseph Wilson. And he wants our help. That sort of project surely appeals... [read more]
September 03, 2006
Speaking of the death of the mainstream media...
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:55 PM, 24 Comments
In this week's column, Seattle Times heir apparent Ryan Blethen laments the fact that political parties engage in, uh, politics: "Thirsting for much more than political pandering" The parties are already positioning candidates who have the best chance to win... [read more]
David Horsey Thinks Bush Supporters Are Dumb Hicks
by Eric Earling, 02:58 PM, 59 Comments
...or something like that. Today's PI editorial cartoon is classic fare from Mr. Horsey, taking a dim view of the wit and wisdom of pro-Bush Americans. Granted, Horsey is an excellent editorial cartoonist in an aesthetic sense, and periodically produces... [read more]
September 01, 2006
Even Joni Balter might be right every once in a great while
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:10 PM, 22 Comments
Joni Balter is perhaps the least credible editorial writer in the region -- predictably misguided in her opinions, which are invariably argued with questionable facts and senseless logic and delivered with sneering condescension. But this week she happens to be... [read more]
August 30, 2006
Wait a minute Mister Postman...
by DonWard, 06:49 PM, 7 Comments
Criticism is not taken lightly. I know. There's nothing more grating than showing up to your office and getting a voice message stating that you had misspelled someone's name or got the date wrong of some festival. Human errors are... [read more]
It's in the P-I: Fake News! (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:01 AM, 14 Comments
Here's some "news" that the P-I knows is wrong but refuses to correct. Earlier this month, the P-I published an editorial applauding the federal court ruling that prohibits the state from verifying the information on a voter registration form, citing... [read more]
It's in the P-I: Fake News! (I)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:10 AM, 20 Comments
Today's P-I: "Women's pay falls farther behind men's" the gender gap in pay grew in the county by about 4 cents from the previous year, according to a Seattle P-I analysis of the statistics in the 3 million-person national survey.... [read more]
August 18, 2006
Balter's no Woodward and Bernstein
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:13 PM, 20 Comments
Joni Balter's latest dollop of journalistic prowess and political insight thumbsucking is yesterday's column: "Cantwell's no Lieberman" Sen. Joe Lieberman, pro-war Democrat, got a deserved comeuppance in his primary loss to a well-heeled Democratic challenger. There is no pith or... [read more]
August 11, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:29 AM, 32 Comments
The P-I editorial board comments on the foiled terrorism plot, concluding: despite bold promises of success in a "war on terrorism," we may well have to learn to live with the prospect of terrorism as long as social and economic... [read more]
August 05, 2006
Unimpressive Work
by Eric Earling, 02:24 PM, 18 Comments
Ryan Blethen. Sigh. He's been the topic of criticism before at Sound Politics, including from Stefan, and notably from Jim Miller. His latest column is but another reminder that this man, whatever his personal attributes and strengths, does not merit... [read more]
August 02, 2006
It's not in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:07 PM, 11 Comments
As I noted earlier, the folks at the Shi'ittle Post-Intelligencer have a habit of parroting the Hezbollah propaganda blaming Israel for the deaths of innocent Lebanese civilians. But here's an essential part of the story you haven't read in the... [read more]
Bullitt Heiress Sues Safeco Over McGavick Pay
by Matt Rosenberg, 09:30 AM, 62 Comments
What matters most in the 06' contest between Repubican challenger Mike McGavick and Dem incumbent Maria Cantwell of Washington for U.S. Senate are issues and character. Issues such as as national security, social security, energy, immigration and federal spending. The... [read more]
August 01, 2006
Terrorism here and there
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:05 AM, 11 Comments
Not yet in the English language media, but the German press reports that bombs have been found in the train stations of two different cities, Dortmund and Koblenz. Authorities are conducting a terrorism investigation. I'll be interested to see how... [read more]
July 31, 2006
Journalist, Heal Thyself
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:44 AM, 78 Comments
Today's P-I editorial "Downtown Shooting: Education is vital" decries the undercurrent of anti-Semitism that inspired Friday's fatal terrorist attack on the Jewish Federation of Seattle: the decision to attack good people ... grew out of the anti-Jewish bias that is... [read more]
Hezbollah Is Responsible for Current Civilian Deaths In Lebanaon
by Matt Rosenberg, 07:55 AM, 16 Comments
Seattle's ever-present "Blame Israel First" contingent, and gullible readers who buy the deceptive blame-casting of incomplete reports such as this: heed Charles Krauthamer in today's Seattle Times: "Hezbollah hides its fighters, its rockets, its launchers, its entire infrastructure among civilians.... [read more]
July 28, 2006
Now, Will Jim Vesely Apologize?
by Jim Miller, 05:34 PM, 22 Comments
In this post, I argued that the Seattle Times should not have published a letter saying that "neocons" should be weeded out, especially under the inflamatory headline they chose: Eradicate those who have put us in the Middle East. The... [read more]
July 26, 2006
Eradicate?
by Jim Miller, 01:38 PM, 66 Comments
Fortunately, I had finished my lunch when I came across this Seattle Times headline, which says that I should be eradicated. Eradicate those who have put us in the Middle East... [read more]
July 24, 2006
Exurbanites for sprawl control
by Stefan Sharkansky, 06:47 PM, 59 Comments
Speaking of that UW professor who lives on Vashon Island, but recommends that people should live and work in the same place, I was reminded of this recent Seattle P-I editorial. "Sprawl: Planning for health" Seattle, King County and Washington... [read more]
July 22, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:50 PM, 15 Comments
Today's P-I has a report on something called the Freedom School, headline "Freedom School teaches what others don't". But some of what the Freedom School teaches appears to be rather questionable. The school's purpose, according to one of its leaders,... [read more]
July 20, 2006
More on the Sonics
by Eric Earling, 07:53 AM, 52 Comments
Here's an interesting editorial in today's Everett Herald. I abstractly like the idea of a new NBA/NHL arena outside of Seattle proper, as the editorial advocates. Such multi-use arenas, especially with two professional teams, are the most fiscally viable in... [read more]
July 18, 2006
Horsey on the Middle East
by Eric Earling, 07:32 AM, 8 Comments
David Horsey has an insightful cartoon on current events in the Middle East in today's PI. Too bad the rest of the PI editorial board seems to have missed the memo that it's nigh impossible to negotiate when one side... [read more]
July 14, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:11 AM, 43 Comments
As anybody who reads the P-I could have predicted, its editorialists couldn't wait to condemn Israel for defending itself from unprovoked attacks. The world community can and should condemn the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers as well as the military incursions... [read more]
July 13, 2006
The Seattle Times Has A Question For You
by Jim Miller, 01:23 PM, 8 Comments
Specifically: We're trying out Prickly City. What do you think? You can see today's strip here. I think I like it. (And I like the Tuesday and Wednesday strips even more.) You can email your opinion to: timescomics@seattletimes.com. You'll have... [read more]
It's in the P-I (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:32 AM, 18 Comments
Yesterday's P-I published this guest op-ed "'Never again' gone mad in Israel". For some reason, the P-I editorial page has a fetish for printing op-eds from depraved individuals who shrug their shoulders at terrorists who attack random Jews for the... [read more]
July 05, 2006
Mossback moves on
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:15 AM, 0 Comments
Seattle Weekly editor Knute "Mossback" Berger has announced his resignation. I don't always agree with Mossback, but he's always thoughtful. And he has hit a few out of the park lately, such as when he lambasted the Seattle School District,... [read more]
July 04, 2006
The Seattle PI Hates George Bush: Part 6,742
by Eric Earling, 10:00 AM, 22 Comments
Another day, more gratuitous shots at George W. Bush in the PI. Yawn. Did you know that President Bush is the most competent, lying bastard ever...and he's a brick too (try and figure out that irony)? You can read it... [read more]
July 03, 2006
Appreciating the True Cost of Freedom
by Eric Earling, 11:56 PM, 15 Comments
One can hardly pick up a newspaper in the Seattle area today without seeing an article, an editorial, or a letter to the editor showing the current, left-of-center groupthink bemoaning violence in Iraq, no matter what other good news might... [read more]
July 02, 2006
A Muddy Stew, Indeed
by Jim Miller, 05:28 PM, 19 Comments
For sheer entertainment — assuming that you are entertained by a journalist making a fool of himself — it is hard to beat the lead editorial in today's Seattle Times. Here's the first sentence: The muddy stew of American democracy... [read more]
June 30, 2006
Will Seattle MSM Cover Canadian Islamist Hate Speech Story?
by Matt Rosenberg, 12:48 PM, 36 Comments
Seattle's daily newspapers are typically one to three days late on certain big out-of-town stories, usually the ones showing the excesses of leftists or anti-Western extremists. Much easier to run another hit piece on Republicans in Congress, the Bush Administration... [read more]
Oh, That Innumerate Media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:53 AM, 41 Comments
Oops. In their tirades against I-920, which would repeal the state's death tax, some in the local media seriously misreported the number of state residents who are subject to the tax. According to the state Department of Revenue, the number... [read more]
June 27, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:06 AM, 38 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on King County Councilman Reagan Dunn's public concerns over the county website posting social security numbers in certain property records. Curiously, the article seems to be more critical of Dunn's exposure of the issue than of... [read more]
June 24, 2006
And speaking of the death of the mainstream media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:16 AM, 15 Comments
Seattle Times heir Ryan Blethen is calling on his readers to "Demand an independent press". In fact, what Blethen is really demanding is that the FCC impose competition-restricting regulations that would help the Blethen family in its financial tousle with... [read more]
June 22, 2006
The many hallucinations of Joni Balter
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:07 PM, 15 Comments
Joni Balter, in today's column, "And the governor in 2012 is ...": The young boy in the movie "The Sixth Sense" sees dead people. I see future elections.The poor woman. Balter still hasn't responded to my inquiry about last week's... [read more]
June 19, 2006
Wanna Buy A Newspaper?
by Matt Rosenberg, 04:56 PM, 11 Comments
The King County Journal is up for sale. Current ownership says it can't afford to bring the publication and other smaller papers it owns to their full potential. More from the Seattle Times and the the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the latter... [read more]
June 15, 2006
Where's Balter? Somewhere, drooling
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:47 AM, 20 Comments
When I first read Wednesday's Seattle Times editorial, presumably by Joni Balter, I wasn't sure whether I was going to laugh or vomit: "Where's Logan? Somewhere, smiling" Outgoing King County Elections Director Dean Logan is a competent professional and solid... [read more]
June 14, 2006
What Some People Believe
by Jim Miller, 08:31 AM, 55 Comments
Continues to astonish me. Take, for example, the letter from Heather McKey, published yesterday in the Seatle Times. It begins as follows: Have we entered a new era of barbarism? I wake up to front-page news that we have killed... [read more]
June 12, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:48 PM, 9 Comments
Jason Osgood has a great post below about the P-I's weekend editorial in favor of forcing everybody to vote by mail. Be sure to read Jason's post. A few more comments about the P-I's editorial -- First, a note of... [read more]
June 10, 2006
A Horse's Ass on the radio
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:49 PM, 76 Comments
One of the least significant non-events of this weekend, but vaguely amusing in a train-wreck sort of way, is the debut of The Horse's Ass Show on 710-KIRO Sunday evening. It's hard to imagine why KIRO thought this would be... [read more]
June 08, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:41 AM, 9 Comments
I like Neil Modie. But his article yesterday about Tim Eyman and the failure of Referendum 65 has a few tidbits of inaccuracy, inappropriate editorializing and unintentional irony that are just too good to pass up "Eyman fails to deliver"... [read more]
June 06, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:51 PM, 10 Comments
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Seattle School District can use race as a tiebraker for school assignments. Tuesday's P-I editorial calls this a "welcome review". Yes it is. Oh, wait: The P-I welcomes it for... [read more]
June 05, 2006
It's in the P-I (I)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:00 AM, 24 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial applauds the protesters at the Port of Olympia who attempted to interfere with the shipment of military supplies to Iraq. "Civil Disobedience: Tilting at war" their non-cooperation with something judged as evil is worthy of note... [read more]
June 04, 2006
Seattle Times sanitizes news of Canadian Islamist terror plot
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:57 PM, 50 Comments
Today's Seattle Times includes this article "Canadians arrest 17 in alleged terror plot", syndicated from the New York Times. Or I should say it includes selected portions of the original NYT piece. I marked up the NYT original version to... [read more]
May 25, 2006
Darcy Burner for State Senate
by Matt Rosenberg, 12:24 PM, 49 Comments
The best part of Seattle's Sandinista weekly, The Stranger, is "Critical Overview." It's at the front of the print edition, and gives a frank and often hilarious rundown of what's in the current edition from the perspective of an actual... [read more]
May 22, 2006
Let's Welcome David Postman To The Blogosphere
by Jim Miller, 10:38 AM, 20 Comments
Yesterday, Seattle Times executive editor, Mike Fancher, announced that David Postman would be joining the blogosphere. In his initial post, Postman promised, indirectly, to be "objective": Before I could get started here, Eli Sanders at The Stranger's Slog posed... [read more]
The Formation Of An Iraqi Government Was Great News
by Jim Miller, 09:35 AM, 8 Comments
And by far the biggest story yesterday. The most important US newspapers made it their lead story. The New York Times, no friend to the Bush administration, began with this: Iraqi leaders on Saturday approved a full-term government here for... [read more]
May 16, 2006
Amazing!
by Jim Miller, 09:19 AM, 27 Comments
The Seattle PI actually published this op-ed. In spite of Connelly's faith in what commission members say, the report seems to be an obvious cover-up. The question that we all need to ask is: What is the commission covering up?... [read more]
May 15, 2006
Breaking News: Karl Rove [not] indicted [again]
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:35 PM, 52 Comments
Our good friend Eli Sanders of The Stranger was the first local blogger to break the political blockbuster story of the decade last Friday: Karl Rove has been indicted: it's late in the day, so I'm only going to give... [read more]
What Do You Mean, "We", Leftist Woman?
by Jim Miller, 02:24 PM, 10 Comments
Florangela Davila goes on and on about how much she loves the TV program often called Left Wing. We're about to feel even lousier than when Mrs. Landingham died. . . . It's been seven fine years, but this Sunday,... [read more]
May 09, 2006
More On Bill Clinton's Arsenic Trap
by Jim Miller, 12:45 PM, 4 Comments
Since the Seattle Times continues to omit much of the arsenic story, I'll try to fill in what they miss. In my first post, I noted that there was little danger from the previous standard of 50 parts per billion,... [read more]
May 03, 2006
Jose Isuzu?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:14 PM, 21 Comments
Today's Seattle Times article about a fatal automobile accident on the I-5 bridge includes this curious detail: A box truck, driven by Jose Isuzu, 51, of Renton, approached from behind the pickup, [a State Patrol spokeswoman] said. Isuzu changed lanes... [read more]
Joel Connelly Channels John Dean
by Jim Miller, 05:26 PM, 8 Comments
The 19th century British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, once said that, of all his awards, he liked the Order of the Garter, best, because there was no "damned nonsense about merit" attached to it. You had to be a member... [read more]
April 30, 2006
Oh, that innumerate media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:55 PM, 35 Comments
In today's weekly column, Seattle Times editorial page editor James Vesely laments the high price of gasoline: "At the pump, the movie never ends"Those little brass cap-lock keys became ubiquitous on key rings and they will certainly return again as... [read more]
April 22, 2006
How much attention will Seattle's liberal media give to the latest House ethics scandal?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:43 PM, 24 Comments
The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer have published dozens of news articles on the topic of "DeLay" and "ethics" since 2005. The Times published four unsigned editorials and a number of signed columns on with the keywords "DeLay" and "ethics"... [read more]
April 20, 2006
Today's David Horsey Cartoon Is Funny
by Jim Miller, 01:25 PM, 5 Comments
That shouldn't be news, but it is. At one time, I enjoyed most Horsey cartoons, even when I disagreed with them. But the quality of his cartoons has been declining in recent years, enough so that he even received one... [read more]
Another Campaign Contribution
by Jim Miller, 01:00 PM, 40 Comments
This time from KIRO TV. I was watching the local news two days ago when I saw a piece on gas prices that could have been done by the Maria Cantwell campaign. The piece began with a discussion of rising... [read more]
April 14, 2006
Speaking of the death of the mainstream media...
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:13 PM, 37 Comments
Seattle Times heir Ryan Blethen writes today that "Politicians should seriously consider" subsidizing a proposed NASCAR racetrack to the tune of nearly $200 million.... [read more]
Ron Judd Smears Scott McClellan
by Jim Miller, 09:33 AM, 15 Comments
I have often wondered why the Seattle Times employs Ron Judd, and even gives him plum assignments. And I have wondered even more why they tolerate smears from him like this one: Q: This sea-lion thing is getting out of... [read more]
April 13, 2006
Campaign Contributions From News Organizations
by Jim Miller, 08:54 AM, 18 Comments
There are many ways to contribute to a campaign, but the most effective is often to run a story that supports one candidate, or attacks another, in a newspaper or on a TV program. (I say often, rather than always,... [read more]
April 10, 2006
Want To Help Provide More Local Photo Journalism?
by Jim Miller, 08:55 AM, 0 Comments
There are some kinds of stories that our local newspapers routinely distort. For instance, when there were competing rallies in Bellevue in August, 2003, the Seattle Times and the King County Journal gave their readers no idea just how extreme... [read more]
April 09, 2006
Westneat on immigration redux
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:36 AM, 67 Comments
Most Americans make a distinction between legal immigrants who contribute to the economy versus illegal immigrants, especially those who are a net burden on the social welfare system. For example, this recent poll reports that 54% of Americans want the... [read more]
April 08, 2006
Snark, Snark
by Jim Miller, 03:56 PM, 17 Comments
That's what I say when I get snarky about the PI's "Snark Attack". Here's what had me snarking today: P-I reader Eugene S. Mongan says, "How stupid is Bush? Mexico is invading our country. Where are the Army and National... [read more]
April 02, 2006
Danny Westneat hails illegal immigrants sucking up tax money
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:31 AM, 49 Comments
The Seattle Times' Danny Westneat says he wants to convince us that illegal immigrants are something other than "derelicts sucking up tax money", so he tells us the story of Zenaida Lopez, who crossed the border illegally with her then... [read more]
March 22, 2006
Rodney Tom's Party Switch Makes Me Skeptical
by Jim Miller, 09:30 AM, 12 Comments
Olympian publisher John Winn Miller claimed that journalists are skeptical of everyone. (Shouldn't that be "skeptical toward"?) That claim reminded me of the stories I saw on legislator Rodney Tom's party switch. All of them were similar; all appeared to... [read more]
The Publisher Of The Olympian Is Unhappy
by Jim Miller, 06:42 AM, 22 Comments
John Winn Miller (who is, as far as I know, no relative of mine) says that this Cal Thomas column is unfair to journalists. Cal Thomas, you've made me mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.... [read more]
March 19, 2006
"Innovations in Education"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:55 AM, 26 Comments
Sen. Barack Obama spoke in Seattle yesterday at a Cantwell campaign fundraising event. The title of the program was "Innovations in Education". Today's Seattle Times has the story: "Obama at Garfield to talk up education" The article leads: Of course,... [read more]
March 18, 2006
Let's Help Ryan Blethen
by Jim Miller, 10:56 AM, 36 Comments
After I read Stefan's post on the most recent Ryan Blethen column, I went to the column to read it myself. Or, I should say, to try to read it. But I could barely get through the first sentence, and... [read more]
March 17, 2006
Speaking truth to power
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:06 PM, 24 Comments
Today's Seattle Times has a fascinating editorial column: "Creating a new democracy" The press has become so beholden to profit it struggles to play the watchdog role needed for democracy to flourish. Now there's a man who can speak truth... [read more]
Journalistic Abortion
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:44 AM, 23 Comments
Merriam Webster's dictionary defines "abortion" not only as the termination of a pregnancy, but also as 2 : MONSTROSITY 3 : arrest of development (as of a part or process) resulting in imperfection; also : a result of such arrest... [read more]
March 16, 2006
Rachel Corrie And Horst Wessel
by Jim Miller, 03:55 PM, 23 Comments
Since many leftists, especially in this area, seems determined to celebrate Rachel Corrie, it is time to draw the obvious parallel. In my first substantive post, I made a simple and irrefutable argument: The best description for the Palestinian Authority... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:41 AM, 26 Comments
In today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Robert L. Jamieson Jr. celebrates Rachel Corrie, who was killed in a self-inflicted accident while trying to protect a terrorist weapons smuggling tunnel. "Rachel's story needs to be told, now" If I may paraphrase Jamieson, the... [read more]
March 13, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:38 AM, 44 Comments
The terrorism enthusiasts at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board are having a virtual pancake breakfast this morning to celebrate Rachel Corrie, who accidentally died three years ago while trying to protect a terrorist smuggling tunnel "Rachel Corrie: Invisible no more"... [read more]
March 09, 2006
Good question
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:25 AM, 26 Comments
This week's The Stranger speculates on the likely demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer If a failing newspaper like the P-I dies, and it dies in a city that experts agree can't support two daily newspapers anyway, and it also happens... [read more]
March 06, 2006
The Seattle Times Versus The Facts
by Jim Miller, 01:50 PM, 51 Comments
First, the Seattle Times: Transcripts and a government video revealed the administration and the president were warned in advance about the perils of Hurricane Katrina, the vulnerability of levees and the potential for catastrophe. The president is not directly responsible... [read more]
The Seattle Times Censor Slipped
by Jim Miller, 12:35 PM, 3 Comments
And let this commentary on the Danish cartoons be published. Granted "Brewster Rockit" is not the equivalent of an article, a column, or even an op-ed, but it's better than nothing. And today's strip is mildly funny — and better... [read more]
March 03, 2006
Coming up short
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:49 PM, 11 Comments
King County's three main daily newspapers all had editorials this week about the final report of Cheryl Scott's "independent task force" on elections. ( King County Journal, Seattle Times, Seattle P-I). All three reached similar conclusions: Deanron still needs to... [read more]
February 24, 2006
No to campaign contribution limits
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:04 PM, 11 Comments
The Seattle Times keeps campaigning to protect its favored position in influencing judicial races. Yesterday's editorial endorses a speech-suppressing bill in the legislature that would cap contributions to judicial campaigns. Nationwide, money has been flooding into state appellate-court races, especially... [read more]
February 17, 2006
Baby Blethen Watch
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:55 AM, 27 Comments
Ryan Blethen, son of Seattle Times Publisher Frank Blethen, is apparently being groomed to take over the family business. He was recently appointed as the fourth Blethen on the editorial board . Ryan now has his own semi-regular signed column,... [read more]
February 13, 2006
Will the Seattle newspapers print these cartoons?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:57 PM, 26 Comments
In a non-sequitur form of retaliation against the Danish Muhammad cartoons, an Iranian newspaper is holding a contest for cartoons about the Holocaust: A prominent Iranian newspaper on Monday opened an international competition seeking cartoons about the Holocaust in what... [read more]
February 12, 2006
What the Seattle newspapers are surrendering to
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:45 PM, 21 Comments
This chilling video of an anti-cartoon demonstration in Paris shows what the Seattle Times, the P-I and most of the rest of the U.S. media have surrendered to. (More at this blog, by way of Andrew Sullivan). The Times and... [read more]
It is a clash of civilizations and the Seattle Times is ducking for cover
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:49 AM, 30 Comments
In today's column, Seattle Times Executive Editor Mike Fancher fails to give a credible explanation why his paper won't publish the Danish Muhammad cartoons, except to say: "Showing cartoons isn't worth hurt to readers" We haven't published the cartoons because... [read more]
February 11, 2006
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:58 PM, 23 Comments
Robert L. Jamieson, Jr. had a chat with a local Muslim about the Muhammad cartoons: [Lena] Tuffaha, 30, is a writer who comes from a family of Middle East writers. As a former board member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,... [read more]
Dhimmitude
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:01 AM, 22 Comments
A number of readers pointed me to yesterday's op-ed in the Washington Times: "Cartoon Rage" We need to learn a new word: dhimmitude ... Wherever Islam conquered, surrendering dhimmi, known to Muslims as "people of the book [the Bible]," were... [read more]
February 10, 2006
A selective willingness to offend (iii)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:10 PM, 24 Comments
Hank Bradley posted a comment in an earlier entry reminding us that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer publishes the cartoons of Ted Rall. That jarred my memory of a column that Editorial Page Editor Mark Trahant wrote in November 2003 defending his... [read more]
A selective willingness to take offense
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:08 AM, 16 Comments
Also in today's P-I is a report on the reaction of local Muslims to the Danish cartoons "Area Muslims channel anger over cartoons" no local demonstrations are planned ... Aziz Junejo, who hosts a local cable television show on Islam,... [read more]
A selective willingness to offend (ii)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:47 AM, 12 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer treats us to a non-explanation why "Not showing drawings responsible choice" news organizations are frequently faced with choices regarding images that force them to consider the likelihood those images will be offensive to segments of readers. In... [read more]
February 09, 2006
A selective willingness to offend
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:44 PM, 37 Comments
Today's Seattle Times reports on The Stranger's decision to publish some of the Danish Muhammad cartoons -- "Local alternative paper: Let the readers decide". (The Stranger's terrific article is here). Some are offended by The Stranger's publication of the images... [read more]
Feds: Listen Away!
by Matt Rosenberg, 09:56 AM, 39 Comments
Robert Wright of Yakima has a great letter to the editor in today's Seattle Times, on domestic surveillance (third one down, here). He writes: I'm tired of "civil libertarians" fighting against my rights of safety and freedom...Do I really care... [read more]
February 08, 2006
A tale of two cartoons
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:03 PM, 22 Comments
Andy had a nice post this morning about Bruce Ramsey's op-ed arguing why the Seattle Times should not publish the Danish Muhammad cartoons "Free speech leavened by a thing called judgment". Ramsey mentioned me by name in his column so... [read more]
Be nice
by Andy MacDonald, 08:27 AM, 46 Comments
That is basically the message in Bruce Ramsey's column this morning: Free speech leavened by a thing called judgment. Ramsey rejects calls by Seattle Times readers and this blog for the Times to publish the twelve Jyllands-Posten cartoons. His argument... [read more]
February 07, 2006
Seattle Times stands for a free press
by Andy MacDonald, 08:08 AM, 18 Comments
This morning's lead editorial in the Seattle Times is something rare to see in the media these days: a paean to a free press: Cartoons Turn Ugly. They don't just defend a free press, they do so unashamedly and without... [read more]
January 24, 2006
Lakeside School Disinvites Dinesh D'Souza
by Jim Miller, 03:10 PM, 44 Comments
The fancy school, best known for Bill Gates and Paul Allen, invited author Dinesh D'Souza to speak about Iraq and foreign policy. After he had been invited (by the headmaster), he says that a group of teachers learned that his... [read more]
January 23, 2006
Bad luck?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:22 AM, 24 Comments
Today's Seattle Times reports: Tyrone BrownEL hasn't had a lot of luck in his life. By the time he was 15, he had repeatedly spent time in King County's juvenile detention. He says he has been charged with everything from... [read more]
January 21, 2006
Sooner or later it adds up to real money
by Stefan Sharkansky, 06:06 PM, 7 Comments
Sunday's P-I editorial, "Fools rush in", informs us that: As of midweek, word has reached Olympia that officials in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties had reached agreement on a plan to raise about $14 million for regional road projects and... [read more]
January 19, 2006
And speaking of "cyberbullying" ...
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:03 AM, 37 Comments
Joni Balter, in today's bilious rant on the Seattle Times editorial page, tells us she has no use for people who demand fiscal responsibility and accountability from our government, dismissing them as: right-wing wackos or negativists who sit around listening... [read more]
January 03, 2006
"Gentle PC Toilet Seat Liners"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:23 PM, 16 Comments
is the best anagram I've seen yet for "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" A decent second place entry is "REPELLING TOILET SEAT SCENT". A big thanks to the anonymous readers who posted these anagrams in the comments.... [read more]
January 02, 2006
"Ignore the Seattle Times article claiming Black Box Voting supports mail-in voting"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:06 PM, 27 Comments
The other day I was surprised to see Bev Harris of Black Box Voting quoted in the Seattle Times1 in support of all-mail voting. My surprise was well-founded. Today Harris posted this item on her bulletin board, and also left... [read more]
December 31, 2005
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:53 AM, 10 Comments
Unnamed staffers at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer feel threatened by the fact that Sound Politics broke more news about the bogus 2004 governor's race than the P-I did: "Five to remember from 2005 in Seattle news ... And five to forget... [read more]
December 29, 2005
Today on the Times editorial page: Brain-wasting disease
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:19 PM, 15 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial: "Live! Battle of the beefsteaks". Monday, U.S. beef returned to Japanese groceries for the first time since the country banned it after the first case of U.S.-detected mad-cow disease was discovered in late 2003. ... Japan... [read more]
December 28, 2005
The worst of Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:07 PM, 20 Comments
The Seattle Times' Bruce Ramsey is our best local editorial writer on local issues, but he's less impressive when he wanders off and writes about the Middle East. His occasional op-eds and unsigned editorials on the subject are as biased... [read more]
December 27, 2005
The unbiased media's favorite unbiased professor
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:10 AM, 3 Comments
I've noticed that a remarkable number of newspaper articles on state politics quote political scientist Todd Donovan of Western Washington University. Yesterday's article on the legislature by the AP's David Ammons quotes Donovan yet again: "GOP looks to new leaders... [read more]
December 08, 2005
Mrs. Gregoire's legitimacy problem
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:27 AM, 40 Comments
Joni Balter looks at the latest KING5/SurveyUSA poll which shows off Mrs. Gregoire's chronically low approval ratings. Balter writes off Gregoire's unpopularity as an (unjustified) "perception problem". Balter understatedly acknowledges, but doesn't fully comprehend Gregoire's "whiff of illegitimacy". The latest... [read more]
November 28, 2005
One Out Of Three Isn't Good
by Jim Miller, 01:11 PM, 31 Comments
While sorting through old clippings I found this column by Seattle Times editorial writer Lance Dickie. He made three predictions about last year's election — and got just one right, and that one the easiest of the three. Here... [read more]
November 18, 2005
Learning The Wrong Lessons From Katrina
by Jim Miller, 02:40 PM, 14 Comments
In a Seattle Times editorial urging faster decisions on the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, I found this paragraph: Hurricane Katrina taught leaders everywhere they dither at their own peril on projects that must be done. The fragile viaduct is... [read more]
November 09, 2005
Three Questions For Joel Connelly
by Jim Miller, 02:43 PM, 30 Comments
Buried deep in Connelly's column today were these two paragraphs: After insisting on error-free work by the county elections office, the King County Republican Party mounted a ballyhooed challenge to 1,944 county voters. It turned out that 50 people on... [read more]
October 28, 2005
Maybe Joel Connelly Has A Sly Sense Of Humor
by Jim Miller, 02:20 PM, 77 Comments
Or maybe he needs to be better informed. Some things are worth getting worked up about. What is truly remarkable, in the investigation of how Wilson's wife was outed as a covert CIA operative, is not whatever illegal activity is... [read more]
October 26, 2005
Shark Bite Chronicles
by Matt Rosenberg, 10:07 AM, 29 Comments
Local media are either clueless or commit bias by omission in reporting on continuing problems within the King County Records and Elections Department, and Stefan Sharkansky's exemplary investigative work at Sound Politics helps illustrate why alternative media sources such as... [read more]
October 01, 2005
"Now Can We Get Back To The Issues?"
by Jim Miller, 11:13 AM, 18 Comments
This Joni Balter column recycles some gossip about David Irons and his family. I read the column carefully — so you don't have to — and found nothing in it that should influence a voter's choice. Irons doesn't get along... [read more]
September 27, 2005
Kudos To Mark Trahant
by Jim Miller, 07:57 AM, 20 Comments
For this admission. So here goes: I am wrong about voting by mail. I thought voting by mail was the ideal way to increase voter participation. I loved the idea of taking my time to sort through a ballot (especially... [read more]
September 16, 2005
Merle Haggard, Iraq And KVI-AM, Seattle
by Matt Rosenberg, 10:27 PM, 40 Comments
Driving back home in the car today, I heard talk host and veteran Bryan Suits on KVI-AM Seattle playing Merle Haggard's "Okee From Muskeogee," a great - in fact, priceless - piece of country music all about standing firm with... [read more]
September 15, 2005
Balterdash
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:08 PM, 27 Comments
Whenever I read a Joni Balter column it occurs to me that if I didn't already know more than she did, I'd come away from her column knowing less than I knew before I read it. Today's column is no... [read more]
September 13, 2005
Lance Dickie Versus Jack Kelly
by Jim Miller, 10:15 AM, 22 Comments
Last week, an editorial writer for the Seattle Times, Lance Dickie, wrote a column giving the "mainstream" media's conventional wisdom on the response to Katrina. Before Hurricane Katrina, I looked forward to the congressional campaigns with a perverse political-science curiosity.... [read more]
September 12, 2005
Seattle Paper: "Sims Needs To Go"
by Matt Rosenberg, 12:47 PM, 40 Comments
The West Seattle Herald endorses Republican David Irons over Ron Sims, in this editorial, from their Sept. 7 edition. (The election of) November 2004...was a grim, unfunny story....Then...the absurd proposal of King County Executive Ron Sims that began to demonstrate... [read more]
August 24, 2005
The P-I's Lazy Hit Job On David Irons
by Matt Rosenberg, 01:40 PM, 45 Comments
Gawd, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer should be embarrassed about this: they print an editorial today actually daring to bemoan Democratic King County Executive Ron Sims' horrid record of ineptitude and mismanagement, and THEN launch into a blind, backhanded slam against his... [read more]
August 17, 2005
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:14 AM, 27 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article about children who are raised by relatives other than parents: This so-called "kinship care" is the largely unseen fallout from a confluence of social problems -- parental drug addiction, incarceration, mental illness and, more... [read more]
August 10, 2005
Connelly scores another journalistic coup
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:06 AM, 18 Comments
Joel Connelly, the contumelious liberal columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, who is best known for being duped into thinking that a spoof Mike McGavick campaign web site was for real, reveals his insight and reportorial skills yet again in his... [read more]
July 26, 2005
Connelly gulled by spoof site
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:37 PM, 27 Comments
The P-I's Joe Connelly in Wednesday's column: "McGavick Web site cleans up; foes ought to do same" Just before leaving work last week, I punched up the volunteer-run Web site touting prospective U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick and read its... [read more]
July 21, 2005
Joni Balter is only one month behind me
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:33 PM, 5 Comments
Joni Balter, June 23 "Calmer mood won't help City Council challengers" For all the energetic jockeying for seats on the Seattle City Council, this doesn't seem like a year for major change. The economy is steady. Grumbling about King County... [read more]
July 17, 2005
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:49 AM, 33 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board has invented a new set of ethics guidelines for editorial commentators: "Journalism 101: Right to be responsible" Members of this newspaper's Editorial Board don't write checks, pass or sign petitions or participate in political campaigns.... [read more]
July 13, 2005
Antidote to terrorism?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:28 AM, 76 Comments
In light of today's news about suicide terrorism, I went back and re-read the Times editorial from last Friday "Antidote to terrorism" The work of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, is the best antidote to the mindless violence of... [read more]
July 01, 2005
Another compliment from Joel Connelly
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:06 AM, 38 Comments
Joel Connelly of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer pays me a compliment yet again in today's column, a mid-year list of 2005 achievements Crystal Ball Cup -- gubernatorial division: "I rarely make predictions, but I feel comfortable predicting today that Judge Bridges... [read more]
June 30, 2005
Ruling in JOA lawsuit
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:44 AM, 12 Comments
The State Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Seattle Times in its dispute with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer over the joint operating agreement. The Times article is here. The P-I article here. The ruling here.... [read more]
June 15, 2005
Best of the Best
by Andy MacDonald, 01:08 PM, 21 Comments
Now that Matt has us thinking of the Seattle Weekly, it's time to send them more traffic: time to fill out their annual Best of Seattle ballot. Some categories that may interest you: #9. Best local blog -- I have... [read more]
June 07, 2005
Anesthesia Media
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:11 AM, 63 Comments
How are the local newspapers editorializing on yesterday's election contest decision? Are they concerned about the fact that election officials in King County and elsewhere violated the laws on ballot accounting; disenfranchised more voters than the margin of victory, and... [read more]
June 03, 2005
Geov Parrish Endorses Vote Fraud
by Andy MacDonald, 03:20 PM, 59 Comments
This week's issue of the Seattle Weekly carries a ringing endorsement of vote fraud by Geov Parrish in Trial of the Century:That's how Christine Gregoire became governor after the third counting, and that's where matters should have rested. All elections... [read more]
May 31, 2005
Danny Westneat responds
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:38 PM, 68 Comments
I posted a criticism of Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat's Friday column, here. Westneat responded in a lengthy comment (scroll down to May 29, 2005 11:52 PM). I commend him for joining the fray here at Sound Politics. He made... [read more]
May 25, 2005
Rescind that Pulitzer, now.
by Brian Crouch, 09:27 AM, 69 Comments
David Horsey, hang your head in shame: Here is a snippet of Horsey's response to a letter from an angry reader: It is unfathomable to me that folks who claim to believe in American values get upset about a poorly–sourced... [read more]
May 23, 2005
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:31 AM, 33 Comments
The P-I's contumelious liberal columnist Joel Connelly shovels his usual abuse on me today, but at least he figured out how to spell my name (the third time's a charm).... [read more]
May 22, 2005
Hard Slog
by Andy MacDonald, 08:52 PM, 2 Comments
Since Monday, The Stranger has a blog of its own: Slog. Being only a week old, it is still trying to find its voice; the current posts are a scattering of Cannes news, local happenings and Saddam's underwear. But with... [read more]
More on the Times sloppy article about the felon vote
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:44 PM, 43 Comments
A volunteer researcher for the Rossi legal team e-mails: Today's article has my blood boiling, as I have spent the week at Davis Wright Tremaine helping Rossi's legal team identify and throw out a ton of felons from the Democrat's... [read more]
Shoddy Reporting at the Tacoma News Tribune
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:46 AM, 9 Comments
Today's TNT article about the election contest is not just another example of shoddy reporting. It's lazy, derivative shoddy reporting, just an unattributed repackaging of this week's howlingly weak article from the Seattle Weakly, complete with quotes from the same... [read more]
To cancel your Times subscription call: (800) 542-0820
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:47 AM, 58 Comments
Today's front page Seattle Times story goes beyond simple bias in reporting. It reveals not only poor journalistic standards, but also a perverted sense of priorities. This article is a symptom of a larger pattern of misplaced priorities and poor... [read more]
May 21, 2005
Bad judgment, errors in county newspapers
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:58 AM, 34 Comments
Even as Seattle Times reporter Keith Ervin reports that Superintendent of Elections Bill Huennekens was at least tacitly involved in the conspiracy to falsify the Mail Ballot Report, the rest of the Seattle media establishment is spinning feverishly to cushion... [read more]
May 19, 2005
"Springtime for Gregoire"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:16 PM, 29 Comments
If idiocy could be measured on a scale of 1 - 10, Friday's P-I editorial goes up to 11: "Governor's Office: One judge, one vote" In a trial set to begin Monday in Wenatchee, state Republicans will in effect ask... [read more]
Howling Weakly
by Stefan Sharkansky, 06:48 PM, 49 Comments
I recently had the pleasure of meeting George Howland, Jr. of the Seattle Weakly. He's a pleasant enough fellow, but his article on the election contest this week is one of the silliest things yet put to paper on the... [read more]
April 30, 2005
Or maybe "Choose Choice?"
by Brian Crouch, 12:28 PM, 112 Comments
To help fund adoptions, Oregon lawmakers are proposing selling an optional "vanity" plate design, already in use in other states, that reads "Choose Life." This upsets the ACLU and NARAL, who contend first amendment freedoms don't apply to license plates.... [read more]
April 27, 2005
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:06 AM, 24 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Joel Connelly gave me some free advertising in his column today Naysayers are still out there. Gregoire gets a daily, almost hourly, dose of bile from right-wing blogger Stefan Sharansky [sic]. Connelly and I proceeded to have... [read more]
April 24, 2005
Who is Joni Balter?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:32 AM, 48 Comments
Joni Balter is the Seattle Times' annoying and fact-challenged editorial writer, whom I've busted on several occasions (most recently here) for publishing wrong information that she refuses to retract. Balter is also a shrill Democrat hatchet woman, and the author... [read more]
April 23, 2005
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:33 AM, 70 Comments
Today's headline in the Seattle Post-"Intelligence"r about the astonishing admissions of official errors, rule violations and outright fraud in King County Elections: "Pierce had vote foul-up, too". Why is it that every time the P-I writes a story about King... [read more]
April 09, 2005
The Svelte, Sweet-toothed Homeless of King County
by Brian Crouch, 09:00 AM, 39 Comments
From the King County Journal front page, yesterday: Jason Buckley needed to immediately control his addiction to sugary sodas and begin exercising. But that's hard to do while living in tent city- where donated bakery treats are plentiful and daily... [read more]
April 06, 2005
Balterdash
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:43 PM, 27 Comments
The ball is now in the Seattle Times court to issue an editorial page retraction to yesterday's unisgned editorial which incorrectly reported that State election officials are not aware of a single documented instance where a non-citizen voted in the... [read more]
April 05, 2005
Uh, state officials are aware of documented cases of non-citizens who voted
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:06 AM, 58 Comments
This morning's Seattle Times editorial -- "A nasty turn in election challenge" -- criticizes Martin Ringhofer for challenging hundreds of voter registrations of people with foreign-sounding names, under the theory that some of them might not be citizens. Ringhofer's scheme... [read more]
March 31, 2005
Economic Girlie-Man Op-Ed
by Seth Cooper, 12:46 PM, 53 Comments
Yesterday’s Seattle Times editorial page includes an op-ed by Floyd J. McKay, a journalism professor emeritus at Western Washington University. In it, McKay make the call for tax hikes. Sound Politics reader James Bennett brought the op-ed to my attention,... [read more]
March 30, 2005
On Wisconsin
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:49 AM, 17 Comments
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported last week that The results of the Nov. 2 election in Milwaukee, now the subject of an investigation into possible voter fraud, were certified without any double-checking of the totals by the city or county panels... [read more]
March 28, 2005
That's Harsh
by Jim Miller, 06:00 AM, 24 Comments
The Seattle PI's Thomas Shapley adds a little dig at the end of this paragraph. It's been known for some time that hopes for expanding [Washington] state civil rights law protection to include gays and lesbians could hinge on the... [read more]
March 25, 2005
Competition Between Newspapers
by Jim Miller, 09:13 AM, 36 Comments
I love it, which is unfortunate, because it has become rarer as the number of newspapers has decreased, and as many of the survivors entered into joint operating agreements. So it was a pleasure to see this Bruce Ramsey column... [read more]
March 21, 2005
Who Benefits From Nonpartisan Elections?
by Jim Miller, 07:00 AM, 17 Comments
James Vesely, editorial page editor of the Seattle Times, wants to limit the influence of parties in elections. One way to get partisan politics out of public office is to force more candidates to run without party label. The idea... [read more]
March 10, 2005
The Pride Of Ollala
by Matt Rosenberg, 01:34 PM, 22 Comments
Living in West Seattle, I've been across the water to what's called the "West Sound" a lot - it bleeds partly into the "South Sound." All in all, a whole different, and beguiling part of Lesser Seattle. There are lots... [read more]
March 09, 2005
Stranger things have happened
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:33 PM, 35 Comments
Starting with the new issue, I'll be doing a (mostly) weekly column for The Stranger as the paper's token conservative. My column is called "Sound Bite" and the introductory column is headlined "Gregoire Is Not My Governor". The Stranger's website... [read more]
March 08, 2005
Political sleaze hiding as a newspaper
by Stefan Sharkansky, 03:23 PM, 41 Comments
Today's Seattle Times has one of its snottiest editorials ever. I'll bet Joni Balter had something to do with this: "Political sleaze hiding as a survey" Sleazy political tactics are no way to uncover errors in the governor's race. Joni... [read more]
March 07, 2005
The discrepancy widens
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:15 AM, 83 Comments
Saturday's P-I brought us this outlandishly biased article -- "Democrats charge GOP list of 'illegal' votes full of errors". It's fair for the Democrats to dispute the names that are on the list in error. But the real story should... [read more]
March 03, 2005
Times' Death Penalty Editorial Dissected
by Seth Cooper, 05:22 PM, 37 Comments
Every now and again a newspaper editorial board will get an issue so wrong that the only thing positive to say about it is that they are at least consistent in their wrongfulness. A prime example is today’s Seattle Times... [read more]
January 31, 2005
Two Admissions
by Jim Miller, 01:14 PM, 23 Comments
Yesterday, the two Seattle newspapers admitted two things I have been arguing for some time. First, "mainstream" news organizations are not much interested in charges of vote fraud — when the charges are made by Republicans. Second, those on... [read more]
January 26, 2005
Happy Birthday
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:32 PM, 28 Comments
We reported two weeks ago that the Seattle Times managed to obtain an exclusive copy of the state's voter registration database that included birthdates. The Secretary of State claimed that it released the birthdate data in error and in violation... [read more]
Cost in Translation
by Brian Crouch, 11:25 AM, 60 Comments
The PI's Robert Jamieson, noting that Sam Reed is "Swampy Weed" in Mandarin: "A poor or inaccurate translation misinforms and frustrates voters and conveys the unintended message that the state does not equally value their participation in the political process,"... [read more]
January 22, 2005
Kimberly Mills: Not a fan of democracy
by Brian Crouch, 02:02 PM, 12 Comments
The PI's Snark attack: Taxpayers didn't foot the bills for the balls, dinners and cocktail parties attendant to President Bush's second Inaugural. But are we supposed to be relieved that big corporations and Capitol Hill lobbyists did?Yes. Since some religious... [read more]
January 16, 2005
In loco parentis. Muy loco.
by Brian Crouch, 03:30 PM, 42 Comments
Within two weeks, my wife Gretchen and I will become parents. I worry more than a little about our daughter growing up in a society that seems to have already yielded to the State the status of full-time parent. Read... [read more]
Where To Put That Yellow-Ribbon Car Magnet
by Matt Rosenberg, 11:32 AM, 109 Comments
Screeds like this illustrate why The Seattle Left is on life support. There is a glimmer of salience (regarding better armor for U.S. ground vehicles in Iraq) overwhelmed by bile. NOTE: If you are easily offended, don't read this. And... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:49 AM, 23 Comments
Thomas Shapley in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer opinion section. "This is no time to be slow-dancing on voting reform" Election reform is a hot public issue, and the interest is not limited to sore-loser Dino Rossi fans or rabble-rousing bloggers. Constituents... [read more]
January 15, 2005
Just Wondering.......
by Matt Rosenberg, 05:08 PM, 52 Comments
Do you suppose that KOMO-TV commentator Ken Schram actually ghost-wrote this piece in The Daily Evergreen?... [read more]
January 14, 2005
The Dan Sytman Show
by Brian Crouch, 11:12 PM, 6 Comments
Talk 770 KTTH host Dan Sytman (also producer of Medved Show) will have Stefan on his morning program at 7am. If you're reading the blog at this late hour, however, you will probably be in bed then.... [read more]
Gov. Chris & Gandhi
by Matt Rosenberg, 04:57 PM, 47 Comments
Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Robert Jamieson today expresses grave doubts about Governor Christine Gregoire's character and integrity. Coming from a P-I columnist, this is fairly remarkable, and just one of many indications that Gregoire faces very tough sledding even if the... [read more]
January 12, 2005
Seattle Conservative Blogger Canned
by Matt Rosenberg, 09:39 AM, 9 Comments
A Sound Politics contributor and rising star of the national blogosphere, Ambra Nykol, shares with her readers that she has been "dooced," or fired from her day job for something she wrote on her blog. Note that the definition of... [read more]
I'm in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:33 AM, 58 Comments
Robert L. Jamieson, Jr. profiles me in his column today: "'The Shark' uses his blog to take bite out of local politics". It's exceptionally perceptive and accurate. Probably the best article that's ever been written about me. Even though Robert... [read more]
January 10, 2005
Sound Politics on the air
by Brian Crouch, 07:09 PM, 14 Comments
Please listen to Rabbi Daniel Lapin's interview with Stefan Sharkansky on the Toward Tradition radio show. Works best in Windows Media Player... fast forward to minute 6. The Rabbi was so interested in the topic, and blogging in particular, that... [read more]
January 09, 2005
Sound Politics Radio this evening
by Brian Crouch, 06:30 PM, 31 Comments
Tune in to the Toward Tradition radio talk show (hosted by Rabbi Daniel Lapin) this evening at 7pm. Shark will be taking your calls at 206-421-0770. I'll be sitting in as well. I will post a link to an audio... [read more]
January 06, 2005
Dori Monson Tells It
by P. Scott Cummins, 08:45 PM, 11 Comments
Osama in the Midst of Tragedy Dori Monson, King of Mid-day Talk in the Northwest on KIRO710-AM, can be counted on to have the words to tell the real story - and if not, then finds the picture that... [read more]
January 05, 2005
On the radio with the Rabbi
by Brian Crouch, 04:36 PM, 9 Comments
Just an early head's up: Stefan Sharkansky will be a guest of Rabbi Daniel Lapin on the Toward Tradition radio show, 7pm Sunday, January 9th, discussing the election and the grassroots teamwork that has developed over this issue. As a... [read more]
January 04, 2005
Viewer Mail
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:17 PM, 11 Comments
A well-known reporter for one of the local daily newspapers e-mails: Just wanted to say you are doing a good job asking tough questions about the election. I don't always agree with your conclusions, but mining the data for inconsistencies... [read more]
December 31, 2004
That Abysmal Media
by Brian Crouch, 02:51 PM, 50 Comments
The Seattle P-I is misfiring on all cylinders today. They begin a calumny masquerading as an editorial by exposing fatal ignorance: Absolutely preposterous. Dino Rossi's call for a rerun of the governor's election has no basis, at least so far.And... [read more]
December 29, 2004
conspicuous by its absence: media scrutiny
by Brian Crouch, 07:55 PM, 35 Comments
If I was composing an article such as this (or any of these) for a news service like the AP, I'd be inclined to at least mention the Washington state election irregularities (prefaced with the standard "alleged") including, but not... [read more]
December 17, 2004
Density Density
by Andy MacDonald, 04:54 PM, 8 Comments
Josh Feit continues his density boosterism in this week's Stranger. Following up on last month's Fear of Crowds, where he blasted Magnolia residents for wanting to keep their neighborhood single-family, he now criticizes Northgate residents for the same sin. (The... [read more]
December 15, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:56 PM, 12 Comments
Joel Connelly in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer applauds what he calls the Democrat's "backbone" in challenging Rossi's double victory with every trick they can invent (including the bogus lawsuit that was unanimously rejected by the state's high court). Connelly pays me... [read more]
December 10, 2004
Fisking Rick Steves
by Brian Crouch, 08:57 AM, 21 Comments
Rick Steves is well known nationally as the European travel guru; locally he is also known as the guy who argued that the city of Edmonds should take down US flags, raised in support of our troops being sent overseas... [read more]
December 06, 2004
Blame the Internet for Big Media's failure
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:41 PM, 6 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial: The hoax played against British Broadcasting Corp. Friday is the downside of the Internet: Though it can instantly communicate knowledge and truth, it also can instantly communicate lies. So too can the British BROADCASTING Corporation, which... [read more]
December 01, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 08:30 AM, 11 Comments
Today on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial page, Thomas Shapley has one of the best columns I've read anywhere about our vote counting mess. Seriously. "Voting a right, so do it right" Voting is a right. But it comes with the... [read more]
November 30, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:21 PM, 0 Comments
The hippie-dippie credulous dupes at the Shi'ittle Post-Intelligencer are peeing their pants with joy that Iran's mullahs have hoodwinked the Europeasers to buy more time to build an atomic bomb: Iran's agreement with the European Union ought to allow a... [read more]
The Savoring of Life
by Ambra Nykol, 11:51 AM, 7 Comments
As a quick deterrence from the ongoing headache also known as Christine Gregoire's inability to concede and the Democrats' inability to act like adults, let's take a look at some other local news. Perhaps you recall a few weeks ago... [read more]
November 28, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:11 PM, 17 Comments
The following letter to the editor appeared in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer Quality control has much to do with who finally wins Ask any engineer at Boeing. Dino Rossi is not the winner. It has to do with the science of... [read more]
November 12, 2004
GOP Hijacks Seattle Alt. Media, Vol. 2
by Matt Rosenberg, 12:38 PM, 3 Comments
Last week I hypothesized that closeted Republicans actually run Seattle's Left-of-Left, Angry Alternative Weekly, The Stranger. This week I'm sure of it. What else but a Rovian Cointelpro campaign could account for this isolationist bile? Read on........ [read more]
November 11, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:38 AM, 2 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that "Arafat's death met with mixed reaction" The P-I reporter spoke with a handful of Palestinians living in Seattle. Ziyad Zaitoun, a civil engineer and Seattle resident since 1975, said he was not an Arafat supporter.... [read more]
Balterdash
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:31 AM, 7 Comments
The Seattle Times Joni Balter tries to explain why Patty Murray was re-elected: Murray is the everywoman, the un-politician. And voters seem pretty comfortable with No-Pretense Patty in part because she is kind of like us. Who is the "us"... [read more]
November 08, 2004
It's in the P-I (III)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:25 AM, 0 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer applauds the California ballot initiative that created a multi-billion dollar boondoggle for narrowly specified research: "Golden investment" California's big move on stem cell research will put new pressure on Washington's universities, biotech companies and Puget Sound's economy.... [read more]
It's in the P-I (II)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:20 AM, 2 Comments
Yesterday's Shi'ittle Post-Intelligencer published this pro-terrorism propaganda in praise of the comatose Yassir Arafat "PLO symbol's legacy is mixed" From the 1960s to the '80s, he kept the struggle alive against attacks from Israel and take-over bids by Arab states,... [read more]
It's in the P-I (I)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:01 AM, 2 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer contemplates whether to get out of the business of endorsing candidates Is there a better way than an endorsement for a newspaper's editorial page to promote discourse about candidates and how they might govern? I can think... [read more]
November 07, 2004
The Times' Weird Obsession with Israel
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:53 PM, 1 Comments
Today's Seattle Times dishes up yet another delirious editorial about the Arab-Israeli conflict. "Peace without Arafat" For all the uncertainty and speculation in the Middle East about the future without Yasser Arafat, take heart in an observation by biographer Barry... [read more]
November 05, 2004
It's in the P-I (II) and in the Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:34 AM, 6 Comments
Neither of our two favorite editorial boards completely understood the results of the three major educational races on the statewide ballot. The P-I: "Voters send a message" The defeat of Initiative 884 puts the responsibility for education improvements where it... [read more]
It's in the P-I (I)
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:49 AM, 1 Comments
Today's editorial in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Limiting Libertarians" one of the state's three major parties -- the Republican Party -- might well have been more successful in this general election had the top-two primary been in effect. That's because it... [read more]
Stranger In A Strange Land
by Matt Rosenberg, 10:20 AM, 1 Comments
You're a bunch of pseudo-journo-wonks who write for Seattle's alternative, alternative, Sandinista weekly - The Stranger. It's Election Night 2004. A Tuesday, of course, dammit. Your deadline day. A bunch of you are out on the town, "working" and "drinking"... [read more]
October 24, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:40 PM, 0 Comments
The P-I's Tom Shapley seems to be infatuated with both Sound Transit and the Monorail. I hope Mr. Shapley puts his money where his mouth is. He apparently lives in Kitsap County so probably doesn't pay the hundreds dollars a... [read more]
October 20, 2004
Leggie Candidate Gets Sex Change
by Matt Rosenberg, 08:03 PM, 1 Comments
...Or else the Seattle Weakly has made a howler of an error in its endorsements this week. This is in the Oct. 20-26 print edition (p. 15) and until it's corrected, the online version as well. When I scrolled down... [read more]
October 19, 2004
The Economics of Government Healthcare
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:07 PM, 1 Comments
Today's Seattle Times editorial tells a terrifying tale of the failure of central planning: Millions of Americans either will stand in line for hours to get a flu shot or forgo it and risk their health because of inadequate planning... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:33 AM, 1 Comments
Speaking of "bogus claims" and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, today's P-I editorial: "Build the Seattle monorail; vote no on I-83" It's stunning to see Seattle's timid response to an outrageous attempt by a disgruntled land baron to underwrite the end-run around... [read more]
The Times flip-flops
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:13 AM, 0 Comments
As noted earlier, The Seattle Times endorsed Sen. Patty "Osama builds day care facilities" Murray for re-election. On what grounds? Murray unabashedly brings home the bacon on transportation projects, $700 million in recent years for projects from Walla Walla to... [read more]
My apology to the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:55 AM, 0 Comments
Sound Politics co-conspirator Ron Hebron e-mailed the P-I's Thomas Shapley to commend him on his recent column about Christine Gregoire's bogus claim that there are tens of billions of dollars in state tax exemptions just waiting to be mined for... [read more]
October 18, 2004
Silence isn't always golden
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:00 AM, 0 Comments
Mark Griswold tells me that the editorial boards of both the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have decided not to endorse any candidate in the race for the 43rd Legislative Distrct House of Representatives Position 2. Not only are... [read more]
October 17, 2004
Surprises and unsurprises
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:15 AM, 0 Comments
Here's the pleasant surprise of the day: The Seattle Times has endorsed Dino Rossi for Governor! Coming from the private sector, Rossi is more likely to work harder at straightening out 20 years of administrative rules that now encumber our... [read more]
October 14, 2004
Viewer Mail
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:26 PM, 0 Comments
Brad Jacobsmeyer sent us this e-mail, which he also submitted as a letter to the editor to the Seattle Times. Brad predicts "as they’ve never printed [my letters] before, I doubt they’ll start now": I read with interest your endorsement... [read more]
October 13, 2004
Seattle Channel Ethics Complaint
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:45 AM, 1 Comments
This letter, documenting numerous violations by the Seattle Channel of city (and state) laws against using public facilities to assist political campaigns, has been sent today to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. The local media has been all over... [read more]
October 11, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:14 PM, 4 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Joel Connelly writes today that "National GOP has pulled the plug on ads for Rossi" The Republican Governors' Association has planned a negative blitz against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Christine Gregoire in a bid to end the 20-year... [read more]
The One-Note Democrats
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:17 AM, 1 Comments
The Washington Democrats are scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with scare tactics against the Republican challengers, reports the Seattle Times -- "Democrats put heat on GOP with two hot-button issues" Attacking Republicans on abortion has become... [read more]
October 08, 2004
Howling media bias on the governor's race
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:10 AM, 3 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran an anti-Rossi hit piece on its "news" page: It's a familiar Republican drumbeat: Less red tape equals more jobs. Dino Rossi has made regulatory reform the centerpiece of his campaign for governor, a platform aimed at... [read more]
October 07, 2004
Biased Reporting in the Governor's Race
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:42 PM, 1 Comments
The Tacoma News Tribune today blasts a businessman who appears in a Dino Rossi radio ad as "Man helped by state bites its hand in new Rossi ad". It might be true that small businesses are hampered by overregulation, as... [read more]
Die, Monorail, Die
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:24 AM, 1 Comments
As I wrote the other day, the Kill the Monorail campaign is likely to be getting support from the Sound Transit lobby. There are more signs of this now. The newly revamped Monorail Recall campaign site gives a prominent nod... [read more]
"Liberal Scum"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:19 AM, 3 Comments
The Seattle Times Nicole Brodeur writes today about her chat with Teresa Heinz Kerry, and concludes, admiringly, that Heinz Kerry is "liberal scum". In addition, Heinz Kerry's answer to one of Brodeur's questions suggests to us that the ketchup heiresss... [read more]
October 05, 2004
Trusted, Independent and Objective!
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:25 AM, 2 Comments
This ad appears in today's Seattle Times. Yes, the Seattle Times is independent of some people, but not independent of others and the lines of dependency are not always transparent. Trusted? Objective? Raise your hands if you trust the Seattle... [read more]
October 03, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:26 PM, 4 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Thomas Shapley acknowledges in today's column that the Nethercutt for Senate campaign ad was correct to ridicule Patty Murray's "Osama builds day care facilities" statement: The attributions of day care-building benevolence to bin Laden were apparently off... [read more]
October 01, 2004
Blindly Partisan at the Seattle Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:41 PM, 2 Comments
The Seattle Times endorsed John Kerry even before the Republican convention, so it should be no surprise how this morning's paper editorialized about the debate: "Round One: an edge for Kerry, a win for voters ": The confident performance was... [read more]
September 30, 2004
Going easy on Patty "Osama Mama" Murray
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:45 AM, 8 Comments
Yesterday the Nethercutt for Senate campaign released a new video ad with a clip of Sen. Patty Murray making her now infamous statement from 2002 attempting to explain why Osama bin Laden is popular in the Muslim world: He’s been... [read more]
September 29, 2004
The Seattle Times front-page trashing of Dino Rossi
by Stefan Sharkansky, 02:16 PM, 5 Comments
Today's Seattle Times published an appalling front-page hit piece on Dino Rossi. The Times trashes Dino for having worked in the same firms as a man who was later convicted of investment fraud, even though the Times itself acknowledged that... [read more]
September 28, 2004
CORPORATE MEDIA AND IDEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:20 PM, 3 Comments
By way of Michelle Malkin, I found this WaPo op-ed by Seattle Times owner Frank Blethen Democracy is in crisis -- not in far parts of the world but right here in the United States. As with most democracies, the... [read more]
September 22, 2004
Seattle Times article about blogs
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:37 AM, 6 Comments
Sound Politics and I are mentioned in today's front-page Seattle Times article about blogs: "Web logs catch fire as kindling for change" From his cyber pulpit, the Shark Blog, Stefan Sharkansky rips into local education levies and the monorail, among... [read more]
September 21, 2004
The pro-Gregoire Seattle Times
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:27 AM, 0 Comments
Here's how the Seattle Times praised Democrat nominee Christine Gregoire to the rafters in its Sep. 15 editorial Democratic voters cleaved toward the political middle in Washington's gubernatorial race: Attorney General Christine Gregoire's sensible, moderate positions on issues explain why... [read more]
September 20, 2004
Run for the schools! or the hills!
by Stefan Sharkansky, 01:24 PM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Times wants to see better people running for the Seattle School Board Most current board members are well-intended but, together, lack leadership and cohesiveness. That would be a polite way of saying that they're a bunch of ignorant,... [read more]
September 19, 2004
Monowail
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:48 PM, 38 Comments
Seattle's Professional Pooh-Bahs of the Press are whining and wailing about the Monorail Recall vote. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "Can we build anything" The people of Seattle face yet another round in the battle to build an innovative transportation system. Having... [read more]
September 17, 2004
Post-Levy Editorials
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:57 PM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Times offers this editorial to mark the passage of the Families and Education Levy: "School levy approval means accountability" The headline itself is interesting, given that three other recent editorials informed us that this levy "is not a... [read more]
September 12, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:43 AM, 6 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer reprints Garrison Keillor's very silly anti-Republican screed "Here's what happened to the Republican Party". This particular sentence caught my attention: The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:28 AM, 0 Comments
I was quoted in yesterday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about the Families and Education Levy: "Campaign 2004: School levy seen as social safety net". Even though the article seems to be biased in favor of the levy, the reporter quoted me... [read more]
September 10, 2004
The "Anti-Families" Levy "Foes"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:21 AM, 1 Comments
Today's Seattle Times quotes me in today's news article about the Families and Education Levy. Unfortunately, the story is more about the opponents of the levy than an investigative report of the program itself: "Foes of Families and Education Levy... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:44 AM, 4 Comments
Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial, Aug. 27 "Credibility Taking Hits"The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign is taking on water. Hole after hole has been blown in the group's credibility. We hope the damage is sufficient to finally sink 30-year-old anguish over... [read more]
September 09, 2004
Seattle Weakly: "We don't report, but decide for you anyway"
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:38 PM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Weakly endorsed the Families and Education Levy today: Opponents say these programs have been ineffective and lack accountability, and that the city would have too much discretion in spending. We disagree with the former and think the latter... [read more]
September 06, 2004
The Times predictable November endorsements
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:04 PM, 4 Comments
The Seattle Times has endorsed Christine Gregoire for governor. No surprise here. Last Monday the paper papered over Gregoire's incompetent defense of her tenure as the president of a segregated sorority, even praising her for her lame claim that she... [read more]
September 03, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:24 PM, 1 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, along with its comrades in the Washington state Democratic Party, is showering unprecedented admiration on a conservative Republican Senate candidate who has no chance of winning the nomination, let alone the general election: Reed Davis is waging... [read more]
September 02, 2004
Balanced Levy Coverage
by Andy MacDonald, 12:14 PM, 0 Comments
If you'd like to see an example of balanced coverage of the issues behind the Families and Education Levy, pick up a copy of the Ballard News Tribune. They interviewed Levy campaign manager Julien Loh and myself. (Here are Stefan's... [read more]
The Stranger says NO to levy
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:16 AM, 0 Comments
Überliberal alternative weekly The Stranger urges a NO vote on the Families and Education Levy! The Stranger Department of Homeland Security is urging a "no" vote because we hate children. They run around in restaurants and their diapers clog landfills.... [read more]
The Times says yes to levy
by Stefan Sharkansky, 09:58 AM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Times has endorsed the Families and Education Levy: Seattle voters should extend the Families and Education Levy for another seven years despite City Council add-ons that ratcheted up the cost. This package is too important to turn down.... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 07:00 AM, 0 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer gives us equal time for our op-ed against the Families and Education Levy: "Vote no on inadequate proposal", by Stefan Sharkansky and Andy MacDonald. The P-I was also kind enough to include a link to Sound Politics!... [read more]
August 31, 2004
Levy Hysteria
by Stefan Sharkansky, 12:29 PM, 0 Comments
The Sound Politics opposition to the Seattle Families and Education Levy, questioning whether this sacred cow actually yields any milk, seems to be having something of an impact on the public discussion. Come see how some of the levy campaigners... [read more]
August 28, 2004
Fun with Strangers
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:29 AM, 0 Comments
I had about the most fun I've had since moving to Seattle when I met with the editorial board of the weekly newspaper The Stranger yesterday afternoon. Pat Dolan and I were there debating two representatives from the Families and... [read more]
August 27, 2004
Seattle Times endorses Kerry
by Andy MacDonald, 05:04 PM, 2 Comments
The Seattle Times has endorsed John Kerry for president. Four years ago they endorsed George Bush. Today's endorsement seems to be based on a misconception: that John Kerry will remove troops from Iraq. ("The first priority of a new president... [read more]
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:04 PM, 1 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's still blames Bush for the Enron scandal: This transcript of an actual telephone conversation from August 4, 2000 is offered up as proof, proof! that Bush admnistration regulators were puppets of the energy industry. Please ignore the... [read more]
August 22, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 10:35 AM, 4 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has endorsed Democrat Senator Patty Murray for re-election. Who knew that the P-I favors Democrats? "I shall alert the media." What is noteworthy here is that the P-I is making a general election endorsement before the primary.... [read more]
August 20, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:51 AM, 1 Comments
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article about the Families and Education Levy: "Starbucks backs schools levy with $50,000". Unmentioned is the fact that Starbucks helped kill last year's "latte tax", which was intended to fund some of the same programs... [read more]
Washington is ground zero in the fight for education reform
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:32 AM, 4 Comments
This week's New York Times ran an article that badly misreported a teacher union study comparing charter public schools with traditional public schools. This article is of special interest to Washington State residents, as we will be voting in November... [read more]
August 19, 2004
It's in the P-I
by Stefan Sharkansky, 11:04 AM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board has endorsed the Families and Education Levy. As I wrote the other day, fellow levy opponent Andy MacDonald and I went in front of the P-I ed board last week to debate the issue against... [read more]
August 17, 2004
What Innumerate Media?
by Stefan Sharkansky, 04:37 PM, 0 Comments
Gubernatorial candidate Ron Sims is now running a TV ad touting his tax increase package, which he claims will "cut taxes for 78% of Washington's families". Elizabeth M. Gillespie of the Associated Press is correct to call Sims on the... [read more]
August 04, 2004
Supporting Gregoire, Weakly
by Stefan Sharkansky, 05:48 PM, 1 Comments
The Seattle Weekly is helping Christine Gregoire launch a negative campaign against Dino Rossi Gregoire is racing to define Rossi as a candidate so conservative that he is far to the right of the vast majority of Washington’s voters. Gregoire... [read more]
August 01, 2004
McDermott plays politics with the draft
by Brian Crouch, 12:48 AM, 0 Comments
The Seattle Times reported on Rep. Jim McDermott's (D-WA) rising star in the Democratic Party earlier this week, quoting his specific warnings to young people to be afraid, be very afraid: He told the students that changes in military combat... [read more]
July 29, 2004
Senator Murray's fame as DSCC chair in 2002
by Ron Hebron, 08:18 PM, 2 Comments
Senator Patty Murray failed at her assignment as DSCC chair in 2002. Before the election the Democrats controlled the Senate; after it the Republicans had control. [read more]