Good morning: Considering Mariners players get paid the same if they lose in 9 innings or, say, 18, they may as well go easier on themselves and finish the job quicker.
A busy news day, with coordinated attacks in Iraq, some big Supreme Court rulings, President Bush getting questioned for an hour about the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, and allegations that Barry Bonds used steroids. But we don't care about any of that; we care about politics.
The Times Mike Lindblom reports the Seattle Monorail will be shut down for the summer to guarantee safe operations after the Memorial Day Fire -- more nasty publicity for the beleaguered train, or whatever it is. The expansion of the Monorail faces a well-financed recall effort, whose backers, including some big downtown developers, must love the bad publicity even for the existing Monorail...Monorail...Monorail (shopworn "Simpsons" reference.)
The Times Janet Tu reports that "a new local coalition of African-American churches and other faith-based and secular groups is launching a campaign to register and mobilize voters," particularly people of color and people in lower tax brackets. Rev. Leslie Braxton of Mt. Zion Baptist Church calls it part of his "religious duty." Janet points out that churches will be important arenas for both parties to grab votes, with Republicans turning to evangelicals and Democrats to their allies in the African American community. Some tough words from Rev. Braxton on the 2000 election: "If people of color wouldn've turned out, we could've provided a more robust margin of victory so it wasn't close enough to steal." Whoa there. What if they turned out and voted Republican?
The Clintons are in town next week. This from the AP: After a Tuesday fund-raising luncheon for Sen. Patty Murray at noon at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Sen. Clinton and Murray plan to appear together at port security event in the city, Murray's office and campaign spokesman Alex Glass said; the former president is expected to arrive at Costco in Issaquah at 1 p.m. Wednesday. A second book signing is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle.
Is it just us, or is Knute Berger of Seattle Weekly really deviating from the standard liberal orthodoxy lately?
Here's this week's good line:
"More voting doesn’t necessarily mean better government. And youth voting certainly doesn’t. Richard Nixon lowered the voting age to 18 and guess what? Young people voted for Richard Freaking Nixon. Every time I hear some bozo talk about the importance of the youth vote, I remember that fact."
Lately, Berger has called for an end to the effort to expand the monorail and applauded (some) conservatives on globalization, education and cutting back corporate welfare. How bout a cheer for intellectual honesty?
National
The Vice President apparently told Vermont Sen. Leahy that he do the anatomically impossible. The story goes like this apparently. They're on the Senate floor for the official photo (quick: count the combovers, count the rugs.) Cheney presides over the Senate, so he's there, too. He tells Leahy to shut it about all the Halliburton criticism. (Leahy has been critical of the no-bid Halliburton contracts. Cheney used to be its CEO before heading up Bush VP search committee and choosing...himself.) Leahy says he doesn't appreciate some previous, undisclosed criticism leveled by the VP. Cheney says....and that's all we can say here. The best line: "Kevin Kellems, a spokesman for the vice president, said, "That doesn't sound like the kind of language that the vice president would use, but I can confirm that there was a frank exchange of views."
Frank exchange of views.
From The Washington Post:
"(Expletive) yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency." Though The Post had the decency to use the actual word.
Then this: "As it happens, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed legislation described as the "Defense of Decency Act" by 99 to 1."
How much fun to be in Chicago right now? The Cubs are on a roll, it's summertime and the city's seeing its best political soap opera in years, maybe best ever:
Jack Ryan, former investment banker and Republican candidate for Senate, has been accused, The Chicago Sun Times reports "of insisting (his ex-wife) go to 'explicit sex clubs' in New York, New Orleans and Paris during their marriage -- including 'a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling.' Jack Ryan wanted her to have sex with him while others watched, Jeri Ryan, the star of “Boston Public” alleged.
Now, The Chicago Tribune is reporting, Republicans are scrambling to dump Ryan, and people in Ryan's own camp are trying to figure out how to get out:
"Officials in the Jack Ryan campaign have spoken to some members of the congressional delegation, asking for advice about a possible strategy for ending his candidacy in the U.S. Senate race, sources said today.
But as recently as this morning, a Ryan spokeswoman was denying rumors the candidate was reassessing whether to continue his campaign.
"We are not reassessing. Jack Ryan is in the race to stay. Jack Ryan will be in the race on Nov. 2,'' Kelli Phiel told the Associated Press.
The conversations between Ryan's campaign and Republicans in Washington came after the candidate dropped a scheduled trip to the nation's capital to participate in a fundraising event with Sen. George Allen (R-Virginia), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The cancellation of that fundraiser fueled speculation in the GOP that Ryan had lost crucial support from the national Republican group.
Republican sources told The Tribune said they expected the White House to weigh in on the viability of Ryan's candidacy.
The Ryan campaign this morning acknowledged it had cancelled the trip to Washington, but that it was due to "other" reasons, unrelated to the fate of candidacy.
Yes, other reasons, poliblog is sure of that.
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