Commonality

What do gmjambear and I have in common with Bill Gates?

Answer: A Congresscritter.

Turns out that most of the area between Lake Washington and the Cascades, including parts of Renton, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Medina (the ultra-rich enclave where the Microsoft mogul lives), comprises the Eighth Congressional District of Washington. It actually takes in a large chunk of eastern King County which extends all the way to Snoqualmie Pass, and about half of Pierce County to the south. You can find maps here.

And for the moment, our shared Congresscritter is a Republican.¹

After hearing the commentary on the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (the "torture bill") and reading that our Congresscritter voted for it, and then finding out the Seattle Times had given him their endorsement, I wrote a strongly-worded letter to the editor and sent it off. In a day or two I'll post it here if it hasn't been printed.

¹ Re-" as in all over again, and "publican" as in the hated tax collector of the New Testament. How appropriate, given that by some of their recent actions the government steals from the poor and gives to the rich, all over again..

Keith Olbermann tells it like it is

If you read nothing else today, please read this. And watch the video if you are able (and haven't already seen it on MSNBC). Central quotes:

The most vital, the most urgent, the most inescapable of reasons. And, always, always wrong.

And if you think this hyperbole or hysteria, ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was president or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was president or the Japanese at Manzanar when Franklin Roosevelt was president.

( My take on the matter )

In short, vote in this upcoming election as though your very life depends on it, because it very well might.