Come on up for The Rising - The Plank → we saw bruce in front of the Rocky steps in Philadelphia last weekend after we went canvassing for the Obama campaign. We supposedly were supposed to get in up close to the stage, since we had volunteered, but something got messed up in the translation, and we were about as far as can be. Which is fine, we really just wanted to be near other Obama supporters.

Funny thing though, there was one guy with a mccain-palin sign, all tattered and torn, crumpled up, walking around holding it up for people to see. Later, I saw him sitting down, listening to Springsteen and clapping when he was talking about “rebuilding the house”, meaning America, of course.

There was also a whole family holding signs saying, “Independents for mccain” written in black magic marker on big pieces of cardboard. Mom lead the charge with son, maybe 5-years-old, and dad following with little girl up on his shoulders. All I could think about is how if they get their way, they might end up living under those signs. Poor kids. It’s not their fault their parents are voting for a guy that’s going to make their lives a lot harder.

In Fla., Palin Goes for the Rough Stuff as Audience Boos Obama | The Trail | washingtonpost.com → "Kill him" proposed one man in the audience."

If you are Republican, you are—knowingly or not—supporting de-regulation and a free market economy. There is plenty of blame to go around for this crash, but you have to be willing to accept the blame (especially if you’re also willing to take the credit prematurely). If all you can muster now is that the Republicans wanted to vote for the bill (they clearly did not, with roughly 70% of Republicans voting against), then you have to take the blame for the economy. You’re just re-subscribing to your same failed philosophy of the free market: It will work itself out.

McCain’s campaign perfects its outrage over sexism. - By John Dickerson - Slate Magazine →. i’m gonna have to go on record to say that even though this may end up hurting the campaign (I hope it doesn’t), i’m glad obama said it. i’m tired of the republicans being able to say whatever the fuck they want and being able to spin it however they want. there’s measured boldness and there’s foolishness. i think this is the former, and a sign that obama doesn’t kowtow to the dems that want him to play it safe and avoid saying anything at all to the people. it’s not like he’s hiding out in alaska for two weeks.

A list for the last two weeks. First, Baltimore:

• I played a lot of Guitar Hero in Baltimore and we tried to watch Tristram Shandy (we all fell asleep, except Harvey, I think).
• Baltimore is an interesting city; Owl and I wondered about it and how it got to be the way it is — Among the highest building vacancy and murder rates in the United States. The following all contributed: Fall of the steel industry, Baltimore’s “Dollar Day” real estate debacle, huge drug trade. I’m sure there’s more, ask Jenna, she was schooling us.
• The snowcones are amazing, not because syrup and ice is anything more than syrup and ice, but because the marshmallow topping is enticing, gruesome, and coma-inducing all at once.
• According to Jenna, the drive-in is one of the most integrated places in the city, and I think that is only one small part about why it is so great (and it is). The other things include the announcer who everyone wishes would shut up, the old trailers they show, the flat-out fantastic snack bar with delicious funnel cake intermission (and cheap!), and the entire experience of watching a film outside, in your car (kind of). We’re going back later this summer, you hear that, Owl, Harvey, and J?!
• Camden Yards is remarkably not integrated, and don’t ask me why. Every other ballpark we’ve been to (Shall we do the list?: Safeco, Edison/Angels, Chavez Ravine, Shea, Citizen’s Bank) have all been a vast sampling of each respective city’s ethnicities. Not so much Camden. It’s anecdotal evidence, sure; maybe I’m just imagining this? Anyone think otherwise?
• Regardless, it’s a pretty great ballpark, but Safeco and Citizen’s Bank still top them. The walk to the park is great, too, they have an alley for vendors, like Safeco, but also, an Alley inside the stadium where grills are just lined up (I think similar to Fenway).
• Last Camden bit: Daniel Cabrera is huge.
• Last Baltimore bit: Jenna is an amazing cook. Mac & Cheese and Pad Frye For-eva!

We also saw Al Gore at the 92nd St. Y before Baltimore:

• The place was tiny, and initially, I thought we were in the second row. I was looking at the map backwards, we were in the second-to-last row. It didn’t matter though, because the place was so small.
• Charlie Rose just doesn’t get it sometimes. Even the old woman sitting next to me thought that. I know, because she said it a few times: “We get it, Charlie. Why don’t you?”
• I wish people would really just leave Gore alone about running. Owl and I talked a lot about how Gore wishes young people wouldn’t feel so jaded about the political process. The irony is, we also agreed that Gore could probably do more by not running in 2008.
• I haven’t even cracked open the book yet, but Gore alluded to a lot of people on the anti-media tip, Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan are who I remember most.
• Gore showed up on The Daily Show the same night we saw him at the Y, and after watching it, initially I felt a little gipped because he repeated a lot of what he said at the Y. I realize now, that it’d be impossible for him to come up with some new insight every time he showed up somewhere.
• He’s still devastatingly intelligent, though. It would not win him a campaign. That says more about our country than it does about him.
• Let me run with that: If he’s trying to elevate the political process by challenging everyone to step up the discussion; and if it works in the way he’s been able to highlight the effects of global warming, then maybe America would feel okay about electing someone that is computer-brain smart.
• Last Gore bit: The good thing about sitting in the back was that we got to get in line for the book signing in a hurry. We didn’t wait long, but also, didn’t really even get to say a word to Mr. Gore. We do, however, have two signed copies of Assault on Reason to show for it.

T-minus 10 days to London. Anyone have any tips for me?

During the most recent Seattle CM, two bikers were arrested by plain-clothes King County Sheriffs; stories from Seattlest and the PI, follow-ups a Slog and pictures, too; trolls abound at the Slog.

Every now and then this happens, someone at Critical Mass gets arrested. I know that Seattle isn’t the only place this has happened, and without getting too numbers-oriented, I can’t really say whether or not the likelihood of getting arrested here is more or less. There seems to be some focus on the fact that the King County Sheriffs DID NOT show their badges from the beginning of the scuffle, though I’m not sure why, because from what I can tell, this isn’t a case of entrapment, as this Slate definition indicates, the idea of the assault (which is what one of the riders was charged with, assaulting a police officer) must come from the officer. As I wasn’t there, I can’t rightly say that this didn’t happen, but from several accounts I have read, there were no clear words exchanged. I have my doubts that that’s the case, though. If this is a case of self-defense, though, where one biker was believed to have been under attack by a driver, then there’s some serious issues here - What make the sheriff immune to repurcussions of losing his temper at an intersection?

It goes without saying that I don’t believe the bikers posed a serious enough threat to warrant arrest and what sounds like overzealous treatment by the sheriffs, setting bail at $3000 seems terribly excessive as well, and Eli makes a good point about KC Deputies not contacting SPD about this - I hate to bring it up, but Seattle is not like the rest of King County.

In any case, regardless of the politics of the situation and whether or not you agree with Critical Mass, it’s interesting to note that the founders of CM never intended CM to be an overtly political movement; in Ted White’s We are Traffic, a documentary about Critical Mass, the idea came from the streets in China, where NO ONE stops for bikes at intersections, until there are so many damn bikes waiting that it just floods into the street, and the cars HAVE to stop. You can watch the entire movie on google video, right here.

Interested in helping, or were a witness? Contact info. can be found at the point83 website, a paypal account for legal fees has been set up as well. I’ll be at this month’s Critical Mass almost definitely, to show my support, let me know if you’d like to come along.

I watched the Al Gore documentary Spike Jonze filmed that was included in Wholphin a few months ago. I want to say with confidence: That Gore would have would have won the “election”. The Gore in An Inconvenient Truth would not, because it reveled in exactly what the media painted him as; a smart guy, who enjoys being smart, is recognized as being smart, but is too smart to command any respect from people that are afraid to admit someone might be smarter than them. Of course, I’m a sycophantic idiot that you wouldn’t take seriously anyway, and most of you have already made up your mind on it, so who gives a shit, right?

But I’ve never considered the man smug, and in fact, I don’t believe he has ever thought himself as anything but humble. In the other Al Gore documentary, the one not about Global Warming, he talks about politics with ease and without condescension. Al Gore isn’t running for president again - the kid gloves are off.

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Long overdue: there’s a ton of new pictures up from the past few weeks, including Port Townsend, Shane’s birthday, the April Immigration Rally and our Sunday bike ride.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the immigration stuff but haven’t gotten around to formulating something more solid in terms of opinion on policy and my impression of the political impact and influence that the immigration issue will have on the parties. The real issue, though, is pretty simple, it’s probable that I shouldn’t even be spending so much time trying to separate the issue into political versus practical, because they should be one and the same.

Is there an alternative? I’m disappointed in the voters and the waning support the monorail received after the fallout of the admittedly very bad plan, but I’m indignant about the royal fuck-up the SMP managed to commit to kill the monorail. Now what do we have but a lose-lose situation - taxpayers stuck paying for property rights and town meetings, hand-holding and head-patting. That shit bugs me about Seattle, it’s always a nothing-or-everything approach to city planning; backhanded and contradictory development, its inherent need to become some urban center in the Pacific Northwest, yearning for some sort of respect that San Francisco and LA get but at the same time ignoring the necessities for true urbanization. I may be talking out of my ass here, but Portland seems to get the idea but just doesn’t have the money of Boeing or Microsoft driving the economy.

Los Angeles was built around the car and its development was based on the freeway. I’m guessing that’s partly because the sprawl was easy to expand - LA is relatively flat and not built on a bay like San Francisco or Seattle. The mass transit sucks there, too, but driving on a freeway doesn’t make it a better commute.

I suppose I’m rambling, but today I missed two buses going to work because they came early. My commute home was lengthened to an hour and a half because the bus I usually ride on was packed and not letting anyone else on. I live 6 miles from work. Parking downtown is not economically feasible nor does it make any sense to drive 6 miles if I had an alternative that would get me downtown on-time, in a reasonable amount of time. My bike is the fastest, healthiest and cheapest way to get me downtown, but I still would have voted for the monorail. Why? Because the best alternative is biking in the rain, and sometimes I don’t want to do that.

DeLay Vows Return to House Leadership Role

The House ethics committee is investigating whether DeLay’s airfare and other expenses, including golf outings, were charged to an Abramoff credit card.

“Look, we were friends, just like I am friends with many lobbyists in this town. I have no clue as to his inner workings of his business,” DeLay said. “People are trying to make me responsible for Jack Abramoff’s actions if he’s guilty, and I’m not convinced that he is.”

Since when do you use friend’s credit cards to buy airplane tickets and vacation cruises and shit? Yo, anybody wanna lend me their card so I can chill in the Bahamas for a week? I don’t play golf, but I can hit the shit out of the ball.