The Defense of Marriage Act will be taken down, but today is not that day. In a ruling that appears to punt the ball back to the state legislature, the state Supreme Court today upheld Washington's law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. For shame.

From Yesterday:

The case was an appeal from two lawsuits, one in King County and one in Thurston County, filed by 19 same-sex couples raising the momentous social question of who can marry.

Justices must decide the fate of state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act. The law, passed by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers over Gov. Gary Locke's veto, defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Superior Court judges in both counties struck down the law banning same-sex marriage as unconstitutional in 2004.

King County Judge William Downing ruled that there's no logical way that banning same-sex marriage encourages procreation -- a similar position taken by courts in Massachusetts, the only state that now allows same-sex couples to marry.

Downing said the couples had a fundamental right to wed, and Thurston County Judge Richard Hicks reached the same conclusion. [P-I]

Ridiculous, but at least Democratic incumbents and challengers won't have hell to pay for the "activist judges" in their pockets come November.

By the way, you're not invited. When the President is in town for two hours and you find yourself without a few million dollars in your pocket or an 'R' next to your name on the ballot, your invitation gets lost in the mail.

President Bush touched down in Seattle today:

Bush will attend a private reception this morning in Medina to raise money for the re-election campaign of Republican Rep. David Reichert, who represents the suburban 8th District.

The midmorning reception, the president's only stop in this state, will be at the 8,000-square-foot, $10.3 million mansion of Peter Neupert, a Microsoft Corp. corporate vice president and former chief executive of drugstore.com Inc. Proceeds from the $1,000-a-head reception will go to Reichert, who is facing an aggressive challenge from Democrat Darcy Burner, a political newcomer and former Microsoft manager.

I know it's odd, but Bush flying in to help out Reichert feels a bit like his Baghdad Green Zone cameo from a few days back. Slip into hostile territory unannounced, surrounded by friendlies, then get the hell out before anyone noticed what the hell happened.

I know what you're thinking- NO, that doesn't make Darcy Burner a terrorist, necessarily. She's just one more part of that great liberal insurgency conspiracy.

The masochist known as Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has a 20-year tax proposal worth 1.8 billion, and he wants your input on what hole in the asphalt he should bury your money in. The top complaints compiled via this web form, will be called the "dirty dozen" (how original), and will receive "very high priority" come fix'n time.

It might not help the mayor for you to list "the whole damn city" or "everywhere that there isn't a monorail" but regardless vent your opinion like you know it will count- via a completely anonymous web form.

"The winners will be announced on July 13." Not sure if the winners are the holes in the road or the fools who tread them enough times to complain about them by name.

But hey. Web form.

Apparently this web thing is all new news to Maria Cantwell's campaign- you know, our more technically savvy Senator? The Seattle Times's David Postman led me toward a brief comparison of Maria's site and Mike McGavick's penned by Jeff Maurone.

Apparently Jeff's critique had an effect, or at least was timely, because Maria has now updated her site. It seems she's now much more on track. Blog, a decent spattering of media, and a good supply of tools to use to get involved.

Democrats of Washington, let's not follow the BetterDonkey model, have consistent content at least.

Is this still a lesson to be learned? For shame. If you're a politician you should be seeding the netroots from the second you decide to run for office. Your website should be your best asset in terms of potential gains versus costs, not a liability. A ground-breaking website can be assembled for a fraction of the cost of ONE television spot. Why not kick some ass on the web? In today's climate there's no excuse not to.

Goldy's got the full scoop on Dean Logan's resignation. Here's Dean's Letter, and Ron Sims' Response.

It'll be interesting to see how King Counties transition to vote-by-mail will take shape now. If it ever does.

Tim Eyman failed to deliver enough signatures to get an initiative on the ballot to repeal Washington's new gay rights law. No, not even dressing up as Darth Vader could help him.

Confused (presumably by his own homosexuality) Tim (Darth Gaydar) Eyman doesn't even have the support of fellow Sith Lord Chris Vance:

Now he's coming in and hijacking issues and shoving his way into an issue because it's become a business for him. It's how he gets paid," Vance said. "There will be no end to Tim Eyman as long as people are wiling to send him money ... I think it's hurting the legitimate perception of the initiative process. When you've got a clown out there in a Darth Vader suit lying to the press and things like that, it's not good for the initiative and referendum process. [PI]

Ouch. At least Gaydar has the support of the radical religious right? Nope, too bad, Apparently he stopped returning their phone calls. Dark days for the Republic indeed.

Tim, please do us all a favor: Put your dark-side pee-jays back in the closet and bring yourself out of it.

Gary Randall and the "Faith and Freedom Network" are taking it to Washington's churches in a large scale effort to gain the signatures of at least 112,440 registered voters for Referendum 65 to qualify for the November ballot.

Referendum 65 would overturn legislation that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. In other words, for Gary Randall "Faith and Freedom" can be translated to "Intolerance and Discrimination."

» Seattle Times

Kyle Netterfield signed the petition, an overseer at the Northshore Baptist Church.

'We have a real concern that our freedom to hold to or act upon our sincerely held religious beliefs are going to be significantly infringed,' he said.

When legislation prevents you from discriminating against other people based on your beliefs, that's wrong eh? Wow. Welcome to the churches of Washington, please leave your coats, civil rights, and sanity at the door.

Darcy Burner, Democratic challenger to Dave Reichert in the 8th, has taken up the "offer" issued by V.P. Dick to Reichert, "I'll campaign for your opponent if it’ll help."

Darcy's Press Release

From Darcy's letter to Dick:

Dear Mr. Vice President:

During your recent trip to Washington State to support White House endorsed candidates, you were quoted by both Seattle newspapers as telling 8th District Representative Dave Reichert that you would “campaign for your opponent if it’ll help.”

As Reichert’s Democratic opponent, I would like to take you up on your kind and thoughtful offer and I cordially invite you to come and spend a day campaigning with me in the 8th District. The district reaches from Microsoft’s Redmond Campus to Mount Rainier National Park and offers a microcosm of America. Here are some of the events I would like to plan for your visit to the 8th.

BOMBSHELL. Views from atop a 50% larger viaduct would suck. The horror! Washingtonians abandon support for "Big Ugly" viaduct in droves- and into Greg Nickels' warm tunnel-o-love embrace...is that how it's supposed to go?

I can't believe people are actually listening to these arguments, but just for kicks lets take the tyranny of the views debate one step further:

SLOG writer Erica C. Barnett points out that panoramas would be visible from most vehicles, including cars...about four inches shorter than the existing barricade.

WHOOPIDEEDO. This is not the issue, and if I hear one more person debating the merits of views gained or lost where one is supposed to be driving I am going to erupt in one large vomitous mass. Keep your eyes on the road Seattle, and eyes on the prize, whether or not you support the viaduct v2, if you try and tell me views from the top are an issue I'll point out immediately you are an fool undeserving a drivers license.

I've heard you all- murmuring in the shadows- how dare you talk about our commander in that way? What did you say? State-based impeachment eh?

This would end up a publicity stunt as much as anything but this thread on Kos is fascinating- definitely gives you that little groups of people can do big things type of feeling, and boy do we like that around here.

NOTE: Sec. 603. Inception of impeachment proceedings in the House. This refers to Jefferson's Manual-the House uses it as a supplement to its standing rules.>>
In the House there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion:

[...] by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State (III, 2469)

If this is all correct apparently any state's legislature can pas along the oh-so-subtle suggestion of impeachment. Vermont is for lovers...of checks and balances?

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, sponsored a provision in the House Transportation Committee's supplemental budget that would prohibit a tunnel option to replace the ailing viaduct from being considered if not fully funded by April 1st. (Seattle Times)

Why try and submarine the viaduct before we even start digging? Economics guru Dickerson explains the funding would be hard to come by:

Even if the city played the mega lottery, it's unlikely they'd win enough money for the tunnel option.

Yes funding a massive project like this would be difficult, and yes the monorail was an ugly affair, but why is it so hard for people to realize that a genuine waterfront is not about a decade of bills? A waterfront without a freeway overhead- this is about securing a world-class space for Seattle for a century to come. Who wants to live in a port city with no waterfront, or an emerald city with no greenspace? I thought we were smarter than that.

The Feds have found insufficient evidence to pursue charges against ousted Spokane mayor Jim West.

The U.S. Justice Department has ended a nine-month public corruption investigation of former Mayor Jim West without bringing criminal charges, officials said Thursday.

The limited investigation found insufficient evidence that West offered paid jobs or internships, in exchange for sex, to men he met in an online chat room, Mark Bartlett, an assistant U.S. attorney from Seattle who served as special prosecutor, told a news conference. SeaTimes

Jim West is now demanding a personal apology from the Spokesman Review, to which Editor Steven A. Smith has replied, "Our stories were accurate. They were complete, fair and balanced."

Sounds familiar. Makes me wonder where the Review finds their inspiration.

Please limit yourself to under 25 submissions; I know, it'll be tough.

• Boehner is welcomed
  — (Yale University News), Well he usually is, but in this case, not so much
• Clutch of businesses pins hopes on Boehner’s election
  — (The Hill), Wow. Sounds painful
• Ex-Boehner Aide Planned for Abramoff Trip
  — (Leading the Charge), Apparently, the man only used to be a boehner
• Boehner watch begins in House
  — (FortWayne.com), Business as usual
• Boehner Has Lobbyist For Landlord
  — (CBS News), Boehner parks it in his garage
• Boehner's Broken Promises
  — (Yahoo News), I'll last forever!

I hope you all caught Amy tonight on Q13- she was fantastic. She made the call to all of Washington- initiate real mass transportation solutions not limited to individual municipalities. Yes there is life after the monorail.

And here I thought I was going to have a dull evening filled only with W's rhetoric and pundit-pontification run amuck. Thanks Amy, for talking about real issues affecting us every day. Nice work.

A bit more breaking news this afternoon, in Justice Robert's first loss, the Supreme Court has upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law. The 6-3 decision failed as Attorney General John Ashcroft attempted to steamroll it with federal drug law.

Further Reading
Status of assisted suicide law initiatives in other states. (SeaTimes)

Al Gore is fighting the good fight, while most of his Democratic colleagues seem content to let the wiretapping scandal fade as the news cycle marches on. Via Kos:

The Administration's response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA wiretapping program. The Attorney General is making a political defense of the President without even addressing the substantive legal questions that have so troubled millions of Americans in both political parties...

Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, has proposed a measure that would ban the process of harvesting bloated livers -- known as foie gras, or 'fatty liver' -- and would ultimately remove the delicacy from state restaurants. - Seattle PI

Why is this an issue if there is no foie gras produced by farms in the state? Williams claims, "torturing an animal to make it tastier is not a proposition I support," and I can respect his personal decisions, but where is the line drawn? Is dropping a live dungeness in water torture too?

Perhaps it's the calous meat-lover in me, but does anyone else wonder if Williams assumes that all of Washington's other problems have been solved in the last session, and now he's just emptying out the closet?

Oh can it get any better?

James C. Garrett, a fringe candidate for mayor of Seattle, argued at an administrative hearing yesterday that his name should appear on the primary-election ballot despite a felony conviction for assaulting then-Mayor Paul Schell with a bullhorn four years ago.

At yesterday's hearing, Garrett, 59, offered a rambling challenge to the authority of the U.S. government and said he suffered from "post-traumatic slavery syndrome."

Garrett said he was still challenging the validity of his felony conviction in federal court and claimed he never received notice that he could not register to vote again after being released from prison.

Garrett, also known as Omari-Tahir Garrett, was sentenced in 2002 to 21 months in prison for the assault on Schell. As a convicted felon, his voting rights were revoked.

I love Seattle politics. (You have to admit, "beat em with votes, not bullhorns" would be a pretty catchy campaign battle cry.)

And in related news, the guy who threw the dud grenade at Bush is on the fast track for the Republicans' Presidential nomination in 2008.

257-171, it wasn't even close. There was nine hours of debate, however

The bulk of the back-and-forth centered on language making permanent 14 of 16 provisions that had four-year sunset provisions under the original law, which Congress passed overwhelmingly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The bill also includes 10-year extensions to the two other provisions set to expire on Dec. 31, one allowing roving wiretaps and another allowing searches of library and medical records.

My privacy has just surrendered. But it got caught in a roving wiretap and checked out too many bomb-making books from the local library. Now my privacy has been declared an unlawful combatant, and under the pretext of security will be held without trial in an undisclosed location for an undetermined amount of time.

But my privacy has taken it all in stride, and admits this all makes great sense—certainly more than x-raying luggage or inspecting containers at ports.