There’s a discussion on the Washington Liberals yahoo group about the heartlessness of libertarian philosophy. The question came up: are libertarians sociopaths? Or are they just confused? I too have called libertarianism “sociopathic.” Some of them probably have a deficit of empathy. But I’m sure most of them are pretty regular people, loving parents, more…

Twenty years ago, smoking was permitted in most restaurants and public buildings. Nowadays, smokers have accepted that they have no right to force nonsmokers to put up with secondhand smoke. In a similar way, society needs to make the transition to a mindset in which driving a single-occupancy, non-electric passenger car is viewed as selfish,…

Saturday afternoon I attended the 41st Legislative District  Town Hall meeting at Mercer Island High School.  State Sen. Steve Litzow (R),  Rep. Judy Clibborn (D), and Rep. Marcie Maxwell (D) spoke.  There was a huge turnout, despite the rain. Most of the time was sent on questions and answers.  Almost all the questions concerned the…

People often complain that politics is depressing. Politicians are often dishonest and power-grabbing. Meetings are boring. Political activists are annoying. The media barely covers rallies. It’s all so frustrating and exhausting. They say all politics is local. That’s not quite true, but it is true that getting involved makes a big difference. Even though it’s…

I got email today from Chris Bowers (Campaign Director, Daily Kos) asking me to donate money to support the recall of GOP politicians in Wisconsin: “On Monday, I sent you an email about how the recall against Republican state Senators had begun in Wisconsin. You can support the recall by contributing to the Democratic Party…

One thing unrealistic about this image is that the spelling is correct on the signs.

TOWARD MORE EFFECTIVE APPROACHES (AND WHY HACKING DEMOs ARE NOW INSANITY) by Bev Harris Reprinted with permission of Black Box Voting About once a week, I am asked to bring in a team somewhere and demonstrate the hacking of a voting system. I don’t, because I’ve concluded this is a form of insanity, tracking the…

(click arrow to hear) (Re-recorded) From the state of Washington comes a dude named Tim Eyman. He hates government and taxes, Gives the rich folks all they want. You see, Eyman he is a hater. He thinks police and schools are bad. Poor and sick and old folks suffer. He don’t give a damn. Ain’t…

On February 21, 2011 I traveled from Seattle with three progressive friends to hear Dennis Kucinich speak on “The True Cost of War” at the Capitol Theatre in Olympia, Washington. As we drove in the fuel-efficient Prius, we left a trail of sticky smugness behind us in the aether. Kucinich was preceded by a peace…

Conservatives are slashing state budgets, as well as tax rates for the well-to-do. They’re blaming budget problems on the alleged high pay of public employees. This report from the Economic Opportunity Institute exposes some of the myths about public employee compensation. Wages of public employees are typically lower than those of people working in private…