Washington Liberals

As things stand, there is a good chance that Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives in 2022, thanks in large part to gerrymandering and to changes in election laws in Republican states. One recent poll suggests that up to 2/3rds of Republican voters believe that the 2020 election was stolen, and about…

CNN is reporting that Washington State Senator Dough Ericksen has died, apparently from covid-19. Ericksen caught covid-19 on a trip to El Salvador, where he was unable to get treatment. This is sad but also ironic, since Ericksen had strongly denounced Gov. Inslee’s covid-19 mandates and restrictions. As of Dec. 19, 2021, his webpage https://dougericksen.src.wastateleg.org/news/…

Ezra Klein in the New York Times wrote an article reviewing the work of political consultant and pollster David Shor, who said that the Democrats need to tone down their support for minority (black) rights if they want to win back white voters, whose motivations may or not be based on racism.  Klein writes: All…

We should have super-daylight standard time every morning and super-daylight savings time every evening. In other words, set the clock forwards two hours every afternoon, so that the sun sets later, and set it backwards two hours early every morning so that the sun rises at a reasonable hour. Plus we’d have a four hour…

This is a difficult and necessary discourse about abortion rights. It may piss some people off. Democrats have lost election after election and many other issues over the single wedge issue of abortion. And now the Supreme Court has a solid conservative majority, so Roe vs. Wade is likely to be overturned. I completely agree…

Amanda’s Ripley’s The Smartest Kids in the World is a call for rigor and equity in K-12 education. Ripley follows U.S. exchange students as they visit schools in Finland, South Korea, and Poland — three countries whose students score significantly higher than U.S. students on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) test, especially in…

The New York Times daily email included  Biden’s foreign policy priorities, which emphasized the need to pivot from Afghanistan to big-power competition with China and Russia. It shows how Times promotes a pro-war narrative. We have an interest in facing down the terrorist threat, the president said, but that threat is no longer centered in…

Climate change denialism and inaction This one will lead to immense suffering and dislocation. We’re already seeing the effects, in the form of extreme weather. Possibly GOP climate policy will lead to human extinction. Covid-19 disinformation, conspiracy theories and opposition to masks and vaccines This has already killed hundreds of thousands of people and may…

The U.S. is preparing for war with China; is surrounding China with bases, warships, and missiles; and is promoting the Pacific Defense Initiative to collaborate with other nations in Asia to confront China. Likewise, the U.S. Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Bill to Bolster Competitiveness With China. (“When future generations of Americans cast their gaze toward new…

Here’s a good reason to demand more from “Democratic” elected officials than a ‘D’ in parentheses after their name and a blue tee shirt. Otherwise, after they spend a career selling you out they go on to headline fundraisers for the Washington Policy Center, one of our state’s ALEC affiliates and a far-right dumb tank.…