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Upper Left

  • I'm always thankful...

    ...for music. For (random) instance...Cheap Trick - Aint That A Shame
    Robert Earl Keen - Whenever Kindness Fails
    Rig The Jig - Please Don't Bury Me
    Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
    Al Kooper - Get Ready
    Ben Harper - Steal My Kisses
    Grateful Dead - Dark Hollow[...]
    Posted: November 28, 2009, 1:45am EST
  • Snark of the day.

    Goldy, on Senator Margarita Prentice's declaration that yet another state sponsored gambling game is "...an absolute necessity.” Absolutely necessary? I’m sure Sen. Prentice could find other creative ways to raise an additional $30 million. Just taxing the contributions of payday lenders to her own campaign could get us a" [...]
    Posted: November 27, 2009, 2:54pm EST
  • What I had for Thanksgiving...



    Great company. The feast was magnificent, of course - the Brilliant and Beautiful Bride of Upper Left's alter-ego is Queen of Thanksgiving - but I've reached the point where who I eat it with matters more than what I'm eating. There were plenty of folks [...]
    Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:59pm EST
  • Congrats, Jesse & Nita!

    Jesse Lee has been a friend of this blog throughout his journey from the D-Trip to the Speaker's office and now the White House. He's nothing less than the best damn institutional blogger in the biz. He has, apparently, other charms unknown to me but appealing to MoveOn's Nita Chaudhary, [...]
    Posted: November 26, 2009, 2:06pm EST
  • These guys are coming to dinner...


    ...which is reason enough to be thankful.

    Hope your day is as good as I expect mine to be.

    And I'm thankful for each and every one of y'all, too.

    [...]
    Posted: November 26, 2009, 10:21am EST
  • Quote of the day.

    The Speaker speaks... "I think we have to look at that war with a green eyeshade on."Yep, we do.

    [...]
    Posted: November 26, 2009, 10:21am EST
  • I have no doubt…

    …that whatever form the health insurance reforms that finally come out of Congress and on to the President's desk take, the bill will be but a pale shadow of the sweeping reform in health care delivery that I think our country needs.

    I am dismayed that, in the end,' [...]
    Posted: November 25, 2009, 12:18pm EST
  • I must'a missed a news cycle somewhere...

    ...because I just heard that President Obama has pardoned two turkeys and I didn't even know Cheney and Rumsfeld had been convicted.

    ' [...]
    Posted: November 25, 2009, 11:13am EST
  • My own personal councilmember…

    …is the cheese. Bob Ferguson is the new King County Council chairman.Congrats, Chairman Bob!

    [...]
    Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:45pm EST
  • "Share The Sacrifice"

    Obey, Rangel and Murtha are in now - looks like this train could be rolling downhill. Dubbed the “Share the Sacrifice Act,” the six-page bill exempts anyone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan since the 2001 terrorist attacks as well as families who have lost an immediate relative [...]
    Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:47am EST
  • From the "Times change" file.

    Pudentilla describes the current situation... an american conservative is someone who believes that

    a) the vatican ought to decide our domestic policy;
    b) israel ought to decide our foreign policy;
    c) communist china ought to decide our economic policy; and
    d) osama bin ladin ought to decide who [...]
    Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:31am EST
  • If there's gonna be a war…

    …there oughta be a war tax. "There ain't going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan," House Appropriations Chairman David Obey told ABC News in an exclusive interview. "If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask'" [...]
    Posted: November 24, 2009, 2:12am EST
  • Damn.

    Four U.S. service members were killed in the past 24 hours in Afghanistan, NATO said, bringing the number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in November to 15.Damn, damn, damn, damn.

    Bring 'em home, Mr. President.

    ' [...]
    Posted: November 23, 2009, 2:47am EST
  • The first time I ever saw...

    ...grown men weeping openly on a public street was November 22, 1963. It made a powerful impression on my 12 year old mind. We still can't measure what we lost.

    RIP, JFK.

    ' [...]
    Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:43am EST
  • Wolverines!

    Bellevue 34 Glacier Peak 7

    Next up, Union, then the Championship!

    [...]
    Posted: November 22, 2009, 2:29am EST
  • It's time for...

    Posted: November 22, 2009, 12:48am EST
  • Quote of the day.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid… "Ted would be happy." Me too.

    [...]
    Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:19pm EST
  • Random ten…

    …or geezer grab bag?Peter, Paul & Mary - I Dig Rock And Roll Music
    The Beatles - Bad Boy
    Jerry Lee Lewis - Lewis Boogie
    Hank Williams - Jambalaya
    The Temptations - The Way You Do The Things You Do
    The Swingin' Medallions - Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)[...]
    Posted: November 21, 2009, 12:19am EST
  • From the Department of Redundancy Department…

    …via Steve Benen… Sen. Tom Coburn, a right-wing Republican from Oklahoma, is apparently not above callous opportunism.So, there's a right-wing Republican that is above callous opportunism? See, I always thought right-wing Republicanism was callous opportunism.

    [...]
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:49pm EST
  • It's worth keeping mind…

    …that while Landrieu, Nelson, Lincoln, et al may be a problem, they're not the problem. (Ben, in fact, seems to be coming around.) E.J. Dionne explains… As of last Monday, the Senate majority had filed 58 cloture motions requiring 32 recorded votes. One of the more outrageous cases' [...]
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:12pm EST
  • Chart of the day.

    Via Darryl...


    You can make the chart bigger with a click. Making the war bigger involves death, destruction and debt.

    The right way in Afghanistan is out.

    [...]
    Posted: November 20, 2009, 8:46am EST
  • You go, Gov!

    Go get it from them that got it, that is. Andrew reports… Minutes ago, at Senator Jeanine Kohl-Welles' sixteenth annual post-election analysis fundraiser, Gregoire declared emphatically that cuts cannot be the only answer to the $2.6 billion shortfall the state is facing. "It's not an option," Gregoire said firmly,' [...]
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 8:02pm EST
  • Blue Gal.

    She's Left. She's right. She rocks.

    And she needs deserves your support. Go click the green button for Fran.

    Do it every day.


    [...]
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:41pm EST
  • If it's jobless…

    …and "revenue-less," maybe it's something less than a "recovery."

    Just sayin'…


    ' [...]
    Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:04pm EST
  • When they're right, they're right.

    Tennessee Republican Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. displays his gift for the obvious... There is nothing conservative about the war in Afghanistan.Of course, there's really nothing conservative about Conservatism these days, either.

    [...]
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:25am EST
  • From the "Who'da thunk it?" file.

    Maybe Democrats can win elections by acting like Democrats. They can lose when they don't.

    Who'da thunk it?

    Mike Lux spells it out… Bragging about an improving GDP and explaining how jobs are lagging indicators which will someday trickle down to the unemployed is political [...]
    Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:58am EST
  • Quote of the day.

    Levi Johnston on his child's grandmother, via Tengrain... She’s lying and losing.Kid has a future writing bumper stickers.

    [...]
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:53pm EST
  • Good question…

    …from aimai. Elvis Impersonators make good money imitating Elvis. Tina Fey made good money imitating Sarah Palin. Why shouldn't Sarah Palin make good money imitating a Presidential Candidate?Nothing, I suppose, as long as she keeps us laughing...

    ' [...]
    Posted: November 17, 2009, 9:58am EST
  • It's the floundering Vice Presidential campaign…

    …version of a book tour. Charles Lemos... ...her book tour kicks off in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the 66th largest MSA in the country. She'll tour reliable GOP hotspots like Noblesville, Indiana and Washington, Pennsylvania. Apart from media visits to New York and Chicago, the largest city on her itinerary' [...]
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 9:56am EST
  • Truth.

    Literally. Glen Greenwald... This is literally true: the Right's reaction to [the New York terror trials] announcement -- we're too afraid to allow trials and due process in our country -- is the textbook definition of "surrendering to terrorists."' [...]
    Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:22am EST
  • It's time for...

    Posted: November 15, 2009, 12:43am EST
  • Wolverines!

    No. 1 Bellevue rolls past Mount Si, 49-17
    Yeah, it's been a long time since graduation, but, hey, it's winning football, a scarce commodity hereabouts this year.

    [...]
    Posted: November 14, 2009, 7:09pm EST
  • The AP reads...

    …the Palin autohagiography so you don't have to. Ron Chusid quotes extensively, but this sums it up pretty well... THE FACTS are somewhat in dispute.One begins to wonder if she could tell the truth if she tried, but we may never know, because she never tries.

    [...]
    Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:48am EST
  • Once again...

    ...ten from my Shuffle, shuffled.Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
    The Temptations - The Way You Do The Things You Do
    Steve Earle & The Dukes - Sweet Little '66
    Tim O'Brien - Less & Less
    Lyle Lovett - San Antonio Girl
    k.d. lang & The Reclines - Three' [...]
    Posted: November 14, 2009, 3:19am EST
  • Just wondering…

    …where the Iraqis in this group are (Mohammed's a Kuwaiti-born Pakistani)... Four men—the two Yemenis, a Saudi and a Pakistani-born Kuwaiti—will face trial alongside Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of helping finance and plan the attacks of 11 September 2001 in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.I mean, I get' [...]
    Posted: November 13, 2009, 2:33pm EST
  • Include me out.

    As you might gather from the new links on my sidebar, I'm not joining in the financial boycott of the DNC and OFA because Congress and the Obama administration proposed by some so-called "A-list" progressive bloggers.

    This isn't a "progressive" blog. This is a capital-D Democratic blog, and while [...]
    Posted: November 13, 2009, 9:02pm EST
  • It's the something-somethingth anniversary...

    ...of the Brilliant and Beautiful Bride of Upper Left's 29th birthday. Please join me in wishing my best friend and the love of my life the very best day possible.

    ' [...]
    Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:21am EST
  • You're welcome, but...

    I've heard several expressions, personally and generally, of thanks for my service in the US Army today. I appreciate that, of course, but I can't help thinking that the best way to express appreciation to veterans is to stop sending the active duty troopers to missions unworthy of their service.[...]
    Posted: November 11, 2009, 3:08pm EST
  • 120 years ago today...

    Of course you can click it bigger.
    Happy birthday Washington.

    Kinda scary, though, to be almost half as old as my state.

    [...]
    Posted: November 11, 2009, 2:59pm EST
  • With friends like that…

    Via Sam Taylor at the Bellingham Herald... A close friend of Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen shot one of Owen’s sons in an apparent workplace dispute Monday afternoon and then shot himself in the head, the lieutenant governor said.Owen's is the definitive DINO in these parts, but this is' [...]
    Posted: November 10, 2009, 12:36pm EST
  • Semper Fi…

    ...to Dad, Uncle Ed and big brother Pat. Thinking of you all on the 234th birthday of your Corps.


    A happy one to all y'all old jarheads from this old dogface, and a snappy salute to Gordon for the reminder.

    ' [...]
    Posted: November 10, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  • Half a loaf?

    Maybe so. The health insurance bill passed by the House isn't the bill I'd like to see, and as I expected, isn't one that's going to do a great deal for me. Being required to purchase insurance that I can't really afford and that, because of likely co-pays and deductibles,' [...]
    Posted: November 10, 2009, 11:59pm EST
  • From the "Cunning Plan" file…

    Tbogg... George Soros should revisit his plans for global domination investment strategy and give more money to the Club for Growth. They’re way more effective than the Democratic Party.Heh™ or hmmm? You make the call.

    [...]
    Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:08am EST
  • It's time for...

    Posted: November 08, 2009, 7:42am EST
  • The morning after…

    …the big double-drop at King County Records & Elections, Shoreline City Council candidate Shari Tracey's still holding on to 51% and a fraction. It was a lead too small to call just a day or two ago, but I'm satisfied that she's going to unseat incumbent Cindy Ryu. There's about [...]
    Posted: November 07, 2009, 1:11am EST
  • Ten more...

    ...from my Ipod, always set to shuffle.Waylon Jennings - Willie, The Wandering Gypsy And Me
    Sara Gazarek - The Circle Game
    The Dubliners - Molly Maquires
    The Beatles - Two Of Us
    Susan & The Surftones - Wipe Out
    BeauSoleil - Bon Temps Rouler
    Sam & Dave - I Thank [...]
    Posted: November 07, 2009, 12:13am EST
  • Fair enough...

    Rothenberg... Bill Owens' victory in New York's 23rd was the good news for Democrats this week and continued the party's winning streak in competitive House special elections. But the dynamic that helped Owens win -- including a divided Republican Party -- can't be ignored and aren't likely to be' [...]
    Posted: November 06, 2009, 1:50pm EST
  • Regarding Fort Hood...

    ...I've got nothing, really, outside the obligatory expressions of shock and sympathy. That's because I know nothing, really, except the broad outlines you all know.

    One of the things I specifically don't know is why Major Hasan would do such a thing, regardless of his name. Neither does' [...]
    Posted: November 05, 2009, 8:46pm EST
  • It's almost a wrap.

    Tonight's results make at least a couple of my cliffhangers safe to call. I may be the last to admit it - I almost can't believe it - but Referendum 71 has opened a five point lead and looks sure to pass. My home state is the first in the [...]
    Posted: November 05, 2009, 6:38pm EST
  • One of these Dick Armeys…

    …is not like the other. Space Cowboy busts the "Lord of the Teabags"...And guess who tried to help Hoffman out when it became clear he had no grasp of local issues? Lord of the Teabags, Dick Armey: Coming to Mr. Hoffman's defense, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas,' [...]
    Posted: November 05, 2009, 3:11pm EST
  • Yep, there were more results yesterday...

    …but I was already on duty at the perfect tavern when they were released. After the second vote drop, the relative cliffhanger races that I'm tracking, R-71 and Shoreline City Council seats 4 and 5, are all near where they were after the first. That means my picks are' [...]
    Posted: November 05, 2009, 2:46pm EST
  • Perspective…

    …for the "Whatever happened to hope and change?" crowd. John H. Richardson invites you to "Consider the record…" A week before he was sworn in, Obama jammed part two of the bank bailout down the throat of his own party — a $350 billion accomplishment.

    Two days after [...]
    Posted: November 05, 2009, 11:46pm EST
  • Brilliant prognosticator or influential pundit?

    You make the call, but if current trends hold, my city council picks will go 4 for 4. At least two of those look pretty solid right now.

    Keith McGlashan's was the only name on the ballot for Position 1, but there was an active write-in candidacy against him.' [...]
    Posted: November 04, 2009, 3:15pm EST
  • On the statewide side…

    the results range from excellent to encouraging. Tim Eyman's I-1033 didn't lose everywhere, but it lost pretty much everywhere the people are, whether the people in question are Puget Sound liberals or Palouse wheat farmers. Folks who grow hops and grapes seem to be pretty much over Eyman, as [...]
    Posted: November 04, 2009, 9:25am EST
  • Good guess.

    greg on NY-23… I guess the Rockefeller Republicans are now Palin Democrats. [...]
    Posted: November 04, 2009, 12:35am EST
  • The people have spoken.

    Or written. Or filled in the blanks. Whatever you want to call what we did since ballots started appearing in mailboxes, we've had an election. King County has counted all the votes they're going to count today, and those early returns appear decisive in several races.

    Dow Constantine [...]
    Posted: November 04, 2009, 11:24pm EST
  • Thanks, I needed that.

    Steve M. offers a little perspective before we start sifting the election entrails for omens...

    * A Republican might win by an eyelash in the gubernatorial race in New Jersey -- a state that's had Republican governors for 16 of the past 28 years.

    * In Virginia, a Republican [...]

    Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:55am EST
  • Last day to mark 'em and mail 'em.

    With our new all-mail elections, I suppose we don't really have an election day so mush as a deadline day. Whatever you call it, it's here. Ballots for the 2009 general election have to be postmarked by midnight tonight. If yours is still on a desk or counter at your' [...]
    Posted: November 03, 2009, 10:56am EST
  • Hardly time to blog...

    ...this morning with a double shift at the perfect tavern looming, but still time to remind you that you have enough time to get that ballot marked and in the mail.

    Yes, I mean now.
    [...]
    Posted: November 02, 2009, 9:42am EST
  • It's time for...

    Posted: November 01, 2009, 12:07am EDT
  • If Tom Harkin is sure….

    "[Lieberman] still wants to be a part of the Democratic Party although he is a registered independent," Harkin said. "He wants to caucus with us and, of course, he enjoys his chairmanship of the [Homeland Security] committee because of the indulgence of the Democratic Caucus. So, I'm sure all of'" [...]
    Posted: November 01, 2009, 11:17pm EDT
  • Thought of the day.

    greg at The Talent Show… I think the country would be in much better shape if more Americans realized Republicans have traded conservatism for anarchism.Probably.

    I think.


    [...]
    Posted: November 01, 2009, 11:08pm EDT

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