Posted Wed, Apr 11, 8:09 p.m.

Mea culpa, Berit. I have the same feeling for the most influential president of my kindergarten career (read: Grover Cleveland.) Pedro

Posted Wed, Mar 7, 9:33 a.m.

Dear crankyoldlady, You are probably right--"payback" in this context seems like an exaggeration (and I was lazily piggybacking on Eli Sanders.) Republicans were restive, and Hewitt pointed to same-sex marriage as a distraction that ate up too much time. Mea culpa. --Pete J.

Posted Tue, Feb 21, 7:51 p.m.

A thoughtful, provocative analysis, John. I'll wager that President Obama (perhaps wisely, albeit cynically) punts until after his re-election. --Pete Jackson

Posted Mon, Feb 20, 11:46 p.m.

A spot-on analysis, Jordan. Well done.

Posted Tue, Feb 14, 10:17 p.m.

Yikes, a Valentine's Day Freudian slip. Thanks, Snoqualman, I'll fix! --MIdday Man

Posted Wed, Nov 9, 5:30 p.m.

Many thanks to both psj and dbreneman for incisive, well-considered arguments (and regret that my analysis emanated cynicism). Costco was I-1183's Big Daddy, however, thoughtful reform was long overdue. Let's hope it falls together. --Pete Jackson

Posted Wed, Oct 26, 1:59 p.m.

FIxed. Sorry!

Posted Fri, Oct 21, 7:40 p.m.

Thanks for an instructive, textured, thoughtful read. We're going! Best, Pete J.

Posted Wed, Oct 12, 9:06 p.m.

I managed fix. Thanks, David Smith.

Posted Mon, Sep 19, 1:15 p.m.

Mea culpa, Ross. I should have written, "or maybe Warm Beach." Cheers, PJ

Posted Mon, Aug 8, 5:55 p.m.

A thoughtful, incisive, well-written tribute. Thanks, Floyd. Best, Pete J.

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 8:38 a.m.

Well done, Jess. Thanks for a thoughtful, informative piece.

Posted Sun, Jul 31, 12:42 p.m.

Many thanks for writing this informative and thoughtful piece, Collin. I learned a lot.

Posted Fri, May 27, 9:20 a.m.

Thank you for writing this. Well done--let's hope that increased awareness (along with community and diplomatic pressure) make the difference.

Posted Sat, Dec 4, 6:33 p.m.

Dear Ted, While I agree with your thesis that wars have been started or accelerated because of false or manipulated intelligence (think Gulf of Tonkin or the USS Maine) there's zero evidence of that with the Zimmermann Telegram. Yes, it was British code breakers who intercepted the telegram and, yes, ...

Posted Sun, Mar 28, 1:35 p.m.

Cameron, I agree with you: Illegal aliens (even Swedes) should not be allowed to vote. However, per this legislation, if I moved to Spokane, I'd need to produce a birth certificate or some form of a national ID card to register to vote. That seems a wee extreme to me. ...

Posted Sun, Mar 21, 11:35 a.m.

A fine tribute, Ted. Let's not forget that Stewart Udall also played a critical role helping shepherd the 1968 North Cascades National Park Act, neutralizing the obstreperous House Interior Committee Chair, Wayne Aspinall, along the way. It's a 684,000-acre park and wilderness legacy with Udall's fingerprints. Best, Pete J.

Posted Wed, Feb 17, 12:07 p.m.

Thanks for digging into this, Austin. Article II Section 10 of the state constitution does not proscribe the nature of the deciding vote, so Dirks is correct that it trumps the "final passage" provision of the senate rules. However, here's where it gets murky for non-attorneys like moi: Dave Ammons's ...

Posted Sat, Feb 13, 11:05 a.m.

What a beautiful scoundrel. Thanks for writing this, Judy. Pete J.

Posted Wed, Feb 10, 4:10 p.m.

Dear Fred117, Many thanks for the correction. The text has been changed from "Oakland" to "Anaheim." I appreciate it. Pete J.

Posted Wed, Jan 20, 3:27 p.m.

Bravo, Skip. The Great American Slowdown is not only Mossback friendly, but dovetails with writer Wallace Stegner's prediction that the American West would grow more history and heritage-sensitive only after multiple generations settled. Localism--not to be confused with parochialism or narrow-mindedness--is a virtue. --PHJ

Posted Fri, Nov 27, 5:12 p.m.

Well done, Ted. A tribute worthy of its subject. Pete J.

Posted Wed, Jul 29, 1:23 p.m.

A thoughtful analysis of the "insider" paradox. I agree that Watergate crystallized the anti-experience/down-with-government notion, although Watergate had it antecedents (Think of Gary Wills's book, A Necessary Evil--politico-bashing is the American way). Here's the challenge: We want candidates who are seasoned enough to operate the levers of government, but we ...

Posted Sat, Jun 6, 4:42 p.m.

Professor Manning, Thank you for your very thoughtful response. I'm guilty of taking the intellectually lazy route of framing a complex argument as an either/or proposition (and straw men serve that purpose). In the process, I used your father as shorthand for the "keep out" school which, as you rightly ...

Posted Sat, Jun 6, 4:40 p.m.

Professor Manning, Thank you for your very thoughtful response. I'm guilty of taking the intellectually lazy route of framing a complex argument as an either/or proposition (and straw men serve that purpose). In the process, I used your father as shorthand for the "keep out" school which, as you rightly ...

Posted Thu, Jan 1, 1:43 p.m.

Dan Chasan I shant ever look at you the same, Your inspired verse puts even Calvin Trillin to shame! Bravo!

Posted Thu, Jul 3, 1 p.m.

Baucus is not on the Appropriations Committee: Eclectic Robert Byrd is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, alas. Max Baucus chairs the Finance Committee.

Posted Sat, Jun 21, 12:39 a.m.

A new template consistent with the 1964 Wilderness Act: Good analysis, Kim. Wild Sky represents a more inclusive wilderness model that should (and will) be replicated. A point of friendly disagreement, however: There's nothing inconsistent with second growth in a federally designated wilderness area. As you know, the "these lands ...

Posted Sun, Jun 15, 12:04 a.m.

The Perfect as the Enemy of the Good?: Denis's Environment 360 essay is thoughtful, provocative, farsighted. Bravo. Nevertheless, an incremental baby step, however frustratingly imperfect, is still a step. The "bold" will not take the form of an omnibus New Deal package (however much we all wish). The bold will ...

Posted Thu, Mar 13, 8:54 p.m.

Owen vrs. Paterson, Pt II: Alas, Animalal, Owen and college never consummated either. He never made it past high school.

Posted Sun, Mar 9, 5:02 p.m.

Clarification: Please note: I was scribbling this essay from an Everett vantage point, and did not mean to imply that the Tulalips lived along the Duwamish River, home of the Duwamish Tribe of Indians. In addition, I should probably not have used "Tulalip" as shorthand for the Snohomish Tribe. I ...

Posted Thu, Jan 10, 8:37 p.m.

This is brilliant: How I wish I'd written this...bravo, Palmer: I will make a contribution to the UW/Everett branch campus in your honor (in the low double figures).

Posted Tue, Jan 8, 1:59 p.m.

Pete apologizes to the County Exec...: A quick writer's note: I was a wee too flip highlighting the absence of the Snohomish County Executive. Christopher Schwarzen, an aide to Aaron Reardon, sent an email saying that the County Executive was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict, and that ...

Posted Wed, Jan 2, 12:35 a.m.

A Viking torture?: Vikings called it the "blood eagle," and it involved slicing a victim's ribs, pulling on their lungs for display, and rubbing in a fistfull of salt. Imagine 700 years of conservation work makes more sense...

Posted Thu, Dec 20, 4:59 p.m.

RE: Remembering Pandemonium: "Cyclone Pan" it is! (You know those misfits who don Santa hats twelve months a year? Raucous, lecherous, intoxicated? Most are relatives of mine). Many thanks, Skip. I'll give the Weather Service a holler this afternoon.

Posted Fri, Dec 7, 8:40 p.m.

Kithene is a tribute to the UW and Public Service: Bravo on your piece, Gene. An extraordinary young man who also received the UW's Sterling Munro Scholarship. Nordic pessimism notwithstanding, we have reason for hope, yes?

Posted Mon, Nov 5, 11:56 p.m.

Great piece--but are you harshing on Fosdick?: Spot on, Skip--in a post-genome world, eugenics could become as insidious as sectarianism. One picayune quibble: Harry Emerson Fosdick flirted with eugenics (but I'm hoping against hope it was just that--a flirtation). Nevertheless, Fosdick was a Christian progressive and pacifist back when eugenics ...

Posted Thu, Nov 1, 12:16 a.m.

Everett Envy?: In Everett, there are only three costumes for boys--Joe Hill, "Big Bill" Haywood, and Eugene Debs (the bad kids dress as Sheriff McRae).

Posted Wed, Sep 12, 6:06 p.m.

Great Post, Skip: You've made me want to speed off into the Big Empty--an odyssey that I missed this summer. A reminder as well of Richard White's thesis that the West is the most urbanized region of the country. A weird juxtaposition, urban Northwesterners and the Big Empty, that somehow ...

Posted Mon, Jul 30, 7:53 p.m.

RE: Peace Corps demographics: Thanks, Skip. I may scribble a meatier part II that focuses on the demographics (In my original run, I arrogantly claimed the NW was a "kibbutz with conifers.") In fact, Minneapolis outranks Seattle on the civic-participation index, but I'm unscientific and aggregating the whole Northwest. (Per ...

Posted Fri, Apr 6, 2 p.m.

The Radical Chic of "The Helix": Excellent column, Skip. FYI, the name of the spanking-new apartment building on the corner of 12th and 50th in the U-District is, alas, "The Helix." Could the developer be old enough to recall the colorful history of the underground Seattle Helix? Tom Wolfe would ...