domestic terror

if the Michigan Republicans can file criminal charges against Michael Moore for offering free undies to slackers for voting it seems like the least I can do to try to get terrorism charges filed against Dick.

October 20, 2004

US Attorney John McKay
601 Union Street
Suite 5100
Seattle WA 98101-3903
Fax: (206) 5530-882

Dear Mr. McKay

I would like to request that you look into a case of domestic terrorism. My old Webster’s Handy College Dictionary defines terrorism as; “the use of terror and intimidation to gain one’s political objectives”. A couple of weeks ago our esteemed vice-President stated that the US would likely face a major terrorist attack if the Democratic Party wins the presidential election. Yesterday he stated that we are likely to see terrorists using nuclear weapons in a US city if John Kerry is elected. If you need to find out his exact statements please see any major news source including the San Jose Mercury News, Associated Press, New York Times etc. I think that any rational person would be scared by the statement by the vice-President that they are under the threat of nuclear attack. I also think that any rational person would agree that Mr. Cheney’s statement is designed to induce fear in the public (and in fact has done so) and that it is clearly intended to achieve his political objective of getting re-elected. Does this not constitute an act of terrorism?

I am not an attorney so I am unfamiliar with the correct channels to follow so I am forwarding this letter to you and to the Seattle City Attorney, Tom Carr and am requesting that you either take action or forward this to the appropriate authorities or inform me who those would be. I eagerly await your reply, and a reply to my letter of March 31, 2003 regarding another case of terrorism. Apparently you must be busy on more pressing matters.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,



Nic

dear john

This is a letter sent to Kerry before Debate 3, didn't have any effect, but it was still worth saying.

11 October 2004

Senator John Kerry
Kerry-Edwards 2004
PO Box 34640
Washington DC 20043
Fax: (202) 7123-001

Dear President Elect Kerry:

Re: Un-Solicited Advice

On the eve of the final debate I would like to send my congratulations on your performance in the debates so far. Knowing full well that advice is worth what you pay for it, here is the free un-solicited advice of one of your supporters:
Should the topic of the War Without End on Terror come up, please do not use the phrase “hunt down and kill the terrorists”. I know that you are striving to take away Apparent-President Bush’s advantage on the homeland security front, but this comes across as somewhat desperate, verging on bug-eyed crazy. I think that “bring to justice” would work as well with the law-and-order folks and far better with those of us who are not keen on frontier justice. Furthermore you can explain that prisoners can lead to more arrests while corpses rarely provide much information. I have also been hoping that you would point out that Mr. Bush’s answer to the question on 9/12/2001 “Why do they hate us?”…”Because they hate our freedom” is not one that gives any insight or allows us to get at the root causes of terrorism, and without that we will truly be in a war without end.
In the vice-presidential debate President-in-Hiding Cheney said that the supreme court of Massachusetts had “ordered the legislature to change the constitution to allow for gay marriage”. I was shocked that an experienced trial attorney like Senator Edwards did not: a) point out that that was factually wrong and misleading, the supreme court ruled that it is un-constitutional to stop gay couples from marrying, a significantly different ruling, and b) use Cheney’s lead in to point out that BushCheney have been consistently hostile to the rule of law (some examples: holding prisoners indefinitely without charge in Guantanmo Bay, setting up military tribunals with rules that would not pass legal muster in even the most repressive countries on the planet, ignoring the Geneva Conventions, refusing to acknowledge the International War Crimes Court, using the Patriot Act to violate law-abiding citizens’ basic civil rights etc., etc. ad nauseam). I do not agree with you on the issue of gay marriage, I think it is an outrageous example of discrimination, but I think you should use the topic to point out the ways in which BushCheney are hostile to human and civil rights and the legal system that is supposed to provide checks and balances against the potential tyranny of the Executive and Legislative branches.

I could carry on for days, but promised myself to keep this to one sheet.

To Victory in November,




Nic

general election endorsements

November 2004 Voter’s Cheat Sheet
Nic’s endorsements for the General Election

Statewide Initiatives:
In general I think that citizen’s initiatives are a terrible way to make laws and generally undermine the functioning of representative democracy. The effect of recent Washington initiatives has been to render the state hard to govern. My inclination is to say no to all citizen’s initiatives unless they really represent the right solution to a problem that cannot be solved otherwise. That said:

I-872 – No
(Louisiana Primary) This would not be an improvement over the current system. It would effectively eliminate minor parties and independents from the general election ballot, which would reduce, not increase democracy.

I-884 - No
(Additional 1% sales tax dedicated to education.) Sales taxes are very regressive. We do need to adequately fund education, but this is done in a way that hurts the poor.

I-892 - No, No, No
(Slot machines throughout the state to fund a property tax reduction) This represents a taxing idea more regressive and uncompassionate than a sales tax. Preying on gambling addicts and desperate people is not a responsible way to fund the public good (and the idea behind I-892 is not to benefit the public good, but to appeal to personal greed).

Referendum 55 – No
(Charter Schools) Taking money out of public schools to fund charter schools has a poor record in creating improvements in public education.

I-297 – Yes
(No new toxic waste disposal at contaminated sites) Specifically this is designed to stop the Feds from dumping more toxic sludge at Hanford until they clean up the existing mess. Sounds like a darn good idea to me.

Federal Races:

President and President of Vice – I hope I don’t need to spell this one out, you can vote for Voldemort and Gollum, or not.
I enjoyed reading the voter’s pamphlet to see if any of the candidates could be worse than Bush/Cheney. The Constitution Party comes close, but even they don’t think that the occupation of Iraq is a good idea. Reading about the minor party and independent candidates is refreshing not just for their honest expression of ideas, but you also see that you do not have to be a white mail multi-millionaire to run for Pres and Vice (you can be: a woman, Hispanic, Arab, Black and even a pacifist).

US Senator – Patty Murray (D)

US Representative (7th District) – Jim McDermott (D)
The Republicans decided to make a bold play for all the evangelical Christian Conservative, anti-choice, anti-mass transit, anti-gay rights, Zionist, gun nuts in the 7th District. Apparently none of her supporters has yet told Carol Cassaday that the US House of Representatives has no vote on Federal Judgeships.

Statewide Races:

Governor – Christine Gregoire (D)

Lieutenant Governor – Bern Haggerty (Green)

Secretary of State – Laura Ruderman (D)

State Treasurer – Mike Murphy (D)

State Auditor – Brian Sonntag (D)

Attorney General – Deborah Senn (D)
I am tempted to vote for Paul Richmond of the Green Party, but I have this nagging suspicion that Rob McKenna would try to lock people like me up if he gets elected.

Commissioner of Public Lands – Mike Cooper (D)

Superintendent of Public Instruction – Judith Billings

Insurance Commissioner – Mike Kreidler (D)

State Supreme Court
Position 1 – Mary Kay Becker
Position 6 – Terry Sebring

State Representative:

43rd District
Position 1 – Ed Murray (D)
Position 2 – Frank Chopp (D)

King County Races:

Superior Court Judge
Position 23 – Andrea Darvas
Position 42 – Chris Washington
Charter Amendments 1A and 1B – Vote No and for 1B
This is a weird two-part vote. It is hard for me to imagine supporting any idea of Tim Eyman’s in which he invokes the memory of the scary late County Councilman Kent Pullen. Even without that factor I think that reducing the number of districts is a bad idea. King County districts are already huge making them bigger will only reduce the connection between representatives and constituents. If it passes, option 1B will provide a better transition.

Advisory Measure 1 – vote for an increase in the local gas tax
This is another weird vote. Chose your medicine to pay for transportation projects and you get to vote for one of 5 options. I think that a general sales tax and a flat tax on motor vehicles are the most regressive. I don’t like the tax on vehicle miles as small fuel-efficient vehicles will subsidize gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks that have a bigger impact on roads and air pollution. The excise tax on vehicles is at least not regressive, but I think that we need to have taxes that reward people for not driving and for using newer less-polluting vehicles when they do.


City of Seattle:

Initiative 83 (recall the Monorail) -
I am not taking a position on this Initiative. This is not because I do not have an opinion, but I am currently the Chair of the Monorail Review Panel (a sub-committee of the Seattle Design Commission). As such my role is to work for the best possible design quality for the project and taking a public position on the initiative will compromise the ability of our panel to be seen as an objective arbiter of design quality.