Outlook on politics and elections in the state of Washington from an overall centrist viewpoint. My views tend to be libertarian in nature, but at the same time are largely nonpartisan.
I got a breaking news email from the P-I not long ago saying that decades-long King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng died of a heart attack last night at UW. It came as a big surprise to me given that from all I'd seen he'd been going strong, but I suppose heart attacks have a way of popping up when one doesn't expect it. He was certainly a local legend, and will be missed.
Labels: Norm Maleng, Obituaries
posted by TMW @ 4:16 AM
0 comments
I just found out via Ridenbaugh Press that John L. O'Brien, essentially the father of the state legislature, has died today at the age of 95. Honestly, I had no idea he was still alive, being that he first set foot in the House in 1939, but had apparently been enjoying longevity in life much like he did as a state representative. O'Brien served from 1939 until 1992 with only one term in that stretch where he was not elected, and served as speaker for several terms in the 1950s and 1960s. Dan Evans fan though I am, here's to you, Speaker O'Brien. Thank you for your service to our state.
Labels: Obituaries
posted by TMW @ 10:21 PM
2 comments
Longtime state legislator and former Congressman Jack Metcalf died yesterday at the age of 79. His political career bloomed late, being elected to Congress in the 1994 GOP revolution and being one of the few to keep their promise of serving three terms, it came decades after twice challenging the great Warren Magnuson for his US Senate seat. Metcalf also served five terms in the state Senate from northwestern Washington's 10th legislative district.
I don't typically make note of political obituaries here, but given his long service and that I had always admired Metcalf as an independent-minded conservative, I wanted to offer my respects for the man.
Labels: Obituaries
posted by TMW @ 4:18 PM
2 comments
I like to think that I'm a rarity in blogging, in that I'm a political nerd who doesn't have a partisan axe to grind in everything they write. I considered myself a Republican up until 2004 when I finally had enough of their bible-based politics, yet still harbour a deep dislike of the Democratic Party because of their ties to labour groups as well as their tendency to bloat budgets. Ideologically I'm somewhere between centrist and libertarian. On economics I fit neatly in the centre-right, while on social issues I can be fairly radical. And no, I'm not British. It's just that I can respect that they created our language and know how to write it properly.
