Peter Jackson

originally published on Crosscut.com on May 22, 2012

In Alan J. Pakula’s brilliant film adaptation of Woodward and Bernstein’s All the President’s Men, Bob Woodward, played by Robert Redford, confronts an attorney named Markham during the arraignment of the Watergate burglars. “Markham,” Woodward says. “Mr. Markham, are you here in connection with the Watergate burglary?”  

“I’m not here,” Markham says.  

The scene, emblematic of absurd denials, was replayed in Olympia last week (minus E. Howard Hunt) as a team of Costco attorneys attended a state Supreme Court hearing challenging Initiative 1183, the Costco-underwritten measure that privatizes state liquor sales. Is there a compelling reason for attorneys to act so taciturn and Markham-like?  

“In my experience it’s tradition that after newsworthy oral arguments before the Supreme Court, the lawyers talk with reporters. Sometimes this happens in the chambers. Sometimes out in the foyer. Other times on the steps of the Temple of Justice,” Austin Jenkins writes in the Washington Ledge. “But on Thursday, neither [attorney David] Burman nor anyone from the Costco delegation would speak on the record. In fact, Costco Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Joel Benoliel wouldn’t even identify himself to me. Instead, Benoliel — whom I later identified based on his picture — referred KOMO’s Bryan Johnson and me to the state’s attorney.”   

Wasn’t the whole purpose of I-1183 to de-bureaucratize and facilitate the purchase of hooch by impulsive miscreants like this Scan’s author? In practice,  liquor privatization could evolve into a monopoly, sidelining smaller businesses that hope to cash in. Are there adequate safeguards for little-guy booze peddlers or will they simply need to become more entrepreneurial?   

“After the state’s voters gave big retailers the right to sell liquor starting June 1, at least one chain is invoking a right that elbows out some slim small-store competition,” the Seattle Times‘ Melissa Allison writes. “QFC is enforcing contracts at some of its locations that prohibit private liquor stores from operating in the same shopping centers, according to real-estate brokers involved in two local deals, one in Issaquah and the other in Kirkland. The restrictions, which are legal, are causing some people to scramble for new locations after they won rights in an auction to operate one of the state’s 167 existing liquor stores.”   

Snohomish County Councilmember Brian Sullivan’s mother did not raise a quitter. As the The Herald‘s Jerry Cornfield writes, “Democratic Snohomish County Councilman Brian Sullivan said Monday he’s not giving up on his dream to serve in Congress. He said he will remain a candidate in the special election to serve the final month of U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee’s term even though the field ballooned to 11 people last Friday, including five who want the job well into the future.”

Politics notwithstanding, it would be pretty sweet to witness Sullivan power past the crowded field and emerge triumphant. He or some other non-ambitious (write in PETER H. JACKSON) candidate who wouldn’t attempt to game the system, but rather promote the interests and greater good of the district (PETER H. JACKSON needs health insurance) in a farsighted, nonpartisan manner.  

The Green Moutain Lookout in Washington’s Glacier Peak Wilderness Area may live to see another summer. Sens. Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, and Rep. Rick Larsen have elbowed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to do everthing legally kosher to put the kibosh on the lookout’s destruction. As the Seattlepi.com‘s Joel Connelly writes, “U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, ruling on a suit by Montana-based Wilderness Watch, recently ordered the U.S. Forest Service to remove the lookout.  The Seattle U.S. Attorney’s office has filed a motion to have the ruling remanded to allow the Forest Service to assess whether the historic lookout can remain.” The question revolves around helicopters used to reconstruct the lookout, a clear violation of the U.S. Wilderness Act of 1964. Arguably, someone should get a letter of reprimand from the U.S. Forest Service, but tear down an historic lookout? The remedy doesn’t exactly square with the violation.  

Lastly, if a tsunami comes this way, early warning may be a wee tougher to gauge. As KPLU’s Tom Banse reports, “One quarter (12 of 39) of U.S.-operated tsunami warning buoys in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are out of service. That includes the two tsunami detection buoys directly off the Pacific Northwest coast. But the warning system has some redundancy built in.” Let’s hope that “redundancy” saves us.  

originally published on Crosscut.com on September 25, 2011

On Sunday a young American president intrepidly withstood the elements of the Pacific Northwest. He traversed a floating bridge like Gen. Patton crossing the Rhine and de-camped to a remote lakeside village, name of Medina. There he sat and listened to the real-world concerns of everyday Northwesterners, most of whom salted away money for a decade to pony up the price of admission ($35,800 a couple.)

Jealous not to be there? Indeed, this writer would have bartered his mother and wife to the Visigoths to attend.  

Thankfully, penurious writers benefit from well-heeled friends (who do you think pays for their meals)? Here’s what I learned from one of the many grateful attendees:  

The Medina shindig was hosted by philanthropist and former Microsoft president Jon Shirley and his spouse, Mary. Despite living in a tiny hamlet, they have quite a spread, including one of the most impressive art collections around (the Shirleys were generous benefactors of the Olympic Sculpture Park). Approximately 80 folks attended, including a handful of children. The tech industry was heavily represented.  

The president ran several minutes late, although no refunds or discounts were in the offing. (The good news: tickets included brunch). Once the president arrived, the photo-ops began. Everyone got their pic with “a very charming, very witty” president. Post-photos, Obama spoke for 20 minutes, underlining the country’s economic challenges in a mostly apolitical “statesmanlike” spiel. Then came a half-hour of Q&A.  

 The questions were relevant, the source said, and somewhat confrontational when it came to the environment. The president has been criticized by the conservation community, for example, for retreating on EPA clean-air regulations.  

The president acknowledged the importance of galvanizing the progressive community, a constituency that has felt marginalized of late. Democrats need to rally and be vigilant, he said. Obama also alluded to the Republican presidential candidates and some of the “frightening” and unreal aspects of their agenda. The source said, “He didn’t say it, but there was an unspoken sense that ‘these folks are nuts.”  

The brunch ended with a teenage girl asking about the role of youth. A spot-on question: President Obama will not get reelected if complacent younger voters sit on their hands in 2012.  

Obama bid adieu, braved Lake Washington again, and headed west to the Paramount Theatre for a less-ritzy fundraiser ($100 for the cheap seats). Facebook lit up. “Kissing babies and telling the truth in Seattle,” one attendee wrote. There, sports legends Lenny Wilkins and Bill Russell made a pitch.

“I need you guys to shake off any doldrums,” the president said near the end of his Paramount address. Unfortunately, President Obama was behind schedule. At this event, alas, there was no time for questions.