Alright, so, I've been MIA for a while. I am living. Washington still exists. Still no climate change bill.

As I sit here in my rapidly darkening office, I am awaiting news on an amendment (what we call a "rider") to drop, sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). This fence-sitter is threatening to attach a rider to an interior appropriations bill that would prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources. In English, the EPA would not be able to stop power plants, coal-fired or otherwise, from emitting as much carbon as they want.

This is obviously bad. Murkowski herself said today that she is "calling a timeout" on the EPA and its ability to regulate, citing many sources in saying that climate change is best handled by the legislature. About that, she is absolutely right.

However, a reporter asked her a question that tore apart the base of her claim. "There has been climate change legislation in Congress every year since 2005 and nothing has been done. At what point is it appropriate for the EPA to step in?

Five years ago.

If Congress is not going to step up and do something, then the EPA will have to. So, if I hadn't made it clear up to this point, we are very much against the rider.

Problem is, have you ever heard of a rider? On West Wing doesn't count. It is hard to drum up support against a rider. Much harder than for or against an actual bill. Add the fact that it is part of an appropriations bill and you get an obscure thing that is part of a whole that most people don't understand at all (a budget).

So here we sit. Waiting. Hoping she gets some sense.


It must be amazing that I didn't jump on here right away on Saturday and report on the Huskies big win, huh? Don't worry, the text messages were flying around all over the place. Pretty awesome day. And some extremely high praise from Pete Carroll himself. It is clear he looks at the win as an upset, but one by a team that is pretty good.

A few people have said they think Jake Locker will be the highest-rated quarterback heading into the next NFL draft. This is a guy that already has signed with a baseball organization. All of this after missing nearly all of 2008.

The Huskies are back.


Finally, I know there isn't much interesting stuff going on on the blog right this second, but I wanted to share another somewhat sad/instructional story again. And then I really am trying to wedge blogging time into the calendar. I actually liked it the best when I was able to share news.

Plaxico Burris was sentenced today. For those of you who don't know, he was the NFL wide receiver for the NY Giants that shot himself in the leg by accident in a Manhattan night club. Burris was hit with weapons charges and pleaded guilty.

Today, after walking up to his lawyer and beginning to listen to the judge talk, he stopped the proceeding, asked the judge for permission and then walked back to his family one last time.

He hugged his wife, kissed his son and hugged his parents. His father told, somberly, to be strong.

He was then sentenced to 20-24 months in prison.

Some people forget the real victims here. This man is a husband and a father. He didn't kill anyone and the arguments for athletes carrying protection in night clubs in neither here nor there. I am not arguing that he broke the law.

To the contrary, as he lawyer framed Burris as a "man who broke the law, not a criminal," I was stuck with the argument I have made about mandatory minimums for quite some time. The argument here isn't why some people get sentenced more than others. It is why are these people breaking the law in the first place.

Because the victims were in that court room and they weren't the family of someone he hurt. They were his family. His son, who will spend years without a father in his home. His wife, who will be a single mother with no salary at this point. Hopefully she either is employed or he saved money from his lucrative NFL contracts. You may say that you cannot feel bad for an NFL athlete that blows his money.

But I sure would feel bad for his son, who didn't do a damn thing.

These are the real victims.


Anyway, back to work. Gonna be a long night. Hope all is well with y'all out there.