Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control archive for May 2009

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2009

Reader asks: Where's the lottery money? 

Reader Jim Nelson called this morning as a followup to Sunday's column, to wonder where does the Washington state Lottery money going. Specifically, is it or isn't it going to schools?Spin Control can't answer every question from readers, but this is a fairly slow morning,…

Continue reading this post »


Monday videos: Weekend catch-up

If you were up and out early on Sunday, busy with chores or otherwise occupied, here's a roundup of the morning talking head shows, courtesy of TalkingPointsMemo.Steele and Kane on Meet the Press:Liz Cheney on This Week: If you fell asleep before Saturday Night Live…

Continue reading this post »

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2009

Speak the speech I pray you speak

Whether they like it or not, practically everyone attached to state government in Washington is being forced to cut back. Universities are cancelling programs and students are facing higher tuition. School teachers are getting layoff notices. State employees are looking at lower wages or higher…

Continue reading this post »

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2009

Saturday fun video: GOP dings Obama

This is a commercial produced for the Republican National Committee, but it probably will air more on the Web than on your local TV stations.It's got some cute bits, but how much longer are folks going to rely on the American Express "priceless" theme as…

Continue reading this post »


Saturday video: What's up with Friday

It would seem what's up was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. TalkingPointsMemo's encapsulation of the day suggests her press conference on CIA torture briefings will be her ignominious downfall. Or not. What do you think? Click on the comment button and add yours.

Continue reading this post »

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009

Durkan named U.S. attorney for W WA

Seattle attorney Jenny Durkan was nominated today by the Obama Administration to be the U.S. Attorney for Western Washington.OK, so where have you heard that name before? Durkan was legal counsel to Gov. Chris Gregoire, and a political adviser to her during the 2004 gubernatorial…

Continue reading this post »


Friday's fun video: Stewart rips Obama flip

In case you fell asleep last night before The Daily Show, Jon Stewart took on the the president's shifting positions on releasing photos of torture and Don't Ask, Don't Tell.The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10cMoral Kombatthedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesEconomic CrisisPolitical…

Continue reading this post »


One other flag note

The flag flying below the Stars and Stripes on the Spokane County Courthouse is the official Prisoner of War/Missing In Action flag.It has a black field with a white circle in the middle, which has a profile of a head in silhouette. The county flies…

Continue reading this post »


At half staff

In case you're wondering:May 15 is Peace Officers Memorial Day. Because of this, flags on government buildings -- and some commercial and private buildings with flagpoles -- lowered to half staff.And even though Monday was the day that local officials marked the loss of life…

Continue reading this post »


THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2009

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2009

Easy for them to say

When swine flu was all the rage last week, hardly an hour went by without some well-meaning organization sending "tips" to avoid the flu and how to handle it if you got it.Most of them were pretty standard stuff your mom always told you, like…

Continue reading this post »


In a cluster?

The Spokane County Planning Commission has a hearing Thursday morning on clusters.Not the vegetative kind, although these do affect rural areas. Not the Army ordinance kind, although the issue could be explosive.The hearing involves rural cluster development, which is a way to shift current county…

Continue reading this post »


TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009

Cox won't run in the fall

State Rep. Don Cox, the Colfax Republican who came back to the Legislature to fill the vacancy created when Steve Hailey died of cancer last year, won't run in the special election this fall.The state House Republican Caucus announced this afternoon that Cox says he…

Continue reading this post »


Preaching to the choir

Sen. Patty Murray, who knows how to pick a friendly crowd, spent part of Tuesday talking about keeping defense jobs in the United States to the IAMAW.That's the International Association of Machiniest and Aircraft Workers, as in, the biggest union at Boeing.Murray, who has led…

Continue reading this post »

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2009

Monday video: Sunday talking heads

If you took Mom to brunch Sunday and missed the talking head shows, here's the wrapup from TalkingPointsMemo, who seems to think the only one worth watching was Dick Cheney's interview on CBS.For a few yucks, here's some clips from the White House correspondents' dinner.Embedded…

Continue reading this post »

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2009

The official portrait of Michelle Obama shows a sleeveless first lady in the Blue Room of the White House. Associated Press photos (Associated Press photos / The Spokesman-Review)

Happy Mothers Day to moms in high places

Just in time for Mother's Day, a survey arrived last week from Adecco Group -- described in the press release as the world’s largest staffing agency -- on the most admired “celebrity”mothers. To determine this, the agency paid to survey working moms, working dads and…

Continue reading this post »

FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2009

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2009


More video fun: National Prayer Day

And if you think the Democrats' commerical in the post below is a bit over the top, what about this offering from the folks supporting National Prayer Day?Is it just me, or does it feel like a trailer for a Jerry Bruckheimer disaster flick?. National…

Continue reading this post »


Today's fun video: Dems spoof GOP

With all the talk about the Republican Party searching for its direction-leader-heart-soul, the Democratic National Committee apparently decided to strike with the unkindest weapon of all.Mockery.It's an ad that's clearly designed to circulate mainly on the Internet and will probably never be aired on local…

Continue reading this post »


WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2009

Going for a walk with 45,000 folks

If you saw Mayor Mary Verner on the Bloomsday course and wondered what her time was, don't bother checking the race site or the newly published tabloid.She's not in there.Verner did walk the course with her 7-year-old granddaughter Bariah. But she wasn't an official participant...She…

Continue reading this post »


WA GOP Women to Prejean: You go, girl

For all those out there who think Washingtonians are so virulently anti-California, please note that the Washington Federation of Republican Women have taken a stand firmly in supoport of Miss California.For those who don't follow pageants, Carrie Prejean answered a question during the Miss USA…

Continue reading this post »

The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.



Blog Archives

May 2009
31 29 28 27 26
24 23 22 21 20
19 18 17 16 15
14 13 12 11 10
08 07 06 05 03
01