Crock Pot Stewing Fevered Notions

Thu., June 15, 2000

D.F. Oliveria The Spokesman-Re

The Lewiston Tribune shares my oh-pinion that Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage is spinning farther out into orbit as her last term winds down. Last month, points out Trib editorialist Jim Fisher, she urged Lewistonians to attend a John Birch Society lecture dealing with her loopy try to reclaim the Panama Canal. Now, she’s dissing habitat conservation plans, a common-sense approach to the Endangered Species Act. Dirk “Business First!” Kempthorne introduced those plans before he quit the Senate to become Idaho guvnah. So, what’s Give-‘Em Helen up to? The Trib figures she’s warming up for a lecture tour among the untethered right. That beats any explanation I have.

It takes a political extremist to know one

Washington Democrats gathered in Spokane on Friday to oppose capital punishment and pledge their troth to gay marriage, legal marijuana and gun control. And they think Republicans are political extremists? Strange but true … Rather than outlaw the death penalty, as the mollycoddlers would have us do, why don’t we recast first-degree murder? We could call it “post-birth abortion” and make it legal … Thank you, dysfunctional Spokane City Council. You’re making local governments throughout North Idaho look better and better all the time … French Fries on the Side, or “What are naughty Washington lawyers to do now that they aren’t allowed to have sex with clients?”: 1 Behave themselves; 2, Go back to chasing ambulances; 3, Join the cast of “Ally McBeal;” 4, Play even more rounds of weekday golf; and 5, Take cold showers.

Get a job, sha-na-na-na, sha-na-nanna-na

Congratulations, Mr. and Ms. High School Class of 2000, and, for those of you not going on to college, welcome to the real world … Sweet Potatoes - to Sister Madonna Buder of Spokane, who at age 69 has completed 200 triathlons in the last 20 years. And who will attempt on Oct. 14 in Hawaii to become the first person to own three age-group records in the Ironman Triathlon World Championships. Saaalute … Quotable Quote: “I’d say we’re about as congested as we can be” - Stan Parks of Coeur d’Alene Parasail, discussing a wacky plan to add a permanent dock for personal watercraft between the Coeur d’Alene boardwalk and a swim area … This edition of Hot Potatoes was brought to you by the Nos. 33 (wins) and 27 (losses). Or, the best Seattle Mariners record after 60 games. Or, do these guys realize they’re playing without Junior Griffey?

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