Before the final vote in the Washington state Senate on a bill that would extend the same legal rights to same-sex couples (and elderly heterosexual couples) that are automatically conferred upon married couples, some Senate Republicans offered an amendment that called for putting the issue to a vote of the people.

“I’ve never been afraid of the citizens making decisions,” said Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver.

Is that so? Just one day before the vote on the domestic partnership bill, Senate Republicans backed away from a compromise that would have ended the supermajority (60 percent) requirement to pass school levies, as long as such elections were held in November. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown agreed to that change, but most Republicans still voted no, saying that property taxes would go up.

So why is it that a simple majority of voters can be trusted to do the right thing on domestic partnerships but not with schools?

Let me guess: It’s Joe Wilson’s fault. In 2002, the United States stopped oil shipments to North Korea because the Bush administration said that country had violated the Agreed Framework by pursuing a program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

In retaliation, North Korea kicked out weapons inspectors and developed plutonium-based nukes. Recently, the United States entered into another pact with North Korea that is similar to the Agreed Framework.

So what was gained – other than nukes in the hands of a lunatic? Nothing, but at least we stopped that uranium-enriching program, right? Not so fast. The administration is now saying that it harbors doubts that North Korea has one, but CIA chief John McLaughlin insisted in the New York Times on Thursday that the initial charge was still accurate.

Nobody, he claimed, “said they had anything up and running. We also made clear that we did not have a confident understanding of how far along they were.”

President Bush sure seemed confident in 2002 when he said, “We discovered that, contrary to an agreement they had with the United States, they’re enriching uranium, with a desire of developing a weapon.”

Wrong on North Korea. Wrong on Iraq.

It’s a hard-knock nightlife. Colleague Dave Oliveria recently wrote about his travails with the parking lot across from the INB Performing Arts Center. My turn.

Our party – three kids, four adults – arrived on a Sunday evening just before the start of “Annie.” With little time to spare, I dropped them off and parked in space 103, which is situated in the center of the lot. Now, where to pay? I saw an orange box on the northwest corner and walked to it. Nope. Then I jogged to the box on the north end. Nope. But there was a worker collecting money, so I asked where I should pay for my space. He didn’t know. I saw an orange box on the far eastern edge and ran to it. Yes! A slot for space 103!

The charge was $10. I had a five and five ones that friends had handed me. I folded the crisp fiver into a slender cylinder and slipped it in the ridiculously small slot, using my keys to jam it down the last inch. I repeated the exercise with a dollar bill, but the other four were too limp. I checked my wallet, and the only bill sturdy enough was a ten. After paying $16 for parking, I sprinted across the lot to enjoy a night of theater in the big city.