Twenty-seven questions, zero answers.
1. Should we be pleased that the biggest scandal of the London Olympics involves badminton teams trying to lose?
2. Wait. Badminton?
3. Isn’t the only inviolable rule of badminton that if you hit the birdie onto the garage roof, you have to get it down?
4. Was anyone else shocked that an international swimming official was shocked that some might suspect doping when a teenage female Chinese swimmer outpaced the fastest men?
5. I wonder how anyone got that idea?
6. Could it be because the Olympics and other international sports have a long and sad history of cheating?
7. Does Procter & Gamble’s “Thank you, Mom” campaign featuring Olympic athletes and their moms have anything to do with selling cleaning products?
8. Do any Olympians have dads?
9. Why do TV ads only show women doing laundry, mopping floors, vacuuming rugs and washing dishes?
10. Is it any wonder that young boys and young girls conclude that housekeeping remains women’s work, four decades after the dawn of women’s liberation?
11. Why is badminton an Olympic sport but women’s fastpitch softball isn’t?
12. I’ll spare you the rant about “sports” that are determined by judges, but does anyone understand the scoring system in Olympic boxing?
13. Is it still a good idea to elect state Supreme Court justices when one candidate gets at least half the votes-plus one in the lower-turnout primary election?
14. Was it ever a good idea?
15. I’m for electing judges, but when will we be given the tools to make a good decision when candidates are barred by judicial ethics from saying much about issues?
16. Isn’t there a way within the ethics rules for judge contests to be more than an exchange of “My-résumé-is-bigger-than-your-résumé?”
17. I’m for electing judges, but isn’t something amiss when appointed Justice Steve Gonzalez has to worry about losing to a little-known and mostly inactive challenger because that challenger has a non-Hispanic surname?
18. Isn’t it great that last year’s state Redistricting Commission created nine completely safe congressional districts and one swing district?
19. Is that really a good thing for anyone (except, of course, the incumbent politicians)?
20. If it’s all the same to the president and Congress, would it be OK if we pass on learning the definition of “sequestration?”
21. Remember when the politicians were sure that the threat of across-the-board cuts to both defense and social programs would force Congress to compromise on the deficit?
22. Remember when the politicians were sure they wouldn’t have to trigger across-the-board cuts to everyone’s favorite programs because the so-called super committee would come up with a compromise first?
23. Did members of the super committee get their hair done at Supercuts?
24. I know it’s not his fault, but is it really just a coincidence that state revenue forecasts got better right after chief economist Arun Raha resigned?
25. Since there’s so little on the November ballot – president, governor, Congress, the Legislature, gay marriage, charter schools, legal pot – isn’t it cool that we also get to have nonbinding, advisory votes on two obscure tax hikes that received huge, bipartisan support in the Legislature?
26. What was worse news, that the Mariners traded Ichiro to the Yankees, of all teams, or that Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong promised that current owners were not planning to sell the team?
27. Now that the Mariners brass had to stop running that ad featuring Ichiro impersonating Sean Connery, will they replace it with one that has the remaining players impersonating a Major League Baseball team?
peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com 253-597-8657 blog.thenewstribune.com/politics @CallaghanPeter
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.