Astiza

My Author Blog

• Can Democrats Speak English?

  Jul 6, 2017

  My Democratic leanings go back as far as George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy (I was in line for the Vietnam draft until I got a high lottery number) and I voted for Hillary. But I'm alarmed that the party has not just ceded populism to the GOP (astounding in itself) but that it seems incapable of plain talk and simple ideas. ...

• Ink by the Barrel

  Feb 18, 2017

  One of my early jobs as a newspaper reporter brought me to the opening ceremonies of the Washington State Legislature in 1975. The Olympia press corps was seated at a table at the head of the chamber at one side of the podium, fully on display, and when the self-congratulatory clapping of the new lawmakers, families, and officials began, I figured it was polite to clap too. ...