The Oregonian Editorial Board has called for "bipartisanship" regarding the four bills on gun violence that Senate President Peter Courtney has sidelined despite being passed by the Judiciary Committee. The problem appears to be that Democratic Senator Betsy Johnson is siding with the gun lobby, meaning the majority caucus lacks the votes to pass these four bills. No other Democratic opponent to the bills has been identified. Only Johnson stands in the way of these bills.

Demanding "bipartisanship" in this way is idiotic. These bills began as weak efforts against gun violence and have been watered-down even further. The bill to require concealed handgun licence holders to prove they could actually shoot their guns? That provision has been removed. "Bipartisanship" means a CHL is available to almost anyone who...Read the rest

Let’s get this part straight: Being in this country without “proper” documents is not illegal. If you want something allegorical, think of someone stopped by the cops with a bag full of twenty-dollar bills — and up the street, a bank has been robbed. That person is not guilty of anything; he can be accused of a crime, but he’s not guilty until he admits it or is convicted in court. He could be innocent, after all; he could have picked up the bag of loot that the actual robber dropped when he heard the police sirens. He could have robbed a different bank. We don’t know, so he’s not guilty.

Had he been caught in mid-robbery, then we could say “He’s a robber” with almost no doubt. And if...Read the rest

I started this blog in 2009 after realizing that my name, T.A. Barnhart, had become a brand. Not exactly on a par with "Apple" or "McDonalds" but, within the tiny universe that is Oregon progressive politics, people knew me, knew what I stood for, and knew that I was someone who worked hard for progressive causes. Even when my view of the world or an issue differed from other peoples, my views were respected. Usually. So I started a blog, added a Facebook page, spent the 2011 Legislative session in Salem doing video reports, and generally doing very little to promote and grow this blog.

That changes today. Political writing in Oregon is split between the newspapers, which lack the resources to be more than generalized sources of sensationalized headlines...Read the rest