We have a cornucopia of eclectic news lined up for you today, from Presidential fundraisers, to cop vs. cop feuds, to free tacos. All this and more after the jump. Happy Friday! more ›

Though David Plouffe's hardcover book The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory was published last year, the paperback edition could not be more timely with the new subtitle of How Obama Won and How We Can Beat the Party of Limbaugh, Beck, and Palin and an added chapter on this year's elections and the current political atmosphere. And damn, Plouffe's got some dead-on analyses for the Republican Party and the three notorious crazies that have become the "rock stars of the hard-right punditocracy." more ›

The results are in! Thanks to Washington’s painfully slow vote counting process, results won’t be made official till September, but thankfully there weren’t too many nail biters this primary season. If you’re itching for a more comprehensive list of the results, check out King County’s election website. more ›

President Obama arrives in Seattle tomorrow to talk about the economy and do some election-day stumping for Senator Patty Murray. more ›

In a move sure to anger the Fox News contingent, solely because the title has the word "Czar" in it, the White House announced yesterday morning President Obama’s pick to head up cybersecurity. more ›

The U.S. Senate has confirmed King County Executive Ron Sims to become deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But not without a few player haters getting up in his face about all the football stadium drama. We expect to hear his official King County Executive resignation soon, tossing the position to a pack of political wolves to fight over. more ›

Many of Washington's 29 tribes don't have money for disease screenings, specialty care, mental health services, substance abuse treatment or dentists. Many triage their funds by invoking a "life or limb" standard, paying for specialty care only in dire emergencies. "If the leg don't have to come off, and if their eye don't have to come out, they won't get referred out," said Joseph, the Colville council member.

This morning, the president announced that Seattle Chief of Police Gil Kerlikowske is his pick for the nation's new Drug Czar. That means a local will direct national drug policy, though the position will no longer be Cabinet-level. (Curiously enough, Vice President Biden coined the phrase "drug czar" in the first place.) As the Washington Post notes in a blog post about the announcement, Kerlikowske's appointment to the position was delayed because of his stepson's legal problems--Jeffrey Kerlikowske was arrested recently for violating parole from his drug and assault charges in Florida. more ›

Third choice may be the charm for Gary Locke, the latest pick for Commerce Secretary. If Locke leaves, someone will have to pick up the slack on China, energy, and governmental relations. Ponder this as you walk around Greenlake, which is safe after a bomb scare this morning, PhinneyWood reports. Should you decide to be part of the solution, West Seattle blog has info on upcoming Vidaduct meetings, and MyBallard reports on plans for a car camp for homeless folks. more ›

THE WHAT NOW?: The Master Musicians of Jajouka are the practitioners of (some claim) a 1,300-year-old musical tradition in the small Moroccan town of Jajouka. First brought to the attention of wider audiences by the Beats, who spent a large part of the Fifties in Tangiers, and later by Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who recorded an album with them, it's a singularly rare opportunity to get to see the Master Musicians live. They take the stage tonight at Neumo's; tickets are still available. more ›

The reports that "sources within the local law enforcement community have said that recently set plans indicate Kerlikowske has been chosen for a federal post." The nature of that post remains unclear, though the rumor is Drug Czar. more ›

We link to Capitol Hill Seattle content frequently in the Neighborhood News round-ups, but the latest installment of CHS-V, a short video about the election and "hope art" on the Hill, is too excellent not to embed directly. The short features nicely edited interviews with Stranger art critic Jen Graves and Obama garage door muralist Shelley Farnham, among other articulate voices. Enjoy. We're faxing 2,009 kudos to videographer David "Cheesecake" Albright and one of our favorite neighborhood blogs for this post. more ›

We had no idea Seattle Metropolitan even had blogs, but they do, and the fashion one (the first one we clicked on) by Laura Cassidy is fun. Cassidy was not enamored with Michelle Obama's white ball gown but really dug her lemongrass suit. Seattle Weekly's new music editor, Jonathan Cunningham, introduced himself over at Reverb ("I'm not a hipster. I pull no punches"). Over at Sound Politics, Stefan Sharkansky is freaking out about mail-in ballot signature verification. And the great debate about school closures continues, respectfully, at Crosscut: they've published the School Board's rebuttal of Dick Lilly's argument that the SPS shouldn't close any schools at all.
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One of the delights of our morning was the plethora of Lincoln/Obama comparisons floating around the media, so CHS' documentation of one artist's visual conflation between the two leaders strikes us as particularly timely. Columbia City Blog's pithy observation via Twitter about the new zeitgeist has stuck with us, as has Big Blog's report from the King County Juvenile Detention Center ("your past is not your future" was all we had to read before choking up yet again). Another heart-strings-tugger: Rainier Valley Post's entry with one Seattleite's plea to McDermott and Obama for inauguration tickets. (She and her father did end up getting a special invite from the President himself.) more ›

It's 100 percent free to be thrilled about the inauguration of our new executive leader. Joy isn't the only freebie today, however. (What? There's more?!) Krispy Kreme will give you one free donut today in honor of the occasion, and a bunch of department stores such as Nordstrom and Macys are giving away free cosmetics and beauty products starting today and continuing until supplies last. Though fitting to the savvy celeb now residing in the White House (we're speaking, naturally, of Michelle Obama), the beauty giveaway is actually in response to a lawsuit accusing the department stores of price fixing on their cosmetics. That kind of two-faced cheating is simply not going to be tolerated under the Obama administration. Get your free stuff before the country runs out of donuts and concealer! more ›

Belltown's living room, Buckley's, is packed. We're facing a traditional American breakfast: eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, toasted muffin. Pat of butter, small plastic tub of raspberry jam. We've already had our espresso, now it's time for a serious Mary, garnished with pickle, pepper, olive and lemon slice, accompanied by shot of Pete's Wicked Ale. Deceptively traditional; only today do we recognize its incredible diversity. So here's the challenge: What to tackle first? The spicy tomato-vodka beverage? A bite of garnish? The pickle or the pepper? Perhaps the bacon, crisp and peppery? Not the hash browns; they look like they came out of a box. With humility and gratitude, we pick up our fork and break one of the yolks. The first bold stroke of action taken. The price and promise of breakfast, of hope and virtue, a meal both real and serious, the cheerful and joyous beginning of a new day. more ›

As was noted after we reported on one parade's cancellation due to low turn-out, it looks like everyone headed over to the MLK Jr. rally at Garfield High School instead of going downtown--Central District News has photos to prove it. Via Rainier Valley Post's new Classifieds section, we found a link to Fresh-Picked-Seattle's list of food-related ways to volunteer on the Day of Service. The B-Town Blog re-posts a thoughtful Obama-themed MLK Jr. essay written just before the election. Most blogs were focused on tomorrow's presidential inauguration, and some--including the Big Blog and Tim Burgess' City View, were reporting from the very crowded ground in D.C. more ›

We all know someone who is in DC for the Inauguration, sure they’ve rubbed in our face a bit, and we’re all jealous of them. more ›

Pandora is batting a perfect 1.000 for Seattlest HQ this morning with Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" as the seeder (does it get better than Outkast, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, the GZA, and Missy Elliott on a Tuesday?). But what really put this morning over the top in terms of all-around greatness was finding this Wall Street Journal article about the writer's life, Obama, and the White House by local author Jonathan Raban, via Slog. An excerpt from Raban's essay:

In politics, "realism" is usually just another term for pragmatism, or Realpolitik. But "Dreams From My Father" suggests that for Obama the word is rooted less in a political than in a literary tradition, where it has a far richer meaning. It signifies the watchful eye and patiently attentive ear; a proper humility in the face of the multiplex character of human society; and, most of all, a belief in the power of the writer's imagination to comprehend and ultimately reconcile the manifold contradictions in his teeming world.

The gossip flew fast and furious last night and early this morning when it appeared Governor Gregoire had gone AWOL with only the promise of an early morning press release to explain things. Of course, that press release was a complete disappointment. She's not pregnant, gay, or accepting a job with the Obama administration. And no, we didn't get federal economic stimulus money for the viaduct repairs (yet). Gregoire is in Iraq meeting with members of the National Guard, so simmer down with your rumor-mongering. more ›

Congratulations! You had a great year, didn't you? You went on that cool vacation, ate at that new restaurant, went to see that really good band play. You played in the snow and pet a dog or two. You either kept your job or lost it but, either way, that made headlines. You elected a new president all by yourself. Yesterday, Dwight Pelz emailed to call you the Democrat of the Year. Now, here on Seattlest, you're being named the Seattlest Reader of the Year. It doesn't get much better than that, does it? (Okay, it's no "Time Person of the Year," but so what?) Where else is there to go but up? Go out and treat yourself tonight, reader. You're the best. more ›

King County Executive Ron Sims has been discouraged by Washington state Dems leader Dwight Pelz and others from seeking yet another term in 2009. According to the scoop in the Seattle Times, "Critics have pointed to an ongoing budget crisis and management problems with the county jail and animal shelters as evidence of Sims' shortcomings." Who knows if Sims will take Pelz's advice, however; the decision might even be made for him if he gets the federal appointment from the Obama administration that people have been whispering about. more ›

The need to develop alternative energy is one of the incoming Obama administration's talking points. Here in Washington, alternative energy looks a lot like huge wind farms east of the mountains; according to the Tacoma News Tribune, the state's wind farms are currently producing enough electricity to power two Seattles. more ›

Our sister site Chicagoist has been rocking and rolling on the Rod Blagojevich story all morning. The Illinois Governor was taken into federal custody on corruption charges, and Chicagoist went straight to the profanity-laced complaint that has multiple, wiretapped instances of Blago making what sound like illicit "deals." Discussing Obama's vacant Senate seat, Blago said: "I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there." Then they live-blogged the arrest press conference, took a hard look at Blago's Chief of Staff, and went hunting the web for all the Blago news fit to pixelize. While they were doing all that, we discovered Capitol Hill's Joe Bar has new crepe-making hours for December. Now the deliciousness begins at 7:30 a.m. Make a note of it. more ›

• Vintage Seattle continued their fabulous series on the building of The Space Needle. Ever since VS started posting this series, we've been looking at the Needle with new eyes and appreciation.
• Mark our words, Cooper the Cat is about to be Seattle's next big star, but you can already track this local feline celebrity on Flickr and various local blogs.
• Thieves really are getting ballsier by the day, it seems. West Seattle Blog reports a classic Airstream Trailer was stolen off its double-locked parking pad this weekend on the west side.

OBAMA! OBAMA!: No, not that Obama. In fact this event has nothing to do with the President-Elect and everything to do with art--really bad art, to be specific. Spend your Thursday night enjoying (or eviscerating) the Official Bad Art Museum of Art (acronym: OBAMA) at Cafe Racer. Drink some booze, hear a band (called "God's Favorite Beefcake", no less), and enjoy glitter paintings of Elvis...could anything be better? We didn't think so. more ›

Washington Basic Health, the state's health care plan available on a sliding scale to people making under $22,800 a year, is feeling the budget squeeze already; the program will stop filling half of the slots that open up for new applicants starting December 5th, this Friday. The aim is to reduce the number of people covered by 7,700. We'd usually be worried about this, as several of our friends are covered by Basic Health and we expect to need the program ourselves in the near future, but our radical left buddy tells us health insurance is all a big scam anyway and even if it weren't, Obama probably came up with a great plan to fix this problem before anyone knew it was even an issue. Our president-elect is just that good. more ›

Doug Sutherland, Washington's outgoing Public Lands Commissioner, authorized the expansion of a sand mine on Maury Island last night, to environmentalists' chagrin and local construction companies' delight. The move comes just over four years after Sutherland established the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve (map [pdf]) in the first place. The mine expansion will apparently bring down the cost of concrete (local is cheaper) and benefit the environment by using barges rather than trucks to transport the sand. more ›

Gregoire is currently in Philly at a gathering of the nation's other state governors and our president-elect to discuss the details of Obama's economic stimulus plan. From KIRO: "Facing a $5 billion deficit in the upcoming budget, Gregoire said federal money is imperative in stopping an economic freefall." The word "freefall" sounds decidedly scary. Good luck catching Obama's eye, Gregoire--the funding to straighten out that Mercer Mess would make a beautiful Christmas present for your constituents. Nudge, nudge! more ›

According to the Puget Sound Partnership, 150,000 pounds of toxic chemicals find their way into the Puget Sound every day. That, along with being absolutely disgusting, is one of the primary reasons behind the urgency of the group's creation of an action agenda to restore the Sound to at least something resembling its former pristine glory. Yesterday, the PSP submitted a full agenda to the Washington state legislature at Gov. Gregoire's request; if you're interested in the details, here is the plan's full text [pdf]. more ›