Drinking Merkally

\\\\\\\\\\\\\BREAKING NEWS////////////////
Anonymous attack blogger exposed. Further political connections being investigated. Merkley media consultant bans another Merkley critic.

Wow. The Mandate Media / Merkley Machine was out in force this evening. It was my second time visiting "Drinking Liberally," a bi-monthly happy hour that places progressives in a pub for the sole purpose of letting us play armchair consultant while giving our loved ones a break from our incessant political prognostications.

h/t to Carla for this action shot

I expected to see some of Jeff Merkley's team there. Last month i met his campaign manager, Jon Isaacs and his Netroots organizer Carla Axtman (formally of LoadedOregon, the first major blog to endorse Steve Novick for US Senate). Imagine my surprise when i walked into the public house and saw Speaker Merkley himself flanked by said staff as well as his media consultant and recent Willy Week "Rogue" Donkey, Kari Chisholm. It's been said that Kari is a big, fat liar. Nothing could be further from the truth. His ubiquitous headshot over at Blue0 simply adds weight (and height). Or perhaps the voice of Blue Oregon has lost weight (as have i). At any rate, good on you Kari! (And thanks for the beer.)

This close, casual encounter with a political candidate made me feel like i was in New Hampshire instead of a Portland, Oregon brewpub. Merkley's stump speech touched on many of the same themes as his coming out address at the Multnomah County Democrats' meeting last month. This time however, we didn't have to submit our questions in writing in advance.

As a newly minted Democrat myself, i was eager to get to my issue. No, it's definitely not Merkley's vote on House Resolution 2. I asked the Speaker simply if he had a plan to bring Bush and Cheney to justice. It was the candidate who brought up the I-word (not Iraq). A month ago, Merkley said he would "continue to be educated [regarding impeachment]" but said his "energies have to go into bringing [the troops] home from Iraq."

To those who were listening carefully, the first fruits of Jeff Merkley's education could be sensed. While not wanting to call for impeachment "hearings" in Congress he did go so far as to say that "investigations" into possible impeachable offenses are warranted. As with the gay marriage debate, i don't really care what you call it. This should be signaled as a major point of progress now that Oregon's Speaker of the House is getting in behind thousands of Oregonians he hopes to represent by voicing support for bringing the Commander in Thief to justice. Sign me up as a Merkley supporter if he can shake off the shackles of the DSCC and help to put impeachment back on the table. sine die.

P.S. Kari. Tell Carla, she promised me photos!