I want Barak to run for president just as much as the next guy but please please please don't let it happen for at least 2 elections. Everyone is so enamored with him they forget that he's still only a first term Senator. He would be very well served by running for governor of Illinois before running for president.

Here's some news:
The latest American Spirit ad inserted in The Stranger was despicable. Any educated person of conscience understands that.
Volume 1 of The Adventures of Strangie has arrived. Copies of the comic have been handed out on Broadway.
You can view the comic online at http://tobaccoadprotest.tripod.com
Enjoy

I agree with Spec on all points. I don't think it's possible to win the presidency out of the senate anymore. The style is wrong. Obama's got the speechifying down, but he needs to learn how to knock heads in an executive position. I think he's wasted in the senate.

Hey, Jeffie: your comic is absolutely fucking terrible, and your website displays criminally misleading popup ads. Who's unethical now?

Man, you almost make me want to smoke again.

So because they were angry that the Pope described their religion as violent, some Muslims murdered a nun who was working in a children's hospital? Well, that will show everyone how wrong the Pope was.

Wow Jeff,
You're genuinely off your rocker.

This world is full of shit that kills people, from asphalt to gasoline to bug spray to anti-perspirant.

Tobacco's a drug that helps people make it through. Is it a good thing? Probably not. Is it the worst thing around around? Not by a long shot. If you want to people to get healthy, put some of that energy into getting health care for poor folks or curing our addiction to petrochemicals. Stop kicking the crutches out from under the rest of us.

Jeff you rock and your cartoon is funny. Lots of people agree with you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making millions selling tabacco products to third world children. That's capitalism at it's best.

There's plenty wrong about pampered hipsters sucking on the Big Tobacco titty and then acting holier that thou.

It's also important to note that the Sudanese government is racist, not just Islamist. The people of Darfur are Muslim, but their government doesn't give a shit. The people who run the government consider themselves, more or less, Arab and seem to be hell bent on driving out/exterminating the darker residents of Darfur.

If you care so much about Darfur why don't you move there and do something about it. Otherwise shut up about that stupid African country.

The penis article said the operation was successful. It was removed later for psychological reasons. So, it appears you CAN replace your penis with someone else's. Just sayin'.

I say it's spinach & I say dish it up at the Christine-Darcy Day Dinner: Is dinner at the mansion unfair fare in politics?

By Jonathan Martin
Seattle Times staff reporter

Gov. Christine Gregoire finished her talk at a political fundraiser earlier this week with a surprise: an instant auction for a private dinner with her at the Governor's Mansion in Olympia.

The auction netted $4,000 for fellow Democrat Darcy Burner, who's running for Congress. But it also raised an uncomfortable question for Gregoire: Is she selling access to the publicly owned mansion?

A complaint filed Friday with the state Executive Ethics Board accuses Gregoire of doing just that.

The complaint, filed by a Bellevue attorney who lost two elections to Gregoire, accuses the governor of misusing the mansion in violation of state law that bars state employees from using state facilities "for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election."

The complaint, which will be investigated, could break new ethics ground in Washington. The Executive Ethics Board has never been asked to rule on use of the mansion for political fundraising, said Susan Harris, the board's executive director.

But Harris and Gregoire's staff say the mansion does not appear to fall under the law cited in the complaint because the building is also the governor's home.

"We'd look differently at it if she was not required to live there," Harris said.

Holly Armstrong, Gregoire's spokeswoman, said the governor has not held fundraisers at the mansion. When Gregoire holds private dinners, which is how she sees the auctioned-off dinner, she reimburses the state for food and her chef's time, Armstrong said.

"It's where she lives," Armstrong said. "She can invite anyone over for dinner she wants. She just can't use public funds."

But Diane Tebelius, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, called Gregoire's auction "questionable."

"Because it's questionable, the governor ought to look at it, and if it's anywhere close, she ought to give the money back to the donor," Tebelius said. "In the future, she ought to be careful how she sells access to the Governor's Mansion."

State ethics law generally bans state employees from using public property to aid political campaigns. In 1998, the ethics board, which the governor appoints, ruled that an elected official would not violate ethics laws if he or she was driven to a fundraiser by a security detail of state troopers.

The auction was an impromptu addition to a Redmond fundraiser for Burner headlined by Gregoire and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee. Burner, a former Microsoft manager from Carnation, is challenging U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert of Auburn for the 8th District seat.

At the time, no one from Burner's campaign or from Gregoire's staff raised questions about the auction, said Jamie Smith, Burner's spokeswoman. But Burner will return the money to the unidentified winner if the ethics board upholds the complaint or if Gregoire asks her to, Smith said.

"We appreciate all the support the governor has given us up to this point, but we don't want to abuse or go around any regulations related to raising money," Smith said.

Richard Pope, the attorney who filed the complaint, said Gregoire's auction "looks to me to be illegal and unethical." Pope lost to Gregoire in 1996 and 2000 for attorney general. He is currently running for King County District Court.

The auction reminded Pope of another questionable use of an executive mansion — one involving former President Clinton: "I'd hate the Governor's Mansion to be like the Lincoln Bedroom."

Jonathan Martin: 206-464-2605 or jmartin@seattletimes.com

WOW - I did not know that anyone at the Stranger did any work before 8 am in the morning. I will speculate though that Josh probably put this report in from home and in his pajamas...

Libbertine, you are correct that it is medically possible to attach a donated penis to someone's crotch. This case is like the saying 'You can't go home again," - there is more to the issue than physically visiting whatever home town or childhood house you are from. The lesson we take away here is that using someone else's dick to fuck your wife just doesn't work, for you or your wife, apparently.

Hmmm... after typing that sentence, I can see a new fetish springing up. Maybe you can fuck your wife with someone elses dick, if you are into that sort of thing.

Go Strangie! The Camel at the end is a subtle reminder of what is really going on in the Stranger-RJReynolds relationship. Camel has had a campaign in Seattle since the 90's to create more 25 and under smokers. The Stranger has been there for them every every step of the way. Teenagers love getting their hands on this edgy newspaper and it's free. This age group gets physically addicted way easier than older members of the population, too. Taking away their freedom-from being a lifelong drug addict-is like taking candy from a baby. Glamourizing cigarettes also does a great disservice to Seattle's Gay community. Another target group for RJReynolds, AKA The Stranger's Daddy.