And my colleagues roll their eyes when I do. I’m always talking about stories that capture the zeitgeist. (I even had a song I sang: “Zeeetgeast Maga-zeeeen!”)

But I don’t use it in print, ever. Ever.

Until this week. I had to use the Z-word in print.

In my Oly•Intel column about my fear that the Democrats would wimp out on Rep. Maralyn Chase’s (D-32) CO2 emissions cap bill, I wrote:

I’m worried about the Democratic leadership who stressed at a caucus meeting immediately after the elections last year that Democrats need to tread lightly if they want to keep their majority.

In addition to the annoying Catch-22 of that logic, a carbon dioxide cap isn’t as controversial as an income tax or gay marriage—two Democratic proposals that, frankly, have little public traction. An emissions cap is exactly the sort of Zeitgeist item that a Democratic majority should move through the legislature. Unfortunately, the idea is unpopular with a more powerful contingent than the public: big business. I’m afraid that rather than being a victory for the Democrats, the emission limits will end up being another case study of Democratic limits.

I know you all (Democratic legislators in Olympia) think Rep. Chase is an odd duck and there’s some bullshit internecine stuff coming from leadership about how she tried to run a progressive against her colleague, Ruth Kagi, from the 32nd. But people, this is for real. Do not let petty politics scuttle this bill.

This is a zeitgeist bill and this, as we see this morning, is the zeitgeist:

True.
True.
True.
True.
True.
True.