octopuses.

Speaking of government employees, let me just add that Your Seattle City Light still has two crews back east helping with the clean up. The Long Islander's just adore them.

@1 They're both correct. But maybe "octopuses" would have been funnier.

Octopodes would have been even funnier.

Rob McKenna, based on your education budget plan we know you're good at fudging numbers, but right now you need to heed Megyn Kelly's immortal words and ask yourself "Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better, or is this real?"

Obama went to his staff and volunteers and sincerely thanked them.
Romney cut off his staff's credit cards so some of them were stranded on election night with no way to pay for a cab ride home.

Republicans, as a group, seem to have even more problems with math this last decade or two than Democrats.

At this point they're wasting hundreds of millions of dollars even before the election.

I mean: wow.

Christie's chances at the 2016 nomination are directly proportional to the tenacity of the myth that he helped Obama win. Yes, praising the president's efforts did nothing to hurt his re-election, but one really has to wonder if it could have helped. Most Americans expect the government and president to do a good job in times of disaster. They only lose support when they fail, they don't gain it when they succeed. (Well, except maybe in the affected areas, but even brain-dead cons had to know that NY and NJ were going for Obama no matter what. I suppose they could try to say that's how he carried Pennsylvania, though.)

But if the base continues to view him as a Judas, he'll need all the institutional GOP support that Romney enjoyed, and more, to win the nomination.

@3 - Have you been listening to Merriam-Webster again? "Octopi" is stupid and wrong. Stop it.

Never bet against the Sandhogs!

Goldy, who do you think is the best choice for president in 2016? I'm racking my head trying to come up with ideas. I agree that Biden and Hillary aren't really going to be good options. It certainly seems like the next presidential primary is going to be interesting with a high number of currently unknown candidates.

@2 was on a flight back east last week with a group of linemen from Washington, Oregon & Alaska. A number of them had done emergency/disaster support before and said that this was the fastest they'd ever been called up to help.

Never octopi. Octopuses or octopedes. But never octopi.

I am wearing my new Snorgtees Octopi shirt right now. Visual puns rule!

Rachel Maddow said Tuesday night that "No one is coming for your guns." That's legally binding, right? So, restriction of octopus hunting it is.

Octopi Seattle!

@12 I'm sure that story will be well and frequently reported in the next shipment of FauxNewzSalts to their addicts.

Oh, wait...

Goldy- I'd love to hear how you think I-502 will play out.

Washington is a deeply divided state, and unless I'm missing an important piece of information that says otherwise, it will remain so.

So, here's the thing: For the last 20, maybe 30 years the state has had these very close elections wherein a winner isn't decided for days and sometimes weeks. This needs to stop. Washington needs to change its balloting system or adopt a standard one or do whaever it takes (that's fair, reliable, and honest) to hasten an election's conclusion. It really makes Washington State look like a backwater, like Florida (and Washington State ain't no Florida!). I realize the problem lies in mail-in ballots that arrive on election day and such, but still. There may be factors I am unaware of. In fact, I'm sure there are, but I look at states with way more population than Washington and they get those MFs counted!

Can we get working on that please? Can we re-think a system wherein a winner can be called on election night no matter how close the election (aside from close enough for a recount)?

Talk about Romney not thanking his staff, they had their campaign credit cards voided before they could even take their taxi rides home!

> Lemmings. Lawmakers say there's a renewed, post-election urgency to avoid plunging off the fiscal cliff. Yeah. Sure. Whatever.

How's your Apple stock doing, Goldy?

@12: At first I thought you meant the big bulky football players, not the electrical workers, and I was so confused my desk turned into a burrito.