Joel Connelly

I worked for Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1973 until it ceased print publication in 2009, and SeattlePI.com from 2009 to 6/30/2020. During that time, I wrote about 9 presidential races, 11 Canadian and British Columbia elections‎, four doomed WPPSS nuclear plants, six Washington wilderness battles, creation of two national Monuments (Hanford Reach and San Juan Islands), a 104 million acre Alaska Lands Act, plus the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.

Off with his Head! Canada’s Conservative Party Decapitates its Leader

The Canadian Conservatives are in a dire place.  They have gone through six leaders since Prime Minister Stephen Harper was defeated in 2015.

Dan Evans’ New Autobiography: An Uncommon Republican

The Republican Party was moving right, while Evans stayed loyal to the moderate-liberal Rockefeller wing and went down with that leaky ship.  Reagan forces denied Evans, a sitting GOP governor, a delegate slot to the 1976 national convention. 

Canadian “Freedom Convoy” Fizzles as Anti-Vaxers Sputter

In a strong political position, Trudeau has shown no truck for the caravan or the shivering protest.  He warned last week that a “small fringe minority” was manipulating the protest.

Archbishop Tutu’s Treasured Seattle Connection

Words of the archbishop, read Sunday night at Epiphany Church, spoke to his country’s struggle and today’s world: “True reconciliation is based on forgiveness, and forgiveness is based on true confession, and confession is based on penitence, on contrition, on sorrow for what you have done."

Distress: I’m Watching Friends Fall for Inexplicable Conspiracy Theories

“Deep State,” “swamp,” “false flag operation” -- people believe this stuff or, more accurately, it is drummed into them. The easy explanation appeals.

Trump says Jump. Alaska Governor Dunleavy says “Of Course.”

Such deals are rarely spelled out in public. But Trump is bluntly bent on party domination, insisting on the fealty of Republican officeholders and candidates. And he despises Sen. Murkowski.

2022: Republicans Target Washington State, Hoping for a Rebound

An internal purge of Republicans in Congress is one national question being fought out in this Washington. So is the battle for control of Congress.

Remembering Stan Barer, 82, Architect of Trade with China

“He was  the one who really enabled the trade and commerce between the U.S. and China, and especially the Pacific Northwest,” ex-U.S. Ambassador to China (and Gov.) Gary Locke said in a UW Law School tribute to Barer. The connection stuck.

British Columbia Tightens COVID Restrictions as Omicron Surges

“We have a very fragile health-care-worker work force right now. People are so tired. All of us had a ‘Here we go again’ feeling. It is really challenging looking down the line at what could happen."

The Republicans Are Coming

Campaign tactics used by our state parties have taken the form of leaden stereotyping. 

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