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.

The Rise and Fall of Joe Kent

Such views helped to qualify Kent for a top counterterrorism posting in the topsy turbulent territory of Trumpland. But this week he walked away, reasoning that we are buying oil from people we are bombing.

Dynamic Duo: Washington’s Two Senators

Murray is 75, and Cantwell is 67. Looking to 2028, when Murray is up, the partnership may well come to an end.

Sock It to ’em, Hillary

Hilary Clinton would have made a better president than her spouse. She had the opportunity to shatter the glass ceiling.

Opportunity for Democrats in Alaska and Montana?

Pundits’ bleary eyes may focus on the Pacific Northwest and Alaska this November in the national slugfest for control of Congress. If Democrats win, they could wrestle the nation’s agenda from...

The Fix was In: Montana Senator Withdraws and Engineers his Replacement

Retiring Steve Daines is the sixth Republican senator to hang it up in the 2026 cycle, giving Democrats the opportunity to flip seats.

Mark Carney’s Canada: Open for Business and Fast Moving on from Trump

Among assets Carney offers trading partners is the port of Prince Rupert, in northern B.C., which is the closest destination for trans-Pacific trade, with a railroad infrastructure that sends cargoes to the heartland of America.

Remembering Jesse Jackson

He was tall and regal, commanding the stage at two Democratic conventions. He could dominate a stage and did just that at a Democratic Leadership Conference meeting in New Orleans.

All that Money in Politics: It’s About Trump

My email box is driven these days by Donald Trump, for him and against him.

State of the Dis-Union: Trump’s Ugly, (Long) Rant

It wasn’t funny. Nor was it entertaining. Rather, it commands a reengagement in America’s civic life.

American Catholics: Standing up to Caesar

The Catholic Church refuses to look the other way in the face of Trump’s roundups of emigrees and refugees, despite justifications from Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic convert.

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