Keith Olbermann Takes On Hilary

Hilary Clinton's reference to Bobby Kennedy's campaign was curious at best. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, never one to mince words, takes it one step further.

Barers Of Maple Valley Turns 3 Today

This blog was born on May 29th, 2005.

Did My Father Help Tom Lantos Rise In Congress?

The Late Tom Lantos, had a lengthy and productive career representing the San Francisco Bay area in the U. S. House Of Representatives. This post on the abarer blog talks about a meeting my Dad had with powerful Congressman Tom Foley that may have jumpstarted Mr. Lantos' career.


"On a warm spring day Congressman Tom Foley visited Democratic campaign Headquarters in Walla Walla. Most people were mowing lawns and other rites of early spring and as I sat next to Tom who was then Majority Whip we spoke of my former college roommate, Tom Lantos, a newly elected member of the house.I related this story to him. One morning as Mr. Baruch entered his office adjacent to the stock market floor he was greeted by an earnest young man who handed him a letter. The missive was from a dear friend of his mother. It explained that the young man, her son, was looking forward to a career on Wall Street and any help the well known Wizard could give him would be appreciated.Baruch took the boy by the arm. He explained the he was heading for the men's room at the far end of the floor. You will go with me as far as the door giving me an update on everything your family is doing in a very sincere manner.Because you are with me every eye will be on you. If you you can't take it from there, you will never make it on the Street.The next time I saw Tom Foley he reported that he followed up on our conversation encountering Tom Lantos in the House Cloak Room during a break. He invited him to sit near the entrance where all could see them and the future Speaker of the House and the freshman member had an earnest discussion about-----me.I never heard the follow up on Baruch's young man but Tom Lantos during his lifetime became a world class legislative inspiration"

Dunkin' Donuts Pulls Ads

Michelle Malkin gained notoriety in the late 90s as an editorial writer for the Seattle Times. Her unabashed attacks on the Seattle political establishment raised eyebrows. However, she did gain some respect as a needed political watchdog. When Malkin left the Times, she began an online colum that was much more venomous. Her MO was to print letters from her detractors, but they were not the letters of those who agreed to disagree of which the majority probably were. They were from the fringe who wrote threatening letters to her. She has shown very little tolerance for anyone who may disagree with her.
Now in her quest to gain fame, Michelle has protected America's children by getting a Dunkin'Doughnut advertisement featuring Rachael Ray pulled.
If it makes Michelle a laughing stock, you can bet she will use that to further her McCarthy-esque crusade.

Could Griffey Return?

While a promising Mariners season seems to be going down in flames, there is talk around the region of a second coming of Ken Griffey, Jr. It seems after all that Griffey's happiest years were in a Mariner uniform, while the best years of the Mariners where with Junior patrolling Center field. Age and injuries have taken their toll on Griffey as a Cincinnatti Red, but there is no doubt that his arrival could be beneficial toward this team getting the veteran leadership it needs.

Around The Family Blogosphere

Cousin Sam Barer talks what vanity plates say about drivers on Fourwheel Drift.

Songs like this can make anyone love Rock music. Chicago was one of a handful of groups that successfully fused Jazz and Rock. In early 1970, they apeared at Coordiner Hall in Walla Walla, on the Whitman College campus. Soon afterward, Make Me Smile, made them into superstars. The group eventually evolved into a "softrock" contemporary sound in the late 70s.

Sportradio's Tracy Taylor Still Gets The Most Hits

Almost 2 years ago, I decided to write about KJR's returning Traffic Reporter and morning personality Tracy Taylor,
Taylor had returned to the station after a gig in North Carolina. The popularity of that article, indicated by sitemeter, inspired me to do 2 additional stories. Those three posts, Continue to bring dozens of readers to this blog, including Taylor herself. Taylor is perhaps the area's best known and most popular radio personality. She also is a very nice person. You can hear Tracy Taylor and her traffic reports, along with her morning banter, on 950 Sportsradio KJR.

Democrats Meet In Maple Valley

Darcy Burner has been nominated by Democratic Precinct Committee Officers throughout Washington's 8th Congressional District. The PCO turnout was rather high at Maple Valley-Covington's Tahoma High School upon hearing that Darcy was indeed being challenged. Jim Vaughn was nominated from the floor and had a smart, not spellbinding speech. He was politely received, although when he said he was from the Conservative wing of the Democratic Party, his welcome grew a little cooler.
The 8th District Congressional Caucus followed where delegates from the Legislative Caucus picked delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I want to thank Patrick Byers for the picture and On The Road To 2008 for information about this weekends Convention and Caucus.

Ted Kennedy Hospitalized

Massachusetts Senior Senator Edward M. Kennedy has been hospitalized with stroke like symptoms, no word as yet on his condition.

The McCain-Rossi Twofer

Washington 8th Congressional District PCOs To Meet

Democratic Precinct Committee officers from throughout Washington's 8th Congressional District will meet the this Saturday, May 17th at Tahoma High School at
18200 SE 240th St, Covington, WA with the purpose of nominating a candidate to oppose incumbant Republican Congressman Dave Reichert. Because of a recent Supreme Court decision taking partisanship out of the State Primaries, this is the only way that Darcy Burner or anyone opposing her can get the nomination of the Democratic Party. Sign in will begin at 8:00am with the Caucus beginning at 9:00am.

Seahawks Behaving Badly

Sources report that Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu was arrested by the Kirkland police department for driving under the influence. This was the second off field incident to involve a Seahawk defensive starter, Last month, Defensive End Rocky Bernard was arrested on an assault charge. The Seahawks under Tim Ruskill have stressed the desire to have player who conduct themselves well in the community. While the charges against Tatupu are very serious, how he handles himself going forward should determine his future with the 'Hawks.

We Are Deeply Saddened.

10,000 people are believed to have died in an earthquake in China.

And Speaking Of Old Beer Commercials

My brother Steve decided to bring back some memories with the old "Miller Lite" commercials. Those were the commercials that made John Madden famous. I decided to dig a little deeper.

Burl Barer's New Radio Endeavor

You can listen to Burl Barer's new internet radio show by clicking here. Saturdays at 2:00pm Pacific Daylight time. For those of us that work at that time, there are some past broadcasts there as well. Burl is also a regular on Outlaw Radio which is heard also on Saturdays with an array of characters at this site.

Now A Word From The "King Of Beers"

I wanted to lighten things up a little. One of the popular commercials of this Generation!

Tiffany JoAllen

This lady on Youtube performs listener's requests.

Jazz On The Green At Druids Glenn

The Second Installment of Smooth Jazz 98.9 Jazz On The Green concert series will be this Friday May 10th at the Druids Glenn Golf Course, just outside of Maple Valley. Jazz Pianist
Deems Tsakagawa will be performing. Deb and I had a splendid time at last month's performance with Michael Powers.

Happy 60th Anniversary

Happy Birthday To Willie Mays

Former Centerfielder Willie Mays, my first sports hero turns 77 today. While playing with the New York Baseball Giants in the 1950s, Mays was part of a legendary triumvirate of Center fielders in New York that included Mickey Mantle of the Yankees and Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers and Giants of course moved to Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively in 1958. Mays of course, played for the San Francisco Giants until the early 1970s when he was traded to the New York Mets. After reading about Mays in a magazine article in 1967, I suddenly became a big baseball fan.

When Radio Was King In Seattle

The title was not meant as a pun--long ago when there were fewer TV and Radio choices, KJR had a 30 something market share in the Puget Sound Region. The DJ's were well known around the community. Here is a video from 1979 with Rock and Roll Jocks Pat O'Day and the late Lan Roberts on a popular local TV talk show.

5th District Democrats Launch Full Slate Of Candidates

If Senator Cheryl Pflug, Representative Jay Rodne, and Representative Glenn Anderson think that they are going to have an easy time being returned to represent the MapleValley-Issquah-Sammamish-Fall City area in the Washington State Legislature, they could be mistaken. The turnout in Democratic Caucuses throughout the 5th District was even higher than it was in 2004 and three super candidates have come forward to challenge the three Republican incumbants.
Phyllis Huster will challenge Cheryl Pflug for State Senate, having experience in the Telecom Field. David Spring, a North Bend educator, will run for State House Of Representives against veteran incumbant Glenn Anderson for position 2. Jon Viebrock, a Union Construction Foreman, will take on Jay Rodne for position 1 in the House.
Although the 5th has traditionally been a solid Republican district, Democrats have made serious inroads in local elections.
I'll have more on these candidates in the next few weeks.

Obama On David Letterman

Hopefully this gets his campaign back on track.