1. Isn't it Weird that ... at her luncheon address today at the Seattle Chamber retreat in Suncadia, former Gov. Chris Gregoire said this: "One of you asked me to say something I wouldn't say while I was governor. So here it is. The Seattle Process must be a thing of the past. It doesn't mean we can't look in detail at things, but it does mean we can't revisit it so often. We have to move on and get things done."

Gregoire is clearly taking a shot at Mayor Mike McGinn for pushing the tunnel issue to a vote in 2011, but hold on ...

It wasn't until after voters already spoke—in 2007—when they rejected the tunnel, setting the stage for a green surface-transit viaduct replacement option, that Gov. Chris Gregoire suddenly revisited the issue, re-started the process herself, and put the tunnel back into the mix.

Speaking of the Chamber's annual retreat in Suncadia...

2. Isn’t It Weird That … JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had to cancel his planned Thursday public appearance in front of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s annual retreat at the Suncadia resort in Cle Elum—at the same time as a labor/political boycott of Dimon that could have kept Seattle-area officials away in droves—because of a “schedule conflict”? Dimon, meanwhile, had no problem appearing at a closed-door invitation-only meeting at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle one day earlier.

Dimon, according to the Chamber’s WAC invitation, appeared at the Chamber-sponsored luncheon on Wednesday that was “only for private sector leaders." 

The Chamber did not return calls for comment.

3. Isn't it Weird That ... Mayor Mike McGinn's reelection campaign spent $15,000 on an ad campaign that debuted this week in the Seattle Times?

For starters, we know that ad blitzes in the Times aren't very effective. (Former Times advertiser Rob McKenna's political career currently consists of a standard fare conservative website called "Smarter Government Washington" and his "uber fit & fearless" wife's non-stop Twitter p.r. offensive.)

But the thing that's truly weird is that the McGinn campaign has been utterly disdainful of the Times to date. "We're proud not to have the endorsement of the paper that endorsed George Bush and Rob McKenna," his campaign spokesman John Wyble scoffed when the Times endorsed Ed Murray earlier in the campaign. 

The McGinn campaign has been utterly disdainful of the Times to date. "We're proud not to have the endorsement of the paper that endorsed George Bush and Rob McKenna."

And there was a brief online meme of McGinn supporters with avatars reading "Mike McGinn. Not endorsed by the Seattle Times since 2009."

The new ad campaign features a hefty booklet (and online version) touting McGinn's record in office.

Asked why they suddenly care about Times readers, Wyble said today: "It's simply the cheapest way to reach the most people. It's also the one thing we can do besides direct mail that can be timed to the day ballots drop." (Ballots were mailed out today.)