Even by Danny Westneat standards, Danny Westneat is having a great year. Holding down The Seattle Times’ Sunday and Wednesday column slots, he’s done precisely what a metro columnist is supposed to do, shaking up cocktails of skepticism, reporting, and demagoguery that—somehow—both put into words what the reader was thinking all along while telling him things he never knew. He knocked the assault-weapon ban completely off the rails this session when he got the sponsors to admit they didn’t actually know what they were sponsoring. His spoof story reporting that state Republicans, witnessing the strong growth of Seattle’s economy, were reforming their platform to more closely mirror our local politics debased the bullshit coming out of Olympia so efficiently that it was simply elegant. And, like any smart columnist, when he didn’t have anything else to write about, Westneat griped about parking fines and bridge tolls in a mighty cathartic way. They might not rival bloody marys, but Westneat’s cocktails are a satisfying Sunday morning treat nonetheless.