It's called public disclosure for a reason

So let's make sure we have this straight.

Anti-gay-rights crusaders have asked that the names of people donating to Referendum 71, which would repeal the new "Everything But Marriage" law, be kept secret.

They made this request to the Public Disclosure Commission, because of some blogger's rant about doing violence to donors.

The PDC, staying true to its name, so far has said no, but pushed a final say off until later this month.

Separately, a federal judge last month temporarily blocked the release of the names and addresses of those who signed the referendum.

Are we the only ones wondering what part of "public disclosure" these people fail to understand?

Writers of the state Constitution seemed to believe, correctly, that citizens should only sign on to state initiatives or referendums they feel strongly enough about to stand up for — in public, not from some dark closet.

That darned democracy thing sure gets messy sometimes.

Other situational ethics:

You Might Have Thought This Would Have Gotten Better Play: From an Associated Press college football roundup: "Eastern Washington's marching band has been killed, a victim of budget cuts related to the poor economy."

Twitter Me This: Sara Williams, the wife of Twitter CEO Evan Williams, posted Twitter updates throughout the day while delivering the couple's first baby. What a special, private moment for the Williams family and 16,500 of their closest nonfriends.

One More Question About Boeing's Alleged 787: Given the new nonschedule schedule for the first flight, is it too late to go back and remake the thing out of tried-and-true aluminum — with tried-and-true local engineers and machinists?

It's Just Too Easy: Not to keep making fun of the alleged Dreamliner. But we hear a TV crew from the History Channel's "Engineering Disasters" show is on its way up to Everett.

We Would Like to Crack Wise Here About Adrian Beltre's Crotch Injury: But we're too busy wincing.

Speaking of Which: Say what you want about Beltre and his career here. The guy played out the game.

The Good News: For the first time in years, sales of bottled water are down in the U.S. The bad: It took Americans a decade to figure out that tap water is pretty much free.

One Sure Sign Sarah Palin's Facebook Rants Are Being Ghost-Written: The last one featured multiple, correct uses of semicolons.

Rats, Ship, Jumping, Cont.: Dick Cheney is bleating that former President Bush stopped taking his advice halfway through their disastrous administration. Could it be that W wasn't quite as daffy as he appeared to be?

No More Mr. Nice Guy (Please): President Obama says he doesn't want to "vilify" health-insurance companies, some of which have stripped insurance from millions of sick clients purely to maintain profit margins. One question: Why the hell not?

Meanwhile, Over at Montlake: New Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian is hoping hip-hop, heavy metal and rap music piped into the stadium during practice will help players relax and focus. Actually, former coach Tyrone Willingham used piped-in music, as well — Wagner operas.

And Finally: Early warning to readers and editors: I'll be taking a week off sometime in the near future. I've volunteered to serve on the first new government death panel.

A section. E-mail: rjudd@seattletimes.com