Brexit Voters Lose Bigly: In an election upset that will have consequences for Europe, Russia, the US, and power alliances across the globe, British voters on Thursday ousted Conservatives as the majority party and gave Labour an extra 33 seats. Why should Americans care? Following a Brexit vote largely motivated by racism and xenophobia, UK Prime Minister Theresa May had emerged as the leader to sever ties with the European Union. She called an early parliamentary election to help seal that deal, but it backfired. Now, the future of Brexit—and the future of ultra right-wing, nationalist ruling parties across the West—has grown uncertain.
Here’s Reuters:
Confident of securing a sweeping victory, May had called the snap election to strengthen her hand in the European Union divorce talks. But in one of the most sensational nights in British electoral history, a resurgent Labour Party denied her an outright win, throwing the country into political turmoil.
Here’s more on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from the Washington Post:
Before he won an upset leadership victory two years ago, Corbyn, 68, had spent three decades as a rebellious rank-and-file lawmaker. His political roots lie in the labor movement and the national campaign against nuclear weapons.
He promised to deliver “socialism of the 21st century,” including such goals as nationalizing the rail service, pumping billions into the National Health Service and raising taxes on the rich.
Is that the fuckin babadook in the middle https://t.co/9ylRsgtDd2
— John Kane (@gritfish) June 9, 2017
Liberal Democrats, the UK’s centrist party, also lost bigly.
Comey Spoke Plainly of Trump’s “Lies”: The fired FBI director testified yesterday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Trump tried to get Comey to drop the investigation into his national security advisor, Michael Flynn. “And he said Mr. Trump had lied — a word that is often soft-pedaled in Washington — when he justified the firing by saying Mr. Comey had lost the confidence of an F.B.I. in disarray,” the New York Times reports.
John McCain confuses everyone, blames performance on staying up past his bedtime https://t.co/VqHZ4Jn4Rp pic.twitter.com/Ha3gF2I4vp
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 9, 2017
But What the Hell Was Up with John McCain? The Arizona Senator asked Comey a set of befuddled, rambling questions that dealt with why the FBI was no longer investigating Hillary Clinton. McCain later blamed his confusing line of questioning on staying up too late to watch baseball rather than a blind obedience to party over principle. How did this guy get that “maverick” title again? Oh wait, it’s completely invented.
Nice job, John McCain. I’ve never heard anyone speak in wingdings before.
— Rob Fee (@robfee) June 8, 2017
Hundreds of Immigrants Are Seeking Asylum in Canada by Way of Washington State: “All across the northern border, illegal crossings into Canada have picked up as President Donald Trump has sought to restrict the flow of immigrants and refugees into the United States, particularly those from certain predominantly Muslim nations,” Nina Shapiro writes. “At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enthusiastically resettled tens of thousands of Syrian refugees and offered safe haven to those from other countries, too.” Many of those immigrants are making the trip by way of Blaine, Washington.
Seattle Police Prepare for Saturday’s Anti-Muslim March and Counterprotest: The “March Against Sharia” is one of 25 demonstrations across the country prepared by ACT for America, a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as the “largest grass roots anti-Muslim group in America.” The march in Portland was canceled after the fatal MAX stabbings. Racist Oregonians are expected to show in Seattle.
Seattle Dad Spreads “End School Lunch Debt” to Spokane: Jeff Lew “originally launched a GoFundMe to help end school lunch debt in his 9-year-old son’s elementary school,” KING 5 reports. “He initially was just trying to raise about $97, but things quickly grew until he realized they could end lunch debts for the entire Seattle School District – a total Lew said was $20,531.” Lew has now launched a similar GoFundMe for the Spokane School District, the second largest in the state.
Two Radioactive Contamination Alarms Went Off at Hanford Yesterday: More than 300 workers <a href=”
http://www.king5.com/news/local/hanford/hanford-workers-take-cover-after-alarm-in-demolition-area/446942590″>took cover for three hours. Hanford says the level of contamination in the air was “low.” Here’s why Hanford is the Trumpian nuclear disaster we aren’t talking about.
