Cops had a bad day in court: Yesterday, a King County judge ruled that a sex trafficking lawsuit against local hip hop artist Raz Simone can move forward with the Seattle Police Department as an additional defendant. The cops are possibly on the hook for damages in the case, the judge ruled, because they allegedly warned Simone about the pending investigation against him, which may have contributed to Simone's continued abusive behavior towards the women suing. A jury will decide the answer to that question in a trial scheduled for next year.

That's not how politics works, Danny: This morning, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat complained about Democrats failing to pressure Republican Senators to take a position on four decent public safety bills that Dems passed out of the House. Failing to create a scenario where Dems could call out the GOP on the issue of crime was a missed opportunity, Westneat argued, revealing himself as a man with a worldview trapped in a pre-Fox News era. The truth is, no amount of "pressure" from Dems would stop that billion-dollar propaganda machine from pushing crime hysteria into millions of people's homes.

"Sorry for the spam": If you haven't yet, check out our music critic Dave Segal's touching obituary of local Seattle musician Norm Chambers. Despite his self-effacing approach to an industry that demands self-promotion, Chambers left an indelible mark on the world of synthesizer music. They say you're not truly gone until people stop telling stories about you, and by that measure Seattle will prolong Chambers's presence on this plane for years to come.

Go bother the Community Police Commission: They're holding public comment this morning at 9 am about Mayor Harrell's extremely stupid idea to waste a million dollars of your money on a gunfire detection system that doesn't seem to work very well and that has the bonus effect of capturing the conversations of law-abiding residents on the street.

Copaganda alert: Yesterday, several rural county sheriffs held a virtual press conference to stump against state Democrats who supported a common sense police reform law to restrict the use of extremely dangerous vehicular pursuits. After the sheriffs bemoaned an alleged spike in criminals escaping police and going on to commit wanton destruction, they opened the floor for questions. On a call where every local TV station in Seattle and Spokane had a reporter on the Zoom, I was the only person to unmute and ask the sheriffs if they had any data on capturing fleeing suspects using investigative methods that didn't involve dangerous chases. They did not. If you'd like to read their preferred narrative without any pushback on their specious claims, then KOMO has you covered. 

iT's ThE eCoNoMy, StUpId: Surely, this conventional wisdom from the presidential election when I was literally an infant is still correct today, as Republicans admit that their closing message to voters in their quest to take control of Congress will be cutting Social Security and Medicare. Or perhaps elections have never been about just one thing, and people responding to polls use vague gestures at "the economy" to express deeply held partisan preferences unaffected by the material conditions of the country. Who can say?

This guy. This guy can say: Yes, it would be great if the Democratic party had found another generational talent in time to lead us out of this mess, but until they do this man still knows how to make a closing argument.

I'm not the only one, right? Is anyone else having trouble comprehending how the party responsible for an armed insurrection at the country's capitol is somehow the overwhelming favorite to take control of the House of Representatives in less than a week? I mean, I know the reasons why: out-of-control gerrymandering, a media environment that blasts GOP talking points, and the historical trend of a president's party getting hammered in its first midterms—but, still. I'd hoped we were better than this.

Totally normal democracy we've got here: 

Strikeout for the surveillance state: The Washington Post reports that Capitol Police cameras showed Pelosi's attacker breaking into the home in real-time, but the cops simply didn't catch it on their screens. The cops say they stopped monitoring the feed from their cameras around Pelosi's San Francisco home when the Speaker returned to DC, which seems reasonable until you consider the huge spike in death threats her family has received since the insurrection last year.

Some good news! Federal regulators are blocking a proposed merger between two of the country's largest publishing houses in a victory for authors and readers everywhere.

Bolsonaro concedes: After initially refusing to admit defeat at the ballot box, Brazil's wannabe dictator told the country's supreme court "it's over." His vice president also acknowledged reality in a demonstration of more maturity than any conservative candidate in our allegedly developed democracy: “There’s no point in crying any more, we lost the game.” 

How's that karma taste, Astros fans? My Phillies walloped the MLB's biggest cheaters last night in a 7-0 home run derby that featured the karmic justice of our sluggers reading a "tip" from the Astros pitcher to knock one sinker out into the stands. The Team of Destiny is now just two games away from taking the World Series title.

Catch up on the Manny Ellis story: After a brief interruption of their weekly release schedule, the incredible team over at KNKX are back with another episode of their podcast detailing the controversy surrounding the police killing of Tacoma resident Manny Ellis. I won't spoil anything, just listen.