Attorney General Bob Ferguson has been trying to ban assault weapons for years. The public finally agrees with him. KAREN DUCEY / GETTY IMAGES

Comments

1

"... push lawmakers in Olympia to revive a bill to establish maximum ratios of nurses to patients this legislative session."

seems like having (at least) a Minimum
number of nurses on hand'd be
more of what The Doktor
ordered but then I'm
neither a Mathema-
tician nor a mor-
tician.

2

Students who don't want other students to get jobs they might be interested in is the most anti-liberal, anti-progressive thing I've read in years from our young minds full of mush.

4

"Love that this is an essential part of journalism these days!"

You mean fact-checking?

8

These antics are delaying serious Republinazi bizniss, like:

Ginning up fake investigations into Hunter’s laptop and penis;
Spreading hateful lies and deranged conspiracy theories;
Kissing their hero Putin’s azz;
Threatening terrorist attacks against uppity wimmin, people of color, hummuhsekshals, and immigrants.

In other words, nothing of value wuz lost.

9

Democrats should have done a lot of things, but the centrists, who are always the ones in charge, would rather try to appease Republicans that will never support them rather than representing the wants and needs of their own constituents.

10

@Sir Toby II You are making assumptions in writing "homeless drug addict commits first Seattle murder". The Seattle Times article states that the accused perpetrator and victim "were both residents of Canaday House...permanent supportive housing". Also, although drug paraphernalia was found at the scene, it does not say that the accused perpetrator was a drug addict. So, not homeless and perhaps not a drug addict.

13

@10 since there was drug paraphernalia found at the scene in his apartment it stands to reason he was involved in the drug trade in some aspect. So if not a user than he was a dealer. I don't think that is the saving grace you intended it to be.

16

I’m curious what policy the Stranger can implement that inhibits the constitutional right of free travel between states or alters the prison sentences in Texas?

The answer is nothing.

I’m sure the usual Slough of Slog Dipshits will screech the usual Tu Quoque fallacies and moral panics. So I’ll skip reading the responses that will be shit out all day here and live my life.

But if the above question was not already in anyone’s head before they launched on their daily obsessive “I Hate The Stranger Why Don’t They Completely Change Their Editorial Stance For My Fear Fetish Screeds” then there are no answers and you dipshits will be forever blowing Culture War corpuscles.

17

mkkkarthy's getting Close*
his concessions giving the Fascists
an even Bigger say look for a giant Lurch
to the 'right' as they drag Dems into the Abyss

*Rs'll spend the
night if Necessary
but he'll soon be spkr.

18

''citizens united'''s
got US cornholed.
adios free speech!

19

Believe it or not, people suffering from the long-neglected problems DESC clients suffer from would be no less likely to commit violence without the support and stable housing DESC provides, as seems to be the implication. It's a frightening anecdote and preferably this kind of thing would never happen, but the larger picture still sees permanent supportive housing doing more to keep the worst cases of homelessness due to long neglected addiction and mental health issues off the street than any strategy that doesn't include it, and people with those root issues that can feed violent behavior are more likely to overcome them if they're not also struggling daily to find a place to eat and sleep and have immediate daily access to medical and services.

You can clutch pearls and wave pitchforks for the "first murder of 2023", but don't pretend it is an effective counter argument to the effectiveness of permanent supportive housing. I bet by the end of the year the majority of murders will be by housed people, but nobody will say it was because someone let them sign a lease or go to the doctor, or that repossessing their house while they're in jail will fix the issue, because that sounds silly outside the context of demonizing the currently or recently homeless.

Most people in supportive housing have been without all the services @6 snidely lists for the majority of their lives. All this proves is that such services should have been more widely available for much longer, as they're most effective early on and can only do so much for years and years of untreated trauma/abuse/addiction/sickness of body and mind, even though it's still miles better than continuing or resuming doing nothing/less.

20

@17,

Been thinking that this whole time. It's been fun & funny watching this debacle play out, but they're eventually gonna come out of it w/ a despicable and scary caucus & mandate. Can only hope our razor thin majority in the Senate stalls implementation of it for the foreseeable future.

22

@21 I think this is exactly the issue most of us have with the current programs along with the fact this guy was from out of state and potentially moved her due to the lack of enforcement and generous benefits. I actually agree with a lot of what @19 says however where we diverge is along the notion that Seattle has some obligation to support anyone who shows up on our doorstep. We simply do not have the resources for that and it includes those within WA state along with those from out of state. Beyond that the additional assumption that we have to "meet these people where they are at" and let them do whatever they want until they are ready to get clean is also bullshit. How many more people could be helped with those resources who actually need the help while we spend money waiting for the chronically addicted to suddenly become lucid (here's a hint - it's a lot and most people are not going to change without a compelling reason to do so).

24

The fact that most people in this country don't understand how fucked we are as long as the Republicans keep holding Congress hostage is just another reason for required education regarding how our government is SUPPOSED to work and every single person running for public office being required to be able to pass an AP level exam on that material. This situation is SO FUCKED UP. And it isn't remotely amusing. The GOP is a big turd blocking up a toilet and the rest of the world simply cannot believe no one in this country knows how to use a plunger.

25

To be fair, "people caning each other on the House floor" is indeed another legislative practice that should be brought back.

27

23: Yeah, the left trying to blow up government by proposing legislation, manning committees, negotiating, patiently working with obstructionists like Manchin to get him on board, and making concessions in order to actually pass bills. This is clearly comparable to a bunch of fascist clowns railroading the House. But please, keep pushing these nonsensical counterfactuals that seem to be piped in from a divergent timeline.

28

And for the record, the progressives are actually to use the government to, you know, govern, despite whatever ideological differences you have with them. "Anti-government" ideology on the right is intrinsically a different idea than the notion that maybe big government can be a force of good in people's lives.

30

The Democrats would have needed 60 Senate votes to raise or abolish the debt limit. McConnell (who otherwise supported the omnibus bill that would've included it) made clear that wasn't gonna happen.

I strongly suspect that when push comes to shove later this year, the Dems' game plan is to assert that the debt ceiling law is unconstitutional under Section 4 of Article 14 of the Constitution, which states that the nation's credit standing "shall not be questioned." Of course they're loath to talk about this subject until they have to, given the debt ceiling's popularity among low-information swing voters and its perpetual usefulness as a target for Republican demagoguery. So don't expect even the most progressive Ds to go on the record about it now. But don't worry about it too much, either. There are more urgent matters demanding our attention.

31

@4: debunking horseshit CTs at length is a bit more than "fact checking".

@5: Why didn't Will mention Enoch City's 1st Mass Murder of the year? when will we stop making excuses for Mormonism? https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/01/05/8-found-fatally-shot-utah-home/

33

A homeless person murdering someone doesn't really matter because when the violent crime statistics are compiled at the end of the year, it's going to be one number among several, including housed perpetrators. It's like saying the "perfect crime" idiot in Eastern Washington murdered people, therefore criminal justice grad students are prone or killing people. Like a lot of these little reactionary thought nuggets, it makes good sensationalist copy but doesn't actually say anything about people kill each other. And what types of people kill each other. It's designed to shut down the brain.

35

@32: I didn't know axe grinding had to be limited to Seattle city limits.

36

@3 & @26 PrincessAngeline#2, @9 Brent Gumbo, and @24 xina +3 for the WIN!!! I have nothing more to add. You three nailed it beautifully. Thank you for beating me to it.

@12 Yeshua: That's a given. Exactly what I've suspected all along. I wouldn't be surprised if Pierce County's bad joke of a racist sheriff, Ed Troyer, paid hillbillies Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan to inflict as much hurt on everyone not white male supremacist as insanely possible.

Go, Washington Attorney General, SuperBob Ferguson, GO!!!

38

34: do you really think an obvious outlier says anything about the efficacy of homelessness services? You might as well impune the entire criminal justice system because any murder ever happens at all.

39

34: do you really think an obvious outlier says anything about the efficacy of homelessness services? You might as well impune the entire criminal justice system because any murder ever happens at all.

40

34: do you really think an obvious outlier says anything about the efficacy of homelessness services? You might as well impune the entire criminal justice system because any murder ever happens at all.

41

34: do you really think an obvious outlier says anything about the efficacy of homelessness services? You might as well impune the entire criminal justice system because any murder ever happens at all.

42

Sorry about multiple posts. The slog was slogging

43

@30

Elimination of the debt ceiling chrade could have been done with 50 +1 under the reconciliation process.

On another note, a disagreement with Will Casey: the record for well over a decade shows that there is no "lunatic fringe." The entirety of the Republican party is comprised of lunatics and sociopaths. It's a prerequisite, and after a certain level, the word fringe no longer applies.


Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.