Sorry, but I'm not going to let any lame presidential campaign take away my brat summer, however shamelessly they may try to coopt it. But hey, I'm always up for any excuse for a gratuitous Charli XCX clip on a Slog AM.

As lame as Kamala may be as a presidential candidate, she's still an injection of life compared to Biden. Dare I say literally, although Biden at least is more alive than his soon-to-be fellow former president Jimmy Carter. And I'll still be voting for her over her only viable opponent, Donald "America's Hitler" Trump. J.D. Vance's words, not mine.

Damn, I guess Ty France is Seattle's Joe Biden. They both served admirably during their tenures and I hope they both land on their feet. Blatantly obvious promotional shilling be damned, the video of France and JP Crawford working a Starbucks shift is pretty great. They're both genuine and great with the employees, and humble throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0xbd2NW2zs

Congratulations to Arthur Sulzberger and the NYT. Newsom & Whitmer have lined up behind Harris, so the Dem Convention isn't going to be as fun as I'd hoped.

So long, Ty France. Like almost every Mariners position player, his absence will barely be noticeable.

@2 at
least those
two're Union Members.

Right… Because obviously the MOST important thing about a political campaign that will determine our next President is that it be FUN, and that the candidates should lend themselves to easy & clever memes… After all, how else will young people know who to vote for?

From The Guardian Article:

"Thiel knows what every investor knows. That a crisis is an opportunity. And that if Trump succeeds in tearing up the federal administration, there is not only billions to be made in the ensuing market turmoil but that a new breed of oligarchs, close to Caesar’s throne, will be the first to share the spoils."

If the Broligarchs were smart enough to make the billions in the first place, they're smart enough to know that reaping the profits from market turmoil will eventually lead to the loss of purchasing power by the masses and it will all come crashing down. But they'll be plenty comfortable by then, and yet still uncannily will have no guilty conscious.

Nanci Pelosi is the GOAT

Phoebe @6, good comment. I think these dudes like Peter Thiel look at Russia as a good model. It's a poor country with a relatively minuscule per capita GDP, but boy, are the oligarchs there raking it in. In fact, I think the powerlessness and poverty of the masses are really a feature, not a bug, for these guys.

All this is straight out of Naomi Klein's seminal book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." Klein wrote it as an exposé or a jeremiad, but the libertarian tech bros must read it like a self-help book or an instruction manual.

The Party has issued their commands and democrats will fall in line.

@7
At what?

@5: fun for me, as in engaging, interesting, relevant.

i said jack shit about "easy and clever memes".

@9
the democratic party
is hardly lock-steppers
like magats for eltrumpfster

and the "d"nc
is a privately-held
corporation* unbeholden
to the Electorate or the Left

you righties keep wanting the
left to be a mirror image
of the 'right' but that's
Not how it plays out.

*llc

I hereby nominate Totoman @7 for the Gold Star Comment of the Day. In this entire saga, it is clearly Nancy Pelosi who did the magic behind the scenes and saved the day. Not the first time we can say this.

Counting down to the predictable rebuttals to @9 that won't persuade anyone, will be a complete waste of people's time, could just as well have been written by AI bots, and will accomplish nothing but to amplify the original comment. I'm not upset with people like this one commenter who are unable to productively engage with people who don't 100% share their right-wing world view and who would be better off shelling for a Seattle Times subscription and commenting there. I'm upset with the left-wing commenters who are incapable of heeding the adage DFTT. I'd name names, but that would be giving them too much credit.

P.S. And this just in. Pelosi has endorsed Kamala.

9, Only a handful of party leaders have endorsed Harris but voters rallied around her on their own. Even Pelosi, who was instrumental in pressuring Biden to step down (side note: she is easily the most effective party leader alive today) has stayed silent.

If anything this was a ground-up operation, not the other way around. Voters wanted an open primary last year, and they began the push for Biden to drop out immediately after he botched the debate. Party leaders eventually came around to the will of the people, but not without putting up a fight.

@14
well put.

Update: Nancy has fallen in line with her voters

https://x.com/scottwongdc/status/1815437517413372206?s=46&t=yTvIvHqcoZDRAnKDlFPoKA

Har-ris! Har-ris! Har-ris! Har-ris!

I gotta figure there's probably an actual (or pretty close to) 0% chance his dumb, fat ass agrees to a debate with her. As a former prosecuting attorney, she would absolutely eviscerate him and he (or at least his handlers) have to be very well aware of this fact. I'd say it's a shame and that it's Joe's fault we'll not be afforded this delightful viewing experience but...

1) Joe obviously screwed the country, but the election remains eminently winnable and he did the right thing, albeit much later than he should have. Continuing to disparage him does us absolutely no good. Hoping we're past that (myself included, obviously.)

2) I don't know that dumbass would have agreed to debate Kamala regardless. From a strategic standpoint, I'd figure he's seemingly got far more to lose than win in such a scenario, regardless of when it were to have taken place.

I sure as shit hope I'm wrong and that it happens, as I think the contrast between that two that would be on display in real time could offer a significant boost to her chances.

One debate...and then it was every single interview, speech, every instance of him being recorded doing anything, his party torching their credibility by lying their asses off and hiding him until it was too late, and now the historic unpopularity of his ticket.

@19
and then he picked J D Vance.

Here's hoping the Dems can at least salvage the House. I would love to see Jeffries as House Speaker. At least the Democratic Speakers can get something done!

While hopeful the delegates coalesce around Harris, nothing is official until either the convention or a virtual roll call (this is one of the risks of Biden dropping out this late). Let’s hope the D’s go the virtual roll call route to provide some needed support prior to the convention (which is still weeks out). Ideally Harris can start vetting some VP candidates within a week or two (but that will be stymied with an open convention).

Thanks for mention of the Water Taxi! It made for a fast trip out to Alki, for the perfect way to beat the Summer city heat. (Afterwards, savoring the long sunset, with drinks upstairs at Duke’s, always completed that trip nicely.)

I think the timing was perfect. They just wasted a week at the RNC attacking the wrong candidate, and Trump picked JD Vance instead of a more moderate running mate. They are locked into a race where they expected a mandate for project 2025 against a historically weak candidate, but now democrats are actually excited for the election after months of impending doom, and republicans are reeling for a change.

I kinda think that Musk is more hedging his bets re his EV company than actually giving a fuck about Trump. He's putting in a couple hundred mil, which is pocket change for him. If Harris wins, support for EVs will continue and he'll do well with Tesla. Trump winning is another matter. He and his greasy oil industry pals would almost certainly work to delay the EV transition, which would cost old Elon far more than what he's contributing. This way, Elon owns at least a chunk of Donald's fat ass, and would be able to lean on him to help out.

I don’t know, I don’t think someone spends $45M/month and $44B on a social media platform to rig the algorithms for Republicans just to hedge his bets.

Off the top of my head, some perks for Musk from a Trump admin/project 2025 federal realignment: lower taxes, lax environmental and labor regulations, favorable contracts, a potential role in the government. Whatever downsides for Tesla would be easily offset by the benefits to his personal fortune and his other holdings like SpaceX or that horrific brain chip thing he’s working on. I don’t think EV’s factor into his decision at all.

"The pedestrian ferry from Seattle to West Seattle and Seattle to Vashon Island added new midday routes for the first time this month and saw ridership grow by 195%. The water taxi moves faster than a typical ferry since it's only moving people. It's a sexy cool public transit option!"

I suspect most of the ridership increase is due to the fact the water taxi is on the radar of the cruise ship crowd, they use it like some sort of Argosy cruise, and often make up 75% of the passengers.
Source: I am a regular water taxi commuter.

MUX is Def wrangling
for either Minister of
Truth or Propaganda

hey wormmy
perhaps there'll be
a Special place for you too

your
bona fides
having been
Well established
right here @tS! go!

The announcement coming as a screenshot of a letter on X with no follow-up was just bizzare. One wonders how much input Joe really had.

They covered the announcement on The Daily this morning. For starters no one is making decisions on behalf of the president because that’s not how an executive job works — he is always in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t able to present his decision due to having covid so they drafted a letter on Saturday then he gave the green light to post it on twitter Sunday afternoon.

He also had/has covid. I'd assume if that weren't the case, the announcement would've come via a standard press conference. Guess he could've posted a video shot in whatever sort of isolation he was in, though I'm not sure that'd have been any less awkward or unconventional.

If you want to call a Mariners 1B beloved, I’d say it applies to Alvin Davis or John Olerud. Ty France? Meh. Beloved is a bit of a stretch.

Interesting essays on Politico (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/07/21/biden-dropout-expert-predictions-00170164). I (almost) completely agree with Joshua Zeitz (We're Driving Off Road). In my opinion Joe Biden is the greatest president since FDR.

Of course that assumes that the Democrats win. If not, then Trump rolls back many of the changes, and we are fucked. But if Harris (or someone else) beats trump, then it will (finally) represent an end to the Reagan era. Prior to the Reagan era we had the FDR era. These are similar but opposite. FDR ushered in an era of strong unions, large social spending and government regulations. Not only were banks regulated, but anti-trust laws were enforced. All of this led to the greatest middle class the world had ever seen. The Republicans who were elected (Ike and Nixon/Ford) were moderates when it came to policy -- they never tried to roll back the progressive advancements. They were conservative, not reactionary. Even Nixon (a fascist) signed important progressive legislation (most notably environmental).

Then came Reagan. Unions lost power, monopolies became common, the financial system was deregulated (which led to the great recession), the social safety net was obliterated and of course, mass incarceration. All of this led to a shrinking middle class. Again, the Democrats who were elected were centrists (essentially conservatives). For example Obamacare (the most progressive policy change in this era) was basically the same thing Nixon proposed before he was impeached. It was rejected by the Democratic Congress (since it wasn't progressive enough).

The Reagan era lasted until Biden was elected. Biden is the most pro-union president since FDR. The era of big government is back. Unless, of course, Trump wins. I think you can make the case that the Bush/Gore election was the most important election in the last fifty years. Lose three elections in a row and the Republicans move towards the center. But this one seems just as pivotal, if not more so. If a Democrat wins than the changes Biden ushered in will take hold and be cemented into long term policy. If Trump wins he will continue to be as fascist as Nixon, as extreme as Reagan, and as stupid as a frog.

nyt
Harris Attacks Trump, Saying
‘We Are Not Going Back’

GOOD For YOU Kamala!
The Prosecution Begins Today.

Hope eltrumpfster remembers if
Joe steps Down prior to J/20
well then YOU have* the
very Same Presidential
Immunity mKbitch
KkKonnell’s court
Gifted to the Mal
a Lardo Mango

you could have him
put Down. Fucking
Legally, fucking
Literally ap-
parently.

more:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/22/us/biden-harris-trump-news-election

@31 Olerud’s a dick.

@33 kristofarian: Oh, GAWD I hope so! HAR-RIS! HAR-RIS! HAR-RIS!
I hope she grabs the Orange Turd by its filthy, corrupt little 'shroom, and roasts DJT and every member of its crime syndicate until the GOP and all their violently brainless MAGA pawns are nothing but ashes. It would be like we all wake up from a haunting bad dream, shaking in our beds after dodging WWIII and most surely the End of the World.
I have absolutely no faith in Elon Musk and the Tech Age. Everything is playing out like a particularly dystopian Twilight Zone episode*. Rod Serling was decades ahead of his time.
(*Sci-fi fans, Google search and watch "Brain Center at Whipples", from Season 5, Episode 33, that originally aired on May 15, 1964).

Where is xina? I would think she'd be wildly celebrating President Joe Biden's
official dropping out of the 2024 race.

Rod Serling. 60 fucking years Ahead. Of. His.Time.
Dig on it a while.

Hooboy, let us please successfully extinguish all the wildfires in Washington, Oregon, B.C., & oil soaked Alberta, Canada, and elsewhere! My birthday is in a week and my beloved VW and I want to enjoy nice, haze-free sunny weather. The 70s are perfect.

WTF?? I'm sure glad my beloved VW and I are nowhere near La Crescent, Minnesota!

Elon Musk is the inverse Peekay, a pitiable, stunted, racist manchild weeb weaned with a diamond spoon on bloodly conflict. He is expensive trash whose future none of us can afford.

@38 C Dizzle (Garb Garblar?): +1 For the WIN!! You nailed it. Agreed and seconded.