Good morning, sloggers: In case you have not checked the weather app on your phone this morning, allow me to give you a quick forecast. Tuesday will get off to a rainy start with yesterday’s showers expected to linger until about 10 am. After that, skies will dry up and temperatures should heat up a few degrees from the low 40s to the upper 40s in the afternoon. The clouds are likely here to stay all day, but your best chance to see the sun will be around 5 pm, just before it sets around 5:18 pm. So, the sky might look cool or something.
Fake hidden immunity idol: This morning, a federal appeals court rejected former President Donald Trump’s claim that he’s “immune” from prosecution, a desperate argument he made to avoid legal consequences for his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. His spokesperson said Trump “respectfully disagrees” with the decision and will appeal it.
The D.C. Circuit opinion is extraordinarily thorough and unimpeachable. But I still think SCOTUS will want to have the last word in this case, even if it amounts to “the D.C. Circuit got it right.” And that urge to step in may lead the justices to delay the trial beyond 2024. https://t.co/yfwyl8k8Xh
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) February 6, 2024
Border deal ordeal: House Republicans vow to block the Senate’s bipartisan, anti-immigrant border deal. No, it’s not because they have finally come around on relaxing the US’s borders. The bill lumps together many issues, including allocating $60 billion for Ukraine and $14.1 billion for Israel. House Republicans said they want to vote on a standalone bill on aid to Israel, which seems like the most popular of the package’s three components. The GOP suggested toughening up border policy as a condition for approving more money to foreign allies, but then former President Donald Trump advised against the move, mostly because he wants to keep the border issue alive for this campaign. He said on Monday, “Don’t be stupid.” Listen to Trump all you want, but President Joe Biden said he would veto the bill if it did not include the border policy changes and the aid to Ukraine. Glad to see all these losers working together to kill this shit.
Solidarity with the I-5 protesters: The Washington State Patrol said it will “recommend” charging at least six protesters who blocked I-5 to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The agency is still investigating another ten people. The protesters will likely face misdemeanor charges for “disorderly conduct,” said Chris Loftis, a State Patrol spokesperson.
First real week: The new Seattle City Council kicked off its first real week after pausing all activity to appoint their bestie, fail-up Tanya Woo. This week will be the first time any of the six new members lead committee meetings. As I previously reported, the council will no longer have a Renters’ Rights committee! Fun!
Speaking of City Council: The new head of council central staff introduced the members to the budgeting process. A projected quarter-billion-dollar budget deficit took center stage in the 2023 campaign, and many of the conservative candidates promised to order an audit on the City budget to find inefficiencies before they would consider imposing new taxes on the rich. Well, Council Member Rob Saka, one of the most audit-pilled of them all, appeared to switch up his position in the briefing yesterday, saying a full budget audit would not be feasible. I’ll probably be back on the blog with more on this because the statement his office sent me made me even more confused lol. More to come.
I asked Saka why he said that conducting a full budget audit is not feasible this year after promising one on his campaign. He said: “I have been clear from day one: we need a comprehensive review of our budget spending and the results we’re getting for the people of Seattle… https://t.co/GtATMon8mE
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) February 6, 2024
Should Have Been a Cowboy: Jingoistic country superstar Toby Keith died at 62 after being diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2022. He sang such atrocities as “The Taliban Song,” and bangers such as “Red Solo Cup.”
Love in lockup: In The Stranger’s Love and Sex issue, Antoine Davis writes about how he proposed to his wife from prison. Davis wrote, “Having been incarcerated since the age of 21, some days are a battle to see my life as having intrinsic value. Despite accumulating a college and seminary education while in prison, I remain restricted to a system that reduces me to a still photo attached to a prisoner’s identification number. My wife offered me something that altered the mannequin-like feeling of being incarcerated, something that gives an exhilarating meaning to the experience of what it means to be human—love.” Please read his whole story and the rest of the issue while you’re at it.
King has cancer: Buckingham Palace announced yesterday that King Charles III, age 75, has been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer. The Royal family is trying to keep the messaging positive, insisting that the King “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible,” but the internet is certain that he will die.
Mommy murks the monarchy: Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022 coincided—give or take a few days—with the birth of controversial YouTuber Trisha Paytas’s first child. The internet exploded with jokes that her daughter was actually Queen Elizabeth II reincarnated. When Paytas announced her pregnancy with her second child, the joke theory deepened, with Twitter and TikTok users insisting the birth would take out another royal. With Paytas’s due date quickly approaching and the King’s recent health scare, the internet is back on its bullshit. I don’t believe in reincarnation, much less the Paytas theory, but if reincarnation’s real, then I hope King Charles III reincarnates as a bug and someone in India or Ireland gets to squish him.
The devil works hard but Trisha Paytas works harder pic.twitter.com/VV4nWvDjnU
— Aston XYZ 🇵🇸 #WeWantCody (@Love_Aston_) February 5, 2024
Sounds bad: Scientists are having trouble communicating the strength of hurricanes as they become more powerful with climate change. So, scientists want to create a new “category 6” on their standard 1 to 5 scale. According to The Guardian, five storms in the last decade would have fit the bill for category 6, and we will likely see more of those mega storms as the climate crisis worsens.
I love when people throw shade: Here’s Jay-Z at the Grammy’s this weekend, using his acceptance speech as an opportunity to say what the BeyHive was already thinking.
yet another $14B for
Bibi to mow down ever
more women and children
all to keep BiBi’s corrupt ass
the fuckoutta Prison? give it a
Rest America. Israel’s already got
Socialized Medicine. we’ve got Zilch.*
*unless you count the 35 Million
without Any and a 100 Million More
with inadequate Healthcare insurance
nah. we
‘cannot afford’
medicare for all.
we have
‘other priorities. ‘
Glad to see WSP is recommending charges for the freeway fiasco. Not sure I have confidence that the KC prosecutor’s office will follow through but at least its a first step. I’d love to see a nice fine and a bunch of hours of community service scrubbing graffiti along I-5.
Don’t die, Charles.
doesn’t have a clue what’s contained in the Senate Immigration Bill. He really is the worst person in America.
“I remain restricted to a system that reduces me to a still photo attached to a prisoner’s identification number.”
Yeah. That happens when you choose to commit murder.
TRUMP doesn’t have a clue. I hate typing his name.
“The Washington State Patrol said it will ‘recommend’ charging at least six protesters who blocked I-5 to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Good. If the protesters want to ‘show solidarity’ with the suffering in Gaza they should be willingly to defend their action in court and, if convicted, do a little time.
@3: Agreed. Let’s hope for some successful prosecutions as a result of the protesters’ blocking an ambulance. (Note the linked story at the Seattle Times actually says charges are “likely,” not merely “recommended,” as the Stranger claimed.)
RE: Toby Kieth;
I wasn’t a fan, but still sad that he passed, and stomach cancer is a hard way to go.
Now, not to pick on the recently deceased, but I want to point out that Kieth worked for many years in the oil fields of Oklahoma as a roughneck for a few years while a young man. As a laborer he would have had a fairly large exposure to a large number of carcinogens, working in, or living near an oil field or a refinery has been long linked to an increased cancer risk.
One more reason to move away from fossil fuels as soon as possible.
I’m not a fan of Charles either but my first thought was, too bad it’s him and not … you know.
@8 unbelievably, I actually think Hannah is correct on her wording this time. The WSP can only recommend charges to the KC prosecutor and then that office decides if they will file or not. When the ST says charges are likely they are making an assumption of action. Perhaps they have an inside source but they are taking a leap. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see KC not file charges as they are still seem to dismiss these types of cases. That was one of the reasons given last spring when Davison asked the council to give her authorization to be able to prosecute misdemeanor drug use.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-attorney-wants-to-prosecute-drug-cases-after-state-law-passes/
Pretty disgusting, isn’t it? How someone can gum up the judicial system perhaps forever but certainly until after the election? We know that a good 30-40% of voters have drunk T’s Kool-Aid, have douched with it, given themselves enemas with it, and have it on a slow IV drip. They won’t change their minds about him regardless of what is said or not said in a courtroom, but there is a strong feeling that some of the lean-towards independents, once they hear – night after night – the evidence regarding January 6th and the fraudulent electors, about Trump throwing hissy-fits during the Electoral College procedure, how everyone was telling him it was over and him saying, “No, it’s not,” about how he listened to a crocked Giuliani’s plan to question election integrity in the swing states even after recounts and hearings had proven and affirmed veracity, trying to throw the results into question so that maybe he could stay president forever (or until his death at which point one of his kids would take over). The hope is that most of those on the fence will, after learning about all of this, will say, “Ew, no.”
30-40%. When did Americans get so mean-spirited? I know the stories: Rust-belt workers facing very hard times being ignored for years. Rich people bitching about taxation being unfair. Little Johnnie running home from school saying, “Mommy, I just learned about trans people. I want my pee-pee cut off and I’m going to start wearing a bra to school. The teacher said that would be OK.” What’s a person to do except support a fascist?
Anyway, he’s managed to delay the March 4th start, and I’m upset about that. Can you tell?
No one deserves cancer. It’s true though that eldest sons (and now daughters) of long-reigning monarchs don’t get many years on the throne. Edward VII got – what? – nine years? And Hannah we can discuss whether or not the UK needs a royal family anymore, but let’s not blame Charles for India. All the best, Charlie.
Poor ol’, put-upon, multi-billionaire Jay-Z. Closets full of Grammys aren’t good enough. I want you to give my ultra-successful wife this one in particular because, you know, y’all be prejudiced. Didn’t watch the Grammys. Don’t anymore because of shit like this. Cheers to a man who has worked his way up from nothing, but when you get there, you need to be a little gracious because luck had much to do with it. He should have been grateful for the honor, thanked the NARAS, blown a kiss to his wife, and sat down. You’ll notice for all the big boobs and oversized butt cheeks in hip hop, his daughter, who joined him on stage, was very tastefully dressed in couture I couldn’t afford in three lifetimes. That’s how you do an awards show. Save the pornstar look for the performance, if you feel you need it.
and smokin’ Joe
takes the gloves
Off nyt:
Biden Tells Congress to ‘Show Some
Spine’ as Border-Ukraine Deal Falters
President Biden blamed Republicans’
fear of their 2024 front-runner,
Donald Trump, for thwarting
the legislation.
“I understand the former president is desperately trying to stop this bill because he’s not interested in solving the border problem,” Mr. Biden said. “He wants a political issue to run against me on.”
“Republicans have to decide,” he added.
“Who do they serve? Donald Trump
or the American people?”
He called the bipartisan agreement “a win for America” because it combines the “most fair, humane reforms” to immigration law and “the toughest set of reforms to secure the border” at a time of record illegal migration.
To buttress his point, he cited support from institutions normally favorable to Republicans, including the Wall Street Journal editorial page, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Border Patrol Council, a union that endorsed Mr. Trump in 2016 and 2020.
“If this bill fails,
I want to be absolutely clear
about something,” Mr. Biden said.
“The American people are going to know
why it failed. I’ll be taking this issue to the country.”
The reason, he said, is Republican fear of their front-runner. “They’re afraid of Donald Trump,” Mr. Biden said. “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.”
The president is coming late to the debate.
–by Peter Baker and Catie Edmondson
more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/biden-border-ukraine-trump-republicans.html
he is indeed.
let the
pugilistics
begin by god
@ 16 A, I still want to do lunch, but you’re making me choke on my corn fritter. The boundary of my optimism is this: Much can happen in nine months. But yeah, I shiver.
There is nothing sadder or more desperate than entertainers whinging cause they didn’t win The Big Trophy.
“The rest of us can get cancer from electric car battery debris from crashes, and car battery disposal, getting concentrated in the human environment.”
It gives me the giggles when people post things like this. It’s like Our Dear Ahab thinks that history is over and that we will never have cleaner battery technologies. If that sort of thinking were mainstream, we’d still be driving cars with leaded gasoline.
@13: You’re giving the simple (and correct) explanation: Israelis understand Hamas poses an existential threat to Israel, Israel is a democracy, and therefore whomever gets elected to govern Israel will make war upon Hamas in Gaza.
He wants a simplistic explanation, one where Israel is led by an evil man, and Israelis are doing evil in Gaza, by intentionally killing women and children. That’s why he never mentions Hamas, except to rail at someone else who has. In reality, Hamas is evil, and is the cause of the current war, but to him, that explanation unacceptably denies the role of absolute evil to Bibi and his evil minions in Israel.
@ 20
You’ve got it exactly backwards.
Israel is an existntial threat to Palestinians, who’ve elected Hamas (with Israeli government encouragement and aid via Qatar.
Moreover, the war, or rather ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide perpetuated by Israel didn’t just begin as a reaction to the October 6 attacks.
@7 Max Solomon: +1 I feel your pain,, Max. If anyone drops dead this year, why can’t it be the Orange Turd?
And please, please, please, pretty please, BEFORE November?
Better yet, why can’t all RepubliKKKans just kill and eat each other up, thus miraculously restoring what little democracy we have left?
@21: “Israel is an existntial threat to Palestinians,”
Well then, Israel has done an exceptionally bad job of carrying through on that threat. The Palestinians have lost multiple full-scale wars with Israel, and yet continue to exist. Most other peoples who repeatedly choose war and lose find themselves driven out of the region, assimilated, or otherwise annihilated. What’s Israel doing wrong?
@16 Cap’n Crunch: Yeah, that’s it, Cap’n. Obediently follow raindrop’s script to a MAGA-t.
You might want to check the high fructose corn syrup level as well as the chemical content in your breakfast cereal.
@25: …..says the leading SLOG troll willfully misleading his little army of MAGA tools, forever chugging the FOX TeeVee Kool-Aid. You must be SO proud of your latest brainwashees, Necrophiliac and Cap’n Crunch.
What stupid pet trick will you have ’em do next, Fred Flintstone? Scale the fences on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., 20500 with zip ties and AR-15s on January 6, 2025 in a repeat of 2021?
Back to your cave, Avis.
@15 kristofarian: Better a little late, but still with time left than never at all.
Go, Smokin’ Joe, GO!!!