Looks like Trump wants Attorney General Barr to "clean house": Things are really going off the rails here. Ignoring pleas to STOP TWEETING about the Justice Department, Trump doubled down on the department for most of the day. Earlier today, he retweeted a bunch of tweets that suggested Barr "clean house at DOJ," like the one below:
Barr should clean house at DOJ...@realDonalldTrump,was the victim of a seditious conspiracy out of DOJ/FBI, etc. President Trump can also appoint a special counsel directly. pic.twitter.com/SH4Eu4JCbP
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 19, 2020
The Panera Bread on Broadway in Capitol Hill is closing: I can't say I'll miss it. From Capitol Hill Seattle Blog: "Expect some changes and a new business that is probably not a restaurant. The new tenant will require a permitted 'change of use' with the city."
Release the nudes, Sanders: We want them. At the CNN town hall last night, Sanders suggested he wouldn't release more medical records.
It's no secret I'm sympathetic to the Sanders campaign. But we're living a moment when the basic norms of transparency that undergird our democracy are under attack. And Bernie had a heart attack just last year. He owes it to his supporters to release his nudies.
— Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) February 20, 2020
"I heard a doctor once say that the dick was the dipstick of the body, and if we can’t pop the hood for ourselves then how can we honestly make this choice," said The Stranger's Rich Smith to himself, after seeing the above tweet. "I want Sanders’s panicked WebMD search results from Google, STAT."
Oregon got a little earthquake off its coast today: As a treat.
Amazon Care is live: Amazon has launched its pilot program that provides health care services directly to its Seattle-area employees, reports Katherine Khashimova Long for the Seattle Times. A video on the Amazon Care site explains how the service and app works. Recently, on Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway's excellent podcast Pivot, Swisher predicted that Amazon's adventure into health care will make him the world's first trillionaire. Amazon, Apple, and Google have been quietly competing against each other as they enter the health care sector.
Fly, my pretties, fly! The quarantined passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship were finally allowed to walk off their coronavirus-infested ship this afternoon in Japan. They've been stuck on the ship for weeks. A Japanese infectious disease specialist visited the ship yesterday and described the scene as "completely chaotic," reports the New York Times. The doctor continued: "I would not be surprised if they spread infections." Let's hope none of them are doorknob-lickers.
Melania Trump is a Woman of Distinction: The First Lady was named Palm Beach Atlantic University's 2020 Woman of Distinction. It's a private Christian School so, super. To be fair, I think all medals and awards were officially canceled after Rush Limbaugh won the Medal of Freedom.
John Rood, a senior official at the Pentagon, is out: Rood warned against withholding military aid to Ukraine and resigned because Trump requested his resignation, according to his resignation letter. Add his name to the long list of people ousted after Trump's acquittal by the Senate.
I would like to thank John Rood for his service to our Country, and wish him well in his future endeavors! https://t.co/kPA1rYCKvp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2020
John Rood resignation letter to President Trump “It’s my understanding from Secretary Esper that you requested my resignation...” pic.twitter.com/G2X030OoYR
— Courtney Kube (@ckubeNBC) February 19, 2020
Boeing wants to give up their major Washington state tax break... so they can avoid European tariffs, reports Dominic Gates and Joseph O’Sullivan for the Seattle Times. Sen. Marko Liias and Rep. Pat Sullivan have introduced companion bills that would remove a 16-year-old tax break which has saved Boeing "hundreds of millions of dollars per year." But "the dramatic shift in direction will help resolve—to Boeing’s advantage—an international trade dispute at the World Trade Organization," writes the Times.
Does that mean lawmakers have an extra $100 million per year to throw around? That’s to be determined, according to Sen. Joe Nguyen. “It’s a pause,” he told Rich Smith. “Then we’ll take away some of their tax credit, but not all.”
TikTok is releasing some parental controls: Parents can now remotely restrict content on their kid's app, stop DMs, and limit how much time their kids spend on it, writes KOMO. Have you been on TikTok? It's like a middle school locker room. I have to get off of it after about 10 minutes because everyone looks 12 and it makes me feel creepy.
The Downtown Seattle shooting suspects pled not guilty.
THERE'S A DEBATE TONIGHT: You already knew that. It starts at 6 pm PST. It will be the usual suspects (Sanders, Biden, Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar) and then the Tom Steyer stand-in (Bloomberg). I suggest the New York Times's live updates, but also the Guardian's, which is free to access. This one might be spicy.
Who's going to be the meanest to Bloomberg? Warren? Biden? Will Sanders slip on by during the dogpile?
I don’t endorse Republicans. https://t.co/uQMjLdxHA3
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) February 19, 2020
A little movie to fall asleep to tonight: After the debates, consider watching PBS's "definitive account of Amazon’s perilous ambition," which premiered last night. The entire thing is available on YouTube, and it covers Amazon's 25-year history, everything from data mining to Alexa to its relentless ruthlessness.