Headlines and Hot Takes For June 13th

Tomorrow there are a series of “No Kings” protests around Seattle. Given the obscene attacks on immigrant families, egregious violation of due process, illegal sequestering of billions of lifesaving dollars that were appropriated by Congress, the open scamming and corruption from the Trump family, and the fact that the FBI threw a Senator to the ground this week for daring to speak - it’s time to get out there and push back.

Let them hear you! The last time we had a king, we threw that bum out. Remind the pretender.

The Stranger has a piece on the anti-trans hate-rally masquerading as a “prayerfest” at Cal Anderson Park. I understand that bigots gonna’ bigot - but I sure as hell wish they’d keep it to themselves. Seem they also missed Jesus’ instruction to pray quietly in a dark room where no one can see them, and his condemnation of those who trumpet their prayers in public for attention. And a whole bunch of other stuff he said. But then again, their prayers aren’t for Jesus - they are for the cameras.

Too bad Bruce Harrell and Seattle Police botched their response to hate-rally. There was a solid discussion of said botching on Seattle Nice if you are curious.

Sadly, I learned that the church group headed by this attention-starved-former-politician-turned-pastor Russel Johnson has a location in my neighborhood - in a gorgeous old building on Greek Row. So not only are they bullies, but they are trying to get college kids to join the party and keep the bullying going far into the future. Yuk.

Speaking of attention starved former politicians, Kshama Sawant is running against Adam “Democrats-should-act-like-Republicans” Smith. Sawant, who is on like her fifteenth Marxist political party, plans to take on the reactionary centrist.

Fun fact about Smith- at a recent Democratic Party event, a major party leader asked him in front of the group if he’s really the right person for his job- given that he’s spending far more time bashing Democrats than he is fighting Trump or even doing his job. I’m told he turned tomato red. Good. It’s fine that we have political differences, but Smith is absurdly toxic and needs to go. Unfortunately, Sawant is not going to mount a serious challenge. She has dedicated followers and played a role in some important progressive legislation, but she was barely eking out wins in Seattle’s leftest legislative district. She clashes with progressive Dems of the Pramila Jayapal sort - acting as if they are somehow corporate sellouots- and so this seat looks like it will continue to be held by Smith.

Teresa Mosqueda, PLEASE SAVE US!

In other bad news - evictions are up in Washington and Trump is trying to gut aid to renters. Our state government’s brilliant response? Shutter a program that got homeless people out of encampments and into housing. Even the Seattle Times called the program “wildly successful.” Why do this, you might wonder? Because Amazon and Microsoft demanded low taxes, even though our state is undertaxed relative to others, and the rich and corporations pay a much smaller share here than they do in other states. Amazon, as you may recall, recently paid the Trump family a $40 million bribe, and is ditching its DEI programs.

County Assessor John Wilson, who is running for King County Executive even though no one but John Wilson has ever believed he had a snowball’s chance in hell at winning, is facing calls left and right for his resignation - due to accusations of stalking and harassment, and a temporary restraining order. He does not deny the allegations. Local journalist Joni Balter thinks the calls for his resignation are unfair, and an affront to Wilson’s right to “due process.” It appears that Balter missed the “Me Too” movement AND civics class—if she thinks there is a due process interest involved in calls for resignation. I mean, even Bruce Harrell, Seattle’s serial defender of abusers, has called for Wilson’s resignation. Granted, Bruce is running for office, so he has to pretend.

Whooping cough cases are soaring around Seattle, because people believe in witches again. I cannot tell you how mad this makes me. Many years ago, the geniuses who decided they didn’t mind super-spreading pertussis around Seattle landed my three-week old son in Children’s hospital for a week - which was a terrifying experience. (You can’t get your vaccination until you are month old). The choice to ignore your own health is one thing - but when your choice harms others - especially babies - that’s a whole different level of selfishness.

Finally, the most misleading headline of the week comes from the Seattle Times, and it said “Harrell’s plan to speed up housing construction in Seattle.”

It should have read something like - “After 15 years of Harrell standing with NIMBYs, State Legislature finally forces him to speed up housing construction in Seattle.”

I don’t blame the journalist (Kroman is top notch!)- as they rarely write the headlines. He also did clarify in the article that this was in response to state legislation. Still, he could have mentioned Harrell’s years of unheeded calls for this very action. Harrell has fought tooth and nail against making our housing market work and against funding social housing. He also cut nearly $100M per year in funding from affordable housing. Those things are not only true, but they provide meaningful and illuminating context for the actual event described. My feelings about this are part of a larger critique of the naive epistemic assumptions of mainstream journalism. Alas - for another day.

Have a great weekend - hope to see you at a “No King’s Rally” tomorrow.

Correction: In a previous article about Cathy Moore’s plan to relax to city council’s ethic code, I said Rob Saka had abstained from a committee vote. He is not on that committee, so did not have an opportunity to vote one way or another. My apologies.