I am pretty much fine with a leadership fight after an election. So a challenge to Nancy Pelosi in and of itself seems fine. It’s a little weird coming right after a major pickup in the House. I think Nancy Pelosi is great, but leadership challenges help define the party.

I am on the bus after Drinking Liberally, and am behind someone who smells strongly like vaping. I have smelled worse many times on the bus, or on the light rail. Hell, many times on this route.

But what is our obligation to smell reasonable on the bus? And did this person move in that direction by switching from smoking to vaping?

A century since the war ended. While other wars have happened, are happening, and will happen. But 100 years ago yesterday the guns stopped.

Jeff Sessions is a piece of shit. Obviously fuck him for ever. And yet, his successor is going to be worse. This seems to be the story of the Trump administration. There is no bottom.

We recently hired a new college graduate. I am a little thrown by her using phrases sincerely that I would only make with a hint (or more) of irony. I don’t know what to do with “woot” when it’s just a genuine expression of happiness.

I guess my question is, is this confusion how the olds feel when I use “rad”?

Please vote. Get your ballot postmarked or dropped off by tomorrow, Washington. Vote for a cleaner environment. Vote for holding team baby cages accountable. Vote because all of the trolls here are voting, and you don’t want them to have more power than you. Vote because corporations can spend millions of dollars on initiatives and candidates, but ultimately you get to decide.

Vote. Get your ballot postmarked or dropped off by Tuesday. Volunteer.

The country is in trouble, and it will be after the election. There is no magic trick to fix it. But Democrats in Congress is a step forward. It means checks on executive power. It means we can push for more universal health care. It means we can push environmental legislation. You can help.

I am rereading Don Quixote for the first time in decades. I’m not very far into it this time, but the good stuff is as good as I remember. The windmills hold up. The book burning is great: I had forgotten that it has a discussion of an earlier Cervantes book. So good!

But Christ on the Cross, the stuff that roots it in its time is not good in ways that I had forgotten about! A long digression about how you can’t trust Arabs, yikes. I remember some of these things, but it’s worse than I remember.

Nobody murder anyone. Not at Shabbat. No pipe bombs. Don’t shoot anyone in a Kroger parking lot. Just don’t. Just because the President said something. Or you’re scared of people who aren’t white Christians.

So, black face. I don’t really care about Megyn Kelly. She and her millions of dollars will be fine. But her cruelty was toxic. Ratings were down. It works on Fox News. It works for segments of the Internet. But for a network morning show, it turned more people away than it brought in.

And then she was cool with black face. Don’t ever do that, obviously. But especially don’t if you’re on thin ice.

Been a busy morning, so I haven’t had a chance to write anything.

My goodness, this is a new form of voter suppression to me. It’s kind of nice to see the Republicans give up on trying to push a conservative agenda. But seriously, fuck them.

It isn’t cute. It is a crude attempt to hold on to power by muddying the waters. Shame on anyone associated with it.

Also, too! That’s not how a write in candidacy works. You have to register to be a write in candidate. And you would see a lot more information than one random flier from a group you’re never heard of before.

Washington State people! Your ballot has dropped! Postage is free. All the drop box locations are here! You have the power to put a real check on Trump, and help keep the progress going at the state level. There are also initiatives.

Men, and not a few women, knew about the accusations against Joe Fain when they gave him a standing ovation. Some of them were Democrats. Just like they knew when they confirmed Kavanaugh, or stuck with Ed Murray long past the point where they should have cut him off.

A few open threads ago, I mentioned several places in Washington where you can donate or volunteer. I mentioned the state Democratic Party, but here is a better link. There are only a few weeks left, and you can still make the difference.