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By a 5-4 vote yesterday afternoon, the King County Council voted to adopt a Metro funding plan that would implement the first round of scheduled cuts in September, but would defer adopting further cuts in the hope that increased sales tax revenues, higher fares, transfers from capital funds, and additional savings could close the gap. King County Executive Dow Constantine immediately vetoed the plan:

“We need a reliable way to pay for bus service – but until then, we shouldn’t spend money we don’t have, we shouldn’t use one-time money to pay ongoing expenses, and decisions to save or cut service should be based on objective criteria and data, not on politics,” said Executive Constantine. “This ordinance falls short on all counts. I must respectfully veto this legislation, and ask that the Council keep working on a solution that is responsible and sustainable.”

Council member Rod Dembowski spearheaded the plan along with the four suburban Republicans, and no doubt his intentions are pure. His objective is to avoid unnecessary pain. The problem is, without substantial additional revenue, much of the pain will be unavoidable. And by putting off the decision as long as possible, we risk lulling voters and Metro riders into a state of complacency.

The anti-Prop 1 folks like to promote this meme that new revenue is unnecessary—that if Metro just tightens its belt a bit, everything will be okay. For example, yesterday the Seattle Times editorial board urged Metro to “begin the hard work of reforming the agency,” once again ignoring the fact that in response to collapsing revenue and a state performance audit, Metro has implemented substantial reforms that achieved hundreds of millions of dollars in long term cost savings.

The Demobowski plan, unfortunately, just feeds into this fiction that Metro has a spending problem, not a revenue one.

The other Democrats on the council proposed an alternative plan that would have adopted the proposed cuts, phased in over the next year and a half or so, but would have also given Constantine the flexibility to delay cuts if revenues rebound or cost savings materialize. That seems like a more responsible approach to long term planning, and a more realistic presentation to the public of what most likely lies in store.

Ostensibly small government representative Jay Rodne is still in favor of the state being able to put a needle into someone’s arm and put enough poison in them to take their life. You know, small government. Smallity small small. He’s angry enough to have a press release. Sorry this is a bit old.

Gov. Jay Inslee today announced he was suspending the death penalty in Washington state for as long as he is in office. In the wake of this announcement, Rep. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie and lead Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement:

There has to be a more effective way of saying “cruel and lacking any political power” than “lead Republican on the House Judiciary Committee” but I don’t know what it is. Maybe just “powerless asshole.”

“The governor’s decision is a distraction from the issues that people care about the most. It also seems very political – at the expense of victims of violent crimes and their families. This must be a difficult day for these families as they are confronted with the reality that the governor cares more about a few convicted killers than justice for their loved ones. It’s unfortunate and prolongs the closure they deserve.”

It’s a distraction to even talk about it says the press release about it. And you know, I haven’t seen any polling on Washington and the death penalty, but I’m guessing the political thing to do would have been keeping it.

Also, what kind of a dickbag can write “the governor cares more about a few convicted killers than justice for their loved ones”? Seriously, is Jay Inslee making sure that victims of crimes are locked up for life? Because that’s what he’s doing with the killers. Unlike Representative Rodne, I won’t pretend to speak for all victims of crime or pretend they’re a monolith. However they feel about Inslee’s decision is the right way for them to feel. But to pretend that the state isn’t doing anything for them because the state hasn’t killed their killers is just so spectacularly dishonest, that I don’t know what to do with it.

Radical reality-denying rightist Congressman Steve “Never Heard of Anyone Getting Pregnant by Statutory Rape” King (R-IA-4) was recently on a call-in talk show and had this conversation:

CALLER: When I see the First Lady and the beautiful girls going off to the Bahamas waving goodbye to us, it’s really hard to stomach. When we’re tightening our belts, either all of us should do it or none of us should do it. This, I am pretty tolerant, I always have been, I usually shut my mouth. This is not acceptable.

KING: Carla, you’re on point and on the mark all the way through. […] You’re right on the president. He needs to show some austerity himself. Instead he wanted to tell America how bad it was going to be. […] We’ve got the president doing these things. He sent the daughters to spring break in Mexico a year ago. That was at our expense, too. And now to the Bahamas at one of the most expensive places there. That is the wrong image to be coming out of the White House.

A couple of corrections for the underformed nutburger of a Congressman. First, Obama did not “send his daughters to spring break in Mexico.” One daughter (Malia) was allowed to…

…join a school trip to Oaxaca [, Mexico], where students volunteered at an orphanage, visited archaeological sites and sipped vanilla milkshakes on the honey-colored town plaza.

The school has done such trips for years.

Second, the Obamas pay for their own vacations and school field trips. The government pays for security, as it should. And notice that King isn’t complaining about that—for good reason. Imagine the PR disaster he would endure should any member of the First Family get hurt.

King believes Obama “needs to show some austerity himself” because he was telling “America how bad it was going to be.” Obama has pointed out how the sequestration cuts will hurt Americans, but so have a bunch of Republicans Congresscritters—you know, the the ones whining about losing tax payer-funded economic subsidies to their districts.

How odd that King’s calls for Obama to show austerity.

Obama makes a fair amount of money. He is wealthier than most Americans. Oh…and he is the leader of the free fucking world. He certainly has the money (and credit line) to allow his child to go on a school trip to Mexico, or to send his family on the occasional vacation, like the trip to the Bahamas.

So what’s gotten up Rep. King’s ass that makes him think that the President shouldn’t use his own money how he wants to use it? Isn’t that the American way?

You know who would agree with King that Obama should renounce the trappings of wealth and live the life of a commoner?

Karl Marx.

Once again, I call upon the major newspapers of this country to investigate these members of Congress to find out if they are pro-America or FUCKING SOCIALISTS!

[In a fit of nostalgia (and laziness), I’m marking my remaining days here on HA by posting links to some of my favorite and most influential posts. If you have favorites you’d like to see, please let me know.]

04/25/2008: Goldy’s Adventures in Muniland

I crashed the Municipal League’s 2008 Civic Awards last night at the Olympic Sculpture Park, where my friend and colleague David Postman was being honored for “Governmental News Reporting of the Year.” Knowing that Postman’s bosses at the Seattle Times had forbade him from accepting the award in person so as not to compromise his impartiality—and unencumbered by these (or any) ethical burdens of my own—I realized that there must be an unused name tag at the registration table with at least half my name on it… and sure enough I managed to sign in as Postman, no questions asked.

His “Honoree” name tag firmly pinned to my lapel and a surfeit of free drink tickets in hand, I strolled into the PACCAR Pavilion determined to do Postman proud by mingling with our city’s power elite on his behalf. As it turned out, I would need the drink tickets.

I don’t do nearly enough straight satire here on HA, but this was certainly one of my best. Read the whole thing.

When I see bad, or for that matter good, polls I can’t be too worked up. Of course I prefer the Democrat up, and up by a lot. And of course I’d prefer the generic ballot look better. But I’m not staring into the abyss, because the Democrats aren’t in the same place as the Mariners.

Believe me, as a Mariners fan, I’ve slogged through some terrible seasons without being able to change anything. A few years ago at the end of a bear of a season when Seattle and Texas were long eliminated, I was sitting in the first row of an outfield seat. Right in front of me, a Mariner’s popup came near the warning track, and the Ranger’s right fielder went into a dive for the ball. “I got it, I got it!” I yelled, and the Ranger dropped the ball. While I like to think I made him drop it, the truth is he probably just bobbled it because he was an AAA call up without much Major League experience. That’s the closest I’ve come to changing anything on the field.

But it’s often said that politics isn’t a spectator sport. And this year as every year, I’m not going to just sit and watch. I’ve worked the phones, donated, and knocked on doors for candidates I believe in, and will continue through November.

And that’s where the next few months for the D’s can be a lot better than the next few months for the M’s. There are enough fine candidates that we can all make a difference. I don’t know what the polls show for DelBene, but I’ll be making calls and knocking on doors for her. Same with Patty Murray (the poll Goldy cited earlier aside). Those of you who live south of here can do the same for Heck.

If you aren’t inspired by those people, there are plenty of state and local races and initiative campaigns. If you don’t like to talk to strangers about politics, they can all use money. They can all use letters to the editor. They can all use you mentioning them on Facebook and Twitter. They can all use you talking to friends and putting up yard signs. All of those things will change the facts, and matter more than what you see in polls.

As a follow-up to Goldy’s post below, there’s already a group organizing an initiative for Washington. It’s called Sensible Washington and they expect to release the final wording of their initiative and begin signature gathering by March 1. Their initiative is not expected to specify the state liquor stores as the distributors, but will only legalize possession for adults. The state would then be on the hook for setting up regulations for where and how it can be sold.

One of the concerns of legalization advocates (both Goldy and I share this concern) is that there won’t be enough money to collect the necessary signatures. As the top post at Sensible Washington points out, PayPal has a history of freezing the accounts of drug law reform groups, and banks won’t work with them. I’d be curious to know how much of this results from archaic rules and misconceptions about drug law reform, and how much comes from potential crackdowns from the federal government. As for Paypal, one clue might be that one of its founders considers the era of alcohol prohibition as the last great era of American politics (I guess that makes him a libertarian).

So for now, they’re taking mail-in donations before a volunteer army of signature gatherers hit the ground across the state to put this initiative on the ballot. There’s certainly enthusiasm for drug law reform right now, but no one is really sure whether it will be enough to qualify. I guess we’re about to find out.

UPDATE (Goldy):
As an followup to Lee’s followup, Sensible Washington’s account of their difficulties in securing credit card processing is worth a read. On the one hand, if millionaire investment banker Michael Dunmire wants an initiative on the ballot, he just writes Tim Eyman a check; on the other hand, if a group of grassroots activists wants to raise money online from small contributors, the banks won’t give them a merchant account, out of fear of I don’t know what.

So much for “direct democracy.”

That said, I emailed the folks at Sensible Washington earlier today to suggest that they set up an account with ActBlue, the same progressive online fundraising site through which we collectively raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Darcy Burner. ActBlue is now set up to handle state legislative and initiative campaigns in Washington state, in addition to federal races, a feature that R-71 made good use of last year.

The 520 bridge replacement project is more than another transportation project.

It is an opportunity to build healthy places to live, work, and play that our region won’t see again for at least another half century.

It is an opportunity to be good stewards of the environment and to address climate change.

It is an opportunity for our many local communities to come together and act as a region.

It is an opportunity for us to determine what kind of city we want and the quality of life of our neighborhoods.

It is an opportunity for our state to offer a vision of transportation for the 21^st Century and not just building roads like its 1959.

Finally it is again an opportunity to move our transportation system forward.

It will take leadership to bring together all the many points of view on how to best move forward on transportation. But we have done it before.

During my time as Chair of the House Transportation Committee, working with my Republican and Democratic counterparts in both the House and the Senate, we passed fourteen and half cents in gas taxes by bringing road and transit advocates from the east and west side together.

(I point out the fact that I worked to pass the largest financing package for roads in our state’s history only to preempt the pigeonholing of my perspective here as that of another Seattle Democrat transit advocate.)

It will take leadership from the environmental community to get transit right. Transportation remains the single largest contributor to global warming in Washington State – over half our greenhouse emissions come from vehicles. The 520 bridge project offers a real opportunity to build a transportation structure of the future that contributes to the solution.

Neither the legislation authorizing the new 520 bridge, nor any of the current designs, integrate transit into the design or planning of the project. Nor is there any financing mechanism for new transit in the corridor, particularly for high capacity transit. The name alone — “The 520 Bridge and HOV Replacement Project” – is proof that again we are building a road to move cars, and not a transportation corridor to move people and goods. The current plan amounts to placing existing buses onto new HOV lanes to share with cars. Glaringly, it lacks a streamlined connection for transit riders between the north/south transit corridor at new Sound Transit Station at Montlake and any future transit riders moving east/west from the new 520.

It will take leadership from the City to bring neighborhoods that currently disagree amongst themselves together. Far more people live and work near the 520 bridges then the Viaduct. The City should use the model it developed during the creation of urban villages to approach the project in a comprehensive manner. It should put the Departments of Planning, Neighborhoods, and Transportation on the ground and bring together neighborhoods that are currently divided, creating an all-neighborhoods comprehensive mitigation and transportation plan. It is impossible for the Seattle legislators to support a city position when one is lacking.

It will take leadership on the part of the county to bring urban and suburban interests together. The county with the new leadership of Dow Constantine from Seattle and Fred Jarrett from the east side of Lake Washington is uniquely positioned to bring both sides of the lake together and act as a region. The state should consider allowing the County to assume all coordination for planning and financing for a new 520 and I-90 corridor transportation authority.

It will take leadership in the Legislature to address the fact that the current financial plan is unattainable. During the negotiations to pass the nine-and-a-half-cent gas tax east of the lake, legislators insisted on moving $1.5 billion out of 520 and applying it to I-405. Now we have a shortfall. The solution is to toll I-90 in addition to 520, and committing toll revenues to the construction, maintenance and operations of the bridge and of transit.

If we fail to come together as a region on a project that is crucial to our economic future, I believe we will destroy the coalition that moved our transportation system forward and return again to the defeats we suffered in years past.

We have succeeded in the past and we can do it again. Let’s capitalize on the many unique opportunities we face. Let’s move our transportation system forward.

— Sen. Ed Murray

Gov. Gregoire has a diary up at Daily Kos right now. Here’s a slice:

Why are they attacking me so early? Because they know there is something happening in our country – people are hungry for a new direction, away from the Bush Administration.

They are so aware of this fact that my opponent filed as a member of the “GOP Party,” hiding the fact that he is a Republican. And what is on my opponent’s website? The word “Change” in the largest font you have ever seen.

We all know that voters are desperate for change in our nation, ready to turn around the failed policies of the Bush Administration. But voters are smart. They know the kind of change they are looking for.

Republican Dino Rossi can spend millions on attacks, pretend he isn’t a Republican and even give lip service to change, but he can’t hide his George Bush record.

Remember all those funny acronyms from last fall’s mainstream media coverage of the Roads and Transit campaign? YOE, for year of expenditure was a favorite of many of Seattle’s newspaper writers and columnists. They were fixated (examples here, here, and here) on slapping the Roads and Transit plan with as high a price tag as they could by including inflation into the total price tag of the plan, not just the price tag in current year dollars. By doing so, they held the Roads and Transit plan to a standard never before seen for a tax measure or capital construction program in our region.

Yesterday Dino Rossi released his transportation fantasy and said it would cost $15.5 billion in 2007 dollars. Keep in mind, that’s in last year’s dollars.

I have done a little bit of “back of the envelope” math (you know the kind that Rossi’s Republican, anti-light rail pals did when they fed the media their scary cost numbers on Prop 1) and the results I get are staggering. Rossi’s $15.5 billion plan, when you account for 4 percent annual inflation over a 30 year construction schedule, suddenly balloons to $50 billion dollars. And this doesn’t even include the interest on the bonds that would be needed to finance all of Rossi’s made up project cost estimates. So we would have to add all of the interest payments to the $50 billion number to get the true cost, well at least according to our friends in the “traditional media.”

You can do the math yourself with this handy little inflation calculator.

UPDATE [Lee]: This part from a post by Martin at the Seattle Transit Blog made me laugh:

So I looked to Dino Rossi’s Transportation Plan with hope and anticipation. I shouldn’t have. This document was first sent to me by a Gregoire operative; when your own campaign literature is being gleefully distributed by the other side, that’s a bad sign.

The Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally is a gathering place to unwind and talk politics. So please join us this evening for conversations over a drink.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us out on the back patio. We start at 8:00pm.

Chapters of Living Liberally are all over the place…if you can’t make it to the Seattle chapter, stop by another chapter near you.

John Oliver: Air traffic control

Reign of The Felon Von Shitzenpantz:

• Jen Psaki: Трамп’s “best people” are not doing very well; bad time to cut career public servants
• Parody Project: ♫ TACO BELLE—Трамп Always Chickens Out ♬
• LegalEagle: Harvard’s international students unbanned in record time
• JoJoFromJerz: The second season of this reality show features even more incompetence than the first
• Stephen: Трамп doesn’t read & who is FEMA kidding? & Kash Patel’s height
• Ari Melber: He went there! Musk SMEARS Трамп as messy feud explodes into 47’s crisis
• Patrick Fitzgerald: ♫ Something To TACO ‘Bout ♬:

• Lawrence O’Donnell: Трамп humiliated globally while Musk live-tweets Трамп’s Oval Office “stupidity festival”
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп—Bluster, and Lying, and BS, and Smoke and Mirrors ♬
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп’s big beautiful bill trashed by lEon, Dotard’s new portrait & it’s the golden age of stupid
• Knotheadusc: ♫ Slip Slidin’ Away (Felon edition) ♬
• Lewis Black: Harvard vs The White House
• Seth Meyers: Musk backs away from Трамп after DOGE failure; Трамп shares insane Biden clone theory
• Jon Stewart: Jon Stewart on Elon Musk’s black-eyed exit & Трамп’s insane new Biden conspiracy
• ScaredKetchup: ♫ FUCK Трамп—The Music Video ♬:

• LegalEagle: Court destroys Трамп’s “beautiful” tariffs
• Marilyn Dee: ♫ Hey, Orange-Faced Man, a TACO Трамп music video with tariffs, golf, resignation and trombones ♬
• Baby Трамп POTUS: Baby Трамп TACO crashes out on reporter
• Michael Kosta: lEon calls Трамп’s BBB “Disgusting abomination” & FEMA head learns about hurricanes
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп—An International Joke ♬
• Patrick Fitzgerald: ♫ TACO Man ♬
• Sandy and Richard Riccardi: ♫ Трамп’s for Sale ♬:

• Stephen: Joni Ernst, “We’re all going to die”; lEon’s cocktail, ecstasy, ketamine, shrooms; Biden robot clone
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп pushes crazy conspiracy Biden is a robot clone, weighs in on Diddy pardon & Elon says goodbye
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ You don’t have the cards, Dotard! ♬
• Jonathan Mann: ♫ Трамп vs. Eon (WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?) ♬

Jimmy Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship

Roll Call: DOGE eat DOGE—Congressional hits and misses of the week

Low-life Life and The Confederacy of Nazis, Thieves and Deplorables:

• Tommy Campbell: lEon and The Dotard’s fight escalates with Epstein bomb
• Christopher Titus: Breaking News—lEon versus Трамп
• John Waldron: The SECRET past of JD Vance NO ONE is talking about!
• Michael Kosta: lEon Musk is “butthurt” over Трамп bill that MTG didn’t even read
• John D. Cundle: ♫ Low Mileage Tesler (Divorce Sale Blues) ♬:

• Stephen: Inside the Musk-Трамп breakup & MTG didn’t read the BBB & Трамп’s attack on the LGBTQ+ community
• Jimmy Kimmel: lEon Goes NUCLEAR on Трамп, claims he’s in Epstein files & MAGA nuts downplay the rift between them
• Hitler Rants Parodies: Hitler informed about the Трамп-Musk feud
• Seth Meyers: Musk-Трамп feud goes nuclear as Musk lobs Epstein accusations & Трамп threatens SpaceX
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Stephen Miller’s Glowing! ♬
• Liberal Redneck: CATFIGHT! lEon and Трамп get sassy
• Brenna Perez: lEon bruisegate SOLVED?! Maybe.
• ScaredKetchup: ♫ We Are All Going To Die – The Music Video ♬
• Christopher Titus: High times at the White House:

• Tommy Campbell: Mike Lindell blames Satan and attacks defamation case judge
• Ari Melber: Трамп—Musk feud explodes! How the clash is threatening the GOP agenda
• Mr. Newberger’s AI Funnies: ♫ The Dotard Трамп is in the Epstein Files ♬
• Seth Meyers: Трамп “furious” after Musk rips his signature bill, calls it “disgusting abomination”
• Michael Kosta: Трамп and Musk feud goes nuclear, threats fly,& Kanye calls for ceasefire
• Lauren Mayer: ♫ (Joni Says) We’re All Gonna Die ♬:

• ScaredKetchup: Couples therapy with Трамп & lEon
• Rocky Mountain Mike: ♫ You Really Ought To Come To Iowa To Die ♬
• Ari Melber: He went there! Musk SMEARS Трамп as messy feud explodes into 47’s crisis
• Robert Reich: Medicaid work requirements, debunked
• Jabari Jones: Трамп—Deporting lEon
• Stephen: Musk-Трамп feud goes nuclear & DHS’s 22-year-old terrorism chief
• Liberal Redneck: Why do rural Americans vote for a party which so clearly hates them?

Vox: How the US created an ambulance crisis

LegalEagle: The real Social Security fraud

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Hey…it’s TACO Tuesday. And that means the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally will get together to discuss politics and whatnot over a drink.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the back room of the pub or, more likely, out on the back patio. We start at 8:00pm.

Chapters of Living Liberally are all over the place…if you can’t make it to the Seattle chapter, stop by another chapter near you.

Reign of The Felon Von Shitzenpantz:

• J-L Cauvin: The Dotard delivers West Point commencement address (2025)
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Once Трамп Keels Over ♬
• John D. Cundle: ♫ Трамп’s Royal Meltdown—“I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” ♬
• Lawrence O’Donnell: “Worldwide humiliation” for Трамп as court rules his tariff “madness” is unconstitutional
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп pardons reality TV stars, RFK Jr. dials back COVID vaccines & JD Vance grifts in Vegas
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп Downgrades America ♬
• J-L Cauvin: The Felon Von Shitzenpantz’s commencement speech for Idaho 2021
• Knotheadusc: ♫ If Not You… ♬
• Jimmy Kimmel: The Rabbit Hole—Is Трамп a time traveler?
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ J.D., Work Your Magic! ♬
• Robert Reich: The DOGE damage Elon is leaving behind
• John D. Cundle: ♫ Nasty Girl Reporter (T.A.C.O. Edition) ♬

• ScaredKetchup: The last Трамп show ever?
• John Waldron: PANICKED White House has MELTDOWN at Press briefing
• Mr. Newberger’s AI Funnies: ♫ Taco Taco Taco (Трамп Always Chickens Out) ♬
• J-L Cauvin: The Felon Von Shitzenpantz’s official 2025 Memorial Day message
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Трампp, the stupidest and most cowardly president in American history, backed down again
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ What the MAGA Faithful Fail to See ♬
• John D. Cundle: ♫ TACO Man–Трамп Always Chickens Out ♬
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп maintains focus on Трамп! ♬
• JoJoFromJerz: Let’s talk about Трамп’s small-in-the-pants birthday parade, shall we?
• Steve Shives: TACO—Трамп always chickens out:

• Ian Bremmer: Трамп targets Harvard—What’s at stake for US education & international students?
• J-L Cauvin: The Dotard reacts to getting called TACO
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп—He’s a Naughty Guy! ♬
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп blows up over TACO nickname, demands apology from 60 minutes & Elon leaves Washington
• Mr. Newberger’s AI Funnies: The Grifters, Episode
• John D. Cundle: Don’t Call Me T.A.C.O.!
• Lauren Mayer: ♫ Measles! ♬
• Jen Psaki: Federal trade court blocks Трамп’s sweeping tariffs for exceeding his authority
• Tommy Campbell: Трамп humiliated with new TACO Трамп name
• John D. Cundle: ♫ I’m Just a Taco ♬
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Tick Tock Tick Tock. Time’s Running Out for Трамп Too ♬:

• Knotheadusc: ♫ TACO, TACO, TACO… ♬
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп rants about scum in self-serving Memorial Day post & mad at KGBFF Putin

Mother Jones: America’s politicians are old. Let’s talk about it.

More Deplorables:

• Parody Project: ♫ Tesla Doggie ♬
• Chris Hayes: Bombshell new report on Musk’s “intense” use of ketamine and other drugs
• Lewis Black: RFK Jr. is still dumb
• Tommy Campbell: Melanie Трамп’s memoir is a deepfake grift
• Ari Melber: Elon Musk loses job, power and $50B! Musk’s losing bet in Трамп 2nd term
• Jimmy Kimmel: The Rabbit Hole—Exploring Elon

New York Times: How traffic stops are turning into immigration arrests

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Please join us this evening for some politics, conversation and drinks at this week’s meeting of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the back room of the pub or, maybe, out on the back patio. We start at 8:00pm.

Chapters of Living Liberally are all over the place…if you can’t make it to the Seattle chapter, stop by another chapter near you.

Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week

Reign of The Felon Von Shitzenpantz:

• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп’s Going Communist ♬
• SNL: Трамп Middle East trip
• Patrick Fitzgerald: ♫ By The Sea ♬
• Bill Hoover: ♫ Schemin for a Jet Plane ♬
• Christopher Titus: Трамп goes after BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN??
• J-L Cauvin: The Dotard explains why he loves White South Africans
• John D. Cundle: ♫ The Worst Wing ♬:

• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп pushes his big beautiful bill and has a two-hour call with Putin
• Ronny Chieng: Трамп blasts South Africa for “White genocide” & Трамп merch needs a spell check
• LegalEagle: The DOJ can’t stop screwing up
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Man/Baby Трамп—Someone Needs a Time-Out ♬
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп’s big beautiful bill passes the House, GOP creeps come out in force & profiting off Presidency
• Robert Reich: Трамп wants a new gilded age
• Stephen: Eat the tariffs & Трамп attacks Taylor Swift and threatens Springsteen & “Sesame Street” is saved
• John D. Cundle: ♫ Donnie, I Got Your Number ♬
• LegalEagle: The war for the Institute of Peace (and the death of Humphrey’s executor)
• Ronny Chieng: Трамп’s “big beautiful bill” passes House, takes from poor, gives to rich
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп—He’s Hot ♬
• SNL Weekend Update: Трамп accepts corrupt $400M jet bribe, RFK Jr. swims in sewage contaminated water
• Christopher Titus: Did the government just make immigration a game show?
• John Waldron: BREAKING: Трамп used FAKE DOCUMENTS during meeting!
• Randy Rainbow: ♫ That’s Трамп Derangement! ♬
• John Oliver: Трамп and the Press
• Glenn Kirschner: Three court losses for Von Shitzenpantz in 24 hours & Judge lectures Alina Habba about her job
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ When Трамп meets Jeffrey Epstein AGAIN ♬
• Steve Shives: Before you tell Springsteen to shut up and sing—shut up and listen
• John D. Cundle: ♫ Twist and Shout (and Deny!) ♬
• Scared Ketchup♫ The Krispy Gnome Song ♬
• The Late Show: How it feels to be Трамп’s Big Beautiful Bill
• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп sells the Presidency, spreads fake news about South Africa & rants about Qatar jet
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Трамп Pushes for RECORD National Debt Increase ♬
• Stephen: Where Трамп’s economy is headed, an his “Monroe Document”

Stella Magz: President Biden’s cancer diagnosis….

Deplorables:

• Steve Shives: Conspiracy theorist retires—“Real life has made me redundant”
• Jimmy Kimmel: Windmills
• Ross Childs: JD Vance commences the Naval grads
• Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Sorry if You’re Starving, Kids. (Billionaires Need Caviar) ♬
• LegalEagle: Who runs DOGE? A descent into madness
• Parody Project: ♫ SNIP SNIP ♬:

• Ronny Chieng: Kristi Noem plots citizenship Hunger Games & Kash Patel drops Epstein news
• Stephen: GOP can’t agree on the BBB & shopping for Air Force One & will Paramount hand The Dotard $50M?
• Jordan Klepper fingers the pulse: MAGA—The next generation
• Lauren Mayer: ♫ The Big Brazen Bill of Baloney ♬
• Charlamagne Tha God: Unpacking Republicans’ daddy issues with Трамп
• Tommy Campbell: Трамп watch arrives broken and it’s hilarious

Bruce W. Nelson: ♫ Man, I Miss Obama ♬

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.