Slog AM: Kamala Officially Makes History, Bannon Charged With Fraud, Kremlin Critic Drinks "Poison" Tea



"And so long as Mayor Durkan, Seattle Police Officer Guild President Mike Solan and Chief Best continue to make excuses for the failures of police reform in Seattle ..."

Did one of them say "we're committed to making reforms, but it's just not in our budget" -- or something like that?

I'd love to see an example of one of these "excuses". Were they actually said or written or is this just the common rhetorical phrase? It's a quip that is so baked into our lexicon for any argument on any issue. I'm sure I've used it myself, oblivious to its emptiness.

I don't fault Oliver for using it. It's just one of the ways where language is hindering us in achieving common ground.


What's most amazing about the Dems Day 3 (to me at least) is seeing Giffords' one minute speech. The fact that she can speak coherently at all is remarkable!
Some other politicians, who don't have an excuse, are not nearly as articulate.


@1 I think probably "police procedure is not my responsibility and even if it was I couldn't do anything because of a Federal consent decree" could be counted as making an excuse. But whatever critiques of rhetoric you might have, it remains a fact that the need for police reform has been recognized and acknowledged for decades now but it never actually happens. Just more kinds of training for personnel to ignore when it matters.


I loved Nancy Pelosi's speech in front of the Golden Gate. She looked great.


Wouldn't it be Nice if cops (finally) stopped all the lynchings?

“Though Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said further removals [of Crucial letter/ballot Sorting machines] would be put on pause until after the election, USPS declined to say whether these machines would be put back into service.”

Here’s the Thing, Postmaster General /Massive trumpf supporter also announced: ”to be Fair, Republicans SUCK at Policy affecting ordinary Americans so we can NOT have everyone voting in this, or in ANY Elections. Bilionaires [like me] are fighting Hard for US rich people , so all ya’lls Peons can go Fuck Off whilst we Rig tf outta this one, too.”

Such frankness was rare (and damn nice!) to see in any Reptilican since Stonewall Jackson.

“A cable barrier has been installed along a section of the US-Canada border in Washington state: US Border Patrol says its installation will help curb ‘dangerous criminal enterprises.’”

Trumpfy’s building his walls, fences, cable barriers and shit not to keep off-White Refugees out, but to keep US Citizens IN as a source of free, or really cheap labor.

“Allegedly, [disheveled far far FAR "right" trumpf campaign genius Steve] Bannon and three others defrauded donors for their own personal profit after raking in over $25 million.”

Not to Worry: Bannon’s Pardon’s already In The Mail.

Trumpfy may not trust Your Vote-by-Mail
but it’s definitely Good Enough for Fake “prez.”


'I'm sure I've used it myself, oblivious to its emptiness.'

Oh, say it aint so.

George Orwell's 1st rule of Writing:


Generally an excellent rule worth following. Of course, there are times when cliches are useful, but generally speaking, they should be avoided.

They are the crutch of lazy writers. Figures of speech are intended to give the reader new and creative ways of looking at things.

Care to guess his 2nd?


"Last week’s cuts to the salaries of Best and her command staff show that the Seattle City Council started to do what is necessary to make this change."

So short-sighted. Good luck finding a replacement at half the salary of other big cities. Pretty words can't change that reality.


the republican party is a money laundering front for scam artists & it's refreshing to see someone besides the president on the take for a change


@ 8,

We’re gonna be hearing about the impudent, depraved criminality of all of these Tr666p degenerates for the rest of our lives. It’ll be like Nixon times a million.


Kamala Harris, Barack and Michelle Obama have all given some of the most incredible political speeches in our history within the last two weeks. No matter what happens, these women and men are inspiring AF.



I don't know. Syphilis and dementia might be considered valid excuses.


@6 - Since you brought it up, I take exception to a few of Mr. Orwell's rules:

Well, literature and conversation would be pretty boring if this was adhered to.

Rule 2 - Never use a long word where a short one will do.
I agree with this. (Especially for a UI).

Rule 3 - If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Very true in technical docs, but otherwise not an absolute, as writers paint with their prose. A word may seem unnecessary, but subsequent reading may give it life again.

Rule 4 - Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Generally true. But text where writers have to go out of their way to make it active can make the sentence too complex.

Rule 5 - Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Oh yeah - 'Want to come over for dinner? We're having bœuf bourguignon'. So say beef stew? Puh-leeeze.

Rule 6 - Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.


Of course Oliver will see the mayor and chief as making excuses to prohibit reform because in her view the issue isn't the Seattle PD, its law enforcement as an institution. In the past she has stated the police should be abolished in favor of community led rehabilitation so short of disbanding the police dept there is nothing the mayor, the council or anyone at the SPD can do that will satisfy her calls for reform. I don't believe law enforcement is inherently racist and I think the council and Oliver will find the vast majority of people who live in Seattle and the surrounding communities will also reject her views. The issue with the process the council is following has been and continues to be that they are only listening to extremist activists like Oliver without questioning the veracity of her claims.



Trump does have an excuse. He's stupid as shit.

It is what it is.


None of the Presidents tactics are new. They teach all of that to car salesmen, it's gross but it works on most people and that's why they do it. If you ever worked at a car dealership you rather

A) were in sales, used these tactics and approve of Trump


B) actually did real work and recognize this shit and find it disgusting.

I asked a salesman one time what he says if a customer tells him the product is shi t. He told me and I quote "Shit tastes good, have some more and they always say ok"


email has existed for over 2 decades so one would have to be a complete tool to think that explains the sudden urgency to kneecap the post office in the middle of a pandemic a few months shy of an election where a record number of americans will be voting absentee


@15 There's more bulk mail today than there was before the internet became ubiquitous, and far more home USPS package delivery than there used to be.

Removing the sorting machines, together with other anti-delivery measures, has caused substantial, well-documented delays, notably for prescription medication. Removing them was a deliberate act of sabotage, not a routine volume adjustment.

@2 Christ, you just had to go with "articulate," didn't you.


@21 A nice little barb, but then again, Carver might have been a little too impressed with his own notions of writing.

"There are a few scholars, actual or potential, in the audience today, but only a few, and there is certainly none on the platform. Most of us are pseudo-scholars, and I want to consider our characteristics with sympathy and respect, for we are a very large and quite a powerful class, eminent in Church and State, we control the education of the Empire, we lend to the Press such distinction as it consents to receive, and we are a welcome asset at dinner-parties."

--E.M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel


Canada: We need a wall to keep diseased Americans out of the country- and they're going to pay for it.

US: How about a cable instead?


Bannon? Man, who would have guessed? Next you'll tell me Don Jr wouldn't have gotten where he is without nepotism. Gonna need a minute to digest all this new information. Really makes you think.


@22 - First-class mail delivery times are up an average of 25% since DeJoy took over, according to a piece I read yesterday. The VA is apparently looking into other means of delivery for prescriptions.


i guess after spending 4 years supporting an administration rife with investigations, convictions and disgraced resignations a guilty plea from an obama-era fbi laywer feels like christmas or something


@24 The Obama administration did not remove machines that were sill needed, and still within their rated lifespan. Nor did any other adminstration, until Trump's.

There have been no new employees hired to replace the sabotaged machines as mail sorters. Instead, existing employees have been taken from their existing duties to sort mail, manually, resulting in long delays across all services.

Try again.


@22 - I meant that for

Why, oh why, can we not edit our posts?


@30 * (citations needed).


...and do give us a shout when you've got the VA's budget estimate for switching to an alternate means of medication delivery.


@33 Why oh why, indeed.


@35 You're supposed to fall asleep. That's the point.

But I guess it's one a writing nerd doesn't need to hear, eh?


@20 - Almost 5 decades actually


@40 Same way you hurt Tinkerbell, I reckon.


@33, @37

I'd settle for being able to block certain users.

The sorting machines are not going to be put back in service. Many have been disassembled and there's also an order not to put them back in service.




Nothing new here. I'm pretty sure he'll be pardoned by dinner time.


@23 Sucks that Obama wanted to make a big deal about Russian election interference but Mitch McConnell told him it would be too political to bring up the Russians helping the Republicans in the summer of 2016. Yes, yes I do wish Obama had told McConnell to pound sand. Also, don't forget that a bipartisan Senate panel just released their review of the Russian interference, declaring that the Trump campaign (particularly Manafort) was a "grave national security risk." So it does kind of make sense to have law enforcement and intelligence agencies looking into grave notional security risks.

Also, I think you're off the talking points. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to admit that the Russians interfered in the election.


@ 42,

“In all, 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned since the days when the first-time candidate promised that he would only hire "the best people."

That was as of January 2020, and the numbers have only gone up since then. Criminals always surround themselves with other criminals.


I want to see a vid of the drive through haunted house! So far only seen stills.


@40: Yeah but nobody (except Putin perhaps) would have ever thought that a US President would use the post office to steal an election.


zen koan: is a stopped clock right twice a day if it’s being sarcastic?


It was a scam from the start. They took your money and bought plastic surgery and a boat with it.


I'm suggesting that the effect of racism runs far deeper than who gets inducted into a hall of fame. The argument is not to give awards to people who don't deserve them but to point out the role that bigotry plays in keeping people from making it far enough in a given field to be considered worthy of being honored in the first place. People acknowledge a lack of elite representation to underline this point, not to demand recognition that hasn't been earned.


Feds weren't spying on Trump back in 2016 - they were monitoring Russian gangsters when Trump showed up on the other end of the line.

Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.


Waking up to the news about Bannon was priceless (and arrested by agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is the criminal investigating arm of the Postal Service, no less)!!!

As was the judge throwing out Trump's lawsuit fighting the subpoena for his financial information. Tick Tock Trump, Tick Tock.

Meanwhile, people really need to keep the pressure on their Congressional representatives because DeJoy has no intention of undoing the damage he's done, has not stopped doing the damage he has been doing, and is quite certain he will not be held accountable in any way. DeJoy needs to be removed and charged with the crimes of tampering with the mail and tampering with a presidential election. If Congress actually were to do its job, DeJoy would be impeached and removed and Trump would be impeached (again) and removed. Enough of this bullshit. Sitting around and watching this happen and doing nothing is absolute insanity.



If the chief of a police department can't control their employees or prevent them from running around like authoritarian goon-squads, then what's the point of even having one? At least it'll put pressure on the Mayor to exert some authority, and if they can't do it either that would seem to be pretty indicative that SPD is nothing more than a rogue-actor operating outside the bounds of both the law they swore an oath to uphold and what every citizen has a right to expect as part of the broader social contract.


Yeah, it totally makes sense that you'd pull the "if you think about racism you must be a racist" card, because that's definitely a position worthy of defending, amiright? Also, I assume the irony is lost on you that you TALKING about racism would certainly fall under that same rubric, unless, like some people we could mention, you just spew words out of your hamberder-hole WITHOUT thinking about it first, which, frankly, wouldn't surprise me in the least.


@59 Failed crony capitalist and corporate welfare queen Curt Schilling too. ell oh ell.


They’ve probably taken away mailboxes in certain parts of Shoreline, because it’s got a lot of sketchy neighborhoods, but in the rest of the nation the mail still goes out.



It's just like, "every time a child stops believing in Santa Claus, an elf dies"...


LOL well that took less time than predicted.

Not long after Stephen Bannon was indicted as part of an allegedly fraudulent wall-building scheme, Donald Trump was asked for his reaction. True to form, the president pretended to barely know his former chief strategist -- a go-to move Trump has relied on throughout his presidency.


tbf trump gave sloppy steve the 'i don't know her' treatment years ago when he badmouthed the president in that micheal wolff book


@62: Don't bash Shoreline. It really is worth the drive up Aurora to avoid paying the soda tax and to have a choice between plastic and paper bags.


Top Republican National Security Officials Say They Will Vote for Biden

In a letter released hours before Joe Biden is set to deliver his nomination acceptance speech, over 70 senior officials called President Trump “unfit to lead” and outlined their support for his opponent.

Four years after 50 of the nation’s most senior Republican national security officials warned that Donald J. Trump “would be the most reckless president in American history,” they are back with a new letter, declaring his presidency worse than they had imagined and urging voters to support former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The new letter, released just hours before Mr. Biden formally accepts the nomination, lays out a 10-point indictment of Mr. Trump’s actions, accusing him of undermining the rule of law, aligning himself with dictators and engaging “in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as president.”


by David E. Sanger; Aug. 20, 2020

more at:

It's Good to see Repubs are not all Idiots.
Thanks, gawd.


@49 Ha Ha Ha! If it wasn't for those pesky Obama holdovers Paul Manafort could still be hiding millions of dollars and conspiring with Russian oligarchs. And Roger Stone could keep working with Wikileaks to obtain stolen emails that Trump could pretend to not know about. And Jeffrey Epstein would still be alive to rape children. Only the best!


What's so ridiculous about using GM mosquitoes to kill off an invasive species that spreads diseases like Zika?



There was no failed impeachment. He was impeached. Now let's see if we can get him in prison. Lock him up! Or maybe his buddy Putin will have him over for tea...


@34 - And I double-checked that @ this time. It was a CNN, story although I misspoke; the average 25% delay is only in reference to medications. The story is "US Postal Service Delays Force Department of Veteran Affairs to Shift Prescription Delivery Methods" on CNN website.

Although anecdotally, I've been experiencing what seems like significant mail delays myself, as have family members I've mentioned it to, so maybe it is something like 25% across the board, after all.


@69 What's so ridiculous about introducing mongooses to kill off an invasive species that spreads diseases like bubonic plague?

What's so ridiculous about introducing Compsilura concinnata to kill gypsy moths?

What's so ridiculous about introducing kudzu to control erosion?

etc etc etc


@72 Yeah no I completely misinterpreted your comment as a claim that mail was 25% FASTER now. Bleh.


Orwell didn't say don't use metaphor, he said don't use stale metaphors. I don't see why it would make writing boring if people used novel and creative figurative language.

No future administration is going to hold a former one accountable for anything. To use a stale metaphor, you guys are banging your heads against the wall again and again and expecting a different outcome. It's like none of you remember the 00s. Everyone said the same about Bush and the neocons, not only did the Dems never hold any of them responsible, but they are now taking their money and letting them speak at their convention. And the current president campaigned on a platform of locking up the former SoS accountable then didn't even try to do it. Maybe you guys thought the impeachment show was more than TV too?

And Melania is a terrible person who knows exactly what she's doing. She wouldn't leave him unless it worked to her advantage, and in that case it would not hurt him because it's a transactional relationship anyway. Trump will die sad and alone regardless because he's a miserable person who is incapable of loving anyone- he's been this way for decades. It's possible Ivanka could be his Cordelia, but no one is going to come along and hang them.


Seems kinda weird that a guy who's pleased with the way his city is run would spend so much of his life bitching about the way someone else's city is run.

I guess it's no worse than other harmless kinks though, so you do you guy.


Oh David. You’re so uptight all the time. Why don’t you walk over to Aurora and get yourself a sex worker? That stretch between the Safeway and the Deseret Industries store has lots to choose from. An orgasm can really work wonders when it comes to adjusting one’s attitude.

Or, at the very least, try to get more fiber in your diet. There’s got to be a restaurant in Shoreline that isn’t fast food!


@81 Ah, I see, so the city you live in can't provide you with a job you want.

But it's totally well-run. The best.


Robotslave dear, that’s not fair. Shoreline is a bedroom city. It wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for Seattle.

I think we can all agree that they did a very nice job with the new streetlights on Aurora Avenue. And the North City Street improvements are quite nice also. (All things considered. It is North City, after all)

It’s just too bad that they had to finance those public works projects on the backs of their electric customers because the city lacked the tax revenue. But that’s a bedroom city for you.


@83 If you're employed in Seattle, your employer should be dealing with City Light, not you. If you're a business owner in Seattle, and you don't like the way the city is run, then shouldn't you simply move your business to somewhere you believe to be better-run?

Seems to me any interaction you have with City Light is entirely your choice. You believe in that, right? Personal choice?


David dear, if you work hard and apply yourself at your job (I.e. don’t spend all day on Slog bitching about the power company) you may “make good”, and be able to afford a place in Seattle. You’ll find that the city electric rates are much lower: none of those surcharges that Shoreline has, and the base rates are lower too, as the city of shoreline bumps the rates up a bit. Every little bit of revenue is magic for a bedroom community!


@85 We haven't formally done pronouns around here. I've mentioned I prefer he/him once, in hopes of starting something that would irritate the trolls, but it didn't take.

Without knowing Catalina's preference, I'd go with a condescending but gender neutral "dear" to evade the issue, if I felt the occasion called for it.


Robotslave, Shoreline is in the City Light Service territory. It runs up to the King/Snohomish county line on the north, and down to s 160th Street on the south.


@89 And those are your only two choices? Seattle or Shoreline?

Do you have to wear an ankle bracelet or something along those lines?


@7 the city of Seattle proper has less than a million, about 800k or so. That’s what SPD patrols. In terms of size of city for the police to patrol Seattle doesn’t make the top ten.


@90, sure, but in @81 David tells us that the reason he spends so much of his life carping about Seattle is that he is compelled to make a living here.

Which raises the question of why he's made the personal choices he complains so bitterly about.


Seattle Guy, as a mannequin, I am genderless. But I present as a woman.

And I never wear pants. It’s too complicated to dress me. Right now I’m wearing a leopard print caftan.


@94 They must be, if you can't manage to find your way out of the place to escape the public utility you find so loathsome.


David Dear, I’ll never get tired of helping you work on your reading comprehension skills. If you want to get ahead at a job in Seattle, you need to be mentally sharp! But let’s be more specific, just for you.....

“Shoreline is in the City Light Service territory. It (I.e. the City Light Service Territory) runs up to the King/Snohomish county line on the north, and down to s 160th Street on the south.”

Maybe your first clue should have been that there’s no such thing as a S. 160th st. in Shoreline? After all, Shoreline uses Seattle address formatting. All the streets, avenues, etc in Shoreline have the address designations of “N” (North) “NE” (Northeast) and “NW” (Northwest).


@97 I am not wondering about the past, David, I am wondering about the present.

Why do you continue to choose to earn your livelihood in a place you spend so much of your present-day life bitching about?

If it's so awful, why, all the businesses and discerning customers must be fleeing it in droves, offering ample opportunity beyond the foul emerald tentacles of this rotting liberal metropolis, no? Why haven't you joined them?


When I have a bad day nothing cheers me up like watching Catalina daintily eviscerate Dave in Shoreline.
And Robotslave! Lovely work. Kudos.



It's almost as when Xina destroys Feebs. This has been a fun Slog AM comments section. Well done everyone.


@101: It's not done without the grizelda awards.


@85: I get the impression that Cataline is everyone's favorite, on Slog or offline.

Kind of like how David in Shoreline is no one's favorite, on Slog or offline.


@104: Awww. Don't be mean now.


Haha, yeah RD, you're right! Auntie G, who wins the AM?


14 District 13 Refugee It upsets you that an outspoken socialist woman speaks out about corporate gangsters that have turned this city upside down not for the better Oh my!!!!! And she was voted in twice.

70 Um, errr, Seattle guy? Are you telling us that desperate, poor women who are drug addicts and the homeless should be dealt with by the police? Are you that confused that you cannot see that poverty and lack of humane solutions are instrumental in the misery you see?
But your answer is the police to create what you call clean streets?
We know those women and many of us have been homeless. Do you need to dehumanize them and us? Are you that out of touch with that much of the world?


Repressives are Terrified if they should somehow lose Control those they oppressed may treat them as they were treated -- because they think everyone else thinks like they do: that there's only room for a Select Few at the tippy top and all others must get the jackbootheel.

But there's more than enough for all

but NOT when the very few
can take so fucking Much.


It also bothers the comfortable and the privileged that Ms. Oliver speaks out and lets them know that people are no longer willing to put up with the killings and the horror of the prison industrial complex starting with the city of Seattle. BLM.


@107: I hope UMERSG responds, but in case he doesn't - he really is a progressive lib and you're being way over-dramatic over his casual pop-culture characterization of that neighborhood.



But there's more than enough for all

but NOT when the very few
can take so fucking Much.