“The decision strained court resources and seemed to be a direct attack on the will of voters, who elected this judge to decide these cases.”

When then-City Attorney Pete Holmes wanted Judge Ed McKenna off the court, and the King County public defenders removed as many cases as possible from his court, the Stranger had absolutely no objections of any kind whatsoever, and even approvingly (!) referred to the action as a “coup”:

‘There is a coup going on in Seattle’s Municipal Courts: Public defenders are filing affidavits of prejudice against Judge Ed McKenna at a rate 10 times higher than his colleagues in an attempt not only to get a different judge but to highlight how public defenders have lost confidence in Judge McKenna. According to Crosscut, McKenna was previously asked by City Attorney Pete Holmes and Anita Khandelwal, the director of the Department of Public Defense, to step down on accusations of prejudice, but McKenna refused. Now McKenna is being removed from the equation by a united front of public defenders that simply switch judges if he’s assigned to their case. One official called it essentially “a vote of no confidence” in McKenna’s ability to serve.’

https://www.thestranger.com/news/2019/05/17/40232579/slog-am-taiwan-legalizes-same-sex-marriage-seattle-judge-ostracized-by-public-defenders-liz-warren-wants-to-protect-abortion

Why is it now so bad when City Attorney Davison does the exact same thing?

there goes the radical extremist activist "supreme court" making up laws that never existed to get rid of LAWS THAT HAVE EXISTED SINCE THE CIVIL WAR.

Time to replace the entire bench.

@3: Section 5 is really clear: "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."

It was a unanimous ruling.

The 2021-2023 Dem-majority Congress should have done it. Or tried it. Not sure if the stupid filibuster would have applied.

Gosh, another Monday already.

At the risk of sounding like a Trump sup…coughchoke*cough*…porter, it really isn’t up to individual states to determine who’s fit to be on a presidential ballot. That would start a dangerous precedent. If someone meets the age and natural born requirement, a state cannot object. To do so individually would throw elections into the courts for years. None of us wants that, yes? And if someone has actively insurrected against the US, then only Congress can say, “No way, Jose.”

It's not up to individual Secretaries of State to determine who’s fit to be President. It’s up to the voter – God help us. So, blame them. SCOTUS has accidentally made the correct decision on this one. Don’t get me wrong. The decision is based on lots of self-service, but this time it didn’t interfere with justice. I’m sure we are in for more Trump-related decisions where this won’t be the case. Clarence just got a call from Jen who wanted to know where is she supposed to put all these goddamn Omaha Steaks.

Capitol Hill: Where have all the gay men gone? Long time passing. Where have all the gay men gone? Long time ago.

France, if you had the money to spare, has been a wonderful abortion holiday destination for decades. You walk into a clinic, take two pills, go back to your hotel, rest for a day, and it is over, baby. Then, it’s off to the Eiffel Tower and the Picasso Museum. None of this grief and guilt shit.

You know what? Spirit Airlines isn’t all that cheap. I have had a couple of friends and family try them out (never again was the consensus). They say with all the additional charges – everything, EVERYTHING, is extra on Spirit – it all comes out the same pricewise. My sister, who doesn’t travel with a lot of heavy luggage, was charged an additional $150 for it PHX-LAX. Bargain?

Pardon me, but I’m so fed up with people who steal. I’m fed up with people who think it’s an option. It’s one thing during Hurricane Katrina to go looking for bottled water. It’s another to take advantage of every fucking opportunity to take things that aren’t yours to take. How are we to improve living standards and our lives when you have to plan so thoroughly for ruthlessness? It’s fucking why you now have to wait twenty minutes for an attendant to retrieve some razors out of the vault.

Thank goodness for governmental oversight. Is it just natural now for companies big and small to take advantage of and cheat their employees?

So…I turned seventy-two last week and with that came some changes. Mentally, I think, I’m pretty much the same guy, but my living situation is evolving. My new environment won’t provide the access I’ve had to Slog, and I think it’s probably safe to say my time as a contributor here – maybe twenty-five years? - has come to an end.

Thanks to all for sharing your opinions. I’ve enjoyed reading the great majority of them. Some of you have written things that have cracked me up for hours – not only because the words are funny but because of the quick, witty brilliance behind them. I’ve always admired quick, witty brilliance. Sexiest thing on Earth, by the way, other than Ryan Gosling who still refuses to return my calls.

Whatever tiny vacuum this departure creates will be equilibrated immediately. I have no doubt. I wish for all of us a brighter future than the one we have imagined. Be well. Be happy. It’s been fun. It’s been enlightening, and thanks.

The Donner party eating each other sounds painful.

@7 Happy belated birthday. Your comment is sad news (for me). I wish you the best in your new stage of life.

I think it's time for me to give up on reading the Slog comment section. Seeing Ahab, tensorna, etc predictable comments just makes me angry.

At last Cleveland has a running game! It’s too late for the football playoffs, however.

@7
Bauhaus I -happy belated birthday, and congratulations on being a Pisces! Here’s wishing you the very best now and always! Enjoy the LA sunshine!

Trotting Kamala out for the ceasefire may be a sign the DNC is ready to drop Biden, whose favorability ratings are now lower than Hillary's were in August 2016.

Bauhaus I @7: "... but my living situation is evolving. My new environment won’t provide the access I’ve had to Slog, and I think it’s probably safe to say my time as a contributor here – maybe twenty-five years? - has come to an end."

Sorry to hear. Always enjoy your lengthy, self-deprecating, not-too-heavy posts. Au revoir. Will be pleasantly surprised if you resurface here some day. Hey, if there is a here some day. (I'm feeling a sense of déjà vu writing that. ... And apparently I'm reverting to French now.)

@7:

Happy birthday, and sad to see you go. There aren't many of us OG Sloggers left on the field these days, but I absolutely respect your decision to step away. Good luck with things, and I hope you still get a chance to check in now and then.

Is Scalia back in charge of the Supreme Court?

It sure seems so.

@7: What @14 and @15 said. I’ve always enjoyed your comments! I very much hope you do continue to contribute here, if that’s what you want. Otherwise, sayonara, and have a great post-Slog retirement!

I truly don’t understand the thinking behind groups like Listen to Michigan or the SECB backing "uncommitted" as they know a Trump presidency would be an unmitigated disaster (thus it’s an empty threat). Even in Listen to Michigan’s FAQ they admit as much…

“We are well-aware that Trump is not our friend. There is a long time between now and November for Biden to change his policies and earn support from Democratic voters.”

I get Biden is not everyone’s preferred candidate but he’s the only one in the race (and no @13, the Dems are not going to drop Joe for Kamala - as much as republicans would love that to be the case).

Bauhaus I @7: I, too, have always enjoyed your takes and have valued your contributions to the dialogue. Best wishes for you!

YeahMeToo @9: Respectfully, I disagree. Slog comments are one of the last places locally where the back and forth is (mostly) respectful and thought-provoking on any number of topics. I especially appreciate hearing from different and opposing viewpoints.

If Democrats go with Kamala Harris for President, they will lose decisively. I hope there is a backup

Despite the hysterical predictions of doom, Americans recall that they survived four years of Trump. At this point, Biden can no longer use the specter of Trump as an unlimited get-out-of-jail-free card with the Dem base while simultaneously ensuring that there is no other government in the world doing as much, every day, to support and defend what Israel is doing in Gaza than the US is. It seems very unlikely that the historically elderly and unpopular Biden would make it through his entire second term (wherein he would turn 86!) before the handoff to Kamala, so why not bite the bullet and put her in position now?

@18 If Biden were 10 points ahead of Trump right now, I'd agree. But he isn't. If he can't get his numbers up by midsummer, he needs to either find his way to a graceful exit or be nudged into a maybe-less-than-graceful one. Voting uncommitted helps ensure that second option is available if needed. Hopefully it won't be.

Whoever had the brilliant idea to short circuit an "uncommitted" vote to their own ends reminds me when a campus coalition on a Wednesday, called Friday 'coalition' Blue Day, and said that anyone wearing 'blue jeans' on Friday was an ally and a supporter.
Grow up soon, please?
The incident is horrific. This incident actually redefines horrific in a race below the bottom in a hellish fight to redefine "inhumane," from both the IDF and Hamas. All of that posturing, violence, and death with total disregard for the Citizens of Gaza.
No panty waist group claiming control over what my vote might mean, will have the first erg of traction to influence a sovereign nation on what they consider a national existential threat. I am not excusing it, or agreeing with it, but the godawful fucks with targeting control are using it.
Leave the election out of it, limp minded attention hogs.

Bingo Garbby!
very well Put.

gonna Miss ya Bauhaus1!

thanks for all the commentary
optimism laffs & shocking
Remedies you’ve offered

Good Luck!
& Happy
Trails!

The notion that you can play these kind of games (voting uncommitted / threatening to withhold support) in the primary and then have everything come up roses in the general is a fools errand. The voters that are generally supporting this nonsense are the younger and more idealistic crowd. They are much more likely to stay home come the general out of some misguided notion of protest than they are to suddenly use logic to vote in their own best interests. We have seen time and again from progressives that idealogical purity is valued above all else. To be clear, nothing is going to change either because the vast majority of the party supports Israel and understands Hamas is a terroristic, authoritarian state who left intact will almost assuredly kill more innocent people in the future while also inflicting terror and suffering on their own people.

While I think its great TS is applauding France for enshrining abortion rights in their constitution I think its worth noting France allows no cause abortions up to 14 weeks which is much, much less than the 24 weeks currently allowed in WA state. I can only imagine if the WA state legislature passed a similar measure TS would be up in arms about that.

On another note, the Supreme Court voting 9-0 here was interesting, and no doubt confusing to those who expect such things to follow pure partisan stances.

Shit, I think most of what I know about theater and showtunes was learned from reading Bauhaus I's comments on slog! Sorry to hear it, but enjoy the next phase of your life and please come back and say hi whenever you've the chance!

Bye, Bauhaus. I dunno why you won't have access to Slog, other than you're going to be living (without Internet or a Smort Fone) out in the woods somewheres.

Yeesh. And they tell me I do run-on sentences.

@34 You seem to be having some kind of aneurysm, so might I recommend you actually read Trump's Jan 6th speech to calm down? No reasonable person would believe there's anything meaningfully about incitement or insurrection in there - he spends most of it complaining about various celebrities in typical Trumpian fashion. I'm sure he was pleased when a bunch of Boomers then had a rowdy protest and wandered around the Capitol for a couple hours, but insurrection? Nah. You've been driven into a frenzy by media sensationalism, but at the end of the day Biden's ratings are in the abyss and Trump may well have this one, he's going to do some stuff you and I won't like, but ultimately you'll be okay. Don't let media hysteria make you like this. Just take a breath.

@37 Yes, I imagine they did get a little scared having angry constituents that close for the first time before Trump finally told the Boomers to knock it off, but the reaction has just been absurd.

@36,

"...a bunch of boomers had a rowdy protest and wandered around the Capitol for a couple hours..."

That's a rowdy protest that killed a police officer (and six civilians) and injured another 174 police officers. Four more officers committed suicide in the months following this "rowdy protest" as a direct result of the emotional trauma suffered therein.

It was an insurrection. Go away. Take "bertha" with you.

@40 I don't know who "Bertha" is but don't just try to remove everyone with different opinions than you (I of course won't "go away" anywhere as my replies tend to spawn massive comment sections and engagement and the Stranger should probably pay me). Try to internalize that for all the bleating about how we all need to vote for Biden or reality itself will collapse or whatever, as impossible as it may seem now in 20 years people will barely remember who "Trump" or "Biden" even were any more than kids today have much of an idea who "George Bush" is. When that passes, we'll probably all wish we attempted to understand other points of view a little more and engaged in a little less political derangement. Just an idea!