Take a minute to [un]wind with our Sunday morning newsletter. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week.
Squandering the Senate:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seemed glum this week as he weighed the prospects of Republicans retaking the U.S. Senate.
“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate, McConnell said. “Senate races are just different, they’re statewide. Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”
I tend to share McConnell’s concerns about candidate quality (hear my thoughts from Friday’s episode at the 1:20 mark).
Donald Trump, on the other hand, laid the blame squarely on McConnell – in a way only the former president would.
"Why do Republicans Senators allow a broken-down hack politician, Mitch McConnell, to openly disparage hard working Republican candidates for the United States Senate," Trump wrote in a social media post. "This is such an affront to honor and to leadership. He should spend more time (and money!) helping them get elected, and less time helping his crazy wife and family get rich on China!"
Yikes.
Understandable that Trump would take issue with McConnell’s slight considering he’s personally endorsed many of the GOP senate candidates competing in November, but his attack on McConnell underscores the seriousness of the rift in the party.
If Republican factions can’t put their differences aside come November, they can kiss any remaining chance of a red wave goodbye.
Housing without help?:
Local governments have been on a buying spree, scooping up vacant hotels to use as housing for the homeless. In theory, it’s a good idea – I’ve always wondered why we didn’t make better use of existing spaces (like empty malls or defunct big box stores) to get people off the streets.
But what happens once they’re there is just as important as getting them there in the first place.
In Snohomish County, Washington, the county council voted this week to purchase a vacant hotel – but held off on deciding whether to require its future occupants to undergo drug treatment as a condition of occupancy (only if, of course, they have a drug dependency problem).
The commonsense proposal was put forth by County Councilman Nate Nehring, who joined Wednesday’s subscriber only episode to talk about it (Watch it at the 16:40 mark).
“The more that we as a society can push them in the right direction to make the decision to get treatment, to get healthy, and to get them back on their feet – the better,” he said.
As it stands, the council intends to make wraparound services (like drug and mental health counseling) an optional part of the hotel program, but some fear that making it mandatory would only keep people on the streets.
A look at Seattle’s drug crisis:
On Monday, former KOMO-TV reporter Jonathan Choe joined [un]Divided to talk about his latest project (Choe now covers homelessness for Discovery Institute). You can watch our interview at the 10:15 mark.
Choe and I discussed his new series, “Seattle’s Unending Drug Crisis,” which takes an up-close look at how crime, drug abuse, and homelessness intersect to create a true wasteland in the heart of the city.
Like the now infamous “Seattle is Dying” report, Choe’s work gives an unflinching view of the true state of a once great city – but does so without all the cheesy storytelling. Give it a watch, I think you’ll find it eye opening: https://fixhomelessness.org/2022/seattles-unending-drug-crisis/
Housekeeping!
Correction: On Friday's episode, I referred to Mitch McConnell as the Senate Majority Leader. He is the Senate Minority Leader. Wishful thinking?
Locals supporters: Our next LIVE subscriber Q&A will be Sunday, August 28, at 8pm. Look out for a link with more information and get your best questions ready. If you haven’t joined one of our Q&A’s already – stop on by and hang out (virtually, of course)!
Have a great week – thank you all for supporting our mission to bring common sense back to news and politics.
Scott Presler crisscrosses Washington, urging civic engagement. Seattle finally admits the extent of its police staffing crisis. A possible blow to ‘harm reduction.’ Dem leaders are gearing up to blame Trump for new taxes. Governor DeSantis questions whether all legal immigration is good immigration.
Prefer to listen? https://audioboom.com/posts/8808989-when-we-fight-we-win-11-20-25
As Washington state heads toward economic ruin, remember that Democrats ignored the warnings. Americans are toying with a dangerous ideology. More taxes to fund public safety, but how much will actually go toward hiring police? Joy Reid sees the light.
Prefer to listen? https://audioboom.com/posts/8808485-actions-have-consequences-11-19-25
Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction doesn’t think it matters how many sexual partners students have. Trump once again threatens to move the World Cup from Seattle. Democrats in Olympia keep trying to lower punishments for sexual predators. Trump’s love affair with McDonalds.
Prefer to listen? https://audioboom.com/posts/8807912-safe-sex-is-fascist-11-18-25
These remarks were delivered to the Snohomish County Lincoln Day Dinner on May 17, 2024.
The following remarks were delivered to the Whatcom County Lincoln Day Dinner on March 23, 2024, in Ferndale, Washington.
I struggled with what to talk to you about tonight.
Well, that’s not true. I didn't struggle with what to talk to you about – I struggled with whether I was brave enough to say what I wanted to say.
When I'm invited to speak to groups, I don't want to offend anyone or be too controversial. So, I reached out to a few of your fellow party members to ask whether any topics were off limits or wouldn't go over well with the crowd.
I got some good advice.
Then I decided to ignore that good advice entirely.
Too much is at stake to be polite.
As we sit here tonight, we are in the final battle of a war.
A war that has pit sanity against insanity.
Pragmatism against idealism.
A war that has sacrificed the public good, in favor of a twisted idea of progress.
It's a war that began long before I moved here 15 years ago. It started silently and it was mostly waged in the shadows.
Most of us didn't even realize that a war was being fought. We were too caught up in our own lives and our own problems. ...
Scott Presler crisscrosses Washington, urging civic engagement. Seattle finally admits the extent of its police staffing crisis. A possible blow to ‘harm reduction.’ Dem leaders are gearing up to blame Trump for new taxes. Governor DeSantis questions whether all legal immigration is good immigration.
As Washington state heads toward economic ruin, remember that Democrats ignored the warnings. Americans are toying with a dangerous ideology. More taxes to fund public safety, but how much will actually go toward hiring police? Joy Reid sees the light.
Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction doesn’t think it matters how many sexual partners students have. Trump once again threatens to move the World Cup from Seattle. Democrats in Olympia keep trying to lower punishments for sexual predators. Trump’s love affair with McDonalds.
I was honored this week to join President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and other independent content creators for a roundtable on Antifa.
While a certain joke about TDS is getting a lot of attention, the underlying mission of the meeting was serious – deadly serious.
For years, organized left-wing radicals have sought to influence public policy through coercion: using harassment, threats, vandalism, and violence as their tools. From the Occupy movement, to the May Day riots, to the "Summer of Love" and up to the most recent anti-ICE actions, I've followed these activities closely – and been the target of their tactics far too many times.
Whether you call them Antifa, terrorists, radicals, or just criminals – understanding, investigating, and disrupting violent extremism in all forms should be a nonpartisan pursuit.
Here are my full remarks to President Donald Trump:
Mr. President, you’re going to hear us be very fired up today, as you can tell. It’s because some of us have been covering Antifa for 15 years and have never had anyone in a position of authority even acknowledge their existence.
The single most powerful thing you’ve done to deal with this scourge has been acknowledging that Antifa is a real thing. I genuinely believe there would be people at these tables who would be dead today and would have been killed in Portland had you not called them a terror organization and said you're going to bring the full weight of the federal government to bear.
I talked to Katie Daviscourt in Portland the other day. She’d been assaulted all summer. And she said the same thing. They didn’t seem as quick to violence as soon as you made that designation. They’re worried. There’s been two dozen or so arrested in Portland. They don’t want to go to federal prison.
There’s this video of one of them who was in the face of an ICE agent and then he’s in custody shaking. Once you take the mask off, they’re nothing.
I was told by probably a dozen people not to tell you this. I’m going to tell you anyway because it’s relevant to what we’re talking about. I’m living proof that you can recover from TDS. I had strong Trump Derangement Syndrome for probably eight years. This is one of the reasons I recovered from it.
By the way, it’s much better to not have TDS. I’m happier. I’m healthier. I'm more successful. I even think I got a little more attractive after I got rid of my TDS.
I’m a reporter in Seattle and frankly, I could not care any less what any of you have to say about this meeting (looks to Press Corps). I could not care any less. We’re not here for you. I’m not here to convince any of you that Antifa is a real thing. Because if you have not come to that conclusion by now, you are never going to come to that conclusion because you don’t want to see it. And you’re going to say it’s a bunch of right-wing conservative influencers who are here spinning a tale.
I was one of you. I was a mainstream reporter in Seattle for 10 years. I was a TV reporter, on the streets, doing my job and I was still assaulted by Antifa. So, it’s not about being conservative. It’s about people who go out there and show what they’re doing.
When I saw after all those years that the media wouldn’t be honest about what was happening, that Democratic politicians wouldn’t be honest about what was happening, I thought, well, if they’re not being honest about that, maybe they’re not being honest about President Trump either. It opened my mind to just looking at things for what they were. And now I find you quite funny, actually (looks to President Trump).
Again, I could not care any less the stories that go to print. This is what I care about: We have three and a half years. Nothing is guaranteed. Although, I think if Democrats keep it up, we’ll probably have Republican presidents for the next three decades. But nothing is guaranteed. So, what I want to see over the next three and a half years is a fullcourt press to dismantle Antifa once and for all in a meaningful way. I know Andy Ngo, we talked before this about some ideas. We want the federal government to take as many of these cases as possible and look at the interstate travel between Portland and Seattle when it comes to these people who are committing violent acts.
Hopefully, in three and a half years, they will be a shell of their former selves.
President Trump:
Well I think we're very close, and it’s Antifa and many others. Unfortunately, there are many others, bad ones. Most have been named terrorist organizations. There a couple that we’re going to focus on, but I think we’ve got it pretty well covered, but there are many others. Specifically today is Antifa and it’s really bad and we’re going to get it cleaned up.
Thank you very much. I’m glad you no longer have TDS. I feel very good about that. Thank you.
