Brandi Kruse
Politics • Culture • News
[un]Divided Newsletter: January 8, 2023
January 08, 2023
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Take a minute to [un]wind with our Sunday newsletter. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week and what is coming up in the week ahead. 

Remembering Dori Monson

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your kind words during a difficult week. It has been so uplifting to hear what Dori meant to all of you. His loss not only leaves a void for those who loved him, but a huge void in the Seattle media landscape.

If you missed it, you can read my tribute to Dori here

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Legislative session

The 2023 legislative session gets underway on Monday in Olympia. If you want to hear what lawmakers and the governor had to say about what’s to come, I highly recommend taking some time to watch Friday’s legislative preview. Legislative leaders discuss their priorities starting at the 33:00 mark, budget writers from both parties speak at the 1:08:00 mark, and Governor Jay Inslee offers remarks at 1:55:00.

Also featured in the preview was pollster Stuart Elway, who offered some interesting takeaways about what voters want to see accomplished this year.

Of 403 registered Washington voters who were polled last month, 34% said the economy should be a top priority for lawmakers, including addressing inflation and housing costs.

Public safety was second on the list, at 23%, followed by homelessness (22%), and taxes (17%).

Just 2% of respondents said COVID-19 should be a top priority. Praise be.

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Read the entire Crosscut/Elway poll here.

One little stat that also stands out to me from the poll is this one:

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So let me try to understand this. Only 13% of respondents believe Inslee is doing an “excellent” job as governor, yet 34% are already willing to say they would support him for an unprecedented FOURTH term? That’s insane.

I should note that I believe there is a 0% chance of Inslee running again, but why would anyone want the same person to run the state for 16 years?

"Legislative privilege"

An issue you are going to hear a lot about in the coming weeks is the concept of legislative privilege, so let me get you up to speed with what’s going on so you can tell all your friends about how terrible it is. 

One of the most effective ways the public and the press alike can access information about what is happening behind the scenes in government is via public disclosure request. Having the ability to request emails, text messages, and other documents that those in power might not want us to see is a critical tool to force transparency.

A few years ago, there was a battle in Washington state to ensure that lawmakers were subject to the same public records law as everyone else in government. In 2018, the state legislature passed a law to exempt themselves from the Public Records Act. Let’s just say, that didn’t go over well. 

More than 20,000 Washingtonians called and emailed to share their objections. The pressure was so intense, Governor Jay Inslee had no choice but to veto the bill. Media organizations then successfully ushered the issue to the Washington State Supreme Court, which ruled in 2019 that lawmakers were, indeed, subject to disclosure.

That should have been the end of things.

Unless you are the majority party, apparently.

On at least three occasions since then, Democrats in Olympia have denied public records requests – citing “legislative privilege.” Except, and this is a big except, no such privilege exists. You will not find it anywhere in the Public Records Act.

In a scathing op-ed this weekend, The Seattle Times Editorial Board explained the bullshit Democrats are trying to pull:

Lawmakers have manufactured it with a tortured reading of Article II, Section 17 of the state Constitution, which reads, “Freedom of Debate. No member of the Legislature shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate.”

 

That’s a sensible provision on its own, one modeled on language in the U.S. Constitution. Lawmakers need the ability to debate without fear of being hauled into court for libel or something else. But it protects debate, not emails, text messages, white papers nor any other public record. In fact, and this is significant: It doesn’t even allow the debate to be secret, just immune from being the grounds for a court action.

 

Therein lies the gaslighting. Lawmakers didn’t formally announce this radical reinterpretation of the state Constitution. They just started invoking it as if it had been there all along. They want to trick Washingtonians into believing that this is nothing unusual.

 

But it is unusual. It’s insulting, exasperating and profoundly troubling. So far, the privilege has been invoked on the advice of attorneys of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses.

So, what can we do?

Unfortunately, the only path forward is a legal one. News agencies will once again have to force the issue to court, likely resulting in a costly and completely unnecessary legal battle – the price of which will be paid by taxpayers.

Every single Washingtonian should be pissed about this. Make your voices heard. Reach out to the House Speaker and Senate Leader to demand their caucuses follow the law. Keep your emails and phone calls civil, but don't let them off the hook. They work for you, after all. 

 

 

Hope for Seattle

I went to a dinner last night that gives me so much hope for the future of Seattle.

The Seattle Leadership Retreat was a gathering of advocacy leaders from all over North America – California, Canada, New York, Colorado, Oregon – who are pushing for common sense solutions to the drug crisis that has taken over our streets.

The event was put together by We Heart Seattle, a citizen-led group of volunteers who started by picking up trash at homeless camps.

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Last night’s featured speaker was Michael Shellenberger, author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities.  Shellenberger was also one of the independent journalists recently tapped by Elon Musk to share “The Twitter Files.”

“Our civilization is at stake,” Shellenberger told the crowd, railing against what he called “pathological altruism” – the misguided belief that letting people live in squalor and addiction on our streets is somehow empathetic or righteous. 

“We are going to save our cities by saving our fellow human beings,” he concluded.

Never have I been in a room of people so committed to telling the truth about our homeless crisis and dedicating themselves to being part of the solution. The commonsense movement is catching on. Keep pushing. Keep saying what needs to be said. 

Housekeeping

Starting Monday, I’ll be temporarily hosting on KIRO Radio from 12-3pm. The station has big shoes to fill, and I share your hope that they can find someone who is dedicated to being a watchdog of government. There is simply no replacement for Dori Monson. As for me, I am committed to continuing to grow [un]Divided. There will be no changes to our weekly [un]Divided lineup as I help my friends at KIRO Radio for a few weeks.

Thank you for your commitment to giving common sense a comeback! Have a great week.

 

 

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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. ...

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My full remarks to President Donald Trump
Disrupting violent extremism in all forms should be a nonpartisan pursuit.
 

 

 

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.

 

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September 29, 2025
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Hello from the 'war zone': Portland

There will be no live show today, September 29.

Why?

I'm on the ground in Portland, doing my best to sort through competing narratives about what's happening outside the ICE facility here.

President Donald Trump declared the city a "war zone," mobilized the National Guard, and authorized Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to use "full force" to finally bring months of unrest outside the facility to an end.

Democratic leadership, including Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, have called the city "safe and calm," suggesting there is no need for federal intervention.

As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle. But after just one night on the ground, it is clear that Portland has failed to address the unrest in any meaningful way for more than 100 days. The federal government has a right to protect federal assets and agents, especially considering the abdication of responsibility from local leaders, but what level of intervention is appropriate?

We will be back on air tomorrow, September 30, at our regular time with a special report. In the meantime, the best way to follow breaking updates is on any one of my social media platforms:

X: @BrandiKruse

FB: @BrandiKruseNews

 

 

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