Brandi Kruse
Politics • Culture • News
[un]Divided Newsletter: March 5, 2023
March 05, 2023
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Catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week.

Midnight madness

Late into the night on Friday, the Washington State Senate finally passed a bill that would make possession of illegal drugs a gross misdemeanor. The bill now goes to the House.

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Senate Bill 5536 is a fix for the State Supreme Court’s Blake decision, which nullified the felony drug possession statute. While a temporary fix was put into place after Blake, it is set to expire on July 1 on this year – meaning a permanent fix must be signed into law this session, or possessing drugs like heroin, meth, and cocaine will no longer be a crime in Washington.

If it passes the House and is signed into law by the governor, SB 5536 would make it a gross misdemeanor for anyone to knowingly possess an illegal substance. Prior to jail booking or referring the case to prosecutors, law enforcement is encouraged to offer suspects treatment options. When cases are referred to them, prosecutors would also be encouraged to divert defendants toward treatment. Should cases ultimately wind up in court, the court must advise defendants of the option to participate in pre-trial diversion. Offenders can ultimately have their records expunged after successfully completing treatment.

The bill reads:

The legislature finds that substance use disorders are a public health issue. Solutions must address not only the criminal legal response, but be data-driven, evidence-based, and represent best practices, working directly with people who use drugs to prevent overdose and infectious disease transmission, and improve the physical, mental, and social well-being of those served. The state must follow principles of harm reduction, which means practical strategies aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm reduction involves safer use of supplies as well as care settings, staffing, and interactions that are person-centered, supportive, and welcoming.

Although it is one of the softer solutions to Blake, chaos broke out within the Democratic caucus on Friday night when it became clear that some Progressive members thought SB 5536 went too far in criminalizing substance abuse and were not inclined to compromise.

One senator told me Democrats retreated into their caucus room for more than two hours as infighting played out. Senator Manka Dhingra, the chair of the Law & Justice committee (who has also played a role in thwarting meaningful progress on the state’s police pursuit policy) was among those pushing back against the bill, arguing that substance abuse should not be a criminal matter.

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Eventually, Democrats emerged, and the bill was passed on a bipartisan basis, 28-21, with a majority of the Democratic caucus voting against it – including some members who co-sponsored the original bill.

The following Democratic senators voted against the proposal:

  • Senator Manka Dhingra
  • Senator Joe Nguyen
  • Senator Rebecca Saldana
  • Senator Claire Wilson
  • Senator Patty Kuderer
  • Senator Noel Frame
  • Senator Bob Hasegawa
  • Senator Lisa Wellman
  • Senator T’wina Nobles
  • Senator Jamie Pedersen
  • Senator Claudia Kauffman
  • Senator Derek Stanford
  • Senator Yasmin Trudeau
  • Senator Javier Valdez
  • Senator Liz Lovelett

Several Republican members also voted against the bill for various reasons. Some believe drug possession should remain a felony, others took issue with a section of the bill that has to do with prohibitions on firearm possession for individuals who have a diagnosed substance abuse disorder. The following Republican senators voted against SB 5536:

  • Senator Mike Padden
  • Senator Ann Rivers
  • Senator Mark Schoesler
  • Senator Shelly Short
  • Senator Jim McCune
  • Senator Judy Warnick

The bill will now head to the House where it could undergo changes. Let's hope they don't water it down further. The drug crisis on our streets cannot be solved without some sort of law enforcement component to help incentivize treatment. 

Two kids dead in preventable crash

On Friday’s show, we discussed the tragic deaths of two children – 6 and 8 – who were killed by a drunk driver in a head-on collision near Sunnyside, Washington.

The Washington State Patrol says troopers spotted the 20-year-old suspect driving 111 mph down Interstate 90 about an hour before the deadly crash but could not pursue him because of the state’s restrictive law around police chases.

The deaths underscore the remarkable irresponsibly of Democratic leaders in Olympia, who have so far refused to make meaningful changes to the law they championed in 2021. Not only that, but some continue to peddle debunked data to gaslight the public into believing the law is saving innocent lives.

In January, Senator Manka Dhingra said those critical of the law were simply letting emotions get the best of them. I would challenge her to say that to the family of those two children.

In addition to the two deaths, a 5-year-old passenger and the 23-year-old driver of the victim vehicle, who was related to the children, were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

If you watch one thing from unDivided this week ...

… make it my interview with Crosscut political reporter Joseph O’Sullivan. On the Wednesday show, we discussed the 15-year effort of state lawmakers to hide records from the people they serve.

Even after a 2018 Washington State Supreme Court decision found that lawmakers are not, in fact, exempt from producing records as part of the Public Records Act, Democrats in Olympia have started claiming “legislative privilege” as a way around the high-court ruling. When the practice was spotlighted at the end of 2022, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate failed to provide a plausible defense of it. 

Conveniently, they now deflect questions on the issue by pointing to pending litigation. One wonders why they are so eager to hide things from the people who put them in office.

Housekeeping

None!

Have a great week and thank you for your commitment to giving common sense a comeback!

 

 

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I struggled with what to talk to you about tonight. 

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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. 

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Then I decided to ignore that good advice entirely.

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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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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.

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