Bob Pissed Off Pam: US Attorney General Pam Bondi is very mad that Washington isn’t supporting the Trump Administration’s racist and illegal immigration enforcement, so she sent a letter to Gov. Ferguson on August 13 saying that Washington’s “sanctuary policies and practices … end now.” She said Ferguson will have to comply by Tuesday, August 18 (Hey, that’s today!), or risk consequences, including losing federal funding for … well, she didn’t say. So far, Ferguson has stood his ground, saying, “The federal government’s relentless targeting of law-abiding immigrants is wrong.” He is holding a press conference today at 12:15 p.m. What will happen? Stay alive to find out!

Trump Attacks Vote-by-Mail: Yesterday, Trump told White House reporters about his disdain for mail-in voting and vowed to issue an executive order to end it. He had just met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders to discuss Ukraine’s future, and he met with Putin over the weekend to talk about his insatiable desire for Ukrainian land, but sure, let’s talk about mail-in voting? Anyway, he called it a fraud and said, “Mail-in ballots are corrupt” and vowed to “end it” to “help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.” Ferguson, Sen. Cantwell, and Sen. Murray all defended Washington’s vote-by-mail system. 

Just another totally unhinged official public statement from a President who is desperate to appeal to foreign dictators and silence Americans.   But he doesn't dictate how we run our elections.   WA state votes by mail in every election. We'll keep it that way—thanks.

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— Senator Patty Murray (@murray.senate.gov) August 18, 2025 at 12:33 PM

This Meeting Could’ve Been a Ceasefire: After his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday, Trump said he is working to arrange a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin. He wrote on Truth Social, "Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine," which is a lie, of course, because Putin is a dictator who wants to steal about 20 percent of Zelenskyy’s country. A study from Center for Strategic and International Studies published in June says one million Russian troops and about 400,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or injured since the start of the war on February 24, 2022. Still, Putin’s clearly uninterested in ending things until he gets his way.

In Other Local Election News: Did you see? There’s a new PAC to support Wilson and rub “more salt in the Mayor’s gaping electoral wounds.” Thanks for the gross visual, Nathalie! Read all about it here.

Animal Style or Whatever: The first In-N-Out in Washington will open Wednesday in Ridgefield, which is about 15 minutes north of Vancouver, Washington. Go get some burgers with bible verses if you’re into that sort of thing. (I’m a born-and-raised Pacific Northwesterner, so the only fast food my body tolerates is Taco Time.)

Weather: Sunny and 75. Perfect blackberry-picking weather. Get ‘em while you can.

Fred Meyer Closing Stores: Fred Meyer announced yesterday that they are closing two stores, one in Kent and one in Everett, due to “a steady rise in theft and a challenging regulatory environment.” Wow, must be rough out there! How much money are they losing? “Kroger didn’t offer any specific data for theft incidents at the Everett or Kent stores,” reports the Seattle Times. “It also didn’t elaborate on what it meant by “challenging regulatory environment.” Last year, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen resigned due to “certain personal conduct” unrelated to the company's finances. Before leaving, though, he made more than $15 million in 2023 alone, and during his 10-year tenure, Kroger’s profits increased from $98 billion to $150 billion. But sure, lock up baby formula and blame it on people who steal deodorant and razors.

BTW, Why Did the Kroger Kreep Resign? They aren’t saying anything about that either! But wouldn’t you know it, earlier this month in an unrelated lawsuit, a judge ordered Rodney McMullen to reveal the reason for his sudden departure. Verdict’s still out if he actually will and, if he does, whether or not the judge will keep it under seal. 

Texas Democrats End Walkout: Several Texas lawmakers who left the state earlier this month in an attempt to thwart Republican efforts to gerrymander congressional maps and score more Republican seats ahead of the midterms have returned to work. While it’s likely Texas Republicans will get their extra seats after all—and Trump is stoked—the walkout inspired California to look into doing some redistricting of their own to try and get more Dem seats. Everyone is terrible! 

A Little Authoritarianism: Afterwards, the Dems were only allowed to leave the chamber “after signing permission slips, promising to return for the next meeting on Wednesday and agreeing to be paired with police officers.” Only one Democrat, Nicole Collier, refused to sign because only one Democrat, Nicole Collier, is not a coward. She spent the night in the chamber.

Did Israel Use Mass Surveillance on Palestinians? After The Guardian published the story “‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians” earlier this month, Microsoft has launched an investigation to see if Israel breached the company’s terms of service, saying, “Microsoft appreciates that the Guardian’s recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.” 

I Leave You Not With a Song, but a Creature: Specifically, the telescope fish. I love him.