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It’s January 6th: Five years ago today, a far-right mob of Trump zealots and anti-Democracy extremists stormed the Capitol in Washington DC to keep Trump in power and stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. Gallows were erected on the lawn as a throng of people chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” President Donald Trump had goaded this mob into action, and for 187 minutes, did nothing as it unfolded on television. Four people died, and the coup failed. For a moment there, it seemed possible Trump would face serious consequences, and that at the very least, he’d never be President again. It feels almost like a dream now.
In a New York court room days after US Special Forces abducted him from Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism charges. Maduro said he was a prisoner of war. His wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty. Trump’s siege was likely illegal, and while his administration will argue Maduro’s was a law enforcement operation that did not need Congressional approval, the President himself admitted in a news conference that this was about oil. Delcey Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president of Venezuela yesterday.
subtle
— Steve Mullis (@stevemullis.net) January 5, 2026 at 12:41 PM
The judge presiding over Maduro’s case, 92-year-old Clinton appointee Alvin Hellerstein is, according to one former federal prosecutor who spoke to Politico, defined by not giving a shit about what anybody thinks of him. He’s ruled against Trump before, rejecting the President’s two attempts to move the Stormy Daniels case to federal court and the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants without due process.
CDC “Updates” Childhood Vaccination Schedule: Under the control of anti-vax Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut the number of vaccines recommended to all children from 17 to 11, removing from the list those for hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, RSV, flu, and meningitis. The decision was not scientific, and made without public or expert input. While the vaccines are still available, weakening the institutional support for vaccines undermines the public’s confidence in a safe and effective medical practice, endangering the lives of children at large.
The Washington Department of Health wrote in a statement that this increased the likelihood of preventable, sometimes deadly, outbreaks. “In Washington, our commitment to evidence-based public health has not changed. State immunization recommendations, aligned with the American Academy of Pediatrics, are based on decades of research showing vaccines are effective and essential for protecting health.”
Don’t Let the Door Hit You: Our maligned loser of a City Attorney Ann Davison is now our former maligned loser of a City Attorney. Erika Evans took the oath of office yesterday. It was her birthday. Micah has more.
You Know What, Do Let the Door Hit You: Mike Solan, dick and president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, has dropped his reelection bid. He’ll be out next month. He won’t be missed, but I can’t say I’m optimistic about who SPOG will choose to replace him.
Without a Paddle: A third of the state’s 21 ferries can’t sail. Three are out over mechanical issues and four are out on planned maintenance, cutting some routes’ daily sailings by half. Washington State Ferries officials said some of the vessels should return as soon as this week.
Oops: Last week, SPD Chief Shon Barnes sent this memo to officers: Effective immediately, all charges related to drug possession and/or drug use will be diverted from prosecution to the LEAD program,” Barnes wrote. “All instances of drug use or possession will be referred to Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD)—a program designed to redirect low-level offenders in King County from the criminal justice system into supportive social services.” But as Publicola reports, this appeared to be a misreading of a new policy from City Attorney Erika Evans, who will have an internal team review drug use and possession cases to see if they’re eligible for diversion. KOMO blew up the announcement with an inaccurate story, and the right-wing had a field day. Nature is not healing.
Weather: Rain and a high near 45, what a surprise. We’re likely to get between a tenth and a quarter inch today. Tonight, there’s a chance of rain before 7 p.m., then showers into early tomorrow morning. We’ll stick in the wet 40s into the weekend.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which has funded PBS and NPR stations for decades, voted itself out of existence Monday. The CPB’s been winding down since last summer, when Congress defunded it at Trump’s behest, to knife news coverage critical of his administration.
Minneapolis/St. Paul is experiencing an immigration blitz. The Trump Administration is deploying 2,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities for a 30-day surge operation. The foolhardy Feds are focused on Minneapolis because, over the holidays, a YouTuber (who’d posted anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim videos before) posted a video claiming, with little evidence, that area Somali-run child care centers had fraudulently taken state childcare funds for low-income families. JD Vance and Elon Musk boosted the video, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security started targeting Somali immigrants, and the Federal government quickly froze the state’s childcare funding. State investigators visited all the child care centers accused of fraud and found they were operating normally, though the investigation continues.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Walz dropped his third term bid, partly over this. “Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” he said Monday. When Gov. Walz told Sen. Amy Klobuchar of his plans to drop out, she shared her interest in running to replace him. Mike Lindell, the unsettling, sweaty MyPillow CEO and Trump ally, will also run, but his chances aren’t great. Republicans haven’t won a statewide race in Minnesota since 2006, but the party insists that, this year, it’s different.
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Vivian McCall
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