Only in Democrat-run Seattle does the mayor think an eight-time offender needs a bedtime story instead of a jail cell.

Eight Strikes and You’re Still In

At Thursday’s mayoral debate, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell made it crystal clear where his sympathies lie—and it’s not with the victims. Asked what to do about offenders who rack up six, seven, or even eight crimes, Harrell flat-out said he has “no desire” to put them in jail. Instead, he wants to dig into their “life story”—maybe they were abused, maybe they were hungry—because apparently, endless compassion for repeat criminals is “public safety.”

Meanwhile, actual victims—the moms afraid to ride the bus, the families who can’t go to the park, the small business owners robbed blind—don’t even register on his radar. Harrell’s proudest achievement? Turning firefighters into drug dealers by having them hand out buprenorphine to addicts, calling it a “best practice.” Translation: state-sponsored addiction maintenance while criminals keep terrorizing the city.

This wasn’t a slip of the tongue—it’s Harrell’s governing philosophy. Criminals get the empathy, the excuses, and the free pass. Victims get nothing. That’s Democrat leadership in Seattle: crime as a social experiment, accountability optional. Read more at Seattle Red.

Hide the Numbers, Protect the Narrative

Republican lawmakers Nikki Torres and Mary Dye, joined by the Washington Policy Center and Todd Myers, have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce and Department of Ecology for refusing to release greenhouse gas emissions data that state law has required since 2008. This isn’t their first try—Myers sued earlier, but the judge tossed it out, saying he didn’t have the right standing. So this time, lawmakers are on board to make sure the state can’t weasel out of transparency.

At stake? Billions in taxpayer-funded climate programs. The data has been sitting on a shelf for 17 months, but instead of showing whether their costly policies actually work, Democrats passed a bill to delay real reporting until 2026. Translation: kick the can, keep the cash.

As Myers points out, you can’t measure effectiveness without numbers. And as CADF bluntly put it: if agencies can just ignore reporting laws, then accountability is dead on arrival. Meanwhile, taxpayers are forced to bankroll endless “green” experiments with zero proof they’re helping anything but bureaucrats’ budgets.

This lawsuit isn’t just about emissions reports—it’s about exposing how Democrats in Olympia treat transparency like toxic waste. Read more at Center Square.

Democracy, Democrat-Style: Sign at Your Own Risk

Let’s Go Washington reports more than 30 incidents of threats, intimidation, and even assaults against signature gatherers working on two initiatives: one restoring parental rights in schools, the other protecting girls’ sports from biological males. Petitioners have been shoved, screamed at, and had their paperwork ripped up—some of it caught on video. At least two arrests have been made, with more charges pending.

Despite the harassment, volunteers keep showing up, saying it’s worth the risk to protect kids and fairness in athletics. Parents signing the petitions echo that sentiment, insisting they have a right to know what’s taught in classrooms and to keep female sports female. Real stories from athletes—like a softball team losing to a transgender player’s grand slam—drive the urgency home.

And how do Democrats in power respond? With a shrug. The Attorney General’s office basically washed its hands, telling victims to just call local cops. So much for defending democracy.

The irony writes itself: Democrats love to talk about protecting “our democracy,” but when citizens peacefully exercise their rights to petition government, the left’s go-to tactic is mob-style intimidation. Read more at Center Square.

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