• Editor’s note: Last week, Secretary of State Kim Wyman named Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall the 2020 WA. Auditor of the Year. She cited Hall’s work in creating an innovative drive-through voting center at the South Puget Sound Community College campus in Olympia.
• What stood out was Republican Wyman acknowledging Democrat Hall for her legislative record in working to secure state funding for elections and expand access to the ballot.
• Wyman said, “Aside from her many preparations for the 2020 election, Auditor Hall remains a leader in legislative efforts related to elections and is committed to sharing with legislators and the public the painstaking work of election officials to keep our elections free, fair, and secure.” Read more from The Olympian.
• Emmett O’Connell tweeted this about his boss Mary Hall’s award: “Among all the praise my boss, the chief election official in Thurston County, has been getting this week, this comment stands out. And it because of the Big Lie, the associated harassment and emotional pain that this comment matters to me.”
• O’Connell added, “Suffice to say, Mary Hall is pretty awesome.” Read more
• I was inspired to hear such public glee from a government worker about their boss. BRAVO, Mr. O’Connell!
• With threats to voting underway highlighted by the stories below, we voters are blessed with impeccable election officials here!

+ Salon Magazine: How to lose America: The death of democracy looks nearer than ever – “We are not immune from autocrats and dictatorship and we are not protected by our Constitution if it no longer holds meaning for those in power.”

+ The Washington Post: Voter suppression is bad. But this tactic is even worse. “As they target the people and positions that stood in their way last time [2020], they also are attempting to change the rules, so a pro-Trump legislature could more easily override the will of the people — and the objections of any honest secretary of state who stood in the way.

+ Edward Snowden: America’s political power struggle has never been about conservative versus liberal as much as the owner versus the owned. The whole Washington opera consists of two costumes shared by the same club—and you’ll never be a member. Don’t let them divide you from your neighbor.

+ Truthout: Trump Plans to Resume His Infamous Rallies in June

“If Trump continues to push lies about election fraud, it may cause his base of supporters to distrust the democratic process altogether, in turn discouraging them from voting in the 2022 midterms, much like what may have happened in Georgia during the Senate runoff races earlier this year.

“‘This could cost the Republicans the majority in the House in 2022,’ veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz recently said. “What Donald Trump is saying is actually telling people it’s not worth it to vote. … And he may be the greatest tool in the Democrats’ arsenal to keep control of the House and Senate in 2022.”

*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

+ City of Yelm: The city council will select a new councilor for Position 4 this evening.

+ Office of Gov. Jay Inslee: The governor signed historic climate change legislative package

+ The Olympian: Jury trials have resumed in Thurston County. Here’s what to expect if you’re summoned

+ KING-5 TV: According to the Washington Hospitality Association, the restaurant industry in Washington state is 100,000 workers short of what it was pre-pandemic.

+ South Sound Business: Amazon Hiring More Than 2,000 in Fulfillment, Transportation in Washington

+ The News Tribune (Tacoma): JBLM unit’s new night-vision equipment generating buzz online for otherworldly images

+ KING-5 TV: Some fully vaccinated Washington residents aren’t ready to go maskless

+ The Wall Street Journal: Bill Gates Left Microsoft Board Amid Probe Into Prior Relationship With Staffer

+ The New York Times: Melinda French Gates voiced concerns about her husband’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and a harassment claim against his money manager. He also had an affair with an employee.

+ Business Insider: Bill Gates crafted a public image as a likable, nerdy do-gooder. Office affairs, ‘uncomfortable’ workplace behavior, and Epstein ties reveal cracks in his facade.

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

+ The New York Times: U.S. to Donate 20 Million Doses for Global Vaccination Effort

+ The Washington Post via Yahoo! News: As cryptocurrency goes wild, fear grows about who might get hurt

+ The Washington Post: Democrats confront reality on voting rights: Congress probably isn’t coming to the rescue

*** TRUMP NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

Daily Beast: Trump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani’s Pleas for Help as Feds Circle [Ed. note: “Surprise, surprise, surprise!“]

MSNBC’s American Voices: Palm Beach officials preparing for a potential Trump indictment

Axios’ Jonathan Swan on MSNBC’s Morning Joe: Trump eyed removing U.S. troops ahead of Biden inauguration

The Washington Post Opinions: As Arizona Republicans erupt over Trump’s lies, a big truth is exposed

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS LAST WEEKEND ***

+ Thurston County Auditor: Thurston County Candidate Filing Week Begins May 17

+ The Olympian: Much needed clouds, possible rain return this week – the region’s August-like weather is causing concern with summer season’s dryness here so soon

+ Institute for Local Self-Reliance: Gov. Inslee signed the Public Broadband Act, removing all barriers to municipal Broadband

+ NBC News: Seattle-based Starbucks relaxes mask rules after change in CDC guidance

+ The Olympian: Community Loaves volunteers keep food banks throughout the region stocked with bread

+ Thurston County Auditor: Auditor’s Office Seeks Citizens to Serve on “For” and “Against” Committees for Ballot Measures in the August Primary Election

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS LAST WEEKEND ***

AARP: Vitamin D and COVID-19: What Doctors Know (and Don’t Know) So Far

CBS News 60 Minutes: Police using facial recognition amidst claims of wrongful arrests

Bernie Sanders in The New York Times: The U.S. Must Stop Being an Apologist for the Netanyahu Government and its undemocratic and racist behavior. [Ed. note: I agree!]

Vice.com: Pentagon Surveilling Americans Without a Warrant, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR.) Reveals

CBS News 60 Minutes: UFOs regularly spotted in restricted U.S. airspace, report on the phenomena due next month

*** TRUMP NEWS LAST WEEKEND ***

• Editor’s note: With the news over the weekend that Trump plans to hold his first rallies this summer, six months after his DC event which sparked the Capitol riots, the nation needs to prepare for the danger of his multiple lies, disturbing rhetoric, and raising the fervor of the base.
• Trump’s threats to undermine democracy with his continuing calls of election fraud can not be underestimated.
• Voter disenfranchisement is his primary goal, which is anathema to the Constitution.
• Perhaps by summer, Trump will be indicted on any one of the cases being investigated against him.

UK’s Independent via Yahoo! News: Donald Trump ‘will hold first rallies this summer’ – six months after DC event which sparked Capitol riots

Newsweek: Trump Blames Election Loss on ‘Suppression Polling,’ Attacks Pence and ‘Pathetic’ McConnell

Associated Press: Republican Arizona election official says Trump “unhinged”

National Review: Zombie Trump Shows the Need for a Constitutional Amendment on Late Impeachments

The Washington Post: Republicans’ conflicting message: Embracing Trump election lie is key to prominence, just stop asking us about it

ProPublica: Documents Show Trump Officials Used Secret Terrorism Unit to Question Lawyers at the Border

Huff Post: Biden cancels Trump’s planned ‘National Garden of American Heroes’ – Trump himself curated the list of who was to be included.

The Washington Post: Man charged with wife’s murder illegally cast her ballot for Trump, officials say: ‘I just thought, give him another vote’

MSNBC: Nice try: Why any attempt to shield Trump from Florida extradition is doomed

 The Great Realisation 1 year Anniversary Edition

“First performed online in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Tomos Roberts’ heartfelt poem, with its message of hope and resilience, has been viewed over 60 million times and translated into over 20 languages.

“Written in the form of a bedtime story, The Great Realisation is a celebration of the many things – from simple acts of kindness, to applauding the heroic efforts of our key workers – that have brought us together at a time of global crisis. It has captured, with magical resonance, the thoughts and feelings of millions in lockdown, as we adapt to a new way of life, find joy in unexpected places, cast aside old habits and reflect on what truly matters to us.

“The Great Realisation is a story for any reader, young or old, who dares to dream of a brighter future – of a fairer, kinder, more sustainable world. It is a timely reminder that, even during our most challenging moments, there is always hope.”

Click here for the video.

Blogger Klein is a TomFoolery supporter and donor.

• Editor’s note: Voter nullification is not something that comprises a functioning democracy. These stories below in recent days highlight how we must be aware that Republican state legislatures are enacting voter suppression/nullification laws where they may not certify future Democratic wins. This is not some distant hypothetical – the threat IS real!
• From Stephen Richer: The Republican who unseated a Democrat last year to become Maricopa County, AZ. Recorder responded to Trump’s charge that the entire voter database had been deleted, “Wow. This is unhinged. I’m literally looking at our voter registration database on my other screen. Right now. We can’t indulge these insane lies any longer. As a party. As a state. As a country.”

+ Washington Monthly by David Atkins: What Happens When Republicans Simply Refuse to Certify Democratic Wins? It’s something we need to start preparing for now.

“So what happens in 2024 if President Biden or Vice President Harris win the Electoral College, but local Republicans on county boards with majority Democratic votes refuse to certify the election; when state legislatures who have seized control of certification refuse to certify their state tallies; when a potential Republican majority in the House of Representatives refuses to certify the Electoral College tally? What happens when they refuse to certify Democratic wins in purple state Senate races, throwing control of the Upper Chamber into limbo and chaos? What happens if Biden/Harris wins the popular vote by 8 million votes and 30 electoral college votes, only to see Republicans in states like Georgia and Wisconsin decide that their GOP legislatures will send electors for Trump or Tucker Carlson or Josh Hawley instead? What happens if Democrats legitimately add to their lead in the Senate, only to see Republicans refuse to certify those tallies as well, keeping GOP Senators in place for the next session?” Read more

+ NYU’s Jay Rosen on Twitter: If you think these are distant hypotheticals, you’re not paying close enough attention. I know it’s hard. But the threat is real.

+ MSNBC Opinion by Richard W. Painter: Trump committed crimes in office that no indictment can remedy

“The former president was told he could do anything he wanted. It’s no surprise that he listened. The crimes that Trump allegedly committed in office are the greater danger to our republic.

“We still don’t know if, when and where Trump will be indicted and if so for what crimes, but he surely has a lot of legal exposure.

“At some point, we need to decide if we really do embrace a notion of presidential power under the Constitution that allows a president to fire anybody for any reason, even to obstruct justice; that allows a president to conduct foreign policy any way he or she wants, even if to coerce a foreign power to interfere in the next U.S. election; that allows a president to use control of the military any way he or she wants, even if to “redo” a lost election; and finally, that allows a president, if unsuccessful in all of these things, to incite followers to stage an insurrection at the Capitol.

“What’s most troubling is that throughout Trump’s presidency, he believed himself to be immune from criminal prosecution and that the powers of the presidency entitled him to do anything he wanted to do. The same president who Vance suspects of violating the law in conducting the business of the Trump Organization was also running the presidency like a criminal enterprise.”

“If criminal law can define no limits to presidential power, our president will be more akin to a mafia don than to the head of a democratic republic. That is not the Constitution I believe in and I doubt it is the Constitution our forbearers believed in when they drafted and ratified it more than 230 years ago. In the America most of us believe in, no person is above the law, even the president.” Read more

Ed. note: The New York Times editor for The Morning newsletter David Leonhardt wrote an instructive piece May 13 on the threat to democracy this country now faces. This quote sums-up the context, “The Republican Party is sliding into authoritarianism at a terrifyingly rapid clip,” Jonathan Chait has written in New York Magazine. “That fate of American democracy is the biggest issue in American politics.” Worth the read, click here

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FRIDAY ***

+ KING-5 TV: Masks and social distancing may still be needed for people with compromised immunity

+ CNBC: CDC cheered and criticized for new mask policy; retail workers don’t want to be vaccine ‘police’

+ Business Insider: Walmart, Costco and Trader Joe’s are dropping mask requirement for vaccinated people [Kroger’s QFC and Fred Meyer stores still require masks.]

+ Truthout: Pelosi Says Masks to Remain, Since Most GOP Lawmakers Aren’t Vaccinated

+ CNBC: Political ideology is real reason people remain unvaccinated, says Dr. Peter Hotez

+ PolitiFact and The Washington Post: More than 400 people have been charged following the January 6 breach of the US Capitol

+ The Washington Post: This facial recognition website can turn anyone into a cop — or a stalker

*** SELECT TRUMP NEWS FRIDAY ***

The New Yorker’s Jayne Mayer: Can Cyrus Vance, Jr., Nail Trump? Insiders say that the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation has dramatically intensified since the former President left office. “It’s like night and day,” says one. According to another, “They mean business.”

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Considers Contenders to Be His New Social-Media Outlet After Big Tech Crackdown

The Washington Post: The stampede away from the GOP begins

The Daily Kos: Active duty Marine arrested and charged in Jan 6. pro-Trump riot at U.S. Capitol

Rolling Stone: QAnon Followers Think JFK Jr. Is Coming Back on the 4th of July [Ed. note: This is the 2nd coming, the first was predicted for October 2020 just before the election, where JFK, Jr. would re-appear and support Trump’s re-election.]

The Daily Kos: Proud Boys leader to former guy: ‘F*ck you Trump. You left us on the battlefield bloody and alone’

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: Shielding Trump from extradition if he’s indicted is an actual thing people are working on

From the Rotary Club of Yelm

Join us for a Virtual version of our 5k to be held during the week of May 16-22, 2021.

“The 6th Annual Rotary Club of Yelm Prairie Stampede will take place as a Virtual 5k during the week of May 16-22, 2021.   The Rotary Club of Yelm is dedicated to service-in our community and in the world. The proceeds raised by the Yelm Prairie Stampede go to help fund charities and community activities that help make this world a better place to live.” Read more

Register Today

*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM THURSDAY ***

+ Office of Gov. Jay Inslee: Inslee announces statewide reopening date of June 30 and short-term statewide move to Phase 3

+ Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall: Recipient of the 2020 WA State Auditor of the Year award from Secretary of State Kim Wyman.

+ WSDOT: SR 510 Yelm Loop – New Alignment Phase 2

+ The Spokesman-Review (Spokane): Sen. Patty Murray Calls Lack of Affordable Child Care ‘Silent Epidemic’

+ Associated Press: New Washington state law makes drug possession a misdemeanor

+ KIRO-7 TV: Juneteenth to be a state holiday in Washington state in 2022

+ South Sound Business: Commerce, ArtsFund Partner to Help Nonprofit Community Organizations

+ Yelm High School: Graduation 2021 Update

+ Alaska Airlines: Announced plans for fleet growth and route expansion, adding Belize City, Belize

*** NATIONAL NEWS FROM THURSDAY ***

The Washington Post Opinions: Alongside dozens of prominent Republicans, ex-Republicans and independents, we are announcing “A Call for American Renewal,” a nationwide rallying cry against extremist elements within the GOP, and highlighting the urgent need for a new, common-sense coalition. Click here for “A Call for American Renewal”

The New York Times: Climate change is making big problems bigger

CNBC: Why everyone from Elon Musk to Janet Yellen is worried about bitcoin’s energy usage

*** TRUMP NEWS FROM THURSDAY ***

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: Potential Trump indictment moves closer with McGahn agreement to testify to Congress

The New York Times: Activists and ex-spy said to have plotted to discredit Trump ‘enemies’ in government

Truthout: Trump Extradition Orders Could Be Blocked or Delayed by DeSantis

From Joe DePinto for Mayor of Yelm:

It’s official! Check out my video announcing my campaign to become the next Mayor of Yelm. #ThisIsOURTown #ThisIsOURTime.

Our town! Our time! Joe DePinto for Mayor of Yelm!

Click here for the video.

Blogger Klein is a supporter of DePinto for Mayor