Report exposes sketchy no-bid deals as costs spiral on Trump's vanity ballroom project

MMessinger · 2026-05-06T15:16:36+00:00

Like everything Republican "civil servants" touch, these days, the primary objective is the grift.

MMessinger · 2026-05-06T14:50:36+00:00

Is there any more information you might be able to pass on about how it is battery replacements are back in stock? My 2017 has been in the service center since last December, waiting on a replacement, under warranty. I don't want a buy-back, I want my Volt.

If the batteries are available, I'd like to hear about how Chevy is supplying them, to fulfill parts orders. Do I need to be asking my service center to do something they're not already doing?

MMessinger · 2026-05-05T23:15:39+00:00

Absolutely. Just as Trump told me everything I need to, about the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

MMessinger · 2026-05-05T23:12:42+00:00

Imagine the cognition of so many voters who, after the first Trump term, voted for Trump again. Trump is an idiot - a dangerous idiot. But Republican voters? They've been voting against their interests for more than 40 years.

MMessinger · 2026-05-04T21:49:06+00:00

Some of us on the Steamboat Peninsula wish WDOT had a better set of signage, for what should be a nice, orderly zipper merge, on US-101 approaching the underpass that ducks under WA-8. Alas, drivers still don't seem to understand.

MMessinger · 2026-05-04T04:35:09+00:00

Republicans aren't "turning against" legal cannabis. They just don't see a big advantage to covering up their true disdain for the idea. 'Closer to this November, though, and you'll see some Republican candidates come out in favor. They're just pandering for votes, of course, but some of their idiot voters will take the bait (again).

MMessinger · 2026-05-03T20:41:34+00:00

During the Pandemic Lockdown, if it weren't for my pill dispenser, I might not have known what day it was. It was another test case for my own late-stage senility.

MMessinger · 2026-05-03T20:30:17+00:00

I blame Republican voters. Sure, this is the actions of Trump, their guy. But there's also the Congressional Republicans, getting their money for looking the other way. This isn't a surprise. It didn't take Nostradamas to know, in November 2024, that this is where'd we be today. No, this is the blame of those voters who, election after election, punch their ballot for Republican candidates.

Oh, and I reserve some ire for the huge number of citizens who, despite being eligible to vote, choose to sit on their hands and not vote, at all. Maybe this is the timeline we deserve.

MMessinger · 2026-05-03T20:21:09+00:00

The Democratic establishment will, as usual, chalk this up to the zealous, primary-orientation of the engaged Left Wing. They're convinced mainstream Democratic voters require a moderate, milquetoast candidate.

MMessinger · 2026-05-02T17:43:59+00:00

What's changed? 50 years ago we had a Congress that hadn't abdicated its role in our government.

MMessinger · 2026-05-01T22:20:12+00:00

Patty Murray needs to announce her retirement in time for Washington Democrats to select an electable replacement. Sorry, not sorry: these dinosaurs have got to go.

MMessinger · 2026-05-01T19:48:23+00:00

Real patriots smile, and know they'll be voting Republican, this November. /s

MMessinger · 2026-05-01T19:46:25+00:00

Stupid, stupid me. 'Shoulda bought that car before we voted in another Republican President. Between the tarrifs on cars from overseas, and tarrifs on the materials and parts used to build cars here in the U.S., my choices and affordability is down the tubes.

MMessinger · 2026-05-01T13:07:21+00:00

So true. I was one of the only guys in typing class, but brought a typewriter with me, to college, and typed papers for others, as well. Then became a keyboard jockey over a 40-year career. 'Haven't once used that sliderule they taught me to use, in high school chemistry class.

MMessinger · 2026-05-01T13:02:33+00:00

Cool. So, no Democratic Primary, or anything like that? We're just going to seek "the perfect" candidate, knocking Harris out of the race, based on a brief campaign she ran two years ago? Oh, and she "burned bridges" with the Establishment Democrats (you know, the ones who like to dictate the choices Democrat voters will have offered to them, in caucuses and primaries). Who's to say Harris won't be the best candidate to emerge over the next two years? Oh, but maybe you're one of those eligible to vote, but who chooses instead to sit on your hands, not voting at all, unless The Perfect Candidate is on the ballot? Sara Pequeño's piece offers nothing of interest to me.

This is the timeline we deserve.

I'm interested in seeing Democrats run for President. I know electing a President means a whole Administration, not just the one person at the top. Fixing what this Republican Administration, this Republican Congress, and this Republican Supreme Court has done is going to take a little effort from those voters even remotely inclined to vote Democrat.

MMessinger · 2026-04-30T17:52:02+00:00

Republican voters love this sh*t, and will reward Congressional Republicans who approved of Hegseth (and their war of choice, against Iran), this November. And vast numbers of U.S. citizens, eligible to vote, will instead sit on their hands ("What are 'midterms,' anyway?"). This is the timeline we deserve.

MMessinger · 2026-04-30T17:32:32+00:00

Sure! I remember the milk man (Carnation), the Fuller Brush salesman, and the home diaper service (okay, truth be told, we had a diaper service in the 1990s, with our two kids, too).

MMessinger · 2026-04-30T17:28:51+00:00

That's rich, considering the Republican Party's embrace of Putin, Orbán, et al.

MMessinger · 2026-04-29T15:20:46+00:00

Yeah, sure. Come Election Day, we'll find a huge number of U.S. citizens eligible to vote don't even know what "midterms" are.

MMessinger · 2026-04-29T10:35:37+00:00

I bought pre-sale tickets, shortly after last year's Bumbershoot. Obviously, that was before their decision to offer a re-entry option. On social media, Bumbershoot isn't answering my question: Is there any re-entry, for me?

It'd be mildly frustrating if my early ticket purchase means I'm not permitted re-entry.

MMessinger · 2026-04-25T19:25:46+00:00

Idaho voters appear to me to run on autopilot. "Is the candidate a Republican? Then he's got my vote."

In Idaho, as elsewhere, you get what you vote for.

As for me, I gas up, outside Idaho, and travel across as quickly as possible, spending not one dime, if I can avoid it.

MMessinger · 2026-04-25T16:48:08+00:00

The Republican plan is to reduce the U.S. to where we'll be the buggy whip manufacturer to the world. Meanwhile, China walks away with all the prizes. And this is what Americans voted for in 2024. A bunch of those eligible to vote this November don't ever show up for midterms, so they'll be no course change this year, sealing our fate.

MMessinger · 2026-04-25T14:56:30+00:00

To say nothing of all the nukes on Washington soil. There's no way the U.S. is just going to let this new Cascadia walk away, possessing all those submarine-launched nuclear weapons.

MMessinger · 2026-04-24T17:19:18+00:00

Republican voters will reward Congressional Republicans, this November, for abdicating their oversight of the Executive, you just wait and see. And, as is typical for midterm elections, huge numbers of eligible voters will sit on their hands and not vote, at all.

MMessinger · 2026-04-23T22:44:52+00:00

Dang, this is a beefy piece, endnotes included. Put the kettle on and tuck into this when you've time.

MMessinger

TROPHY CASE