ALT-RIGHT SHOUTS, NO ONE LISTENS—This Monday, the alt-right agitators of Patriot Prayer are planning a rally on the campus of Vancouver’s Clark College. The college’s response? They’re shutting down for the day. “These people want a stage at our school,” one student told Clark College’s board of trustees. “Let’s not give it to them.”
PROTECT TRUMP, SMEAR KHASHOGGI—”Hard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a whispering campaign against Jamal Khashoggi that is designed to protect President Trump from criticism of his handling of the dissident journalist’s alleged murder by operatives of Saudi Arabia,” reports the Washington Post, “and support Trump’s continued aversion to a forceful response to the oil-rich desert kingdom.”
BUEHLER’S MILLIONS—Directly and indirectly, Nike co-founder Phil Knight has now given roughly $3.5 million to Republican gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler. “Knight’s spending on Buehler’s campaign has far surpassed the previous record for an individual political donor in Oregon,” writes the Oregonian. “The state does not have campaign contribution limits.”
ROBBED AT TASER-POINT—Early this morning, three masked individuals carrying guns and a taser (??) held up the Lay Low Tavern on Southeast Powell. “After getting an undisclosed amount of cash, the bandits left, and fortunately, no one was injured,” writes the Mercury‘s Wm. Steven Humphrey.
“MY KIND OF GUY”—Last night in Montana, Trump campaigned for Representative Greg Gianforte—you know, the guy “who was sentenced to anger management classes and community service for assaulting a reporter last spring,” reports the New York Times. “I had heard he body-slammed a reporter,” said Trump, later adding, “Anybody that can do a body-slam, that’s my kind of guy.”
VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS—”Trump’s comments mark the first time the president has openly and directly praised a violent act against a journalist on American soil,” points out the Guardian. “It comes as the White House is under intense domestic and international pressure over Trump’s refusal to condemn Saudi Arabia despite growing evidence that its leader, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the decapitation and dismemberment of the journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.”
CATHOLIC MASS (OF SUBPOENAS)—”The Department of Justice has subpoenaed at least seven of the eight Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania as part of an investigation into abuse by priests,” writes CNN. “Several groups that represent abuse survivors said this appears to be the first federal probe of this size and scope into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the United States.”
SNITCH OF THE SEA—Tuna conspiracy?? Tuna conspiracy!! Former StarKist and BumbleBee executives “reportedly agreed to plead guilty to charges of price fixing as part of a conspiracy” to inflate prices of canned tuna, writes NPR. “Chicken of the Sea was not charged, instead receiving conditional leniency in exchange for assisting the Department of Justice’s investigation.” Wow. I fuckin’ told you guys not to trust Chicken of the Sea.
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