Robert Cruickshank
@robertcruickshank.com
8.2K followers 730 following 7.4K posts
Digital Strategy for California YIMBY, Chair of Sierra Club Seattle. Personal account -- what you see here represents my own opinions, for better or worse.
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robertcruickshank.com
Yes, but that only works if the regime voluntarily cedes power, as happened in South Africa. If they don't, then we have to go to trial. And no, trials and convictions are not "violence."
robertcruickshank.com
This *will* happen and in most of our lifetimes. Pinochet was arrested. The Argentinian junta were tried and convicted. It should happen as soon as Dems retake power, it might take longer, but the ICE/MAGA trials are going to take place.
just-jack-1.bsky.social
Let’s fast forward to when these ICE fuckers are all on trial for their crimes against humanity and the Constitution.
robertcruickshank.com
Even countries with less of a reliable record of democratic elections that are currently ruled by authoritarians have elections. Turkey, Russia, Hungary, and more. Trump and MAGA aren't canceling ours. They don't need to, and the risk is worth more than the reward.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
slothropsmap.bsky.social
There is no physical or procedural scenario in which Republicans could possibly stop the midterms.
helldude.bsky.social
putting down my bet: no 2026 midterms
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
whstancil.bsky.social
The most effective Democratic messenger of my lifetime is the guy who broke every single rule Democrats are currently trying to follow: Barack Hussein Obama, the guy with the weird name who talked like a professor, made sweeping appeals to higher principles, and never once appeared salt-of-the-earth
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Ruben Gallego on whether Trump is talking to Democrats:

“Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia, so I think there's a he's probably talking to himself, or think he's talking to a Democrat, but I sincerely doubt that that's actually he's actually physically talking to a Democrat.“
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
ecosozialismus.bsky.social
Get your comments in!!!! Oct. 17 deadline!
robertcruickshank.com
A few weeks after the invasion of France, as British boats were evacuating Dunkirk, there was a small group of Cabinet ministers who suggested seeking peace with Hitler. Churchill refused. Instead he gave the "We shall fight them on the beaches" speech.

We need Democrats to lead like him.
burgessev.bsky.social
Is it time for ... a Senate shutdown GANG?

Coons: “A couple more days of this, and you'll have a group of senators at least trying"

Murkowski: “For the Democrats to switch their vote ... you have to have some germ of an idea as to where we go once we get it open"

www.semafor.com/article/10/0...
Could a bipartisan Senate gang stop the shutdown?
Senators once locked arms across the aisle on infrastructure, immigration, and more. Some in the chamber think that’s the way out of the current crisis.
www.semafor.com
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
robertcruickshank.com
Yep, it generates quakes and tsunami on the scale of 2004 in Indonesia/Thailand or 2011 in Japan. That was bad enough. But now it could trigger a quake in California too! Doom for the whole West Coast!
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
wilsonforseattle.bsky.social
Capt Tietjen has a long record of actions that diminish public confidence in SPD. We cannot afford that. I want to give the new chief the benefit of the doubt, but this decision reflects either bad judgment or a lack of due diligence, neither of which will be accepted when I’m Mayor.
SPD Chief Puts Cop Who Called 2020 Protesters "Cockroaches" In Charge of East Precinct
Mike Tietjen, who was promoted over a gay acting commander, was suspended, reassigned, and reprimanded after multiple complaints in 2020, including an incident in which officers taunted a trans woman.
open.substack.com
robertcruickshank.com
Especially in hilly cities like Seattle and San Francisco
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
maxdubler.com
Electric bicycles, and shared electric bicycles in particular, are a revolutionary transportation technology. Forward-looking cities should be building out the infrastructure necessary to make cycling safe and convenient for everyone who wants to do it.
jamellebouie.net
i recently got a great deal on a barely used folding ebike and i have to say it has revolutionized my train travel. i can get from my front door to the amtrak station in a little less than 5 minutes!!!
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
whstancil.bsky.social
Democrats can demand a rollback of the Supreme Court ICE racial profiling case. It’s a trivial legislative fix. It poses virtually no political risk for them. It protects 68 million people from open government persecution. It protects basic constitutional values. No government funding without this.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
katemacfarlane.bsky.social
Oh look, another example of Harrell’s terrible management skills

Tiffany Washington, Deputy Mayor for Homelessness, refused to fill hotel rooms that the city paid for. Reason? She doesn’t like the program lead

Not the first time Washington has acted in favor of more homelessness, either
propublica.org
NEW: After paying for hotel rooms to shelter homeless people, Seattle deliberately left them vacant.

By the end of 2024, taxpayers were spending $4,200 a month per empty room at a time when thousands of residents were without a roof over their heads.
Seattle Spent Millions on Hotel Rooms to Shelter Unhoused People. Then It Stopped Filling Them.
Early last year, the city signed a $2.7 million lease extension to continue using a hotel’s rooms as shelter space. Yet despite committing to pay the rent, the city stopped sending people there.
www.propublica.org
robertcruickshank.com
This is the way
isaacdovere.bsky.social
Newsom says he’s on the verge of quitting the National Govs Association: “should not be difficult … regardless of partisan affiliation, to agree that politicizing our states’ Natl Guard and deploying… over the objections of the home-state Governor,harms the interests of states”
robertcruickshank.com
These are good ideas that could probably pass muster with the electorate.
spokanerising.com
My ideal Washington tax system:

– LVT instead of property tax, with no 1% cap
– much lower sales tax and B&O tax
– modest progressive income tax
– capital gains tax similar to Idaho’s
– tax on VMT
– eliminate junk government fees
spokanerising.com
And yet progressive activists aren’t willing to have a conversation about reforming our broken tax code.

It’s not enough to say “we need to raise taxes on the rich.”

We need to fundamentally change our tax system. Some taxes should go up. Some taxes should go down. But no one is doing that work!
robertcruickshank.com
These ideas are good ideas.
robertcruickshank.com
Collins is going to offer magic beans to Senate Dems, who will eagerly buy them, only to discover they’re not magic at all.
murshedz.bsky.social
The Senator who enabled the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh is selling snake oil again. #MEPoltiics

Will some Democrats be stupid enough to buy?
Robert Costa screenshot from X:

"Robert Costa @costareports
Senator Collins says at the Capitol tonight that she’s circulating a bipartisan plan that will commit to moving to address health-care subsidies once the government is reopened… she showed reporters a folder that had a printout of what she said could be a way out of shutdown"