That a conservative court would rule this way was a shock to the pro-life movement, which is even now trying to decide what the next reproductive crusade should be. I was thinking this would be a good time to focus on making sure all children are well-fed, have comprehensive medical coverage and can have affordable daycare.

More KIRO Newsradio opinions: Is it time to put police back in Seattle schools?

But it seems to be moving towards some kind of Christian Nationalism, going into the states to get tougher abortion restrictions. The New York Times quoted the president of a group called “Students for Life” lamenting that many young women no longer want to have children at all, suggesting it’s because their parents weren’t religious and didn’t take their kids to church.

Personally, I think it could also be that young women today know that a positive pregnancy test can instantly make them subject to laws based on religious beliefs they do not share.

But it raises an interesting prospect: If the Christian nationalists are serious about a return to Bible-based values, will they also bring back the rules that used to apply to men?  

Being fruitful and multiplying was job No. 1 in the Old Testament, and God held males responsible for doing their part.

Genesis 38 verses 9 and 10  – this is a little delicate, so I won’t quote it – but let’s just say it was considered a serious sin for a man to “misfire” in any way. In fact, God is on record as summarily severing the brain-body connection of a man named Onan who did just that. Could this be the next reproductive frontier? Could men be next?

More from Dave Ross: Let the rich pay the exorbitant ‘luxury lane’ toll prices

The Supreme Court drew a line last week, saying that just because you hold a sincere moral belief doesn’t allow you to get all up in other peoples’ business. But the zealots are undeterred. They want to bring us back to a time when what happened in your bed was everybody’s business.

I won’t try to predict what might happen, but it’s something to keep in mind as you’re trying to decide which flag to raise over your beach house.

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And yet, even free-market believers seem to start doubting when they can feel the free market reaching deeper and deeper into their own wallets.

As Chris Sullivan has been documenting every morning, and as Danny Westneat observed in his Seattle Times column Sunday, the new higher tolls for solo drivers in the luxury lane are hitting the $15 maximum every rush hour.

More on local tolls: SR 520 toll rates will increase this summer, here’s how much

He even published a screenshot from the Washington Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) website showing that last week, solo drivers were paying the $15 maximum to save exactly three minutes driving from Renton to Auburn.

Which sounds ridiculous when you put it that way. But who are we to judge how people spend their lawfully-earned money? Have you seen what the airlines charge for the extra three inches of seat width in first class?

There’s this criticism of the luxury lanes as being insensitive to the plight of the people in the slum lanes.

But let’s think this through: In the example of driving from Renton to Auburn last week, where the rich people saved all of three minutes – the flip side to that is everybody else got a bargain! Just for exercising three minutes worth of patience, they saved 15 bucks. That’s the equivalent of making $300 an hour!

I say if rich people are OK with getting ripped off like that – let them pay. And let them pay whatever the state can get away with.

More from Dave Ross: If popularity creates immunity, maybe the ‘Belltown Hellcat Bandit’ should run for president

I know Washington voters have an aversion to imposing special tax burdens on the rich; I know a lot of you can’t wait to repeal the capital gains tax in November. But in the case of the toll lanes – the rich are freely choosing to pay. No one’s forcing them. Why do they need an artificial toll limit of $15 to protect them from their own choices?

The toll lanes have taught highway departments what the airlines learned long ago – people will pay for privileges that make them feel special. And considering the huge gap between tax revenue and what it actually costs to build and maintain these highways – it’s time to give them what they want for whatever they’re willing to pay.

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Trump’s jury came back with a unanimous guilty verdict the day after getting the case – which means it wasn’t even close. And yet a considerable part of the American electorate – including Mitt Romney, a traditional non-Trump Republican – is convinced that the case shouldn’t even have been prosecuted.

Local response to Trump conviction: Washington Republicans, Democrats react to Trump’s guilty verdict

A lot of completely normal Americans believe a guilty man should have gone free, and he probably will because of his popularity.

As for what happens when you’re unpopular – well, look at Hunter Biden. He’s about to go on trial for lying about his drug use when he filled out the ATF form to buy his handgun. How many “Leave Hunter Alone” rallies do you think we’ll see? How many gun owners see him as a martyr for the Second Amendment? How many people are asking: “What’s the big deal? It’s just lying on a piece of paper.” The cheering section is very quiet.

Which, believe it or not, brings me to the case of Seattle’s own Belltown Hellcat. He’s the guy who goes tearing through Downtown Seattle at night in his unmuffled souped-up Dodge Charger at 107 miles an hour.

More on Belltown Hellcat: ‘Belltown Hellcat’ social media influencer barred from driving infamous car

And as he explained to one cop who stopped him, he’s gotta keep doing it because he’s got 757,000 Instagram followers! That generates enough money to pay for his car and his downtown apartment! In the bodycam video, the cop couldn’t have been more polite.

“I’m an ASE Certified Master Technician as well as a cop, believe it or not,” the responding officer said when pulling over the Belltown Hellcat driver. “I have a car that would smoke yours. You just got to keep [the muffler] on. Why don’t you go to Pacific Raceways?”

Get yourself on the ballot, Hellcat. Run on a platform of cheap gas, and tell ’em you’re making downtown fun again. I believe the time is ripe.

More from Dave Ross: Living defensively has its limits when facing ‘forever chemicals’

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Angela Poe Russell’s commentary: A PSA all pedestrians need to hear

Her point? The law may well be on your side, but the law won’t hit the brakes if the driver doesn’t see you. There’s a bigger lesson here though. On the football field of life, the key to staying alive is a good defense.

I know this by instinct because I grew up as the small person who was picked last in gym class. In playground fights, I believe my record is 0-2 … so I have learned to avoid any physical conflict. Therefore, right of way or not, I don’t step into the crosswalk unless the road is empty.

The trouble is that this “live defensively” strategy has its limits – as we heard in today’s interview with Shannon Lerner of ProPublica. Her latest article describes how 3M lost control of its “forever chemicals” to the point that those chemicals show up in the blood not just of its plant workers, but people who’ve never been near a 3M plant.

“These chemicals accumulate in your bodies,” Lerner said. “According to the CDC, virtually everyone has some level of a forever chemical — at least one, but probably several — in their blood.”

So we’re not necessarily doomed. But how do you defend against that? A fine? The company’s already paid a fine.

“They were square with the law, but basically it was too late because the chemical seeped out of their products and basically into all of us,” Lerner added.

More from Dave Ross: If you hope the government will save kids from social media, think again

At some point, even my patience runs out and I can no longer play defense. You have to go on offense and say, “I don’t care how great your chemical is, I don’t want it trespassing in my body.” Which is why the 3M employee who saw those blood tests blew the whistle on her company.

Whether it’s giant factories churning out untested chemicals, or the ten thousand pounds of carbon that the average car pumps out of the tailpipe in a year, it’s all like peeing in the pool. Which is why I never open my mouth underwater.

And that’s today’s life lesson: Keep your eyes open in the crosswalk, your mouth closed in the pool and your whistle handy when you go to work.

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But that law is headed straight to federal court, and we could have a whole new government by the time there’s a verdict in that case.

That tells me those of you who are hoping the government will save your kids from social media will need a Plan B.

My generation didn’t have social media growing up, but we had something almost as scary – we were the guinea pigs for television. TV taught us smoking was healthy, had us playing Cowboys and Indians with cap pistols, and spread rock and roll music, which caused some of us to have sex and get muddy at Woodstock.

(I say “some” of us – because I had a job that summer and missed Woodstock.)

More from Dave Ross: Social media companies must be responsible for content they broadcast

How television and companies like TikTok differ

But the big difference between TV and social media – was that the TV was in the living room, and we usually watched with our parents, and they had the power to shut it off at any time.

Social media works even under the covers.

There was a vigorous discussion about in The New York Times, and I want to read this comment from a reader named CC, writing from Paris, who says:

“I am a tech founder and … Knowing tech, the idea that a social media platform will adequately shield your child from questionable content …is laughable.  Even if they wanted to, it is vastly difficult (and with no financial return to please shareholders). There is an indescribable amount of terrible content on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube … because PEOPLE WATCH IT…

As a parent, the idea that any responsible human would give their child unhindered access to a phone and social media for five to six hours per day is terrifying.  At the risk of sounding judgmental, the correct amount of social media time for people under 16 is zero. I desperately wish we could clean up the internet for our young people, but it’s not going to happen. WE… the adults, need to guard … our young people from online perils, just like we would stop them from wandering around alone at night in a bad neighbourhood.”

Other readers replied that they tried getting kids off social media but, “it’s close to impossible.”

Dave Ross content: We built it, and they had better come

My kids are grown. I’m in no position to give advice.  But I agree – social media companies won’t change their business model, and the government isn’t coming to the rescue.  So your choice is to surrender, or get those kids hooked on safer media alternatives.

I’d suggest radio. It’s free, it’s instant, and it’s everywhere – although, I’d stick to the talk stations.  The music stations are still all about the sex.

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“I talk about it because what I’m tired of in this country is politicians who pretend to be something that they’re not,” Noem said.

Whereas she is someone who can take charge and does not shy away from tough challenges.

Except, for one particular tough challenge. In her book, she wrote, “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me.”

More KIRO Radio opinions: The outside investigation of SPD can’t come soon enough

On Face The Nation yesterday, Margaret Brennan asked her, point-blank: Did you meet Kim Jong Un?

“Well, you know, as soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this passage, and I’ve met with many, many world leaders,” Noem responded.

She wouldn’t give a direct answer, so Brennan tried again.

“So you did not meet with Kim Jong Un?” Brennan asked Noem. “That’s what you’re saying?”

“No, I met with many, many world leaders,” Noem answered.

It’s like you asked your kid, “Who broke the dish” and the kid responds with, “I’ve handled many, many dishes that did not break.” That’s not the question! So Brennan asked Noem the question again.

“I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders,” Noem responded once more.

Nobody asked you about other world leaders, just the one! Did you meet him or not?

“I take responsibility for that being in the book,” Noem said. “And as soon as it was brought to my attention, I asked for it to be changed.”

But how does a mistake like that happen? This is like trying to figure out who overlooked the missing bolts. In this case, Brennan reminded Noem that she read the passage aloud for the audiobook.

“You didn’t catch these errors when you were recording it?” Brennan asked.

“I marked it as soon as it was brought to my attention,” Noem answered. “I took action to make sure that it was reflected. And listen, this is what is so discouraging about politics in the media today.”

The media! Always trying to find things out! How dare they!

More from Dave Ross: We built it, and they had better come

I understand a politician not wanting us to cover a sleazy sexual encounter. But this is the opposite. This is about not encountering someone. It was as if Kristi Noem wants us to think she actually did meet him, but that it was supposed to be a secret.

“There are world leaders that I’ve met with that are in this book and there are many that I met with that are not in this book, but I’m not going to talk to you about those personal meetings that I’ve had with world leaders,” Noem said.

And then she said that, even though the mention of the meeting with Kim Jong Un was taken out of the book, she is “not retracting anything.”

Not retracting anything? OK, but I have to say that this new generation of authentic politicians is sounding a lot like the old generation.

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That’s only about 12% of the people who saw Taylor Swift in Seattle, but for the opening of a rail line that only goes six miles, it’s not too bad. It shows that people are at least curious about how it feels to get to Redmond without driving there.

But I can’t help noticing that relatively few people currently live within walking distance of those Eastside light rail stations. The South Bellevue station is basically in a swamp.

And for the system to be worth all the money we’ve spent, that will have to change. There will have to be massive development around those stations, whether the salmon like it or not. That’s where the future growth has to happen. Large residential high-rises, and the businesses and parks to support them.

In Bellevue: Sound Transit’s East Link 2-Line is online

And it means the character of many of the neighborhoods along that line will have to evolve.

The only question is – are we going to accept it – or engage in a resistance movement that is doomed to fail.

I predict that this area is going to continue to grow – because if nothing else, climate change is going to create domestic refugees from the overheated areas south of here.  And there is no room – and no money – for more highways.  Interstate 405 (I-405) is already more like an airstrip, and I don’t think we’re going to build a third bridge across the lake.

So we are at peak pavement.

And the newcomers will have to live in communities that don’t need cars.

Which may sound crazy, but it’s how my parents grew up, and they survived pretty well.

More from Dave Ross: Does the right to protest outweigh the right to learn?

I may not live to see it, but with any luck, 20 years from now, we’ll be zipping back and forth wondering how anyone back in the 2020’s tolerated wacky ideas like Express Toll Lanes, diverging diamonds, mammoth three-level cloverleafs, and all the endless congestion, construction, conflict and carbon that came with trying to put every commuter in their own – mostly-empty – car.

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First, a little personal backstory.

My freshman year at Cornell saw the same kind of chaos we’re seeing on campus this year. In the spring of 1970 there were Vietnam protests, building occupations, the Africana Studies center was burned down in April and then it all broke loose after the Kent State shootings in May.

Half a million demonstrators marched on Washington.

And I missed a bunch of classes, enough classes that my career track changed from physics to English.

I’m not claiming that, but for those demonstrations, I might have one day cracked the mysteries of quantum electro dynamics. However, it pretty much gutted my academic schedule.

I got through it, and managed to find a decent fallback career.

But it’s the reason I had an instant reaction to Sunday’s headline in The New York Times which read:

“With pro-Palestinian protests spreading across campuses nationwide … When does a demonstration cross the line?”

I can answer that.

When a protest devolves into violence, obviously it crosses a line. But I think it also crosses a line when it means disrupting the education of students who didn’t pay all that tuition to be surrounded by chaos.

An organizer of the recent protests at Cornell – who was suspended for a demonstration which involved loud chanting and a “die-in”– wrote a piece in the Cornell Daily Sun to explain himself.

He writes that he’s a sophomore who feels strongly about genocide. He also opposes Cornell’s support of a tech company involved in the design of the unmanned bulldozers being used by Israel. That’s true – the Israeli press has documented the unmanned bulldozers – in fact Israel also uses robot dogs for surveillance. So he has every right to expose all that.

More from Dave Ross: Tracking employees’ vital signs at work via privacy pods, what could go wrong?

But however strongly he may feel, he doesn’t have the right to disrupt somebody else’s education.

If he wants to expose Israel’s hypocrisy, he can march, wave a sign, write op-eds, start a YouTube channel– better yet, travel to Israel and join the protest camp outside (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s residence.

But the idea that campus protesters think the expression of their opinions trumps everybody else’s right to an education strikes me as pretty arrogant. You are disrupting the lives of people who played no part in the injustice you are trying to end.

And they won’t forget.

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“Employees returning to offices have flocked to phone booth-like privacy pods to make phone calls or just get a bit of quiet,” the story read.

Yes, employees – we’re sticking with the open office that all of you hate, but now, we will let you hide in privacy pods when you’re tired of overhearing everybody else’s personal business.

More KIRO Newsradio opinions: Despite what you’ve heard, the new Seattle city council isn’t failing…yet

According to Bloomberg, these privacy pods are among the fastest-growing segments in the office furniture market. And they are so popular that one privacy pod-maker came up with an even better idea — to embed the privacy pods with sensors that can track the pulse and breathing of the employee in the pod to detect early signs of stress as a way of preventing burnout and reducing office turnover.

The sensors are actually embedded in the seat of the pod so that while you’re enjoying your complete privacy, your butt is sharing your vital signs! Now that is progress. Nothing says privacy like a privacy pod that listens to your butt. I bet many of you are feeling more relaxed already just knowing that this technology exists.

However, the more immediate question is: How do we deal with stress while we’re waiting for our new pods to be installed?

That gave me an idea. I was thinking that, as a stopgap, bosses could use highly sophisticated sensing devices called “ears” which are pre-installed at birth, and which can sense when employees say things such as “this job is driving me nuts.”

So, by listening to employees, a boss could then figure out who needs help.

More from Dave Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

Now I don’t want to get in the way of progress — and I’m the first to admit that IF the human butt can make phone calls, why not let it share your heart rate with the world? – but the idea that something called a “privacy pod” would be collecting data from your rear end is yet another good reason to stand at your desk.

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But it seems to me that if you want to really get morbid about cars, you also have to bring up the rising highway death count. And the assault on our mental health caused by urban commute systems that can be paralyzed by a single crash – such that some of us keep a pee bottle and emergency rations just in case.

More on cars in Wash.: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

There’s also our casual acceptance of what to me is the single most shocking driving statistic – that every gallon of gas you burn dumps 19.6 pounds of CO2 out of your tailpipe — approximately triple the weight of the gasoline itself.

I don’t think the question here is whether any politician is going to “kill” our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

I hear many complaints about the billions of dollars spent on light rail, but highways aren’t a bargain either. And for all the highway construction, the newly built lanes quickly fill up and all it takes to bring the whole thing to a stop is one bad wreck in the wrong place.

And I don’t think it’s going to get better any time soon. This year marks the beginning of the 10-year Revive I-5 project, which is a great thing. If you’ve ever come to a stop on I-5 and taken a close look at the pavement you know it’s long overdue.

More from Dave Ross: Rent control was never the answer in Wash.

But it means that over the next 10 years, there will be 11 major I-5 rehab projects just between downtown Seattle and Lynnwood. Not counting fish passages and noise walls. These projects will save the highway from crumbling, but they won’t add any more capacity. And during construction, there will be less capacity.

This tells me it would be wise to elect politicians who understand that driving the same old way in the same old vehicle is a dead end.

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The article told the story of a driver here in Seattle who noticed that his insurance rate had jumped 21%. When he investigated, he learned his insurer had based the higher rate on data from 640 car trips! Based on the number of sudden stops and quick accelerations, he was riskier than they thought.

Like a lot of drivers, he found this intrusive. And that’s what I want to examine.

Chris Sullivan on Wash. roads: Lane sweeping is all too common and needs to stop

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake, every sudden brake – someone’s watching you. Do we as drivers have a right to keep our driving data private?

I would say that WHERE and WHEN we drive – unless you’ve committed a criminal act – is nobody’s business. But I would say that HOW you drive needs some kind of supervision. Once we leave the driveway, we’re on public display, in control of a powerful machine on highways that are typically crowded and are perpetually under construction.

And there are some drivers who just can’t handle it – impaired judgment, short tempers – we see them every day. I blame some of it on television ads showing pit maneuvers in the desert. Like driving is supposed to be fun!

Well, maybe in the desert it’s fun, but around here driving is a job where the health and safety of a lot of people is at stake. And pretty much the only way to assess who’s good at that job and who isn’t is to track their driving habits. The highways can’t be a place where misbehavior hides behind anonymity. We have enough of that on the internet.

More from Dave Ross: Rent control was never the answer in Wash.

So yes, I know it feels like an invasion of privacy, and I wouldn’t use that data to allow the cops to automatically arrest you, but if you’re worried about your insurance company getting objective data on how you really drive … maybe it’s time for an ORCA card.

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The rent control bill died in the legislature this week, even though Democrats control both houses. The reason is because Democrats — like Senator Mark Mullet of Issaquah — realized landlords would just get out of the rental business, and it would backfire.

“If you want to lower the price … isn’t going to help,” Mullet told The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH 770 AM. “I think rent control has been looked at from an academic standpoint for several decades and we don’t have any examples of it being successful.”

More from Dave Ross: Conservative activist earns applause for pledging an ‘end of Democracy’

The problem gets worse when you have idealists who say they want to lower rents, but are also determined to discourage development because it leads to climate change.

So how about this: Make it easier to build stuff! Especially in areas that are already developed. If you look at the permit requirements for multi-family developments in King County – just the information bulletin is 15 pages.

To build one single-family home, you’re looking at five weeks just to screen the application and another 30 weeks to get the necessary permits. For larger buildings, I couldn’t find any time estimates. And when you look at the list of permits, you understand why.

Got a pencil ready?

• The International Building Code
• International Mechanical Code
• International Fire Code
• Critical Areas Code
• Drainage Ordinance
• Shoreline Management Act
• Washington State Energy Code
• Certificate of Transportation Concurrency
• Certificate of Sewer and Water Availability

And of course, your payments for all these things.

No one wants shoddy construction or dead fish, so there must be rules. But the rules need to make sense and should not be used to block development.

I do have a little experience here as part of group of neighbors trying to get permission to protect our property from landslides. It’ll end up taking a year just to get permission. And we’re not even building anything new, just trying to protect what’s there.

The way to end a housing crisis it not to change the rules on rent, but to change the attitude of the gatekeepers. An investor who wants to build a five-story apartment building should be welcomed at the permit office with cake and ice cream. The attitude should be “thank goodness you’re here. How do we make this happen as quickly as possible?”

More from Dave Ross: Voters can help cull bad politicians from the herd early

Instead of “why are you trying to kill the fish and destroy the earth?”

If we’re going to rope off huge areas of land to keep them in their natural state – which I think is a good thing – then it has to be easier to fill in what’s left.

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“Welcome, I just wanted to say welcome to the end of democracy. We’re here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will. We will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here. That’s right because all glory is not to government, all glory is to God.”

That was Jack Posobiec, conservative television host of last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) holding up but was described in one report as a necklace with a cross as he spoke. Sounds to me like a Catholic rosary, which I know pretty well. I wasn’t sure what he meant by “bringing it back” since it’s already here. So I took the bait and listened to the whole speech to find out just what he was getting at.

More Dave Ross commentaries: Is the Wild West of social media over after Senate hearing?

“We will begin with ending paper ballots and ending Election Day,” Posobiec continued. “We will remove all voter ID and all citizenship requirements for voting. We will replace in-person voting with low-integrity mail-in options and drop boxes. We are going to censor social media. We’re going to lock up protesters if anyone has a problem with it.”

He was trolling us because, as he sees it, all those things are being done not by MAGA Republicans, but by anti-MAGA Democrats.

“We’re going to arrest the opposition leader four times,” Posobiec said. “We’ll flood the nation with millions of invaders who vote the way we want. Release violent criminals into the cities. Disarm the populace.”

The theme here is that Jan. 6 was a righteous attack not on democracy, but on those who threaten democracy.

“Folks, this is their democracy. This is the regime that we will overturn,” Posobiec said to applause at the CPAC convention. “They say democracy, but they mean authoritarianism and we know it.

I was waiting for him to explain Trump’s dictator-for-a-day promise, but it didn’t come up in the speech. Although, he did say he would exterminate the federal government as we know it.

More from Dave Ross: Voters can help cull bad politicians from the herd early

“And after we raise that swamp to the ground, we will establish the new American republic on its ashes and our first order of business will be righteous retribution for those who betrayed America,” Posobiec said. “They will be judged.”

So, that rosary may come in handy. If nothing else, you have to admire the self-confidence. This man truly seems to know the future. And this isn’t his first prediction either. Two years ago at the 2022 CPAC convention, he predicted this.

“I think that Hillary Clinton, as of right now, is amping up efforts for a rematch,” Posobiec said in 2022. “She wants to get back in the ring again.”

Well, it’s still early in the campaign.

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But let’s remember that just about every occupant of a higher office once occupied a lower office, and was put there by us.

That is why I think we have an obligation – as voters – to weed out the bad ones as early in their careers as possible.

And the way to do that is by voting, every single time you get a ballot and voting on every single race on that ballot. I’m not asking you to sit up all night researching candidates, but I am suggesting that you do just enough to make sure you vote against anyone who panders to the angriest among us.

Even at the local level. Because there are no minor elections.

Those local elections are how politicians start climbing the ladder.

More from Dave Ross: Is the Wild West of social media over after Senate hearing?

I have to say in this area we’ve done pretty well at electing people who run for the right reasons. We’ve never elected a George Santos (New York) or a Lauren Boebert (Colorado). But I don’t take it for granted.

Because voter turnout rates remain terrible, even here. In the elections that give politicians their start – off-year local elections – turnout in 2023 in Washington was about 37%.

Other elections are somewhat better, but there are still too many voters who throw away their chance to weed out the next wave of bomb throwers.

I worry about any candidate who equates negotiation with surrender.

PNW politics: Seattle PD, FD deliver sobering statistics to Seattle City Council

And when you add low turnout to the growing influence of social media – you see how we could be saddled with yet another generation of politics focused on fear, instead of focused on fixing problems. Do we need another Congress that warns us about a wave of invading aliens and then votes no to deliberately keep the crisis alive as an election issue?

I think politicians like that need to be culled from the herd early – before they set their sights on higher office.

As voters, we have that power. And it’s up to us to pick up that pen, and make it count–every time, in every race.

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The commercials are great and entertaining. Usher had me practicing my moonwalk. But this year, the game itself eclipsed everything.

This is especially amazing when you consider the whole thing happens in real-time and keeps your attention without computer-enhanced superheroes flinging made-up weapons.

More Dave Ross: Is the Wild West of social media over after Senate hearing?

It was rigorously obedient to all the laws of physics from beginning to end, right down to the final seconds when every fourth down became a cliff-hanger:

“First and goal,” the CBS play-by-play exclaimed. “They score. Touchdown! Jackpot Kansas City!”

After which, we saw Travis and Taylor embrace for a full 60 seconds. It was probably the most compelling unscripted show in television history.

I keep wondering, how does the NFL pull it off? Is it the philosophy of parity among teams, or, as one of the announcers implied, could there be something more at work?

“With the touchdown pass, Mahomes ends up with 333 yards. Why is this significant? Because the address of the stadium is 3333 Al Davis Way,” the CBS play-by-play continued. “He’s never lost in this building. They win it by three with a fling to Hardman, who started this season as a Jet.”

More Dave Ross: Initiatives will be the stars of November ballot

Hmm. Interesting, right? And did you know that Mecole Hardman, the former jet who made that catch – happens to wear the number twelve? 1, 2? One plus two equals three.

And as for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? Each has a first name with six letters and a second name with five letters. And what’s six multiplied by five? That’s right, 30! And if you take the number of days in the current month of February, and add one – what do you get? 30. And the number of initials in “N-F-L?”

Think about it — just not too hard.

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The message of yesterday’s Senate hearing was clear: Social media is well past its incubation period and needs to be regulated the way broadcasters are.

The original social media business model was genius — get ordinary people to create content for free, sell ads and give the content creators a cut.

More on social media: Instagram’s ‘nightly nudge’ may be a step toward healthy social media habits

But as YouTube discovered early on, what people wanted to post AND wanted to see included a lot of porn and violence. And nasty gossip. And dangerous stupid human tricks. Yes, uplifting and charming Cat videos too, but way too much of the other stuff.

And the algorithms, which were designed to feed viewers more of whatever they clicked on, amplified the garbage as well as the gold.

With so many “contributors” there was no way to do what regular broadcasters do — which is vet the people who supply your content, preview what’s broadcast, and exercise that control in real-time.

And that’s how the trouble started.

Our show – Seattle’s Morning News — is controlled by a company with people you can contact and complain to — our employers know who we are, Colleen, Chris and I are bound to standards set out in our employment contracts, our organization is regulated by the FCC, and even with all that — we ALSO operate with a delay just in case.

Social media platforms, however, can just sit back as people they don’t know post stuff they don’t preview and are not legally responsible for.

Because they’re not considered broadcasters. Like gun manufacturers, they can’t be sued for the consequences of their products — even though their audiences, which are in the billions, far surpass traditional broadcasters — except maybe on Super Bowl Sunday.

More from Dave Ross: Initiatives will be the stars of November ballot

But yesterday it was clear that a critical mass of senators has come to the conclusion that the cost of this hands-off approach has been far too high.

Republican Senator Joe Kennedy:

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According to The Seattle Times, there will be six initiatives whose campaigns were mostly paid for by one donor: Brian Heywood, a libertarian on a mission to fix what he calls the “stupid things” the state government does.

He has assumed Tim Eyman’s role, except he was wealthy enough to pay for the signature gatherers with his own money.

Among those initiatives are some major tax measures: repealing the new capital gains tax, prohibiting any form of income tax, repealing the fees for carbon emissions, and letting anyone opt out of the state’s long-term care plan.

Another Dave Ross commentary: South Africa, Israel cry genocide, but who is right?

It’s almost like a referendum on the Jay Inslee era.

Mr. Heywood, of course, is being criticized for spending $6.2 million to push his agenda, but like Tim Eyman, he can’t single-handedly pass anything. That will be up to the legislature, and if they punt, it’ll be up to us.

My problem with it is that I remember the original $30 tabs initiative, which seemed like a big victory – until you find out years later that your roads aren’t being fixed, and the ferries are patched with Gorilla tape.

And that’s my only objection to the initiative process. It’s the ultimate form of democracy, but it pretends there are no consequences.

Being a rugged individualist, I’m all for rounding up a volunteer pavement posse to fill some of the crevasses in I-5, some of the exposed re-bar on I-90, to swing a hammer at our Jack-In-The Box expansion joints, but that’s one initiative no one’s proposed yet.

And on the carbon fees – I’m a little surprised a libertarian would be against those because, as I’ve said before, if I have to pay to dump my organic kitchen waste, why would I expect to dump my organic car waste into the air for free? That’s what conservatives used to call a free lunch. Now, they want to make it an entitlement.

And on state-sponsored long-term care insurance– we all get old, with any luck. Eventually, we’ll need someone to take care of us. And yes, it’s our personal responsibility to save up for that.

More from Dave: Boeing has become a punchline

But it turns out not everybody does. So, if we’re going to let these people fend for themselves without any money, they’ll need tiny homes, old RVs, or tents somewhere.

That’s why I’m hoping that as these initiative campaigns develop, you’ll ask about what happens after they pass, just as you do with your household budget. You don’t suddenly stop paying your power bill without discussing the consequences or at least buying a few more flashlights.

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“You know those bolts that hold the plane together, we’re gonna tighten some of those,” is a line from the video.

Even more brutal was that the skit targeted Alaska Airlines, and never mentioned Boeing.

Of course, it didn’t have to. Everybody knows who supplied the plane.

The repeated hits to Boeing’s reputation have vindicated the warnings from engineers who years ago warned that relying on too many subcontractors, and trying to maximize stock price would have dire consequences.

But there’s more at stake here than just Boeing’s reputation. Capitalism’s reputation is also on the line.

Saturday Night Live video: ‘You know those bolts that hold the plane together? We’re gonna tighten some of those’

Boeing’s troubles are being portrayed as another example of glaring flaws in American free-market capitalism – with Europe’s highly-regulated, unionized and subsidized Airbus now out-pacing Boeing – to the point that last year Airbus delivered 40% more jets. And won 60% more orders. Even though Europe has the kind of labor-friendly laws that would supposedly be far too costly to enforce here.

And even if we ignore Airbus, as any investor will tell you it’s pretty clear that if the goal of Boeing management was to optimize stock prices – it’s been a colossal failure.

And I think we know why. A consensus has developed that the trouble began in 1996 with the McDonnell Douglas merger, followed by the decision to move the headquarters to Chicago in 2001, until finally in 2004, management formally decided that Boeing – with its detail-obsessed engineers who wouldn’t sign off on anything unless it was perfect – was being run too much like an engineering firm, and that it was time to run it as a business instead.

That now appears to have backfired. It turns out that the way to create lasting shareholder value is NOT to focus on shareholder value! Because in the airplane business, where one mistake can be deadly, what creates shareholder value is a flawless product.

So how to turn this around? I think the perfect opening move would be to admit the mistakes of the past and announce that headquarters is moving back to Seattle.

– A place teeming with talented people who know how to design and build reliable airplanes and who would be more than happy to explain to management what kind of resources they need to make that happen.

Plus I’m told you can get a really good deal on office space around here these days.

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The International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s Highest Court, heard arguments last week on an application by South Africa to have Israel’s War against Gaza declared a genocide.

More from Dave Ross: Seahawks culture that had worked for so long, fell apart

Among the arguments made by South Africa’s lawyers were that this is a war on children, that no distinction is being made between combatants and non-combatants, and that Israeli politicians have openly called for the eradication of Palestinians.

 “Soldiers filmed themselves detonating entire apartment blocks and town squares, erecting the Israeli flag over the wreckage, seeking to reestablish Israeli settlements on the rubble of Palestinian homes, and thus extinguishing the very basis of Palestinian life in Gaza,” Adila Hassim, the lawyer representing South Africa said.

“All of these acts individually and collectively form a calculated pattern of conduct by Israel, indicating a genocidal intent,” Hassim continued.

Israel, of course, refuted these arguments, claiming the only genocide was the ongoing campaign of Hamas to eradicate Israel, as evidenced by the Oct. 7 attack.

“If the claim of the applicant now is that Israel must be denied the ability to defend its citizens than the absurd upshot of South Africa’s argument is this. Under the guise of the allegation against Israel of genocide, this court is asked to call for an end to operations against the ongoing attacks of an organization that pursues an actual genocidal agenda, an organization that has violated every past ceasefire and use it to rearm and plan you atrocities, an organization that declares its unequivocal resolve to advance its genocidal plans,” legal advisor for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tal Becker said. “That is an unconscionable request.”

So, what can the court do with these dueling claims of genocide?

Well, if the goal is truly to stop this war, it seems to me the quickest way to do that would be for the court to order the arrest of the people who started it and put them on trial.

The court could authorize Israel to arrest the Hamas leadership or accept their peaceful surrender for the purpose of a UN trial to determine whether or not the Oct. 7 attack was justified.

The war would stop, and the two sides could make their case to the world and, with any luck, come to the conclusion that however we define genocide, it doesn’t solve anything, and it’s time to find a better way.

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I hadn’t expected that headline ever, actually.

And then I started going through clips from some of the interviews on Seattle Sports 710, the KJ Wright show and some of Gee Scott’s comments on his podcast.

And it’s pretty clear. A lot of people knew for a long time that there were problems in the Seahawks locker room. Problems nobody wanted to talk about publicly except former linebacker KJ Wright.

“They were just so distracted. It is not even about the opponent’s anymore, because what they’re finding, they’re finding their own internal battles within the building. They’re fighting guys buying into what’s coach currently saying.”

KJ talking with Mike Salk on Seattle Sports a month ago saying that, unlike when he was with the team, this year’s team had no accountability for mistakes on the field.

Ross: No playoffs for the Seattle Seahawks, but so what?!

“In my locker room, players, we handled it, we handled each other. If you if you doing this, you put in the grain, we handled each other when I look at this team right now that no brother is holding the other brother accountable.”

So it appears that the culture that had worked for so long, fell apart.

I’m still not clear about when the slide began, or why no one seemed to want to talk about it or name names. But the implication was that the coach who is legendary for how much he loves his players, found that the general approach wasn’t working.

“What I’m hearing from Coach Carroll is that he’s sick and tired of these guys. He’s extremely frustrated. He feels like he’s preaching to him. He’s trying to be nice with them, but they’re just not receiving his message. Well, so he says you don’t dissent. You don’t give a damn what he’s saying at this point.”

So what do we learn? Well, something I think we already know that you can never rest on your laurels.

Ross: Are gas prices really the problem?

The Seahawks win or lose are a hugely successful organization. They have an immense audience. They put on a great show. They employ deeply talented people, they make a lot of money.

And in Pete Carroll, they had a coach who even at 72 has so much energy he could run for president and age wouldn’t be an issue. And yet, like any organization, it’s continued success depends on the corporate culture and the office vibe.

And when those are not working. It doesn’t matter how talented your employees are. You got trouble.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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