Good Morning! It’s Thanksgiving week, which means, depending on your job, you’re either facing an easy breezy three day week, or one of the most nightmarish customer service weeks of the year. Be kind to your friends in the latter group this week. Bring them a treat. Maybe a hug. Or a pillow to punch.
MTG OUT: After four years of talking about “Jewish space lasers,” harassing the survivors of school shootings, and equating mask mandates to the holocaust, US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Friday that she’s resigning from Congress. According to Greene, DC just couldn’t handle her sound: “I’ve always represented the common American man and woman as a member of the House of Representatives which is why I’ve always been despised in Washington DC and never fit in,” she wrote at the beginning of her four-page statement. She found out that there’s no “insane 4D chess game being played,” just the “Political Industrial Complex…ripping this country apart.” We all have to realize it some day, Marge. Her last day in Congress will be January 5.
What Does It Mean?? AOC called it MTG’s “revenge tour” after Trump turned his back on her. Greene had been a MAGA loyalist for years, but Trump recently turned on her, nicknaming her Marjorie “Traitor” Brown. When she announced that she’s stepping down, she framed herself at the true MAGA, uninfluenced by DC powerbrokers. She said she felt “cast aside” by Trump. But the New York Times thinks it’s also emblematic of deeper fracturing within MAGA and the GOP: “Some conservatives are slowly imagining a future where his priorities, whims and vendettas no longer steer their movement.”
Trump’s New Crush: Trump piled on the confusion on Friday when he met with New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani. He told reporters that the meeting “surprised him,” and called Mamdani a “rational person.”
Trump frickin’ loves this guy lmao
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Weather: High around 48, with some clouds but no rain. That’s the last time we’ll be able to say that for a while: if the forecasts are right, we’ll have rain from tomorrow through Thanksgiving. Breathe in that crisp autumn air while you can!
Harbor Island Studios’ Short Runway: Last week, our local, publicly-owned sound stage Harbor Island Studios was unexpectedly on the County Council’s chopping block. After a last minute call to action, dozens of people showed up to the council meeting before they voted to finalize the budget, and it was saved in a last minute amendment.
The Catch: It’s only funded for six months, and then it needs a new sugar daddy. County Councilmember Claudia Balducci, who told The Stranger’s Julianne Bell that she’s a “convert” to the cause after hearing the impassioned public comment, says that right now, they have a lot of ideas—including letting a nonprofit run it or “passing the hat” and running a massive fundraiser—but no actual plan. I really want to make a joke about Love Is Blind here, but honestly we really need infrastructure like this if we want a functioning arts industry in the city.
The Olympic Pipeline Is Still Fucked: And it’s starting to fuck up air travel. Since the fuel line started leaking into a blueberry farm two weeks ago, BP has dug up 200 feet of pipe, but they’re still struggling to find the leak. When it’s working, it provides fuel for SeaTac and PDX. Without it, airlines are trucking and ferrying in fuel from elsewhere, but it might not be enough. For international and long-haul domestic flights, airlines are preparing to build in refueling stops or making “scheduling adjustments” (it’s not clear if that’s a euphemism for cancellations or delays. Maybe both!) Best of luck in your holiday travel plans, you’re gonna need it.
Unfortunately: The FAA says this Thanksgiving will be the busiest in a decade and a half. And if you’re driving instead of flying, beware of the mountain passes. The Cascades could get hit by more than a half-foot of snow this week, and holiday traffic could turn fender benders into crazy delays.
This Is Definitely the Best Way to do This: In 2025, we’ve gone from crowdfunding our own healthcare, to crowdfunding entire clinics. Between changes to Medicaid and the cuts to federal subsidies for the ACA, about 380,000 Washingtonians are expected to lose their health insurance next year. Community health centers that take patients whether or not they’re able to pay are preparing for a massive influx of need, and a huge loss to their income.
Filling the Gaps: KUOW talked to the CEO of Healthpoint, a network of 20 community health centers about their looming crisis. About three quarters of their patients are on Medicaid. For any of their current patients that are legally authorized immigrants, or who can’t keep up with the new work requirements, Healthpoint will stop getting reimbursed. To try to make up the difference, the clinics will start asking for donations.
Florida Man Tries to Fix Problem He Created: According to Politico’s sources, Trump plans to announce his own ObamaCare extension as early as today. Details are sparse, but insiders say it’s expected to be just a two-year extension, with a minimum premium payment and creating income caps for eligibility. TrumpCare: It’s ObamaCare, but worse.
Teslas Are Still Death Traps: According to a new lawsuit in Tacoma, a man and his wife were driving in their Tesla in 2023 when it “suddenly and rapidly accelerated out of control.” The disgruntled robot slammed them into a utility pole. The car caught fire, and trapped the two inside. The woman was killed in the accident, and the man was badly burned. Now, he’s suing the company for gross negligence.
We’re Number Two! According to the Seattle Times’s FYI Guy, Seattle is #2 in CBD use in the country. Honolulu has us beat. Catch up, slackers.
Buyer Beware: Infant botulism is still on the rise thanks to a bad batch of ByHeart baby formula still lingering on shelves around the country. It’s already sickened at least two kids in Washington. If you see it on the shelves, don’t trust that it’s safe. Choose another brand. (I know that sucks, but botulism is worse.)
Meet Mount Drainier: In our delightfully unserious city, the Washington Department of Transportation held a contest to name one of the scuppers on the Ship Canal Bridge. The winner, Mount Drainier, was installed on the bridge yesterday, with “25 of his closest friends.”
