...because four years of listening to crap like this will make my head explode:

People compare Seattle to Portland, Boston and Denmark. I don’t like that thinking, honestly, Seattle isn’t Portland or Denmark. We have our own unique history, resources, and challenges, and we need to focus on the future of our city. We need to push our own limits to keep Seattle the diverse, vibrant, creative, inclusive, booming city we know it can be—a model to the rest of the country and the world.

That was Banks' response to this question: "Pick a model city/neighborhood somewhere else and explain why we should emulate them."

So... no other city/neighborhood on earth is a model to Seattle—we shouldn't emulate Vienna's utterly amazing (and generously subsidized) transit system or Berlin's support for nightlife or Chicago's extensive network of city parks (and public access to the city's waterfront) or Denver's rapid buildout of its light rail system—because Seattle has a unique history, unique resources, and unique challenges. But Seattle can serve as a model for cities all over the country... because... um... other cities don't have unique histories, resources, or challenges. What we do here in Seattle is universally applicable—a model for urban areas from Kabul to Kansas City—but nothing anyone else does applies here. Because Seattle is just so uniquely unique and everywhere else is same-y same.

That Banks gave this answer in a written response to a question—and not, say, at a candidates forum (where Banks hasn't exactly wowed the crowds)—doesn't exactly fill you with confidence about the candidate or the staff she's assembled. Presumably her campaign staff had a look at that questionnaire before it went out and no one turned to the candidate and said, "As bullshitting goes, Pamela, that's pretty fucking inane." (What's she* paying you for, Sinderman?) The same goes if someone on Banks' campaign staff drafted that response (which seems likely) and the candidate herself didn't go, "What the fuck with this?": doesn't exactly fill you with confidence.

* And by "she," Christian, I mean big business, developers, landlords, and corporate lobbyists. They're the ones paying you..