Letters to the Editor

WAKE UP AND SEE

Hey Stranger: Thanks for your October 23 article on “Ending
the Occupation” [Jonah Spangenthal-Lee]. I just want to say that I am
pissed off at military recruiters. They are quite possibly the most
corrupted human beings on this planet, with the exception of Dino Rossi
and John McBush. They lie to children (like they lied to me when I was
17), and how the city of Seattle can allow them free-roaming access to
teen events on public property is beyond me. If the city allowed
carnival workers to set up recruiting tables and harass teens at their
events, there would be a major shitstorm. (And carnival workers don’t
even make you do push-ups.)

Seattle needs to wake up and see military recruiters for what they
are: vultures selling our children into servitude. Take this Iraq
veteran’s word for it: Once you let the army set up gimmicks and
violent video games in city parks, you are only a step away from
getting calls in the middle of the night from your children serving
multiple tours in Iraq. Don’t believe me? Ask my mom.

Peace,

Evan Knappenberger

OIF ’05–’07 Veteran

VOTE MUNSTER

To the editor: In your endorsements [“Stranger Election Control
Board Endorsements 2008,” Oct 16], you compared John McCain to Grandpa
Munster, adding the phrase “only a fucking idiot would vote for Grandpa
Munster.” Come on now, that’s not fair. Grandpa Munster was a way
better candidate. Hell, I voted for him and I am not a fucking idiot: I
would never vote for John McCain.

During the 1998 New York gubernatorial election, the state’s Green
Party ran Grandpa Al Lewis (the actor who played Grandpa Munster) as
their candidate. The plan was this: In New York State, whenever a party
gets 50,000 votes in the election, they are guaranteed a ballot line
for the next four years. In order to ensure a decent turnout, Al Lewis
became the party’s nominee. He got more than 52,000 votes, including
mine, and the Greens had a ballot line for the next cycle (they lost it
again in 2002, by the way).

So naturally, I took a bit of offense at the line about Grandpa
Munster. While it may be that only an idiot would vote for McCain,
please leave Grandpa Munster out of it next time. Besides, McCain is
way more Captain Caveman than Grandpa Munster anyway.

Brian Beckley

LIKELY ORIENTATION

EDITOR: I can understand a rag like the Times endorsing
Reuven Carlyle, but I thought better of The Stranger.

It’s not that Reuven is a closet Republican—I’m sure he’s
not—but he represents a breed of Democrat that is all too cozy
with corporate interests and often dismissive of the public interest.
John Burbank, by contrast, has been a faithful servant of the public
trust for many years.

Reuven accuses John of using insider privilege to gain the 74
percent endorsement of the 36th District Democrats, when the real story
is that Reuven’s own insider privilege nearly overturned the will of
our general membership. Reuven’s supporters on the executive board
printed a bogus sample ballot effectively handing the endorsement to
him. It was a plainly unethical maneuver. Reuven accuses John of dirty
campaigning, feigning innocence while impugning his opponent’s
character. Following the money of campaign contributions isn’t dirty
campaigning. It’s common sense, and anyone who doesn’t do their due
diligence in this area is just plain naive. Taking money from a
conservative PAC who considers labor unions the opposition doesn’t make
Reuven a Republican; it just gives you some insight into his likely
orientation regarding public versus private interests. (See Erica C.
Barnett’s Slog report from October 22 [“Reuven Carlyle’s Big-Biz
Donors”].)

David Summerlin

PCO Sea 36-1387

SICK IN THE HEAD

BRENDEN KILEY: THE ARTICAL, “INTERVIEW[S] WITH MY SOMEWHAT RACIST
RELATIVES” BY BRENDAN KILEY [Oct 16] SHOULD HAVE BEEN INTITELD
INTERVIEW WITH MY RACIST SICK RELATIVES! MR KILEY WHO YOU THINK YOU REA
FOOLING WITH THAT LAME NICKEL AND DIME RATIONAL? I THINK YOU AND YOUR
FAMILY IS SICK IN THE HEAD! IN MY MIND YOU ARE A PRIME EXAMPLE OF HOW
POEOPLE THINK IN THE NORTHWEST (SEATTLE) JUSTIFYING, RATIONALIZING AND
MAKING EXCUSES FOR YOUR RACIST WAYS. THAT EXAMPLE YOU GAVE OF ONE OF
YOUR RELATIVES VOTING FOR COLIN POWEL AS LONG AS HE DOSENT WANT TO
MERRY INTO THE FAMILY IS NOT NEW. WHAT YOU DONT RELIZE IS THAT ITS THE
SAME SICK SHIT PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND YOR RACIST FAMILY HAVE BEEN
PRACTICING FOR YRS. CALL YOUR FAMILLY WHAT THEY ARE…….RACIST.

JONATHAN B.

TAKE HEART

BRENDAN KILEY: As an African-American woman, I take heart when
reading your honest and plain-speaking “Interviews with My Somewhat
Racist Relatives” [Oct 16]. Your remarkable insight touching the past
and future provides a source of inspiration and reflection. There is
sadness here that often makes me feel good.

Race has been an enduring fact in our society and in our politics.
Times and ideas have changed and this gives confidence in our
tomorrows.

This is the time to make great principles known. This is the
time.

Constance F. Ramsey