Comments

3

Behold as Charles criticizes sensationalistic overreach in our local media.

4

The writer of this article certainly viewed KOMO's "Seattle is Dying" with such a prejudiced mind that he was unable to actually see the point it so powerfully made. City officials appear to be unwilling to recognize that there is a distinction between "the homeless" and the homeless drug addicts that have taken over Seattle.
The documentary effectively identifies how the lax policies and lack of law enforcement had resulted in this city becoming more and more unlivable for ALL its citizens. The inability of the mayor and council members to even say "drug addiction" is maddening.
What was shown in the documentary is reality here. The city policies spend money ineffectively and only increase the problem. Whether big business contributed to the problem doesn't mean the city government should not provide a solution to end this mess. Did Mr. Mudede not watch the part of the documentary showing how Providence Rhode Island dealt with this issue by actually enforcing laws while providing rehab and helping the addicts turn their life around.
To continue to let the quality of life in Seattle be destroyed by such people who need help is ridiculous.

6

"And they are so stupid as to think more money will solve everything."

Golly. What is this money-less solution you propose! If only our policy makers knew! Please tell us. Don't spare any details. What will solve the homelessness and drug addiction crisis? Tell us. We're dying to hear.

7

"Did Mr. Mudede not watch the part of the documentary showing how Providence Rhode Island dealt with this issue by actually enforcing laws while providing rehab and helping the addicts turn their life around."

Did they do that without the use of money?

9

Providence, Rhode Island
Area: 20.6 sq mi
Population: 180,393
Violent Crime Rate Est. (per 1,000 residents) 5.33

Seattle, Washington
Area: 142.5 sq mi
Population: 730,400
Violent Crime Rate Est. (per 1,000 residents) 6.33

So. Seattle has almost six times the population and six time the area and only ONE more incident of violent crime per 100,000 people?

Sure we have twice the rate of petty "property crime" - so what?

OMG! SEATTLE IS A HELL HOLE!

Comparing Seattle and Rhode island is a stupid god damned comparison. First of all because there are three of the countries largest cities between 1 and 3 hours away — Boston, Albany, New York — where they can chase all their problems to. And that's what they did.

Second. Almost all "property crime" is package theft and car prowling. Very few of those crimes are committed by homeless people. Package theft happens more here because has an insane frequency of unattended home package delivery compared to many other cities (way more than Rhode Island) and the city is more spread out and harder for police to patrol.

Seattle is safer now with less crime that it has been in three decades. And that is a fact.

10

@8 alright. Then prove to us your "Less Money" solution. Like PROVE it. Give us your budget and don't skimp on the details.

11

Seattle Median Income 2007:
~$80,000

Seattle Median Income 2017:
$100,630+

The population rate of change of Seattle Metro Area (WA) was 1.49% in 2010

The population rate of change of Seattle Metro Area (WA) was 1.75+% in 2017.

Yeah. Boy. Seattle leadership must really be failing! I mean every metric shows improvement. But. You know. DRUG ADDICTS STOLE MUH PACKAGE!

12

Seattle is Dying documentary did show that about 100% of the homeless are drug addicted. The City Government has never admitted this or tried to do anything about it except reduce the penalties for drug offenses which enables more drug use. It's not the right policy.

14

The Sinclair slant to everything channel 4 is stops me from watching their crap. I don’t know how the people that work there can live with themselves.

15

Sorry, you’re irrelevant.

16

Interesting how the comparison to Providence is immediately dismissed when it pisses off the standard left narrative but we hear how what works in Sweden will work in the US just fine and dandy.

17

@4 - I loved this bit: "Whether big business contributed to the problem doesn't mean the city government should not provide a solution to end this mess."

So... you want ^tax-payer money^ to solve the problems caused by 'big business'.
Is that correct?

Talk about "externalities"... OLIGARCHY, HO!

18

@16 make up your mind? Is everything translatable or is nothing?

Nobody said something that one city tried wouldn’t work in another city. What I said was that a direct comparison between to totally different cities with far different problems is useless without way more information on if there even WAS a solution or if there was a problem. The documentary provided NO data and only offered a scant superficial breakdown. Because i’ll Tell you what the demographics say is that Providence RI simply pushed the problem somewhere else and/or redefined the problems away. And that’s what you really want. You don’t want to help drug addicts or homeless. You just want them gone.

And when we say something like “single payer or universal healthcare works” we have fifty years and over a dozen nations worth of data that PROVES it. It’s not an issue of scale or culture. And the vast majority of experts who study the issue of healthcare 24/7/365 agree that the socialized model is better. It is a settled matter in medical policy the world over.

All you offer is empty talking points.

19

Finally, minds are starting to change.

Thank you KOMO.

20

30% of homeless people are US Military Veterans. Why isn't anyone helping them? Why do you hate our freedom?

21

As I sit quietly having my beer at one of my favorite outdoor establishments, on such a beautiful, mild Seattle day, I cannot help but reminisce over the stories my parents told me of them moving to Seattle as a couple of poor teens, dealing with break-ins, defending themselves from the dangers in the shadows, and living in squalor.

Looking on at a sea of white faces in Mercedes and Priuses returning from work, I cannot help but know that Seattle is literally burning like the hellscape that was Iraq right after the invasion. Nothing is more torturous than the almost infinite number of fine dining that opened the last decade, the sheer magnitude of clothing stores and other independent, high priced shops.

The city is burning! Burning because of the homelessman! They are the threat, the threat to our sovereignty! The homelessman is a shell that wishes to awake us from our happiness! We may know the actors who have created that individual so close between life and death, so intertwined between the social and nonexistent, but they still, those hardened villains, are not as suffocating as the homelessman.

Do not worry about living wages! Housing markets! Taxes! No, it is the homelessman who needs to be blamed for experiencing something that we all dread. The city is burning, burn the homelessman...

22

@19 And you wonder why you're still called a Trump supporter.

25

Welcome to New Delhi. Or Rio. What "middle class"? There is no middle class in America, hasn't been for a while.

If you lived on the streets you'd drink too. And do drugs.

26

@24 I understand, you're initial comment was intended to be very broad. So, since you obviously don't have a plan to stop homelessness using no money or less money, how about a plan that uses the same amount of money currently being expended?

See, the thing is, saying shit like you did in the first comment is not constructive. It's all just... what do you idiots call it when you accuse SJWs of just saying things to show that they have the same worldview as their peers? I don't speak propaganda so I don't remember.

Anyway, just admit that your thought process, beliefs, and intellect really have no value aside from making halfhearted quips.

27

@10: ‘Then prove to us your "Less Money" solution. Like PROVE it.’

He didn’t write “less money,” either. If you’d actually read what he wrote @1, instead of repeatedly attacking him for what you wrongly claim he wrote, you might see that. But no, reading comprehension is so very, very hard. You harp on someone else to PROVE a claim he never even made.

But, in case you do actually want to read a proposal to end homelessness without spending more money — you know, the very plain point @1 which you’ve now repeatedly failed to grasp, despite your bitter castigation of the person who made it? — you could read the Poppe Report’s recommendations. The City of Seattle is implementing them, after all.

28

@9:

"Comparing Seattle and Rhode island is a stupid god damned comparison. First of all because there are three of the countries largest cities between 1 and 3 hours away — Boston, Albany, New York — where they can chase all their problems to. And that's what they did."

I take it irony is not your strong suit.

29

“Seattle's law enforcers are powerless, or, to use the sexually charged wording of a cop who's interviewed in the special, impotent.”

That’s not sexually charged wording. “Impotent” means “unable to take effective action; helpless or powerless”. You’re the one charging it with your 8th-grade dick-hard / limp-dick fluff.

And Charles, I note that you’re all in favor of a “media [that] would never fail to manufacture a hatred for the rich”. Can’t you see how tedious that would be?

30

@29,

Pretty sure the overwhelming majority of people who read the word "impotent" have it defined in the sexual context. I might be an immature sexual pervert, but I don't think it's due to my interpretation of that word. If the writer didn't intend to invoke that context, he/she should've probably opted for "ineffective" or some other synonym.

31

"Welcome to New Delhi. Or Rio."

Having been to both, I can honestly ask, what the hell are you talking about?

32

30

Like 'dickless.'

"In this, our perverted world, what's abnormal is not obscene wealth, but its consequences."

DAMN.
Thank You, Chas.

Nevermind, many on our streets lost their homes/lifestyles to medical bills they copldn not cover...

Americans are Terrified of helathcare for everyone, because it's soo Fucking EXPENSIVE.\

Which is True.

But -- and, it's a BIG But -- it's TWENTY FUCKING PERCENT Cheaper than the current Corporate skim/denial of Coverage horror/shit-show we have right fucking Now.

But we can change that too.

33

Yes this! Why is KOMO 10× more trump propaganda than our local fox?

35

@5- I don't know where you live, but half the people I know in Seattle have had their cars prowled. Mine twice in the last ten years, in a pretty good neighborhood.

@9 - A huge number of property crimes are committed by people who are homeless. I know this from defending a lot of them. Also, by coincidence, Councilman O'Brien sent this link out today, which details the enormous number of crimes committed by a small number of homeless drug addicts (read the report mentioned in the article, it is not long). https://obrien.seattle.gov/2019/03/18/a-response-to-system-failure/

None of this says that all or even most homeless people are criminals. They aren't. But denying the link between addiction, homelessness, and crime is not helping anyone.

And what most of us are complaining about is not homeless campers per se, but the ones (again not all of them) who toss huge piles of garbage down the hill from wherever they are camping, pile up huge stacks of possibly-legitimately-acquired bike parts on the sidewalks, and shoot drugs all over our public spaces. The last one I saw was sitting on the steps leading up fro the sidewalk to One Union Square with a needle sticking out of her arm at about noon.

Plenty of people manage to camp in the parks without turning them into dumps. Take a walk through Upper Woodland Park and you will see generally tidy, trash-free campsites. It's entirely possible to put your used needles somewhere safe instead of tossing them in the bushes.

The city spends a ton of money on this issue and nothing is getting better. Something's gotta change.

This is a national problem that is being foisted off on cities like Seattle. The point about Providence having large cities nearby where it could dump its problems is well taken. Unfortunately, Seattle seems to be that "large city nearby." It's time for the Feds to step up with some serious money for mental health treatment, including inpatient for those who can't/won't accept it on an outpatient basis. Same with drug treatment. If it takes paying for inpatient treatment for them, fine. But just letting thousands of junkies die on the streets is hardly humane.

37

As someone who went lived in Albany (HS) and whose mother lived there for 25 years and whose sister has lived in RI for the last 25 years (at least), it is absolutely absurd that anyone believed RI is "offshoring" their problem population to Albany. Do you people just look at a map and make shit up?

Income inequality exacerbates crime directly > the greater the income inequality, the greater the increase in crime.

Seattle may not be dead to all the white rich people raking in shit tons of cash at their tech jobs, but to everyone who has had to leave or who lives in Seattle homeless and hopeless, the city IS dead.

But everyone will continue to pretend it's the poor and the homeless that are the problem, that all people who can't afford Seattle or have been displaced just didn't work hard enough and have gotten what the deserve, and nothing will ever change. Seattle clearly does not give a a fuck about anyone who isn't wealthy. Pretending otherwise is a joke.

38

The country filled the prisons with people battling substance abuse in the Nineties. The cops were allowed to do whatever the hell they wanted on the streets then-and in the world most of us actually live in, that has never been stopped. Mass arrests and mass incarceration never made anything better in this country. We know that treating drug use as a law enforcement use has never worked, in this country or anywhere else. Why ruin ANOTHER generation's chances by making them rot in jail for what is, in reality, a public health issue and perhaps a mental health issue? Let's treat people on drugs as people in need of help, in need of another chance and another path. Treating them as monsters and criminals achieves nothing.

39

True, we shouldn't let people just die on the street of addiction. In addition to legalizing drugs-something which is essential to start doing what we have to do, which is to stop treating people with substance abuse problems as moral inferiors or criminals or scumbags, and start treating them as human beings instead, as we should treat everyone else-we need to actually start investing in drug treatment centers that are available to all, at low- or no-cost, as opposed to our present practice of reserving treatment for the privileged few who can afford to pay their own way to "rehab". Making drug treatment and a path to social recovery available to all can work-treating drug use as nothing but a crime can't. Again, nothing positive can come from a return to mass incarceration like we did in the Eighties and Nineties.

40

Seattle is full of self-important weenies with too much money and not enough sense. I’d like to plop all of those hand-wringers down at the corner of Boren and Pike in 1975 and watch them wet their pants.

41

Yes, all those unsheltered drug addicts on the street just need to hang in there as sooner or later they'll get affordable housing and a living wage as income inequality is removed from society.

42

Our mayor says this is a high cost of housing issue. Really? Where are all the homeless camps on the east side then? Fact is they aren’t there because Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, etc don’t allow it. These people can’t afford or want housing no matter what the cost. We get the conditions that we allow to exist, and we voted these people into office. We only have ourselves to blame and it’s our responsibility to change it.

43

@40: Yes, being mugged is more likely to trigger incontinence than walking past a drug addict.

44

Don't go away mad, KOMO-Sinclair sycophants ...just go away, you right-wing extremist assholes!

45

Great comment, Charles--as so often. Ta.

46

@14: I don't, either.
@20 treacle: As a Gulf War veteran I find that statistic troubling.
@32 kristofarian: Spot on and well said. Again.
@33: KOMO and FOX TV are the two biggest reasons I'm glad I no longer have a television set, and certainly don't miss it.
@40 Catalina for the WIN!
@44 blackhook: Thank you. Seconded.

47

My dad, a lifelong Washington resident, invited me to watch a recently-aired, hour-long news special by Eric Johnson called Seattle is dying. After 8 years in Brooklyn and Staten Island, my husband and I are finally returning to Washington in two months. We couldn’t be more excited to turn our backs on New York and put down roots in Seattle. We told ourselves we’d never raise a kid in NY and staying true to our word, our son will be born 5 months from now in the Emerald City. Seattle, for us, has represented a paradise, a dream. For years, we’ve longed for its fresh air and good people. And though, being familiar with the city, we are aware of its shortcomings and drawbacks, we are nothing but hopeful.

This all melted away as I watched Seattle is dying, slowly replaced by fear and dread that we were doing the wrong thing, had made the wrong decision. Has Seattle truly gotten this bad in the few years we’ve been away. What are we thinking bringing a child into the world in a place totally overcome by crime and drug addiction? I was deeply troubled but I continued watching because my dad had said that the broadcast presented good solutions. Unfortunately, those do not come until the last ten minutes of the show and by then I had been truly shaken. I did not recognize the city that was portrayed.

Seattle is dying aired on Komo. In 2013, Komo was bought by Sinclair Broadcasting Group. On May, 13th 2017, The Seattle Times reported that television stations owned by Sinclair are required to air right-leaning segments called must-runs. Initially, Komo reporters bristled at these and other conservative pieces they were mandated to report. Seattle is dying it not one of these short must-runs, but it is characterized by precisely the same kind of fear-mongering reporting Sinclair media is known for. Eric Johnson’s exposĂ© made no attempt to be objective or to present more than one side of a complicated issue. Instead, the viewer was assailed for 50 minutes with troubling images and statistics from which the only logical conclusion is one of despair.

Even before our return to Seattle, I’ve learned a valuable lesson: Komo news cannot be my trusted local news source

48

Seattle is turning into a third world city because there is such a big economic discrepancy between the rich and the poor and the middle class is disappearing. Seattle is dying because the middle class is dying. The homeless problem is just the result of this.
This "propaganda documentary" is another finger pointing in the wrong direction and blaming the poorest, most vulnerable, weakest for Seattle problems.

49

Props for the Propagandamentary, Sinclair BroadCorps.
You keep 'em in Lockstep now, okay?

All 1,400 of 'em.

50

Typically when there's a large upset about a documentary it's because there's truth to it. This rabid reaction is not unlike the Jackson family trying to play down 'Leaving Neverland'.

51

@47: "Troubling images"

Far more troubling for the people actually living through it. Tell me, because it's a "complicated problem" we shouldn't try to end the suffering of those in the "troubling images"?

= = = =

"Mommy, why are these people living in the streets?"
"It's because of income inequality dear."
"How long are they going to live like that?"
"Until the system changes. Maybe you'll grow up to be one of those leaders who brings about change."
"Thats a long time from now Mommy."
"I know dear, I know."

52

It is sad to see the polarizing comments here. "Either you're left, or you're wrong". Either you're right, or you're wrong". This is why the country, and Seattle, are metaphorically dying. The once beautiful City of Seattle has many problems - to deny that is ridiculous. But how, as a community do we fix, or lessen, the problems that are starting us in the face? How about some MEANINGFUL dialogue! Get over your petty prejudices and reach across the aisle. Discuss the issues rationally. Come up with rational solutions. That is all.

53

9/ProfessorHistory: "Sure we have twice the rate of petty "property crime" - so what?"

"So what?" is right! As long as people aren't shot, stabbed, raped, kicked in the head or punched in the face (which happened to me a month ago after two thugs broke into my car), they shouldn't complain about having their property stolen. In fact, we shouldn't even consider the taking of someone else's property as "stealing." We should consider it to be "liberation" of property and it shouldn't be a crime.

We all have too much stuff anyway. We should be thankful when someone takes some of it off of our hands. For example, if someone were to grab Professor History's phone out of his/her hands, Professor History wouldn't be angry, or even slightly upset. Instead, he/she would simply shrug and say, "so my phone is gone...so what? I make plenty of money. I can just buy another one. And I'm glad some needy person now has my phone which they can use...or sell to buy drugs."

54

37/xina: "Income inequality exacerbates crime directly > the greater the income inequality, the greater the increase in crime."

I don't doubt that's true. But I'm not aware of any law preventing all the very highly-paid tech workers -- and other highly-paid people -- from donating part of their income to help out all of those people who are very low-paid (or have no income at all.)

55

It's unacceptable to have a class of people that live in makeshift shanty towns on public land. The effort needs to be two fold. First, compassion, empathy and progressive fund raising to solve the problem. Second, tough, no exception policing. Clean up camping sites the same day they get established. The longer we live with it the more likely this becomes a "normal" reality of life in the US.

56

Screw you Charles; I'm a progressive liberal and totally agree with the direction of the KOMO documentary. Even 10-years ago, we didn't have to pick-up needles in City parks every day, walk over addicts who had pissed themselves to sleep or file a 5th police report because some homeless, addicted, knucklehead has broken into your garage yet again. I've been here 25-years and have never seen such a worthless City Council and frustrated body of law enforcement. Compassion is in short supply; something has to change.

57

Broad strokes are best left to painting. Take the situations and individuals on a case by case basis. Saying everyone is x because of y is just such simplistic thinking.

Any solution short of free housing and free medical/drug treatment/mental health care for the people not living in homes will just exacerbate the problem because a half-assed solution is no solution at all.

58

@53 Was I not clear enough? I don't speak dumbshit.

So here goes: We have very low rate of violent crime and only a slightly elevated rate of property crime for a city our size. The spike in property crime is almost totally commiserate with our sudden and shocking rate of growth. That's why it's not that big a deal.

Our property crime is not that bad — despite all the pearl clutching cowards that can't tear their eyes away from KOMO fear mongering. It is a problem that we can solve. And solutions take time. They take money. They take patience.

What YOU assholes want is to just squeal and make it all somebody else problem. Which is what Providence did.

59

@27 Riiiiight. The refrain that "just throwing money at the problem" Is that not a complaint about the amount of money being spent? Or am I supposed to take literally? Like Durkan is throwing bundles of money out the back of her Prius at Homeless people?

No. He made an implication that the city is clearly sending too much money. I would assume a super genius like you could then conclude there a solution in mind that is "less money" than currently being spent. Right? So. What is the ideal amount? Tell me.

And he never offered up his solutions to this problem. And neither have you.

60

@57: "Any solution short of free housing and free medical/drug treatment/mental health care for the people not living in homes will just exacerbate the problem because a half-assed solution is no solution at all."

So, until they get free housing what do you suggest?

61

Why this obsession with car prowls?

We know that happens far less often in Seattle than 30 years ago. Car theft is a fraction of what it once was -- cars are much harder to steal, and it's much harder to chop them or sell them.

Oh, but wait, you'll say car prowls are unreported. I'm supposed to have no sympathy for homeless people who won't help themselves, and no sympathy for drug addicts who won't help themselves. But I'm supposed to be so concerned for car owners who can't even be bothered to report their own car got broken into? They demand action from the city, yet they are the very people whose laziness is why we have no evidence of this supposed wave of broken car windows. Really?

Let's pretend all that's true. What are these junkies breaking your car window for? They're not trying to steal your stereo. Car stereo theft died out 20 years ago. Cars today aren't all filled with interchangeable aftermarket stereos that can easily be turned into cash at any pawn shop.

Do you leave your car filled with cash overnight? Drugs? Do you leave your iPhone in the glove box? And who is to blame for all of these things? Has the number of Seattle car owners who are too dumb to remove valuables from their car parked on the street increased? Is that it? Car drivers have gotten dumber? It doesn't add up.

In addition to asking us to believe the city's upstanding responsible citizens are not reporting car break ins, you're asking us to believe you can maintain a heroin habit by busting car windows and stealing... what? Rolex watches lying on the seat? Car prowl is not the profitable crime it was in the 90s.

For the geriatric Trumper audience who watches right-wing TV, of course, they haven't caught up with the world since 1998. In their mind punks are still out there ripping off Sparkomatic receivers from the dash of your F150.

Anyway. If you're wondering why this kind of phony crime wave propaganda from wingunts, from Safe Seattle and the rest of those grifers, gets laughed at, that's why. You make shit up. You make up beheadings. You make up fake crime statistics. We see you. You're doing it right here in front of us. What is with you people? I mean like your Tim Eyman, rolling away with a chair, right in front of all the cameras, in front of everybody. Trump lying out loud to the whole world surrounded by cameras, surrounded by fact checkers.

We live in the age of bad liars. And then you get all huffy when we call you on it. At least learn to lie better. Or -- here's a thought! -- tell the truth.

63

Sure glad that when the opportunity presented itself to me on numerous occasions I always said no to drugs...

You see, that is an option.

64

@60 Don't know. Probably nothing you'd every agree with.

65

@59: The refrain “just throwing money at the problem” didn’t appear in @1, either. But even if it had, it does not necessarily imply spending too much money; it can mean the correct amount of money is being spent ineffectually. That’s pretty much what the Poppe Report said, which is why the Recommendations in it urge re-allocation of existing funds to solve our homelessness problem.

Of course, you don’t know that, because you obviously didn’t read all the way to the end of my comment @27, where I invited you to read the Poppe Report for yourself. (Because a guy calling himself “ProfessorHistory” can’t even be bothered to read about how we got here. Priceless!)

Oh, and @58, you’re wrong: you actually speak dumbshit really well.

66

@46 - I was WRONG! It's closer to 10.6% of homeless people are Veterans.

https://themilitarywallet.com/homeless-veterans-in-america/

Why Aren't We Helping Them? (at least) And then helping everyone else, of course.
It's not like there isn't enough money to help everyone who needs help... we are, I believe, the Richest Country in the History of the World.
WTF? Where's all this money that should be going to the Common Good?

67

"Number of homeless vets rises for first time in seven years"
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2017/12/06/number-of-homeless-veterans-nationwide-rises-for-first-time-in-seven-years/

...on Trump's "watch".

68

This weekend a friend and I had to talk down a homeless man (living from his car) with severe mental issues who was calling us both racial slurs and threatening to kill me with a knife. He had been waiting for 45 minutes already for SPD to respond to a hit and run and refused to move his car out from behind my friend's car. We called SPD too. Then we both called SPD.

Seattle is a nothing city, no matter how much money it has. It's not corporations that have failed it, it is it's citizens. They don't care, they won't support the homeless or police, or newcomers, or anyone else. Just like Charles here they just complain, and complain and complain and cannot make the difficult decisions that truly make a city feel a live.

someone who has mostly lived outside Seattle

69

@63: Nobody ever claimed that NOT doing drugs wasn't an option. But it does go without saying that "Just Say No" was never a valid demand for anyone to make on anyone else, and that it's never as simple as that. Besides which, Nancy Reagan was clearly a pill head, so who the hell was she to judge anyone on that?

70

@62: A) Providence, Rhode Island is a much smaller place and has radically different demographics, which makes it a place that can't actually be statistically compared to Seattle, ; B) As the statistics posted in @9 showed that there's only a trivially smaller incidence of the violent in Rhode Island, compared to Seattle, after those steps were taken. And basically, throwing people in jails and prisons almost never gets them off of drugs.

71

@34:

Paint drying is more watchable than Charles is readable.

72

"Sure glad that when the opportunity presented itself to me on numerous occasions I always said no to drugs... You see, that is an option." --Nevadamtns

Had you given away/had repossessed your
Home/Lifestyle at the time, Nevadamtns? Millions have.

Had you been over-prescribed OXY thru Purdue Phucking Pharma's HOODWINKING of America, and just said NO? Millions haven't. But, Bravo! 60-70,000 of our citizens didn't have your wonderful-plus-Upstanding virtues -- you're truly Sumthin'! -- and died from overdose last year.

They say, we cannot Afford to fix anything. Meanwhile, we're throwing away Mountains of Cash, on stupid, unwinnable, never-fucking Ending Wars. And it's ALL going into Somebody's pockets.

Why not OURS?

What -- WHO -- gives them the power to do such Perversions?

73

I find the comments odd, suggesting this show indicated that we should hate the homeless or they are to blame. I didn't see that. I saw reality, people are mentally ill and addicted to drugs and we enable them to stay where they are. This is resulting in a mess. I know.. some of you don't deal with it. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Much of is being confronted by criminals who feel entitled to do whatever they want and know nobody will stop them.

I don't blame them. They are human, but it doesn't have to be this way. We need solutions that work and there are examples we can follow, but enabling is not going to work, there needs to be accountability.

The streets are filled with young mean, while construction jobs paying $25 hr are going unfilled. yes, you can work here and live here on $25 hr. While we should address income inequality, this is really not solving the current issue and the current issue is that we have people dying on our streets and living in filth, who are vulnerable to those who come here for the "liberal" vibe.

These are humans people. They need help. It may not be the help they think they want, but we have an obligation to help them.

74

@73

In short, you believe life is fair? Right?

Ample work is there for anyone who wants to work. Housing is affordable for anyone who wants to work. Addicted and mentally ill people wouldn't be hanging around inconveniencing us if we didn't "enable" them. You believe the natural order of life is to somehow eliminate these nuisances. I guess "enable" them means to make their lives too comfortable. Without all that enabling, they would simply suffer more. Which in your mind means they'd choose to not be addicted or mentally ill.

Again, in short, you think life is fair. Life, in its infinite fairness, would simply make all these problems disappear.

You're frustrated that Seattle is filled with people who won't let the law of the jungle rule, let brutal fate tech those mentally ill people a lesson. It's because we're not all six year olds. We're grown ups and we learned long ago that life is not fair. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Life is not a fairy tale.

Grow up, babies. Life is not fair.

75

See "Seattle Is Dying" in 'Rants and Raves' on craigslist.
Sinclair and their Buds know How to Move the Goalposts.

Well-Played.

76

@74: How about you engage on what other commenters actually wrote, instead of the words you angrily, bitterly, and wrongly claim they wrote?

Commenter @73 clearly wrote that we should not leave addicts living in filth, because that is enabling their addictions. He actually concluded, “we have an obligation to help them.” You bizarrely claim this really means, “You're frustrated that Seattle is filled with people who won't let the law of the jungle rule,” How bitterly twisted must your worldview be to fail basic reading comprehension, and how much rage must you carry to attack someone for daring to express concern for addicts?

77

@66 & @67 treacle: I wasn't calling you out. I'm just as appalled as you are about the mistreatment of veterans---particularly when RepubliKKKans are fully abusing power (i.e.: the Errs of Nixon, Reagan, Bush I & II, and of Trump).

78

Charles the Dinosaur is still around? I truly believe rags like The Stranger and "C is for Crank" are responsible, along with our lame one-term Mayor and even lamer Council members. What a bunch of enabling losers!

When is The Stranger going out of business? Mudede is a bad joke and not even worth responding to.

79

Charles the Dinosaur is still around? I truly believe rags like The Stranger and "C is for Crank" are responsible, along with our lame one-term Mayor and even lamer Council members. What a bunch of enabling losers!

When is The Stranger going out of business? Mudede is a big fat joke.

80

78

"When is The Stranger going out of business? Mudede
is a bad joke and not even worth responding to."

And yet, here you are.

81

79

Twice!

82

I think Charles wants to see a post-apocalyptic city run my meth head gangs. Sounds very punk and on-brand for The Stranger!

Seattle is on track to inherit legions more of the nation's homeless with this forgiving atittude.

83

Craigslist has a "rants and raves"? I think I'm going to get rid of my computer when I retire. There's nothing more dangerous than a bunch of old people on the internet.

84

Komo4 Trump TV? That’s when I stopped reading because of the ignorance and bias opinion of one Charles Mudede. As I have said numerous times before about Charles he needs to exercise. I’m not fat shaming him but it’s obvious that his negative approach to life is based on waking up and not feeling good about himself. You can change Charles I know you can.

86

Hey, maybe the homeless people are offended by the people that drive Porsche SUV’s back to their million dollar homes and then scream and rant and rave about how their life would somehow be good finally if those homeless people would just stop existing. That $150 car window repair must be a truly devastating financial burden. I’m really mourning the loss of the wifi connected spatula that i ordered and got stolen off my porch. I bet i would have been happy if i had that. But a homeless person stole my happiness. The fact of the matter is, seeing homeless people reminds well off people that even though they have the money, the house, the car, the family, they’re not happy. That even though they’ve taken such a large share of the wealth from other people, it’s still not enough. We don’t like people that remind us of our flaws. Immature powerful people attack them.

87

Go home Charles, you're out of touch and full of hatred. Most of us agree with KOMO's report.

89

@86 - Have you ever stepped in human shit while walking downtown? Or seen a pedestrian jaywalking in front of your car carrying a needle? Try explaining that to your kids. It's gross and it's rampant. Don't talk to me about wifi spatulas. We're talking basic decency like the smell of piss in every alley and parking garage. Or random shouts from crazies on the street. It doesn't bum me out, it makes me want to avoid Seattle. Me and my wifi spatula money.

90

Oh my...Emmett Watson must be spinning in his grave with laughter. I sure do miss him and his writing. I know the kind of thing he would have wrote about the current state of affairs in his beloved "Lesser Seattle", though. Something along the lines of, "Don't worry about it. When Mt. Rainer blows it's top, everything will get back to normal".

91

Mudede obviously hasn't had the privilege of stepping in excrement in his front yard, as so many in this city have, or has a child who stepped on a syringe in a park. He's not a father who can't let his kid go to the library alone anymore or use the restroom in a grocery store, because somebody might be shooting up there. Maybe he hasn't had the enjoyable experience of watching people piss on the sidewalk on 3rd Ave. Since he obviously is so narcissistic that he's incapable of empathy, I think he'll have to experience these problems himself before he'll acknowledge that there's a problem.

92

Has anyone ever done research into how many murders are committed by homeowners? I would be curious as to whether a link could be established between home ownership and domestic violence. Perhaps we should be doing background checks on home owners before they are allowed to establish themselves in a neighborhood. I find them to be very angry and irrational people - really more like spoiled children when they don't get what they demand. Before I became homeless I lived in the Ballard neighborhood and was treated decently and with respect. Once I became homeless I suddenly found myself in a defensive position and treated as though my situation made me not only suspect, but criminal. Even though my new circumstances - senior, disabled, and fixed income - were beyond my control, I am now resented by many of my former neighbors. What is it about the presence of people who have nothing, that provokes such shameless anger and resentment in those who have plenty? Is it a reminder that my situation could quite easily become their situation? I am not qualified to diagnose this strange - but increasingly common condition. Perhaps it needs to be included in the next DSM. Something like "Home Owner Psychosis" or HOP.

93

Been really fucking liberal my whole life but frequently finding needles and condoms in my yard, watching RVs and other vehicle-dwellers dump their waste on the other side of my fence, and interrupting sex acts on my fucking property has turned my sympathy into relatively undirected anger. I know it’s wrong to blame the homeless, on the whole, but I’ll be damned if one of daughters gets Hep C/HIV/whatever in my own fucking goddamned yard, let alone under the play equipment at the park or on the streets of almost every single neighborhood now (I’ve personally seen used needles in parking lots and on sidewalks in Belltown, downtown, Ballard, Fremont, Queen Anne, Greenwood, Bitter Lake, Capitol Hill, Greenlake, and the U District - is everyone else just fucking blind or is that just not batshit crazy enough?). Fuck the mayor, fuck the council, fuck the junkies, fuck the idealistic pieces of shit for not seeing what we evil homeowners see. Ok, how’s that for HOP? I don’t have a solution that cares for everyone, but yeah I’m gonna get pissed if you endanger my family and investment. In the last five years, I’ve swung from nearly completely in favor of socially responsibly buying our way out of this to regrettably favoring policing as the way to go.

94

I think we should take Spock's advice: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or the one). We shouldn't let the tiny population of homeless, roughly 11,000 in Seattle I think, dictate how the majority of us (Roughly 700,000) want to live. Since we're never going to give away free homes and medical care to the homeless, the quickest way to solve the blight of people living on the streets is to sour the milk and start forcibly removing them. I don't care where they go, but they can't stay here. Take whatever money we're spending on homelessness now and plow it into enforcement. If you make it uncomfortable enough, people will move on to somewhere else. Out of sight, out of mind.

95

Yes, Seattle is dying!
I found the story 100% accurate!
( keep in mind, I am NO tRUMP supporter)
Seattle NEEDS to enforce ALL laws on the books!
And yrs a State of the art Drug treatment and mental health facilities.... offer in house treatment - if they refuse - GET OUT!
NO one is being " helped" the way it is now!

96

Chuck, let's focus on working together, and what the special did get RIGHT, and work #together toward MAT type solutions.

97

Jim16 dear, as someone who has daily interactions with homeless people, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that most homeless people have no concept people driving expensive cars. Most of them are pretty out of it for one reason or another.

and Anthropomorhpise Me, we've already had several people killed by crazy homeless people. The most infamous being a retired Seattle Fireman in Pioneer Square several years back.

The root of this problem is mental illness, exacerbated by lack of treatment, self-medication, economic inequality, and an absence of a national policy on how to deal with addiction and mental illness. Not to mention the military-industrial complex (which creates mentally ill people on a consistent, frequent basis), and ridiculous tax policy - on both the state and federal level - that allows for vast accumulations of wealth. The wealthy - and no on on Slog is wealthy, no matter what you think of yourself - don't have to deal with what we have to deal with when it comes to this issue.

As for all these people talking about stepping in poop: Is that the new conservative talking point? If not, you should pay more attention when walking around. I'm not saying that people should poop on the sidewalk, but you need to look up from your phone and pay attention.

98

89

"Or seen a pedestrian jaywalking in front of your car carrying a needle? Try explaining that to your kids."

Sure. This is the Richest fucking Country on the Planet, kids, but we refuse to deal with the least of us, in deference to those with Massive Moneymaking skills who just prefer to hoard that shit. If you hoard stuff, you're 'krazy.' If you hoard Money, you're like A God. And your mountains of CA$H are impervious to the suffering of the least of us.

Because, one day, almost ALL of us are gonna be Billionaires, too, kids, and, surely YOU won't wanna be overly-burdened by excessive Taxation, will you? Now that you're Rich, of Course not!

@86 -- "I’m really mourning the loss of the wifi connected spatula that i ordered and got stolen off my porch. I bet i would have been happy if i had that."

I KNOW you would have. That's why you Bought it!
Deeply, deeply sorry for your loss
(of humanity).

Moving on . . . most people don't know it, but, much like stepping in horse poop, stepping in other peep's poops is considered Lucky.

If it's the Left foot, that means Good Luck! Congrats!

If it's the Right, you're soon gonna be Homeless.

It's just a superstition.

99

98

If it's both shoes, it means you're a Doofus.

100

The KOMO special was really a police guild infomercial. All anecdotal, but it gave a perspective. Charles is also guilty of the same, so glass houses.

101

The KOMO special contributes to a meaningful conversation. Yes, it reflects some pro-police prejudice, but the problems it illustrates are real--and many of those interviewed deserve their hearing. Focusing on particular, precise disagreements might more effectively illustrate the special's limitations. Generic statements about how capitalist media create "hatred of the poor" feel more like you, Charles, protecting ideological turf than actually addressing the pressing, immediate problems caused by neighborhood crime and its relation to drug use. I live in the heart of a part of town severely impacted by drug use and homelessness, and you better believe this special strikes a nerve. I've seen these scenes a million times over--in real time, not televised time. Sure, the special reflects political biases--but it still deserves its hearing. Must every hint of conservativism be expunged and shamed into silence in your and The Stranger's Seattle? And are people like Officer Wiebke and the officials in Rhode Island, among others, motivated by "hatred of the poor"? Really? Disagree with them, fine, but arguing the special hints at "hatred of the poor" seems the stretch of someone afraid his theoretical bubble-dogma might burst when tested by alternatives. So: here's to diverse perspectives, not just one side getting to dismiss and shame anyone who disagrees.

103

Gosh, Voldomort, thanks for the Link @102 To FREE Viagra!
It Almost made ME hard!

When you do come back, don't forget your Pills!

105

This documentary with this article's response and following comments is nearly identical to the situation in San Francisco. Impassioned sides on both the left and right, a city government that hasn't developed long term solutions and a police force instructed not to persecute drug related crimes or property theft. There are tiny differences, one being SF's needle exchange clinic with no restrictions allowing users to take as many needles as needed with no incentive to return any to the clinic. SF, particularly district 6, is now covered in needles.

I do not believe we should treat people with drug addiction issues and/or mental illness like criminals. However, the choice of jail or a mandatory drug treatment (enclosed) is necessary. We cannot continue to let people remain on the streets and walk-in treatment facilities to let people come and go as they please will not work either. It must be a holistic solution centralized in one place.

106

As one of millions of economic refugees from a country that actually put hatred for the rich rhetoric into practice, I am amazed that Charles Mudede would be promoting the very same ideas that has economically destroyed his homeland. Zimbabwe was once the bread basket of sub-sarahan Africa but now no longer produces enough food for its citizens. And no, Comrade Mudede, it’s not because of The Drought.

107

After reading all of the comments left thus far, it seems like most commenters can at least agree that there is a problem. My question is, are the city leaders doing anything about it? What do they think letting it continue like this day after day will accomplish?

108

@107
The only explanation I can think of is that the city council has a perverse incentive to not solve the problem as it gives them an excuse to try to create new taxes on the rich, which makes them popular with the majority of voters and thus increases their chances of getting re-elected. Like most politicians, re-election is their only concern.

109

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

"Perspectives: Life on the streets

What is it like to be homeless in Salt Lake City? What would your day be like? How would you see the world? The Salt Lake Tribune has written many stories about homelessness in recent years, particularly about the ongoing Operation Rio Grande.

Some of those articles have included the voices of people who live on the streets. This time, we asked these Utahns to give us an inside look, through disposable cameras, at their lives.

Here are the stories of six homeless people, told through their photos.

https://local.sltrib.com/online/perspectives/life-on-the-streets/

110

While I agree with a lot of your sentiments, it sounds like you didn’t even watch the entire special. No mention about the program those women in Rhode Island are doing? Please watch this in its entirety before commenting or writing articles. These people need help and intervention. To chalk this up as ‘trump tv’ and discard it, is doing a huge disservice to your audience as well as those suffering on the streets. If you can’t bring yourself to open your mind and watch the whole thing, at least watch the last 20 minutes...

111

@109 -- A homeless man, from that same article in the Salt Lake Tribune: "Larry Winn, who goes by the name 'Wolf,' believes he knows how to help Salt Lake City’s homeless community, and it’s not with three new shelters, he said.

Wolf has written a proposal to purchase a building where homeless artists — there are many more than we know, he says — can sell their work. Employees at the business can live in apartments upstairs. Wolf wants to have a drop-in center there, too, where people who just need a place to sleep can crash.

Wolf is an artist and businessman. He sells tie-dye t-shirts around the city."

I notice around here there are warehouse stores, some, seemingly vacant for ages; why not let 'em pitch tents in a place like that? Specially in Winter. Provide bathrooms -- porta-terlets . . . and then, there's bathing, etc...

112

@111
How much you wanna bet this Wolf fellow’s idea will never get approval due to the high likelihood of it violating all manner of building codes, ordinances, zoning regulations, etc., etc., not to mention liabilty concerns?

113

111

Well, I'll bet the Farm.

Here's another one from the S.L. Tribune, just for fun.
CAVEAT LECTOR -- it's a L O N G motherfucker.

"Chris Coons is a 54-year-old electrician who became homeless after a spell of misfortune left him without a job or his family. Coons’ goal was to show law enforcement’s interactions with the homeless community, particularly since Operation Rio Grande.

“I [wanted to] photograph the cops and see how they do things different now than they did before, and it ain’t a whole lot different. It’s just the Highway Patrol instead of the Salt Lake cops. Nowadays there’s more of them,” Coons said.

While Coons believed during the initial phase of Operation Rio Grande that Utah Highway Patrol troopers had better “bedside manner, better rapport with the people,” he says now they’re as tired of dealing with the homeless community as the city police are.

“How many times do you give a guy a ticket, take him to jail and see him on the street two hours later and realize, your job sucks, you know? Those guys gotta feel horrible,” Coons said. “They gotta feel like they’re not getting their job done.”

He doesn’t believe the housing problem is something Salt Lake City can police its way out of. “They need therapists. They don’t need cops. This is not a criminal problem,” Coons said. “This is a medical problem that they’re trying to criminalize.'”

114

When you wonder why People like Trump get elected, it's because people are so FED UP with our leaders and are looking for someone to DO SOMETHING, people like him get put in positions of power! What a clown we have now. I blame my fellow liberals. Yes, I said it. I blame you guys. 'The special was an infomercial for the police guild.' Are you serious?! Is that what you took from this? I know many of my friends had a hard time getting up the courage to watch something that was not 100% biased and from our bubble. I get it. Was hard for me too. Then I watched. With an open mind. Do you know what the main message actually was? it was this; 'LISTEN TO US'. The people, regardless of political affiliation do not feel like our leaders are listening to them. They feel ignored, like they don't matter. Kind of like our drug addicted homeless. Trying to create more taxes to throw at the 'homeless crisis aka drug addiction' will not get passed. You need a plan. Making housing affordable isn't going to do Doug the Drug Addict any good if he's dead! Help the addicts, forcefully if necessary. Lives are at stake and the people who need the help are too drugged up to help themselves. That's where we come in, as decent human beings and give them the treatment they need. Medicare for all isn't a Republican platform yet if you had an open mind, you would see how this could be 'An infommercial for universal health care. Something everyone should have and would help these people so much. It's OKAY to hear a Republican point of view, mixed with a Liberal point of view with a dash of moderate thrown in. It doesn't always have to be about US. This is how people FEEL. Focus on that instead of your Goddamn Trump-Police hating political agenda for once. People are DYING! Watch the special!!!!


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