As much as I may disagree with McKenna's political ideology, he's definitely correct in calling you out as a partisan hack. In what fevered delusion could you ever be considered a journalist?

I've watched with disappointment as The Stranger has devolved into little more than self-congratulatory name calling. I've yet to see journalism of any kind appear under your by-line. Your article in last week's paper regarding vaccinations is a perfect example. Did you add a single piece of information or insight to the debate? Your entire article could have been written by a 5th grader using wikipedia. It was complete garbage. You're lucky that Seattle Weekly didn't publish their article on the topic until this week - because Nina Shapiro's work makes yours look like the product of a brain injury victim. You should be embarrassed.

But instead of embarrassment, you choose to attack those that recognize your failings. Par for the course of late...

And it's a shame because at one time The Stranger was actually a legitimate voice (and even a leader) for both urbanism and progressive politics. Now you are becoming little more than joke to an ever increasing number of discerning readers.

What does Pretty Boy Rob hope to accomplish by keeping people out of his press conference, avoiding embarrassing questions maybe? But those questions will get asked and he needs to come up with some kind of answers.

Any body from the Freedom Socialist Party running?The Party for Socialism and Liberation?Are YOU planning to run for governer?Why not?The Dems are the left-wing of the Rethuglicons.

Funny that the word 'hack' is also associated with coughing up big gobs of goop, and wildly 'hacking away' at something like with a hatchet hacking at tree limbs. Hack: a person who is part of a political party apparatus whose intentions are more aligned with victory than personal conviction... Sounds like the United States of Hackerica!

He scares you, I love it!

Personally, I find it telling that McKenna gave his speech at one of the most diverse high schools in Bellevue and could only get elderly white folks to attend.

My daughter just graduated from there, and I suspect Rob would be terrified by a representative audience of Seniors, especially those that are already suffering from present cuts in general and to education in particular, come this fall.

Playing off state workers, and I suspect, also the unemployed who still receive state benefits versus education is bad governance. And Rob knows that.

But then, it's all about Rob, not the citizens of Washington state.

Thanks for fleshing out the numbers. Nothing is as frustrating as hearing politicians spout numbers to the Oh's and Ah's of an audience ready to swallow it all down. It seems that's all we're exposed to - numbers picked arbitrarily to "illustrate" a point. More important than a general message should be actual facts with citation, and yet that doesn't ever seem to be presented.
And Brett is welcome to his opinion of your writing, but you know what they say about opinions. My feeling is that you gave a solid defense behind your frustration with the candidate.

Brett seems right on.

A journalistic hack brings disrepute on the media source, whether it's FOX, MSNBC, or The Stranger.

We're just asking for good journalism ... let us make our own judgements. And if you want to follow this perspective for your writing, call it what it is and put it on the editorial page.

George

Richmond Beach, WA

Brent is accurate in describing the situation.

No news organization is well served by 'hack' journalism - whether it comes from FOX, MSNBC or The Stranger.

How about reporting on a subject and letting the readers make up their own minds?

If you want to interject your opinion, there's a proper place - the editorial section.

My definition of a hack ... a reporter who can't discern the difference between a news article and an editorial.

Come on Stranger, you can do better.....

George
Richmond Beach

@9: "How about reporting on a subject and letting the readers make up their own minds?"

All we have in the media these days is false equivalencies and even-handedness to the point where it becomes a series of lies so the Republicans can play catch-up and the Democrats can court "independents".

@9 How about ignoring Goldy's reporting on the correct context of Rob's numbers so you can defend your political hack with some sort of ad hominem attack.
You can lead a conservative to facts, but you can't make them read.