News Apr 30, 2015 at 12:32 pm

The Seattle Times Says Kshama Sawant Needs to Apologize to Her New Council Colleague. Should She?

Heidi Groover
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Comments

1
Never explain. Never apologize.
-- Nicole Brodeur.
DOUG. on April 30, 2015 at 12:40 PM Report this
2
what's that old chestnut... "Well behaved women never make history" ? too true!
ruthw on April 30, 2015 at 12:47 PM Report this
3
"Clutch pearls & weep" is default for that shitrag.
Achaiwoi on April 30, 2015 at 12:48 PM Report this
5
The rest of the council should apologize to the people of Seattle for appointing a former Port Commissioner!
fad on April 30, 2015 at 12:53 PM Report this
6
@4) A woman who doesn't behave or gets uppity is a "bitch" by you, huh?
Ladies, take it from here...
Achaiwoi on April 30, 2015 at 12:54 PM Report this
7
While we would all love our politicians to be unfiltered firebrands, you do have to work with people who may not agree with you. I do not know if an apology is necessary, but she should her words on the issue. It is telling when she states: "If he is indeed willing to really advocate...then I'll be delighted to work with him." (Italics mine)

That is really not how you want politicians to act. They need to work with people who disagree with them, not just people who agree. Just needs a bit more tact, really.
Theodore Gorath on April 30, 2015 at 12:55 PM Report this
8
above comment should read "she should clarify her words on the issue."
Theodore Gorath on April 30, 2015 at 12:57 PM Report this
9
If the Seattle Times says it, it must be true. Why is The Stranger wasting space on this?
CC-Rob on April 30, 2015 at 1:00 PM Report this
10
Hilarious - the BEST ST ed board can muster for Okamoto is that when the "the state Auditor’s Office in 2007... blasted the Port for lax oversight ...that wasted millions of dollars" he was "chief administrative officer" but was "not directly implicated". That's ringing endorsement!
Achaiwoi on April 30, 2015 at 1:01 PM Report this
11
Now now children, shake hands and say your sorry. Always raise your hand to speak and only say nice things; we can't have any disruptions. Please just behave and pay attention in Tim Burgess class.
tmplknght on April 30, 2015 at 1:02 PM Report this
12
Tim should apologize to Kshama
Will in Seattle on April 30, 2015 at 1:14 PM Report this
13
@7: Don't you live in Baltimore? It's interesting how expert you are on our city council...and our football team
DOUG. on April 30, 2015 at 1:15 PM Report this
14
Does anyone have the footage of Sawant going after Okamoto? Would love to judge for myself how offensive her comments actually were.
WantToKnow on April 30, 2015 at 1:15 PM Report this
15
@13: Politics take place outside of Seattle too Doug. Seattle is not that special, sorry. Football takes place outside of Seattle too, by the way.
Theodore Gorath on April 30, 2015 at 1:24 PM Report this
16
Jesus...fuck the Times Editorial Board.
Rujax! on April 30, 2015 at 1:25 PM Report this
17
@15: Bullshit. Have you ever spoken to any member of the Seattle Times editorial board? Kshama Sawant? Any member of the Seattle City Council? This is not "politics" in general, it's specific to these relationships between these entities. But you wouldn't know that, living in Baltimore.
DOUG. on April 30, 2015 at 1:31 PM Report this
18
I support raising the minimum wage, but I always pegged Sawant as the polar opposite of the anti-confrontation milquetoast establishment. She's the whiny, shrill, overly-idealistic pain in the ass. I got a C+ in Microeconomics in 1990, but I still remember how simple it was to explain the fatal flaws of rent control in one simple graph. So Sawant, supposedly an Economics professor, loses more credibility with me the further she pushes rent control.
GreenwoodSam on April 30, 2015 at 1:33 PM Report this
19
She has no need to apologize. She is a Tankie after all. She believes in some arcane Trotskyist Socialist philosophy left over from before the wall came down. Authoritarian in the true sense of statist.

Way to go Seattle, you elected a Tankie.
Nick CapHill on April 30, 2015 at 1:42 PM Report this
20
I think the apology is the best outcome for everyone here. It costs literally nothing, it can help mend some bridges, etc.

In the real world, people apologize for things that are not mistakes, or other people's mistakes, or simple accidents all the time. Sawant doesn't have to acknowledge that she's an unlikable jerk who isn't personally worthy of the full faith of the city of Seattle, she just needs to apologize and move forward. She'll be interacting with her fellow councilmembers over and over and over again - this is basically a Spanish Prisoner Dilemna played over multiple rounds. The strategy should be clear.
fetish on April 30, 2015 at 1:49 PM Report this
21
Why are so many people accusing Sawant of being unpleasant, disagreeable, whiny?, bitchy, and jerky. She is at work facing historically imbedded opposition to her goals. If she does not get their attention (or apologizes for being in the right) she will lose hard-won ground and probably some supporters. There are times where politeness is in order, for ladies and gentlemen. Other times, discussion will never happen unless someone in power has had their comfort disrupted or their past actions examined publicly.
stonato on April 30, 2015 at 2:59 PM Report this
22
@19: really, she's a hardcore Stalinist who advocates the use of tanks to establish and maintain Soviet Republics? and she's a Trotskyite at the same time?

funny, I just thought she was a passionate albeit strident politician who got the minimum wage raised by $6 in her 1st year in office. go back to Dori Monson's show.
Max Solomon on April 30, 2015 at 3:16 PM Report this
23
@21: How about stupid, instead of all the other names she's been called here. Rent control is a stupid idea and a failure, one that will bring her down as surely as the $15 minimum wage brought her up. If that's her (and Licata's) best idea for housing justice, they might as well give up now. It's like re-inventing the wheel, but taking away the round edges.
GreenwoodSam on April 30, 2015 at 3:17 PM Report this
24
@22. Tankie is just a slang term for everyone advocating Stalin/Lennon/Trotsky authoritarian ideals. Tankies disagree with each other too. But make no mistake, she believes in authoritarian structures and Trotsky.

Also, I think SEIU and unions had more to do with minimum wage raise than the Trotskyist-Socialists ever did.

But I will credit her for being one of the most visible players.
Nick CapHill on April 30, 2015 at 3:26 PM Report this
25
The land of the perpetually offended...I really hope she doesnt apologize, she was absolutely right in her opinion of the situation and glad she expressed it! I dont agree with her on every issue, but i'm glad she's on the council.

How can Okamoto be fit for the council if her comment is too hurtful?

Cassette tape fan on April 30, 2015 at 3:32 PM Report this
26
The problem with demands for public apology is that there is no way for the offended to publicly accept the apology. Public apologies are about public humiliation.
Ryan Boudinot on April 30, 2015 at 3:52 PM Report this
27
If only Sawant was as good at politics as she is at always being within five feet of every news camera in Seattle and giving boilerplate speeches advocating ideas that were discredited decades ago. Rent control? Seriously now. I'm half expecting her to start extolling the virtues of Lysenkoism and collectivized agriculture any day now.
William F. Fuckley on April 30, 2015 at 4:06 PM Report this
29
I dont like Sawants politics. But using derogatory words for women to discredit her is just lazy and offensive.

I would rather hear a good critique of Sawant and her politics than just calling her misogynist words.
Nick CapHill on April 30, 2015 at 4:26 PM Report this
30
Oh, who the fuck cares. This is CNN/Time/Newsweek style "politics-as-theatre" BS. She may or may not be mishandling her relationships with the rest of the council to the detriment of her efficacy as a politician going forward, but very little of that turns on whether she issues a public apology over this scripted bit of a grandstanding/drama.
david jw on April 30, 2015 at 4:49 PM Report this
31
Hey maybe ST can hire Judith Miller? She's really good with bad intelligence.
Marcie on April 30, 2015 at 4:56 PM Report this
32
@23: if you're using her calls for rent control to evaluate her intelligence, you're doing it wrong. Yes, of course rent control is a bad idea on the merits. But at a moment like this, it's going to be pretty popular, for understandable (and forgivable!) reasons. But...it's also not going to be made legal any time soon, and she has to know that. So advocating a policy that really would/could help a bunch of people right now if possible, without any risk that she'll ever be in a position to act on it, is pretty obviously deeply cynical grandstanding on her part, but that doesn't mean it's not smart politics. It's low cost image maintenance. Actually doing the things that could make housing more affordable are either very expensive and would cut into other worthy city goals (like building lots of political affordable housing) or would offend the NIMBY portions of her base (allowing more units to be constructed). As rents continue to go up, this could look like a politically savvy gambit.
david jw on April 30, 2015 at 5:02 PM Report this
33
Cannot wait for rent control! Yee-fucking-ha.

For those who already own a house and rental property, we get to watch the value SKYROCKET in a supply constrained, high-demand market. This will be awesome.

How 'bout we put some onerous development policies and taxes in place? That'll work.

Then the old cracker guys will be filthy rich, and the young brownish types can give-way to leveraged tech-dorks who wanna' will pay top dollar to rent an urban experience for a few years.

Oh my gawd I love me some clueless fucking liberals!

Ka-ching!
Zok on April 30, 2015 at 5:05 PM Report this
34
Has the Times apologized for endorsing George W. Bush or giving free advertising to Rob McKenna yet?
seatackled on April 30, 2015 at 5:08 PM Report this
35
@32: My #1 rebuttal to cynical conspiracy theories like yours is that they give waaaaay too much credit to people who are incapable of premeditated and coordinated stategery. I think it's much more likely that I'm right and she's just plain stupid. It's safer to place your bets on dump as a post than sly like a fox.
GreenwoodSam on April 30, 2015 at 5:20 PM Report this
36
When The Stranger is merely echoing the Seattle Times editorial board can it even be called an alternative newspaper anymore?
frozenfrog on April 30, 2015 at 6:18 PM Report this
37
Also, people who are categorically denying rent change can work, do you have any sense of how rent control works in most countries? NY and SF are insufficient in that there are relatively few units that fall under rent control. Here are some more successful models in Germany, Sweden, and other European countries. http://en.myeurop.info/2012/06/06/rent-c…
frozenfrog on April 30, 2015 at 6:27 PM Report this
38
@16 and @34 tied for the Time$ $ucks Bad win!
Will in Seattle on April 30, 2015 at 6:53 PM Report this
39
"Bitch"? "Stupid"? Must we resort to labels like these???

How about "McCarthyite"? That one fits like a glove ... and calls for a proper apology.
RonK, Seattle on April 30, 2015 at 7:11 PM Report this
40
I bet @33 can't pay his own rent. Otherwise he wouldn't cry about it.
Achaiwoi on April 30, 2015 at 7:30 PM Report this
41
The sole reason for the vitriol against Sawant is that she doesn't have a dick. Those who adore dicks hate that in a woman, I hear.

And, the person who defined my representative in city council "as another daughter of a rich person who thinks that because she was born with a silver spoon in her ass that her ideas are correct," I would point out that you don't know very much stuff, do ya?.
stonato on April 30, 2015 at 9:14 PM Report this
42
Good grief! What's with the bubble wrap? I can stand hearing Okamoto explains himself some more. He works for us right? Not just a placeholder? Maybe instead of circling the wagon, let him stand on his own. He applied for the job after all. Does he really need all this careful handling for an appointed job?

Otherwise, I'm beginning to think people are running scared and are just looking for any excuse to emasculate the woman because she has the figurative balls while the ones who do, don't. How ironic.

Marcie on April 30, 2015 at 10:06 PM Report this
43
Whoa whoa whoa. My comment calling Sawant a bitch was removed? Why? Sensitive much?
mrbombit on April 30, 2015 at 10:33 PM Report this
44
Sawant has no obligation to apologize. If I were her, I would privately apologize to Okamoto, in hopes of having a working relationship, but she can do what she likes. I suspect that she doesn't give two shits about governing as a productive part of the city council, so I doubt she will apologize. She seems very interested in using populist and organizing tactics to make purist points and increase "awareness." Apologizing furthers neither of those goals.

This led to results when she ran on a Seattle $15 minimum wage, but I doubt it will work for much else. She'll get reelected thanks to the new district elections, but that will be about it. The new system marginalizes her voice by design, for better or for worse.
Yo. on May 1, 2015 at 12:12 AM Report this
45
@32: My #1 rebuttal to cynical conspiracy theories like yours is that they give waaaaay too much credit to people who are incapable of premeditated and coordinated stategery.

This is hardly some complicated strategy; it's pretty straightforward politicking-101 level stuff. Her campaign was savvy; she had to thread the needle between insurgent leftist and serious enough to be electable and she pulled it off nicely; same with the minimum wage politics (yes, she had a strong hand, but in the end she played it pretty well). I don't think she's some sort of political genius or anything--she's had more than her share of unforced errors--but she's a competent enough political animal to understand and pull off something this basic.
david jw on May 1, 2015 at 1:02 PM Report this
46
"The analysis of rent control is among the best-understood issues in all of economics, and -- among economists, anyway -- one of the least controversial. In 1992 a poll of the American Economic Association found 93 percent of its members agreeing that ''a ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of housing.'' Almost every freshman-level textbook contains a case study on rent control, using its known adverse side effects to illustrate the principles of supply and demand. Sky-high rents on uncontrolled apartments, because desperate renters have nowhere to go -- and the absence of new apartment construction, despite those high rents, because landlords fear that controls will be extended?" - Paul Krugman -- http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/07/opinio…
SamMurky on May 1, 2015 at 3:24 PM Report this
47
The fact that she's a pain in the ass and gets up in everyone's bizness is exactly why I voted for her, and why I'll vote for her again in my (Central) District election. I really don't agree with almost anything she fights for; however, without her bringing up these topics, they don't get brought up at all. She's pushing Seattle in the right direction even if it tweaks many of us the wrong way.

You want more Jean Goddens, do you? Nice old lady who does JACK FUCKING SHIT for Seattle?
wilbur@work on May 2, 2015 at 12:44 PM Report this
48
Well, yes, she's better than Jean Godden. That doesn't mean she's the best we can do, and it certainly doesn't mean she's beyond criticism, especially when she pursues this kind of pointless, unhelpful pandering. Let's please no make "better than Jean Godden" the standard for "beyond criticism." Also, since rent control a) is a bad idea that b) isn't going to happen anyway, how exactly is "bring it up" good for Seattle? There are plenty of things the City government can actually do that might help with Seattle's affordability crisis; her focus on rent control merely distracts from them.
david jw on May 2, 2015 at 1:40 PM Report this
50
@47:

It sounds like you don't even know what you want. Which probably makes it easy to support agitator Sawant. You say you disagree with her positions, but then say she's pushing Seattle in the right direction. What positions do you support, and why do you assume no one besides Sawant is capable of representing those from your district?

And Jean Godden isn't running in your district, so that's probably the stupidest comparison to make.
Yo. on May 2, 2015 at 7:01 PM Report this

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