Will we ever get a new picture of Mayor Harrell? Stay tuned! Lester Black

Comments

1

Wow starting slog off with some PR from a union buster, that's something I guess.

2

Imagine using your column inches to shill for violent union busters. Love to see that worker solidarity just dissolve in the face of, uh, the worst coffee in the city and a shitty baked good. Talk about yikes.

3

Dare I say that I’m actually feeling hopeful about November?

Biden’s list of accomplishments is legitimately impressive and kinda incredible given the reality of a narrowly divided Senate:
–Record job growth and unemployment at a 50 year low;
–Inflation Reduction Act, transitioning to renewable energy and lowering prescription drug prices;
–Chips and Science Act, greenlighting a major investment in domestic production of semiconductors and in science research;
–PACT Act, expanding health care for veterans exposed to burn pits;
–First major gun safety law passed in nearly 30 years;
–Passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure package and the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan;
–Confirmed the first black woman Supreme Court Justice;
–Led worldwide sanctions against Ru$$ia’s invasion of Ukraine;
–Student debt cancelation, $10K wiped out for millions of borrowers;
–Killed the current leader of Al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile over in Mordor, the Republinazi orcs appear to be on the ropes and reeling from ex-Prezinazi AntiChrist’s latest acts of treason, women’s loss of their rights to control their own bodies, and their own candidates’ Herschel brain squirts.

If only we could just skip to the end where $hitler blows his brainz out in Mierd-o-Gordo’s underground bunker and drags the Republinazi carcass back to hell with him.

5

The death of bumbershoot festival is very sad. When I started going in the early 80s entrance was free, and then changed to three dollars to five dollars. The lineup was wildly eclectic to say the least. Somehow it morphed into a very expensive and musically mono-thematic event. Perhaps it can be reborn closer to its original community roots.

6

@2: Strarbucks' pastries are bad. I miss the cheese twists they had in their earlier years. But their coffee IS good. It's strong. You don't have to worry about getting an extra shot as with so many other espresso places.

7

Hairy fucking Potter
as Weird fucking AL?

with Dwight fucking
Shroot as his Manager?
dude I've got the Chills too

"In a town in the south-
eastern province of Sindh,
67 inches of rain fell in one day."

that's still less than 6'.
so that's not too bad.

"Scientists say sea
levels are going to rise by
at least 27 cm no matter what we do."

Whew!
27 centimeters
is like what
maybe
half a
foot?

MORE Oil
Please.

8

5: They're only taking a year off. Bumpershoot will return next summer!

9

Since Harrel will be no more able to do anything about the housing shortage than any other mayor, he might as well fill his days with scheming, plotting and intrigue.

10

Poor analogy by Chris Rock but for the academy to ask him to host again after they all sat on their hands and let Will Smith actually give an acceptance speech just shows how completely out of touch the academy is with reality.

11

when does sitting on their Hands
equal a Standing Ovation?

Hollywood ain't
a Documentary.

12

Oh, 27 cm? Good thing metric dimensions are utterly meaningless to me.

13

@11: “when does sitting on their Hands
equal a Standing Ovation?”

Coming from Slog’s most tediously pretentious Purity Troll, that is pure comedy gold! Please keep up the self-ownage!

14

One thing I really miss about fall/winter in Seattle is the spicy hot cider I would get at the Vivace cart on Broadway. Fuck pumpkin spice and fuck Starbucks.

15

Man, I like that Joe's doing that national address to discuss the state of democracy. It won't do any good of course, owing to the fact that the Venn diagram depicting those that most need to hear such an address, and those least willing to expose themselves to it is a single circle perfectly encompassing both groups, but it's a noble effort nonetheless. And I don't know what else you can do other than attempt to expose people to information they might not otherwise encounter, and just as importantly, encourage them to attempt to think critically about the nature of civilized society and an individual's roles and responsibilities in maintaining such.

Though I don't know that Biden's the best person to deliver such a message unfortunately. He's been so vilified by the opposition at this point that I don't think anything he says has even a remote chance at landing with the intended recipients. Which is ridiculous, as he's the complete opposite of a polarizing figure in any real and tangibly meaningful manner, but this is where we are as a populace and exactly why such an address is needed. But he also seems even more prone to speech slurring and hiccups these days and, once again, these things would only hamper the potential positive impact something like this is meant to achieve.

Is there ANY living person within our country right now who's somehow not so politically divisive that we could possibly enlist to even attempt this in Joe's stead? They'd probably need to be from outside the realm of politics, but with enough mainstream popularity, eloquence and appeal to cause people to tune in to a broadcast. Somebody like Betty White may have been a pretty great choice, though I suspect we'd have to have it be a dude (and white, of course) so as to not risk turning off the delicate snowflakes the message is intended to reach.

I suspect it'd have to be either Bob Barker or The Rock.

Or maybe I'm hopelessly naive and it's an exercise in futility.

16

@10, 11, 13

what ever happend to
one lousy Analogy
Deserves another
Tenstores* no
more?

still
Embarrased by
your* very own self-ownages?

*when you and
Professor Shrubbery
agreed you were indeed

well Beyond The Bend?

and no I will
Not look it up.

you Remember it.

17

@Mike

A. the Gropenfuhrer.
and he'd DO it

Justice.

18

@16 -- oops
spelled your Handle wrong:

Tentsores.

I thought it
looked a little 'funny.'

apologies!

21

@7
27 centimetres is 10.6 inches.
Remember the more you know
science, the more it proves you’re not a semi-fascist!

22

@15: "He's been so vilified by the opposition at this point that I don't think anything he says has even a remote chance at landing with the intended recipients."

Exactly. Politics is always a game of addition, not subtraction. He'd do so much better taking about the virtues of unity, not division. His disparaging Republicans will only amplify their spite.

@14: Pumpkin Spice is optional. Nobody will ever force you to drink a Pumpkin Spice Late. Never. So stop the hate, you PSL bigot!

24

@22. If you're nice to fascists, they'll stop being fascists!

25

"He also said he doesn't "think anyone has a right to sleep in a public space.""
See, once again, inexact usage of language. Of course no one has the RIGHT to sleep in a public space. No one even has the RIGHT to sleep at all, let alone get a restful night's sleep. It's just something we wish everyone had every night......just like we wish everyone might win the lotto at least once in their life.
The correct question is: "What are we doing to ensure that everyone who wants a good night's rest can get it?"

".....the fast unraveling of the GOP....."
We should be so lucky.

".....Because there's no gas in the nuclear region, scientists can look right into....."
Lots of gas in the nuclear region last weekend. I think it was all that sauerkraut on the hot dogs. I couldn't look anybody in the eye.

@10, More wishful thinking on SLOG. Why would anyone expect an organization that creates fantasy to be in touch with reality? Expecting an organization run by billionaire old white guys who make their money by providing escape videos to a predominantly white nation to exhibit diverse behavior & realistic goals is not in close touch with reality in itself. The academy's main goal is to make money by the supertanker load. That's about as in touch with reality as they get. And with that reality, they're in pretty close touch.

26

@24: If you call people fascists or semi-fascists, they'll call you a fascist of semi-fascist. The insults are going both ways, essentially cancelling each other out rhetorically.

Need proof: Alternate between MSNBC and FNC

27

@26. Again with the false equivalence of defensive avoidance of reality. The far right MAGA cult regularly uses the rhetoric of war, and their elected officials are amplifying calls for violence. Appeasing them with the humdrum wilting of unity as an attempt at negotiation will fall on deaf ears. The GOP has gone full authoritarian and anti-Democratic. They don't care about equal justice under the law, but using it to protect themselves and punish the outgroup.

Fascism is not being used as a slur to demonize moderates but as the only appropriate term to describe what in recent history had manifested in the same way under blind loyalty to authoritarians. You would sooner enable fascism through making this disingenuous binary than prevent it by getting Biden to be meek and complacent in the face of those who cannot be placated and will try to start a civil war and a coup if they are held to account. Sorry, but that's reality so you better wake the fuck up and smell the Starbucks.

28

I love the risks Daniel Radcliffe has taken post-Harry Potter. Of course, in order to escape from that character's iron corset you'd have to take some pretty bold chances. He takes them, and usually successfully. I wonder if he's anywhere near as cool a young man as I think he is. Looking forward to the film if only to giggle.

Sorry to see Bumbershoot canceled, but I think it did need re-engineering. The problem with Bumbershoot and Taste of Seattle and the like is, well, in my opinion they were cute and charming events when Seattle had a population of 450,000. Now that its area population is greater than 3,5M, the events were overwhelmed with people. And at the risk of sounding like a misanthrope, too many people can ruin anything.

29

@22 Let's be real. The ~35% of the country that has fallen squarely in line behind Trump are lost. They may, at some point come around. But I'm not going to hold my breath. Coincidentally, that group will also say that Biden is promoting a radical left woke agenda no matter what he says. For them, it won't matter if the words out of his mouth are attacking them or not, they'll say they were attacked.

This speech is for the ~25% of the nation that's in between the Trump faction and the Democrats (and further left). The middle needs to hear some hard truths about what the Republican Party has become. Some of them may even listen.

30

@27 the problem you have is the word facist has become so overused to describe every action progressives dislike it's become akin to nazi and racist. They are all part of Godwin's law and are nothing more than dogwhistles. People saying Bruce Harrell is a facist because he doesn't think people should be setting up camp in public parks is laughable. If you want to go down that road than you should also look at our governor who still holds onto his emergency powers nearly 2 1/2 years since pandemic started. At this rate it will take a visit from Mace Windu to see if he will give them up.

31

And before you ask why not try the spirit of compromise, what did compromise get Obama? Ask Justice Merrick Garland. Or check how many Republican votes he got for the ACA despite watering it down significantly to try to please Republicans. Or any number of other examples. There's no point in trying to reason with the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, and that's where the Republican Party is right now. The best you can do is call them out for who they are. It's not like they're trying to hide who they are, either.

32

@30. Nooo you can't just say everything is fascism there is an anti-liberal authoritarian tradition that is separate from fascism fascism nooo

33

The Stranger missed the best part: “They [SPD officers] do not think sign-up bonuses will make a difference
” (https://mynorthwest.com/3610734/rantz-seattle-mayor-privately-blasts-homelessness-groups-inexperienced-council/)

That’s exactly what the Stranger has been saying all along! Obviously, if the cops say it, it simply must be true; add in the Stranger, and no one can possibly question it! ;-) and

34

Early warning signs of fascism, from the Holocaust Memorial Museum poster:

powerful and continuing nationalism
disdain for human rights
identification of enemies as a unifying cause
supremacy of the military
rampant sexism
controlled mass media
obsession with national security
religion and government intertwined
corporate power protected
labor power suppressed
disdain for intellectuals and the arts
obsession with crime and punishment
rampant cronyism & corruption
fraudulent elections

sounds like the behavior of a lot of people who are rightly being called...wait for it...fascists.

35

@34: If those are “early warning signs of fascism,” then we should call their practitioners “proto-fascists,” not actual fascists. As @30 implied, calling all authoritarian right-wingers “fascists” simply devalues the term. Also, as no one actually wears jackboots, the casual listener will conclude that using “fascist” is just distractive crying wolf from persons who cannot justify their own beliefs.

@27: “Fascism is not being used as a slur to demonize moderates
”

That is exactly how the Stranger has used it of late. For example, this cutesy version:

“I would like to be a little dramatic and call this fascism, but the political right has a very difficult time interpreting tone, so I will not. Anyway, today the Seattle Department of Transportation will resume ticketing vehicles that stay still in one spot for longer than 72-hours.” (https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2022/05/13/73279097/slog-pm-seattles-72-hour-parking-rule-returns-tiny-shelters-become-a-sacrament-and-a-weekend-full-of-protests)

That’s right: no longer ignoring parking scofflaws is fascism (wink wink).

36

@10:

I agree whole-heartedly. The Academy has promised a more inclusive membership – more racially diverse, and while that’s a nice idea, it won’t solve my problem with it.

It's way too clubby, for one thing. Great films, great performances cast aside because a member has a hit which supersedes. My idea is to open the Academy to a branch that knows and studies films, has a sense of historical cinema. Some of the best picture winners, ten years or more on, are completely forgettable – embarrassments, really. When’s the last time you watched “The Greatest Show on Earth” or “Rain Man?” The Academy needs, above all, an academic voice.

S@10:

I agree whole-heartedly. The Academy has promised a more inclusive membership – more racially diverse, and while that’s a nice idea it won’t solve my problem with it.

It's way too clubby, for one thing. Great films, great performances cast aside because a member has a hit. My idea is to open the Academy to a branch that knows and studies films, has a sense of historical cinema. Some of the best picture winners, ten years or more on, are completely forgettable – embarrassments, really. When’s the last time you watched “The Greatest Show on Earth” or “Rain Man?” The Academy needs, above all, an academic voice.

And "The Artist" may have been an interesting experiment? But best picture? Really?

37

No, there won't be civil war.

https://youtu.be/0assIBlNIB4

39

well the Grammar
fascists are cer-
tainly Out
today.

heil they couldn't
tell the difference
between a Soclialist
and a Social Democrat
they believe both are fucking
Commies anyway. Nuance ain't
exactly the so-called 'right's' Forte

but they Do
love their Guns
and Dominionism

they see the coming Wave of
Color to the Home of the Brave
and they are FUCKING Terrified

what if They were
to get Treated as
they Treated?

40

@35 "if there’s a Nazi at the table and 10 other people sitting there talking to him, you got a table with 11 Nazis."

41

@34 you and TS are free to keep saying it and labeling people like Harrell but it makes you look ridiculous to anyone with half a brain and the only result is to continue devaluing the term. You do yiu though.

42

Daniel Radcliffe was pretty good in Ricky Gervais' 'Extras' -- he shot a rubber atop Dame Diana Rigg and she made sure She got Her apology.

and No One could Top
David Bowie on that show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SN71N43fSQ&ab_channel=PaulThompson

not a Ben Stiller the actor fan
but he was Good too

but nowhere near as
good as his Dad
from Seinfeld:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZaurMNo5l0&ab_channel=Under5Films

43

@40: So, your rejoinder to having your own logic defeat you is to admit you believe in guilt by association? By your statement, Molotov was a Nazi.

As @41 noted, you’re free to continue humiliating yourself this way.

44

@19. The mayor has a good point about bitching about the Regional homeless authority. They need to be audited. I'd like to know the the funds went to and which non profit agencies have been milking tax dollars while not delivering results.

45

@3 Original Andrew: +1. Agreed and seconded. Well said and summarized.
The Biden Administration's latest accomplishments, despite the usual GOP stonewalling bullshit, are encouragingly praise worthy.

@25: Why shouldn't the fast unraveling of the GOP happen, Bugs? RepubliKKKans are self-serving, heartless, Earth-destructive criminals who have employed batshit crazy RWNJs to do their dirty work, and brainwashed the stupidest and most gullible of U.S. citizens to vote against their own best interests in the name of Free Dumb.
Here's to the Fall of the Orange Turd, its Unholy Trumpian Empire, and the end of the GOP happening soon. The world will cheer. By becoming the Party of Orange Turd, all marching in lockstep RepubliKKKans brought on their own ruin. May they all go down in flames, every last one.

46

For district13 and tensor whatever. Read what Mike Godwin has to say about his law... I think he's describing y'all.

47

@28 Bauhaus I: Agreed. Bumbershoot was indeed, a wonderful no-miss family-friendly annual event when there were less crowds, and much more affordable than recent insane ticket prices. What a shame that Bumpershoot has been ruined by corporate greed.

@39 kristofarian: As Gene Wilder once said, when Augustus Gloop went up the pipe: "The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last." It is high time that the gluttonous Orange Turd and its loyalists get what they richly deserve.

48

Quote "By all means, compare these shitheads to the Nazis.
Again and again. I'm with you."

That you he talking about?
Sure sounds {smells} like it.

49

@17 kristofarian: Der Gropenfuhrer do actual justice?? Surely you jest, kris!
No. What we desperately need is justice duly served upon the Orange Turd.
Nobody is above the law--least of all an illegal WHIte House occupant, global
terrorist, and self-serving neofascist.

50

@20 PrincessAngeline#2: Agreed on Bumpershoot. Thank you, too, for posting a link to a good local Seattle event.

@21 pat L: Duly noted on the centimeter = inches equation. Thanks for the science lesson.
I sucked at science all through school (I never studied Chemistry for fear of accidentally blowing up the lab. Our high school Chemistry class had a sulphur experiment that stunk up the entire building). But although there is much I still don't understand, I'm willing to trust the scientists over the ideologists any day.

51

@34 Brent Gumbo: You just described the Party of Orange Turd to a tee.

52

@46, @48: We’re objecting to the cheap and lazy abuse of the term, “fascist,” to describe anything the Stranger, or the Stranger’s dwindling number of sympathetic commenters, happens not to like. I’ve given an example of the Stranger’s recent abuse of the word. In return, another commenter has thrown the term, “Nazi,” into this thread, in a way which implies Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov was a Nazi.

I believe that latter commenter is the proper target of your comments.

53

@52
Thank you, but no. I think I got it right the first time.

54

@52
Thank you, but no. I'm pretty sure I was correct the first time.

55

And what's up with this "we" shit Kemosabe?

56

Harrell says that people do not have the right to sleep in public places.

Harrell is a multi millionaire and does not have to sleep in public places if he needs to sleep somewhere does he?

So this is the pathetic response this administration has to dire poverty in this city and the fact that many, including working people can NEVER afford to live here at this time because of outlandish housing costs.

This is what this city has become and WE have let it happen.

And Harrell can threaten any progress we want so this is war Harrell.

57

Toxic masculinity Harrell. Can go down in flames.

58

@56: “
.to dire poverty in this city
”

Seattle’s homelessness crisis originated in persons with mental disorders moving to Seattle. It is these persons who seize Seattle’s public spaces for their own private use, denying these shared spaces to everyone else. This is the behavior Mayor Harrell wants to stop, and he has support from that vast majority of voters, who elected him last year.

59

@37. a dIsTiNcTiOn wItHoUt A dIfFeReNcE

60

@45, I'm just saying.....We should be so lucky. Toasting an event you want to happen doesn't make it so. I believe it's illegal but there are still Nazis in Germany. I wish they were gone. You wish they were gone. But they ain't gone.

61

I would just like to jump in here and thank everyone who spelled Bumbershoot without using the letter "p." And to completely agree with @1 and @2.

62

@53, @54: You’re wrong, thanks for playing, please don’t come again.

@55: The “we” comes from the “y’all” @46, but I’ll take your implied advice, and not bother to read that commenter’s words again. (Especially the racist greeting!)

@56: Oh, look, Ivy the Seattle Homeowner returns, claiming to speak for those who cannot afford housing in town. How about you just stop pretending to care (you’re not fooling anyone, you know) and ‘friend’ CM Sawant on Amazon? I understand her many, many purchases there could do wonders for your own tastes in home furnishings.

63

58 That is a myth dearie and lies that the right wing always likes to drag out like outside agitators causing all the discontent. Even so, you are justifying punishing the mentally ill which is pretty depraved. And you do not really know who the homeless are.

I do not have the time to answer all the bullshit that you centrist geniuses have come up with to attack the most vulnerable. You always try to have the last word here but sorry
when you back up these petty tyrants and their practices it is not a good look.

65

@1, @2, @61: It does seem amazing, how rapidly writers at the Stranger pivot from on-the-barricades union supporter rhetoric to, “whip that slave harder, you peon; my latte’s getting cold.” Then we remember both rhetoric and coffee are merely hipster lifestyle accoutrements.

66

@65, That's our Jas. Nice to know that The Stranger is ad driven just like every other newspaper. Read "The Brass Check" by Upton Sinclair if you haven't already.

67

The irony of our local dipshit complaining about the use of "fascist" when he spent an entire day screeching that the Stranger was somehow pro-Putin.

68

@67: A fellow by the name of George Orwell spent a lot of time and ink reminding us that Words Mean Things, and exhorting us not to allow our political discourse to become degraded by abuses of language. (You’re free to disagree with his point, of course.) He also warned us of some of the potential negative consequences of allowing such debasements and degradations to continue without protest. Accordingly, I protest as I see fit. (Please feel free to continue to disagree with me on that point.)


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