Comments

1
"Because Oliver believes that the decision to run against her was their first and final offence"

Wow Chuckles, spot on. SJWs just want white folx to step aside and be given power - no arguments, no debates and definitely no voting.
2
"it should be used as guild out of the world that is"...

I don't understand "guild" in this context. English majors, can you help me out?
3
****Oh my God this is so fucking sexist**** You fell all the way off here.
4
Got it in one. It's the same whiny reaction as Bernie Bros in the presidential election. I loved her campaign, and she was my second choice - I would have gladly voted for her were she in this race. Now I don't know if I could support her for any position, seeing how petty and vindictive the reaction to losing is. I'd be glad for Moon to win, but she lacks the street team Oliver created - and that will likely doom us to a Durkin administration of playing to corporate interests.
5
Spot on Charles! Healthy self-confidence is a requirement for any potential elected official, but there is a fine line between self-confidence and narcissism.
6
@3: What? Explain.
8
@7: yeah, we need another cross-wearing, scolding regressive to wag their finger at us for moral failings.

until we've got half and half in our government, screaming progressives aren't the problem.
9
Also. What, tell me what, could be more viciously abstract than coolly enforcing the neoliberal project. You cannot see yourselves. You can't. You're plainly too insulated.
10
I wish this city had one competent paper. From Oliver's post:

What I am saying is: Do not talk about how a WOC could have been in the race if [a] white wealthy women had not spent her own money on her campaign, when both of them, both white wealthy women, chose to enter the race after me. Both had the opportunity to support the candidacy of a grassroots candidate backed by a grassroots movement. Neither should take the current race and opportunity to now weaponize my existence. Their race is against each other. They should talk facts and policy with integrity. I am not a tactic for debate.


Did you contact Nikita Oliver for a comment, Charles?

Aren't you helping Moon's defeat by taking a Facebook debate and elevating it to city-wide news? It amazes me that the media can never see their own roll in the destruction of their favored candidates. It must be a blindness that comes with a certain kind of narrative power.
11
This is actually up there with that Westneat piece blaming Kshama Sawant for Trump getting named prez
12
@9: what @6 said.
13
@12&6. The answer is bath salts.
14
Awwww, so Oliver didn't wax poetic about the Stranger's annointed choice to run the city?? At what point did it become incumbent upon Nikkita Oliver to make certain either of the whyte women wins?

She responded to passive aggressive racism from both candidates by speaking about it plainly, and not giving an edge to either one. And then you turned around and spoke about it as if you know anything about what Nikkita Oliver actually thinks, because you couldn't be bothered to ask her.

But it's not as if you know what Oliver actually thinks, because you couldn't be bothered to ask her. But let's all bow the altar of Charles Mudede - he speaks so it must be so!

I do kind of remember when the Stranger had writers worth reading. When I didn't pick it up thinking "here we go, what kind of trash is in there this week?" The memory is quickly fading however. Maybe y'all could get Ijeoma Oluo to do another piece for you and give you some legitimacy.

Good god.
15
For sheer entertainment value, nothing beats the bat-shit crazy of SJWs in hoodies running for office. Just yesterday slog had a posting by one such crazy Jin-Ah Kim for about an hour until it mysteriously vanished.
17
Reposting Nikkita's last paragraph again because it torpedoes this entire stupid, malignant post:

"Reality is both women entered the race after me and had equal opportunity to support the candidacy of a qualified women of color. For Durkan to utilize me in front of a fairly POC heavy audience as a "low blow" is a racist thing to do. For Cary to give me the opportunity to respond, but not first call out the racism herself is to be a poor ally."

She's pretty fucking clearly putting Moon ahead of Durkan.
18
Who was the qualified WOC in the race? I would have been happy to for for her.
20
Is that her chief of staff behind her in the photo, in the hoodie with the bandanna covering his face?

Because spoken word poet is right up their with reality TV host for leadership skills.
22
Nikkita Oliver. The Charlie Sheen of winning in Seattle politics.
25
"According to a Facebook post" does not make me think this was written with much critical thought or conversation.
27
As a person of color, I supported Moon's run from the beginning. As a person of color, I would have supported Oliver if she were running against Durkan. Why? Because it's obvious who, between the two, would be better for poor people; and at the end of the day, I want the best possible outcome from the world that is.

It sure isn't obvious to me. That's the problem. That is why local races are always tougher than national ones. I know pretty damn well that a Republican will screw over the country, and make it tougher on poor people. They have been doing that since Reagan got elected. There are (or were) a few good ones, of course, but as long as the party is fucked up, and as long as they caucus with the other Republicans, they fuck things up for the poor.

But local politics is about making complicated compromises and trade-offs, that are difficult to gauge. Should we cut spending on transportation and put money into social services? What if that results in people losing their jobs, because their bus is just too unreliable. Should we shift police money into schools? What if crime takes a bump, and you have more (poor) people assaulted and ripped off. That is why a lot of people in this liberal town find the whole "who is more progressive" idea to be a waste of time. What matters is what the specific policies that you want to implement are, and how effective you are at implementing them. I haven't heard anything from Oliver that suggests she should be very good at either.
28
@21: “she'll still vote for moon, what leverage an endorsement from her had vanished when she said she would.”

Speaking out of both sides of the mouth does rob her words of the power they could have. I understand disappointment and hurt, but trashing the now isn’t grooming us for the future. If Moon is objectively the best candidate not publicly supporting her hurts Oliver’s cause(s) and spite-pushes away a better coalition.
30
@29 give me one guess, you're a wealthy dude living in the northeast part of Cap Hill?
31
@29
As a lifelong Detroiter I feel it is my duty to inform you that you have no idea what you are talking about jeffy.
32
Has anyone yet used the headline La Dilemme Nikkita? Just offering that up — because how to deal with Oliver’s obviously selfish strategy here is a dilemma. I’m predicting now that local politicians will be wise to steer clear of her in the future.
33
"Funny how Mudede has never had a single conversation with me but supposedly knows what I want based on a question, a Facebook post and maybe a tweet.

This entire article is conjectured propaganda." --Nikkita Oliver
34
One loser wants another loser to lose. That's how stupid NO is. One of the many reasons she only got 15% of the vote.
35
Charles, I really don't understand how you're able to deal with this stuff day in and day out.

You write editorials. Your job is to share your opinion. In my opinion, you do it well.
I don't always agree with what you have to say, but that's only to be expected.

No matter what your opinion is, there's always a long line of (mostly white) people criticizing your work.
Not just criticizing your opinion, which I'm sure you expect because you write editorials, but actually criticizing how you do your work.

Why do so many people think you should have spoken to Nikkita Oliver before writing this piece?
She said something in public, you had an opinion about it, and you wrote an editorial about it.
That's how editorials work.

I can't understand why anyone would think that you need to speak Nikkita Oliver before giving your opinion about a statement she made in public.
If you wrote an article about something Trump said, no one would expect you to interview Trump but for sharing your opinion.

The reason is crystal clear though.
Racism.
You're a black man, and Nikkita Oliver is a person of color.
In the minds of her supporters you have committed the greatest sin of all, you didn't make your decision based on race.
In their minds, by not choosing black you have chosen white supremacy.

Whenever you share an opinion about race, trolls come out of the woodwork.
Usually it's a bunch of white folks that are upset that a black man is able to speak his mind in their local paper.
But this, this is beyond tolerable.
You have a bunch of people, mainly white people, calling you a sexist and an Uncle Tom for supporting a mayoral candidate that just happens to be a white woman.
I have to tell you Charles, that just blows my mind.
I honestly don't know how you deal with this racist bs day in and day out.

No matter what your opinion is, you get attacked. It usually comes from the right, but sometimes it comes from the left, and it often has the ring of racism.
It sure sounds like racism now.
36
#35 is spot on!
37
Great piece Charles.

I can't wait for this election to be over so Oliver will disappear into the obscurity from which she emerged.

38
the naturalistic fallacy thing, the mistaking or deliberate conflation of "ought" with "is", i feel like I'm referring to that all the time now. i don't know what to make of that but it seems ominous that nazis and the eugenics movement are the most famous users of it.
39
@35. Your post is on-point and inspired me to write this. As a progressive POC myself who lives in the South End, I find myself continually disagreeing with NO and her supporters.

A Facebook post beckoned me to write a comment here in support of NO. I read the article, and then read Dan Savage's piece, and then read NO's comments, and then read some of the thoughtful debate that were comments to the comments, and then talked to fellow SJW friends. As a critical person of conscience, I have to respectfully disagree and take issue with the accusation of white supremacy and racism towards Moon and the disrespectful "Uncle Tom" criticisms levied at Mr. Mudede. I have seen too often these accusations hurled at people, many of whom are my friends and comrades, with the sole intent to shut the down discussion and eliminate dialogue.

I mean, what else is there to say when someone calls you a racist or accuses you of "coonism?" Then it becomes a game of no I'm not and yes you are. And in my opinion, that's not what a movement for social justice is supposed to be about. I support Charles' article. I always advocate for the "ought to be"and act for the "what is" knowing full well that progressive change is a slow-moving patient slog towards justice.

I usually don't agree with many of Mr. Mudede's opinions about Seattle. But I think he's a gifted writer and a thoughtful intellectual. As far as I can tell, he's never been disrespectful or inflammatory. I believe his stories are a Seattle institution. And I'm glad he published this.

Now, no matter what happens from this...please, open your ballot and VOTE!
40
Charles Mudede an Uncle Tom...that's fresh.

Let's say he's a white supremacist apologist, a trump voter, and a Pulitzer contender while we're here.
41
"As a lifelong Detroiter"

Let's place bets: either Bloomfield Hills or Grosse Pointe and suffering from white guilt.
42
For fuck sake, Oliver lost. Why the fuck should Moon or Durkan sit through this shit? Who put that panel together and why did either candidate show up?!
43
@41
And you would be wrong again Roger.
44
Uh, who cares what Nikkita thinks or who she supports? Come on. We have an incompetent as president, do we want to even entertain the incompetence of yet another incompetent for our mayor or any other official city office? She needs to go quietly into that good night.
45
What if I told you that your skin color has no bearing on your ability to complete tasks competently, and therefore can not realistically be used as a substitute for experience, and skill, but also can not be realistically used to claim you lack experiences and skill?

It makes navigating life a lot harder and more complex, but it also is not based on a grand illusion.

Please wait...

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