Comments

1

"Horesy"?

Twice?

2

Don't get upset over cartoons Charles. Life is too short.

3

I used to like David Horsey's cartoons. But they've been pretty terrible of late. I don't know if I've gotten smarter, or he's just gotten lazy.

4

You misspelled David Horsey's name.
Mr Horsey is both an excellent and funny cartoonist. He has been a top-notch progressive cartoonist for many years.
He is entitled to his opinion, as you are to yours.

5

In honor of the Panthers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JsDMwUE4mI

The Panthers created free breakfast for school children programs, free ambulance programs free legal clinics, and were regarded as the biggest threat to the U.S. by the F.B.I., who launched a program to discredit and destroy the Panthers, the feds planted coloring books in suburban stores, supposedly from the Panthers themselves, falsely claiming the Panthers wanted to kill all whites.

The F.B.I. established a special counter-intelligence program called COINTELPRO, to neutralize the Panthers.

The police and the feds even murdered members of the party

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g45WYJn9Fdg

6

And by the way the floating slums are- or were - the houseboats along Lake Union (and other local spots) until Sleeping in Seattle made them trendy.
Perhaps rolling slums is a more accurate description for lives-in cars and RVs.

7

Also in honor of the Panthers I suggest watching the movie Judas and the Black Messiah.

And while not about the Panthers, you should also watch the film; Detroit, about the Algiers Motel murders.

9

Portraying progressive female candidates as unhinged and unreasonable? Why has nobody ever thought of this before!

13

@3: Na, you've just lost your sense of humor in your quest for political correctness. It's a treatable condition.

15

@ 10, yeah having gaslighting Tr666p-loving shill Ann Davison in the city attorney's office will go just great.

It's incredible how some Washington leaders, like Gregoire and Locke, have shamelessly shredded their legitimacy and moral authority in order to quintuple-down on abusive racist policies that don't even work.
When all else fails, keep failing!

NTK must really be onto something if so many white Boomers are terrorized that they're gonna stop criminalizing poverty and locking up Black people.

16

We need a safe parking lot for the derelict RVs. Not the edges of all the city parks and half of the streets in Ballard. Move them all to some vacant lot in SODO.

17

@15: Nothing racist or abusive about enforcing the law, which you abide by on a daily basis and expect others around you to do the same.

18

@15 - This white boomer's complaint with NTK's view is not that I want to criminalize poverty. It's that there are in fact misdemeanor crimes that have nothing to do with poverty, and removing all accountability for them is a bad idea.

No one is worried that a hungry person who steals a sandwich is going to escape prosecution for that heinous crime. Some of us ARE worried that a bunch of our local tweakers are going to get away with stealing shit left and right to buy more meth (NOT a "survival crime," by the way, and not something we ought to tolerate).

There may be something to the concept of moving towards a restorative justice-based system. Maybe, maybe not, although I have a hard time imagining a lot of wife beaters reforming because we are nice to them. In any case, the City unilaterally deciding that we are not going to prosecute anything below a felony, without having any other system in place, seems like a bad idea.

Having said that, I'd give up voting before I would vote for a Trumpian Nazi moron like Davison. NTK is likely the lesser of two evils.

19

@18: Your last paragraph is quite incongruous with the rest.

21

@13 You're as lazy as Horsey.

23

@18 completely agree with @19. I don't know how you can say those things and still plan on voting for NKT because of someone nebulous connection to the Jan 6th insurrection.

Beyond the merits of whether we should be enforcing the law for misdemeanors I have a real problem with NKT's subverting the entire judicial system and making herself the unilateral arbiter of the law in Seattle. That should be a real problem for all of you who continually complain about an authoritarian government and facism. There are plenty of opportunities now to divert true crimes of poverty into harm reduction programs from the police investigation to the trail to the ultimate sentencing from a judge. Under NKT we supplant the entire system and she decides what is morally right or wrong. That is complete bullshit and if you are willing to embrace that because her opponent has a R next to her name than you are a bigger problem than some make believe conspiracy theory. I hope all of you really rethink what you are promoting here and recognize there is nothing compassionate or noble about what she is proposing. The fact this is even a debate shows you how far the gaslighting has gone (of which The Stranger plays a large part) and how idealogically driven Seattle politics has become.

24

I'm voting for NTK just because she upsets a lot of people who don't even live in Seattle.

25

@23 -- Oh, get a grip. Holy shit, do you even know what the city attorney does? They represent the city, in lawsuits against other organizations. That is their main function, and where most of the money is spent. This is really the big issue, but it is being ignored.

They also prosecute low level crimes. They have full discretion in both cases, and every city attorney uses it. In 2019, more than half of the misdemeanor cases against individuals were dropped. Over half! That is how the system works. I don't remember you saying that Holmes was trying to "supplant the entire system". What bullshit.

As for NKT, every proposal sounds quite reasonable: https://ntk4justice.com/platform. Yeah, I think she may be too lax, but this won't result in a big increase in crime. It is quite possible this reduces crime, while victims (i. e. shop keepers) finally get some compensation. It is unlikely that we'll see a big increase in low level crime, and if we do, it is quite possible she will prosecute a few more people. But some things -- like decriminalizing sex work and drug use -- are clearly cost effective, sensible reforms.

What bothers everyone is that NKT doesn't sound that smart. But she sounds a shitload smarter than her opponent. Davison is an idiot, and her campaign is full of shit. She focuses on crimes that clearly are felonies (murder). She even has charts about addiction, as if she will put an end to it. How, by arresting and jailing every junky? Holy shit, the drug war was a complete disaster. She is taking a "tough on crime" response, which history has shown fails, and fails miserably. My God, she wants to spend money on the police, and less on social services. She thinks the police problem is fixed (even though a federal judge says it isn't) and that we should take money from social problems to increased policing. Thank God she that isn't part of her job.

Speaking of which, she also ignores the most important part of her job. Davison will use the same level of discretion, but mostly on the other end. If the city wants to sue the cops, Davison will go easy. She has made that clear.

This is why a lot of us (including @18) are holding our nose and voting for NKT. She isn't good, but she is way better than the alternative.

26

@ Charles -- Dominic Gates didn't write much about the Boeing buybacks, but the Seattle Times economic columnist Jon Talton sure did. He manages to slip in this corporate criticism in just about any in depth look at the state of the (economic) nation: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/historic-opportunity-to-rebuild-americas-infrastructure-could-be-slipping-away/.

Great quote from Bleak House, by the way. I think it would be great if someone made a movie of a Dicken's novel in modern times, as they did recently with Romeo and Juliet. It is amazing how not only does the concept work, but much of the dialogue too. Folks said this was going to happen to America when Reagan got elected, and of course they were right.

27

RE: Pissing on Donnie Trump

FTA:
"However, in a bizarre and unprompted tangent, he addressed unsubstantiated claims about what he did with prostitutes in Moscow before his presidency. “I’m not into golden showers,” he reportedly told the crowd. “You know the great thing, our great first lady—‘That one,’ she said, ‘I don’t believe that one.’” Unfortunately, Trump did not expand on the implication that his wife does believe some of the other allegations against him."

Huh. So he DOES like being peed on. Whatever, everyone's got kinks, unfortunately that ruins my desire to piss on his grave now dammit. Maybe I can shit on it, unless we find out he's into shit play too.

Also, obviously and doesn't really need to be stated, but Melania doesn't fuck him anymore. Maybe Barron was the last time?

28

@19, @23 - The reason I will not under any circumstances vote for a Trumpian shitbag is because that movement simply needs to be stopped. One reason we are dealing with the situation we are now in (gerrymandered voting districts, abortion laws that a minority of the population want but we seem to be stuck with, laws to make it harder for minorities to vote, wackjob school boards that ban honest sex education, etc.) is that the Republicans, and in particular the white nationalist/dominionist conservative fringe has done a great job of playing the long game and dominating all levels of government.

The Trumper wing of the party is now working on doing the same. Their wannabee fascist movement needs to be drowned in the bathtub. Make Davison City Attorney, and you'll make it easier for her to defile some higher office in the future.

If that means I have to vote for someone I don't like much because she is not aligned with the Orange Dogshit movement, so be it.

29

@25 Ross that is not even remotely correct. The number 1 job of the city atty is to prosecute misdemeanors. How many lawsuits do you think the city has at any given time? Of the ones they do have do you remember how many Pete Holmes has farmed out to outside counsel because his office didn't have the expertise to argue the case (a lot)? It's already been argued that NKT will have to outsource any litigation against the police to outside counsel due to her clearly biased viewpoints. How much extra is that going to cost?

While the city atty does have discretion over prosecution it should be based on the facts of the case. Do they support conviction? Is the evidence available that warrants taking this to trial. That discretion in no way should be the whole system is bullshit so I'm just going to unilaterally decide to circumvent it. The fact that Pete Holmes was doing a mild form of this in no way justifies making it the de facto position of the city. Remember when Lisa Herbold suggested a version of this last year and quickly rescinded it because people lost their shit? Not only that I would argue going down this road opens the city up to litigation from the pubic because they are not fulfilling the duty to uphold public safety laid out in the city charter.

How is NKT going to provide compensation to victims? That is not her purview. She can't write checks out of her budget. The SCC would have to get involved and given their anti business slant I seriously doubt they are going to set up a compensation fund for business owners that basically admits we aren't doing shit so here's some money to make up for your losses. Think about the optics on that as they look to run for higher offices.

Davison will do the job. If the city is sued she will provide them guidance and defend them. It's not like she is personally arguing the case. How many times has Holmes stepped into a courtroom? NKT, quite simply, will not and by the way the city can't sue the police. The city is the fucking police. Please pull up from the delusion you are building before you create real harm in this city because here's the thing, the victims of all these misdemeanor assaults and robberies aren't going to be Jeff Bezos, its going to be the very communities you claim you are trying to help.

30

@8 I’m curious to know how you think the fire code could be applied to derelict cars.

31

@27, Baron's probably not his, just like Junior (see Vince McMahon). Eric is really the only one that looks like him. Good odds the last person Trump fucked was Ivanka.

33

@ 27,

Turnabout is fair play. I thought CaliguBush would be the worst preznit we’d see in our lifetimes, and then the white trash Republinazis shat out Prezinazi AntiChrist.

Assuming Dotard Judas Tr666p doesn’t flee to mother Russia, he’ll have to be buried at sea like bin Laden or have his ashes spread in an undisclosed location in order to stop millions of Americans from using his grave as an impromptu commode after days of celebration with hellfire Texas chili.

The line’ll stretch from Floriduuuhhh to California, from sea to shitshow sea, as his degenerate bloated corpse is treated with the level of respect it deserves. Tik freakin’ tok.

34

@23: There is nothing "nebulous" about Davison's "connection" to the Jan 6 insurrection.

Davison looked at a group of dangerous nut jobs who think the last election was stolen, rioted at the capital on Jan. 6, believe it's their Constitutional right to refuse immunization in a deadly pandemic, or wear a mask in public and decided that's the party she wants some of that. This is not some Romney, or Prescott Republican. This is someone who signed on to the Republican party during the Trump era to make America stupid again. As a Republican with no political experience like Trump himself, she is in a perfect position to do that.

We have a sizable group of people who want the drug war and homeless sweeps back and to further criminalize the marginalize who are pretending this is about enforcing DV and gun laws that are better handled at the King County level when they rise to the level of prosecution.

NTK plans to use her power to go after wage theft of the poor and protect those who are subject to illegal evicted and to push for legislation to stop unconstitutional asset forfeiture of the poor. If you notice a pattern, every one of these goals is designed to protect the weak and vulnerable we want government to protect.

This is a new concept in Seattle; using the power of the government to protect the weak from the rich and privileged who profit from exploiting them. We already have a prosecutors office criminal division built around protecting the rights of the rich and privileged against the poor and vulnerable at the King County level. There is nothing wrong with having an attorney at the city level doing the opposite by serving the people government should be serving.

NTK worked as a public defender for years protecting the Constitution and the marginalized from the most exploitative parts of our own government and did it for shit wages. The idea that this makes her anything other than heroic, especially when juxtapose with the "anything for a buck" legal career of Davison is laughable. It's like voting for Mike Pompeo over Obama.

Sadly, it appears some of you are planning to do just that.

35

@34 you are completely delusional. Davison switched parties last summer to run for Lt Gov long before any insurrection or any of the ridiculous stolen election bullshit. Even after the election I haven't seen one tweet or quote from her in anyway endorsing Trump or condoning what happened. If she really felt that way she could have easily went for it as she was no longer running for office. Heck she even voted for Biden. You can continue to pretend every R is some Trump stooge and maybe that helps you "hate the enemy" but that is pretty much like saying all the Dems are equivalent to the Black Bloc assholes who tore up the city last year for the fun of it. It's not true and claiming it is just demonstrates your inability to debate ideas on their merits rather than through an idealogical prism.

I really love the notion that NKT is going to be some hero prosecuting the rich for beating down the poor. This isn't a Dickens novel. The people who are going to be victimized the most by her laissez faire view of misdemeanors are the poor. Who do you actually think is victimized the most by assaults, shoplifting and petty crime? It's not people living in Queen Anne or uptown or whatever the hell you want to call it nowadays. It may be all fun and games when Kshama is running around with her bullhorn but if NKT and people like you succeed in fooling enough people into believing this garbage the only think we'll end up with is a shitstorm of people getting hurt.

36

If you vote for a Republican, you are supporting the modern day equivalent of the Nazi party.

It's really that simple. There are no two ways about it.

The Republican party are Nazis. Even if you don't consider yourself a Republican, you are supporting the Republican party by voting for a Republican candidate, and thereby supporting Nazis.

All you people saying you'll vote for a Republican, you're supporting Nazis. And Nazi supporters can go fuck themselves.

If you think NTK is really worse than Nazis, you really need to get your head screwed on straight.

If you don't want to vote for NTK, write in a non-Republican candidate you can support.

(before someone says that by not supporting NTK, you're supporting Nazis, that's an interesting discussion that I'm not going to have here, but you can)

37

Take all the RV's and nearly broken down cars and and the drug addicts living in them, give them directions to the homes of the seattle city council, and let them park in front of their houses.
And while we're at it, let all the tent people move their possessions to the front yards of the seattle city council members homes, and let them shoot up and pass out on their property with needles sticking out of their arms.

38

@36: Your hyperbole doesn't give you credibility. It's really that simple.

40

Kate Bush Rulz, Trump Droolz golden showers. What an ignoramus.

42

800 fires? That alone is reason to change some things. The campers have been damn lucky they are not getting hurt or killed.

46

@41 Yeah, that won’t work. The fire code is enforced mostly through voluntary compliance. If the people won’t comply, the next step is monetary fines. It’s pretty clear that voluntary compliance with most any laws in these situations ain’t gonna happen. Fines aren’t likely to work either. SFD can’t even go render first aid when we’re called to some of the encampments without being harassed, assaulted or chased by people with knives or other weapons. Fire code enforcement there is a pipe dream. There is no political will to do anything further.

47

@31: Lordy, at least add a dash of plausibility to your conspiracy stew. Barron does indeed have physical features similar to his father, more apparent as he gets older. And do you really think that Donald Trump is the kind of guy gracious enough to raise and pass off a kid who isn't his?

Oh, and speaking of Ivanka, this is a classic gem:

https://youtu.be/sJI_abYpWAw

48

@35 "you are completely delusional. Davison switched parties last summer to run for Lt Gov long before any insurrection or any of the ridiculous stolen election bullshit."

But during the Republican anti-vax bullshit and at a time when Trump Republicans were already talking about overthrowing the election of they did not like the result. You simply look dishonest when you pretend Davison joined the Eisenhower Republican Party. She knew exactly what she was joining. She's from Texas. She knows very well what a current Trump Republican is and decided she wanted some of that.

Political affiliation is a choice and Davison made hers. You want to pretend as if there is no connection between her joining the Republicans and actual Republican behavior, which is laughable. Dan Satterberg left the Republican party when they went insane, why can't she? The only explanation is that she is depending on the support of anti-vaxxers and and insurrection stolen election crowd to win the Seattle DA race.

You spend an enormous amount of time and energy here trying to distance her from the behavior of the Republican party. Why doesn't she simply quit, or speak out publicly against them? Why doesn't she run and an independent unless she supports the behavior and just as importantly depends in that group for support? If she is elected with their support, do you really want a Seattle DA dependent on the Tim Eyman part of the party for her political support? Is that who you want the Seattle DA to answer too?

"I really love the notion that NKT is going to be some hero prosecuting the rich for beating down the poor."

She is challenging asset forfeiture and the criminalization of poverty through drug and sex worker laws. She is talking about the need to use her power as DA to go after wage theft and illegal evictions.

I know Davison has no experience so likely has no idea what NTK is talking about on these issues, but can you provide me with a list of things Davison supports other than homeless sweeps and enforcing harmless lifestyle crimes through incarceration on behalf of her supporters within the anti-vaxers and the Jan. 6 insurrectionist within the Repubican Party?

Of course you can't. It's why you spend all your time distancing Davison from the Republican party she chose to join during the Trump years and never talk about her policies beyond a promise to increase incarceration of the poor.

It's you who who chooses to see life like a Dicken's novel with what he called "sturdy little beggers."

We have more productive things to do with the Seattle DA Office than continue the war on the poor that has been failing for the last 50 years.

If someone joins a radical organization by choice, they can't then pretend they have nothing to do with their behavior. Every day since the Republican party went insane Davison has had the choice to leave the Republicans and has instead embraced them. Not only that, I don't even see her distancing herself from their insane behavior, probably because she is relying on the anti-vaxers for political support .

50

@48 This debate really has been engaging. Despite what you are insisting I don't see a need to distance Davison from the Republican party. My point is that it is nothing but a red herring to distract from the real issues in this race. You are the one trying to obfuscate those issues by continually trying to make some connection between Davison and the scary boogeymen.

First, stating that all Republicans are Trump Republicans is plain wrong. As I stated before that is as ignorant as pretending the black block shitheads make up the majority of the democrats. Second I'm pretty confident in stating Trump, stolen election crazies and anti vaxxers are a very slim majority in Seattle so stating she is relying on their vote to win this race is really dumb. Finally, the city atty has a fairly narrow scope as we have discussed. I don't see how enforcing the laws for misdemeanors somehow furthers the Trump agenda.

On the other hands when I look at your arguments for NKT they just don't add up. Sex work and drugs are not crimes of poverty. Nor is all the shoplifting and assault going in downtown. These are crimes of exploitation and addiction. They aren't being committed because people are poor they are being committed to feed drug habits and to allow predators to exploit vulnerable populations. Ceasing prosecution of these crimes will only enable those who prey on others to continue to do so.

The bottom line in this race isn't about Republicans nor is it about inflammatory tweets that reveal a lack of character. It's about whether we are a society would be better off letting those who exploit others for their own gain continue to do without any types of consequences. I know what my answer to my question is and I hope the majority of voters in Seattle cut through the bullshit you and The Stranger are peddling and come to the same conclusion.


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