The Seattle Times: Deranged

[JailBush]

The Seattle Times - the wacko tabloid that endorsed George W. Bush - just printed Charles Krauthammer's editorial accusing Howard Dean of being a victim of Bush Derangement Syndrome -
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001810007_krauthammer08.html

Seriously, that's one of the most transparent pieces of propaganda I've ever read. It's especially ironic given the fact that the Seattle Times' owner - Frank Blethen - has a reputation for being... well, some people might call him deranged.

Blethen performed community service after he was accused of killing a neighbor's dog. He hired paramilitary guards when Seattle Times employees went on strike. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's workers were also on strike, but the P-I took it in stride. Blethen fired off a really bizarre letter to a former friend that caused quite a stir. It led me to dub him "Crank Blethen."

Anyone who knows any of the history behind Seattle's media knows what a can of worms it is. The Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Weekly are linked to the late pedophile Judge Gary Little and his adoring fans (e.g. David Brewstern and Camden Hall), assorted Microsoft thugs (e.g. John Hamer), "Tricky Dick" Lilly and on and on.

It will be very interesting to see who the Seattle media endorse in 2004. I suspect most will back the Democratic candidate, merely because Seattle is so liberal (in name, at least). But the Seattle Times could well endorse Bush again, and the others certainly do what they can to screw up other elections.

I sure wish there was a REAL newspaper in this town.

[La_Serpiente]

1. Wow, you sure have a thing against

the Seattle Times, Democratic & Green parties, and the Education Mafia in Seattle. Why is the Green party corrupt up there? Is it just the leadership?

[JailBush]

2. Seattle is rotten to the core!

I've got in pissing matches on local chatboards where people blast me for being so critical of everything. So I challenged them to name ONE elected official in Seattle who isn't corrupt, and no one has EVER replied (except for a woman who named a RETIRED politician). Almost all of Seattle's elected officials are Democrats (in name, at least), though some right-wingers have been making their way on to the Seattle School Board.

The Seattle Times is probably the most obviously corrupt of Seattle's media. One of their reporters called me a racist PUBLICLY when I was running for public office a couple years ago. It was actually kind of funny, because I got a little publicity out of it on a nationally syndicated columnist's website, and the Times reporter was apparently taken off the beat.

The Green Party of Seattle is really similar to every other organization in Seattle. It's hard to tell if the general membership is corrupt or just terminally stupid. But I can tell you lots of stories about the leadership. Brita Butler-Wall is a pig. I ran for office against her this year, and she got elected to the Seattle School Board in what may have been Seattle's sleaziest election ever.

Sally Soriano is another Green got elected to the school board. On her flier, she said she's been an education activist for 25 years. I've been at it for about seven or eight years, and I never even heard of her until a few years ago.

There's another Green named Joe Sjwaza (spelling) who works for the Seattle School District. He ran for CONGRESS, yet he's never had anything to say about education - even though the Seattle School District is riddled with corruption.

To really understand what these people are all about, check out their websites - individuals' sites, campaign websites, King County Democrats, Green Party of Seattle, etc. Even with hundreds of members, they can't seem to get credible websites online. You'd think they'd be eager to tell the public about their track records and inform them about a wide range of issues.

The Education Mafia isn't limited to Seattle, of course, though this city is a national leader in "education deform."

Incidentally, I was the only Seattle candidate who blasted both George Bush and Bill Gates. I think one or two candidates may have criticized Bush indirectly, but it was pretty insipid.

There isn't even anyone to network with in Seattle; it's just a sea of apathy and corruption.

[SeattleRob]

10. Lighten up...

Seattle does have a political machine and there are many problems here. However, it is not as bad as you make it out to be. Most cities have crappy daily newspapers and media thanks to consolidation. The Seattle Times is a rag.

I would also add that we shut down the WTO Meeting in 1999 and because of people being concerned and taking to the streets, we helped motivate other people around the country to educate themselves about globalization and trade issues.


The people who live here are educated and aware and we're struggling to make this a better world. It's not perfect, but compared to the east coast, where I spent most of my life, this place is paradise.

As for a non-corrupt, not bought and paid for politician, I direct you to Councilman Nick Lacata. He's a good guy who works for the well being of the people.

[depakid]

3. Count your blessings

At LEAST you have 2 newspapers- and the PI's not so bad.

Your neighbors to the south are stuck with only one, the Oregonian, which is equally as bad if not worse than the Seattle Times. Newhouse Publishing owns both the Oregonian & Portland's Business Journal, which just had its two senior news editors resign when Newhouse killed a story about one of the few non-profits that is actually expanding in the shitty NorthWest economy. Newhouse's reason? "We don't cover extremists groups." (the non-profit extremist group was Planned Parenthood).

Seattle Weekly also beats our alternative Willamette Week hands down... I won't even go into that, but suffice it to say that WW is, well, strange, propping up horrible Republicans and other whack jobs when it comes time for endorsements.

I imagine Krauthammer will be in tomorrow's Oregonian as well- for some reason, both Seattle and Portland's papers like to run right wing columnists a days after they've already been printed everywhere else.

[JailBush]

5. The P-I and Seattle Weekly stink.

It's really hard to distinguish between the Seattle Tiimes and the Post-Intelligencer. The P-I didn't endorse Bush, and it behaved a little more calmly during the strike. But it's really an extremely corrupt newspaper. In fact, when I attended endorsement interviews at both papers a few years ago, I was more creeped out by the P-I's editorial board than by the Times'.

I used to consider the Seattle Weekly an ally - until they stabbed me in the back. I then began examining it more closely and was shocked. Some of Seattle's sleaziest people are connected to that rag - like David Brewster (a BIG fan of Seattle's most famous pedophile judge) and left-wing media operative Geov Parrish.

[He loved Big Brother]

7. Seattle Weekly is off my reading list

I used to bother with it, now it's the Stranger only on Thursdays, and if they keep it up, I will be dropping them soon as well. The Tablet, Washington Free Press, and Eat The State are far better than that toiletpaper rag Seattle Weekly. The Stranger isn't much better.

[pnorman]

4. "He hired paramilitary guards when Seattle Times employees went on strike"

As one who had volunteered quite a bit of time on both picket lines, I can state that this was NO exaggeration. That outfit ("Asset Protection Team") is a bunch of hi-tech thugs, who specialize in intimidation ... brutal physical attacks when they think they can get away with it. Here's what I was able to dig out on short notice:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the most active strike-breaking firms is Vance Security, founded by Charles Vance, ex-son-in-law of ex-President Gerald Ford. Vance's agents were deployed against striking Greyhound drivers in the late 1980s and served as shock troops for the Pittston Coal Group, Inc. in its protracted and bitter battle with the United Mine Workers.

Vance runs a rent-a-mercenary operation which recruits through ads in Soldier of Fortune and offers its agents training in the use of firearms, Mace, and riot batons. An ad in the 1986 Gung-Ho Yearbook, a paramilitary magazine, was aimed at those of you who have military backgrounds who are interested in $100-a-day, all-expenses-paid work. The company offered a refresher course in the use of firearms should things get completely out of hand.

The Asset Protection Team, a Vance subsidiary, runs an ad which features a jack-booted security agent equipped with a riot shield, club and helmet. A brochure guarantees guards will arrive with all the personal equipment necessary to handle all levels of violence.

These firms' stock in trade is the creation of a threatening atmosphere for union supporters. During a dispute between Caterpillar, Inc. and the United Auto Workers in 1992, Vance Security transformed the company's plant into a war zone, placing barbed wire around the grounds. Striking steel workers at an Alcoa plant in Tennessee were subjected to constant surveillance with video cameras, while gun-toting agents were stationed on the tops of buildings and ground-level security brandished riot shields and tear gas canisters. Vance guards followed union members after they left picket lines.
http://mediafilter.org/caq/CAQ54p.police.html
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Seattle being considered a Union Town, they declined to push their luck, but in other locales (Detroit Newspaper Strike), they did serious physical damage. One of their tactics in Detroit, was to agressively harass the picketers wives nearby, hoping that an enraged husband would come charging off the picket line.

In Seatle, they refrained from the armored Robo-Cop look, but they sure did swagger (or tried to). And ALL, inside all the entrances, by the parking lots, on the roof, had video cameras. But we had cameras too, and we used to hold "stare-down" contests with them. At night, I used to shine a very high-intensity flashlight at those clowns on the roof; particularly straight into their camera lenses. They HATED that!

WE HAD A BALL, but those thugs looked pretty unhappy. I doubt if ANY of them got any Outstanding Work Awards. The atmosphere at the PI building was entirely different, like Night and Day.

To this day, I will NEVER read that rag; likewise with almost all my friends.

[JailBush]

6. The funny thing about the Times strike is that Blethen

took extra steps to protect some small parks the Times owns - as if he thought workers were going to walk with parks! I can't remember if they fenced the parks off or stationed guards around them - or both. But it sure was bizarre.

I also recall an interesting story about the Times allegedly knowingly hiring a man with a criminal sex record to deliver papers to its customers. That story was hushed up awfully fast!

[bitchkitty]

8. Substitute Oregonian for Seattle Times

and you'd be talking about Portland! I don't have a bird, so I don't take the Oregonian. They endorsed Bush as well.

[rocktivity]

9. The December 5 Daily Howler

takes Krauthammer to task as well.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh120503.shtml


rocknation