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Seattle and King County Are Now Governed by…
CHOP. The anarchists and other assorted activists who are, with the positive assistance of the City of Seattle, occupying a portion of the city, now dominate the rest of the city. More manifestations of this dominance:
Washington State Patrol will keep closing I-5 for protests. I am on the WA State Dept of Transportation email list for truckers, and I am now getting multiple alerts daily about the freeway being closed. No reason given.
King County Department of Health declares racism a public health crisis.
Local politicians sign pledge to reduce police brutality, invest in black and brown communities.
Seattle protesters arrested for misdemeanors may not face criminal charges.
Tensions in Capitol Hill mount as residents, protesters clash over access, crime.
Published in Politics
I’m actually very surprised at how little I care about all this.
I feel sorry for the few sane people trapped inside the Peoples Republic of Seattle, but other than that, I can’t get worked up about it. I doubt anything like it will come to my city or county, and if it does, I expect the local PD will deputize a few hundred citizens to help clear out the mess.
Federalism is making a comeback. Mark my words.
Local politicians sign pledge to reduce police brutality, invest in black and brown communities.
Invest? While thugs continue to riot, loot, and burn. Warm yourselves at the ashes, maggots. As you sow, so shall ye reap.
“Invest (v): To confiscate taxes from your political enemies to pay off your political supporters.”
Seattle is making me feel better about the Bay Area. (sigh)
Mayor Durkan is still obviously playing the appeasement game, thinking if she lets the CHOPpers play out their anger, eventually they’ll pack up and leave, without realizing that all it does is embolden other people and groups to create disruptions to get their pet causes heard, since the city has shown it will bend to pressure, and the state doesn’t seem inclined to step in any time soon (you know it’s embarrassing when the mayor of Portland is calling you out after siccing the police on protestors there, though as others have noted, Ted Wheeler likely ordered a quick wipe out of the developing Patrick Kimmons Autonomous Zone because it threatened to encroach on the Ted Wheeler Autonomous Zone — namely, the mayor’s house in Portland. CHOP-nee-CHAZ was smart not to set up their nation-state with mayor Durkan’s home inside).
I know, right?
I was going to add something to that effect to my comment above, but when the proper wording didn’t come immediately to mind, the apathy kicked in and I dropped it.
Too bad the residents have no weapons with which to assert their rights and protect their lives and property. The poor things were assured that the warm embrace of the government would keep them safe and secure.
Suckers.
I don’t feel at all better. I got – another – email from Corporate HQ telling me how much better they are going to do at Diversity and Inclusion, neither of which include me, and how much cash they “commit” to “support” small businesses and communities of “color.” Since they are “committing” funds generated by what I pay them for their product, I expect my prices to go up. They don’t plan that their margins will go down.
This is the same shakedown technique – exploded to massive size and made a fundamental right – Jesse Jackson and his crew worked so successfully with the banks and other industries and which helped generate the housing bubble in the 2000’s. I’m really disheartened because I think this is just one of the tactics in play to bring down our government, and coincidentally this President. It’s the government the abhor.
Your state’s leadership is not only failing it’s citizens, but the whole country. Their weakness against these crazy thugs will jeopardize your state’s ability to function, for those truckers to get food and other essentials through, for hospitals and others critical services to maneuver as needed, and your state’s ability to re-open since the virus and rebound. If they won’t act on your behalf, organize and demand they disperse the deranged within “chop” call in the Guard or whatever needs to be done, and vote your leadership out! Disgusting, Utopian and very very disturbing!
The problem is that most Seattle residents support the occupiers. They keep electing the likes of Socialist councilcritter Ksama Sawant and Mayor Durkan. They deserve both.
It’s only a matter of time until this symbol of oppression gets cancelled:
Democracy dies when the mob takes over.
Seattle’s basically in the same boat New York was in the pre-Giulani years, where voters remained loyal to their ideology as their quality of life declined, until enough people finally reached their level of tolerance, and they voted for something different in 1993.
The problem is, some cities never reach that level, as voters there would prefer to economically die before admitting to themselves they backed the wrong ideological horse for so many years. Seattle’s not a Detroit, Newark or Baltimore yet, but that’s the choice they’ll be facing come next election time — do they want to try something different, or just change the name of the place to Jonestown? (And other cities are facing that same crossroads in the near future, especially if COVID fears speeds up the exodus of taxpayers for the suburbs, and that includes New York, where Bill de Blasio in just six years tore down what it took 20 for Giuliani and Bloomberg to build back up).
Seattle went for Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton is much admired by the moneyed Seattleites.
A lot of the virtue-signaling money types are among the biggest hold-outs for maintaining the progressive status quo, simply because they have the money to wall themselves off from the worst of the quality-of-life declines the politicians they vote for implement (a lot of those moneyed types in the post Giulani years in New York were lamenting the loss of vibrancy in the city, because they never had to be in the middle of it — to them, it was just thrilling street theater).
If things change in Seattle, it will be because people without the money to hide from the consequences of their votes finally get fed up with the downward path of their day-to-day life experiences, and throw out the people running the city government
I remember walking home from work during Seattle’s WTO riots. Me in my suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, walking past vandals, protesters, rioters, and police in full riot gear. As I got a whiff of the tear gas the thought occurred to me that the mayor could have done more to control this situation. And now they just give away an entire neighborhood? Beautiful area, but I am glad I don’t live there anymore.
Pedestrians blocking an Interstate highway, like I-5 is a violation of state law in Washington. A closing might be justified to investigate a fatal accident that requires an accident investigation, or an accident that might result in a fatality. WDOT, state troopers, or local law enforcement are responsible for keeping interstate highways open for traffic.
RCW 46.61.160
Restrictions on limited-access highway—Use by bicyclists.
The department of transportation may by order, and local authorities may by ordinance or resolution, with respect to any limited access highway under their respective jurisdictions prohibit the use of any such highway by funeral processions, or by parades, pedestrians, bicycles or other nonmotorized traffic, or by any person operating a motor-driven cycle. Bicyclists may use the right shoulder of limited-access highways except where prohibited. The department of transportation may by order, and local authorities may by ordinance or resolution, with respect to any limited-access highway under their respective jurisdictions prohibit the use of the shoulders of any such highway by bicycles within urban areas or upon other sections of the highway where such use is deemed to be unsafe. The department of transportation or the local authority adopting any such prohibitory regulation shall erect and maintain official traffic control devices on the limited access roadway on which such regulations are applicable, and when so erected no person may disobey the restrictions stated on such devices.
Seattle can burn completely to the ground for all I care. It would do our state a lot of good.
Sympathy for the rioters goes all the way to the top of the State of Washington.
Laws are so yesterday in Freeattle.
The most recent City Journal podcast has a very good discussion about CHAZ/CHOP behind the scenes.
I’ll bet that those moneyed Seattleites are not affected by the decisions of their elected officials. They have residences elsewhere, they have access to private healthcare and possibly their own security team and their children are not subject to the policies of the public schools. They are mobile and financially independent and do not think they will ever be one of the Have Nots. Same dynamic as the principle CA and NY and DC influentials.
Militant feminism unmoored from reality. I’m not talking about the mayor, the police chief and Kshama Sawana. I’m talking about the feminist leaders who have hijacked the <blm> banner to agitate for things black people don’t support. Ask Bevelyn Beatty.
https://www.chicksonright.com/blog/2020/06/10/bevelyn-beatty-in-viral-video-this-black-lives-matter-thing-is-a-cult-i-will-never-bow-to-black-lives-matter/
How about just King County?
Interesting. So, they kept the name and changed the logo to a black guy who wasn’t born when they named the place. Would the state try this.
My only conclusion is that the people of Seattle are happy with the current situation. It is hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that people died to create the freedom that Seattle scorns.
Seattle is such a beautiful city. It pain s me to see what is happening . I seriously considered making my life there. Al Merindino offered me the surgical internship in 1966. He was a very nice guy. After I turned them down, he still wrote me a nice letter. I loved the city. I had 10 acres on Vashon for a retirement home. I almost bought 25 acres on San Juan Island but it was too far from the city. And here we are.
I have visited Seattle from time to time. Living in Alaska, I have often flown through Sea-Tac Airport, but occasionally I have taken time off and spent some time there.
I especially like riding the ferries, checking out the various Puget Sound Islands.
Out of curiosity, I googled to see if Bill Gates still lives there. I don’t know how much time he spends there, but he does have a residence in Medina, Washington which is in King County and abuts Seattle proper.
Apparently Jeff Bezos lives there too. It’s a nice neighborhood for tech giant founders.
Unlike most riots, these have had a few forays into nice neighborhoods. For example some stores on Rodeo Drive in the tony part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area has had a few shops vandalized.
I suspect that Antifa has considered moving into that neighborhood too. But maybe not. Maybe some of those rich people there provide some funding.
The L.A. Rodeo Drive protests and looting seem to be like the Fifth Avenue/Herald Square protests and looting in New York, in that they’re targeting commercial areas which have easier public access. If the Antifa types attempt to target rich non-commercial areas (especially rich Democratic donor or politician non-commercial areas) odds are they’d get the same angry reaction Olympia’s mayor had at having her home targeted and/or the same reaction Portland mayor Ted Wheeler had to the threat of an Antifa autonomous zone being placed in front of his home, which was to suddenly abandon any down-with-the-struggle show of support for the protestors and call down local law enforcement to eliminate the problem from the area.
I saw on TV this morning that there was a shooting in the CHOP zone last night. Someone called police dispatch and reported 6 gun shots and someone wounded lying in front to a store of some sort. The police and fire department were blocked from entering.
And so it goes.