Excellent and insightful article Rich, I can hear SLOG's trolly-trolls assembling their straw men as I write this

Spot on analysis, Rich.

"Progressives have never held a majority in city politics."

Wow, this is surprising news!

So, Rich is mad that persons with whom he disagrees somehow still have First Amendment rights, and — worse yet! — dare to use them in Seattle? To protest an outrage? HOW DARE THEY.

It's the guns, which Republicans love and want more of.

This truly is a first and I thank Rich for finally acknowledging what many of us have been saying for a while now. It is unacceptable that we allow those with mental health and addiction issues to prey on innocent community members. The fact TS wrote an article about this confirms that the cold blooded murder of Eina Kwon may create a sufficient enough backlash to become the defining issue of the upcoming council elections. If that is true it will be very difficult for TS preferred slate of candidates to win election this fall and the thought of that must terrify Rich and the other progressive activists who have oversized influence the last ten years. Make no mistake about it, although what Rich says is technically true since progressives never captured the mayor's office, their policy positions have defined Seattle over the last decade: harm reduction drug policies, demonization of business and home owners, anti racist and equity programs in education, abolitionist approach to public safety and housing first homelessness strategies. We see the result of these policies now and the results don't even come close to the utopia we were promised. The argument that we didn't go far enough is laughable on its face and embracing these further would have only left us a bigger hole to now dig ourselves out of.

Of course we already see the strategy playing out here of painting this community push back as some right wing conspiracy, on par with the Sawant recall. The Asian community is rightly fed up with progressive policies as they too often have been a punching bag for progressives. Increases in Asian violence are often brushed over because the perpetrators are often other BIPOC community members who are suffering from addiction issues and highlighting that works against the housing first narrative. Eduction policies similarly instituted in the name of equity removed opportunities from Asian families and they were often labeled racist for taking issue with having programs taken away. Progressives rarely care about Asians and for Rich to argue otherwise is misleading.

The real question for Rich and the other progressives on this board (and Seattle) is what do you do now? The programs Rich mentioned are not short term fixes and some of them will never happen (safe consumption sites, basic income, rent control) so what's the plan then? Right now it seems as if the plan is to let people run amok to see if they can create enough chaos that people will then throw support to progressive policies. That may be incorrect but its not hard to think that is the case. In the absence of short term solutions people are going to turn to punitive measures lest we too become victims like the Kwons. The rights of the community to drive down the street and not be murdered by a mentally health challenged, ex-con from out of state demand that we take immediate action and if someone won't or can't accept offers of assistance than unfortunately they should be locked up, not for their benefit, but the benefit of the rest of us.

@3: Progressivism is always the answer. If it failed, those in charge must have been some other brand of left wing. Not progressives.

I'd also love to see DivestPD post a homelessness budget vs housed rate over the years

You’re not wrong in your thoughts, Rich; you make some excellent points.

My issue is that many of your arguments can be leveled at the the other side, too, such as @8 notes the issues comparing the size of the budget vs. effectiveness, or this line: “…but rather to highlight the specific political project of the demonstration and the shallow, self-serving nature of its messaging.” Because that couldn’t be true of any recent progressive march/demonstration.

Yes, call BS on the other side on their hypocrisy, absolutely. But be consistent.

‘ “SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENT,” another empty phrase, also would not have “prevented” this killing because cops do not prevent crime—they respond to crime. Moreover, increasing their budget and staffing does not seem to correlate with improved clearance rates for the violent cases they do respond to.’

If the outstanding warrant been executed, the person in question would have been extradited to Indiana to face his domestic battery charge there, and so he would not have been on Fourth Avenue in Seattle. To do this, Seattle would have needed a policy of checking for outstanding warrants upon interaction with a person acting erratically. Seattle would also need a lot more police officers on the streets, and funding appropriate to these goals. The Stranger has thus long opposed everything that was required to prevent this murder.

T

Whoops! Password reset is not working so I created an account to THANK YOU for writing this. I needed it. No one I sent it to will read it but oh well. I appreciate you.

Spot on as usual, Rich! Thank you for another excellent, well written article.
This is further glaring proof that RepubliKKKan are indeed, horrible excuses for people.

Thank you and bless you, too, Gun Control Works sign guy at the protest downtown.

We need GOP control as well as gun control.

@6 "Make no mistake about it, although what Rich says is technically true since progressives never captured the mayor's office, their policy positions have defined Seattle over the last decade..."

lol. "technically"!

Its also "technically" true that the police were not defunded but you've never let that slow you down either.

How is your stance of "we can't possibly do anything to prevent known dangerous mentally ill people from committing violence at will in our streets until we accomplish every item on the progressive wish-list, including (somehow) disappearing all half-billion guns currently in circulation?" any different from "thoughts and prayers?" As in "empty moralistic posturing that could easily be mistaken for indifference?"

Well done. Rich you posted some serious candy for the Trolls.

All you needed to complete the variable rogues gallery of the Slog Dipshit Brigade is mention vaccines and Kshama Sawant more.

I mean you don’t need to read the comments. I can smell the pants shitting rage outs and hear the compulsive angry page reloads from New York.

@17,

The Stranger reported on the incident the day after it happened.

https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2023/06/14/79035827/slog-am-trump-indicted-local-trans-woman-harassed-by-far-right-cormac-mccarthy-died

Then it was the lead story in the AM post once the victims and suspect were identified.

https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2023/06/16/79038137/slog-am-seattle-adopts-new-area-code-spl-not-invited-to-trans-pride-doj-says-minneapolis-police-department-used-dangerous-techniques-and-w

How or why you all can continue to complain that a paper you hate doesn't cover the news in the very specific context that you demand is beyond me. I know this question has been rendered entirely rhetorical, but why not just find some other paper/blog to read? Or if you're gonna insist on reading this one, at least do five minutes worth of research so as to not make a complete fucking ass of yourself upon posting here?

@19 you’re right, technically the progressives did not control the full city government and technically the police were not defunded but practically we have been implementing progressive policies for the last decade and those policies led to a mass exodus of officers beginning in 2020 accomplishing the goal of defunding (measured as less deployable officers available). Thanks for backing up my point.

@25 you can argue semantics or you can look at reality, no mental gymnastics required. The reality is we have less deployable officers than we did in 2020 and we have implemented progressive policies such as housing first and harm reduction and an innocent person has yet again been a victim of those policies. No technicality there.

@23: It was all of yesterday when Sir Toby explained the problem with your logic:

“A couple years ago Nathalie was so concerned with being an ally to people of Color that she completely compromised her journalistic integrity by participating in Every Day protests that she claimed to be covering.

“Don’t you find it odd that she completely ignores a large protest right downtown against violence aimed at women of color?”

(https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2023/06/19/79042604/slog-am-two-dead-after-gorge-shooting-naked-bike-riders-brave-shrinkage-at-chilly-solstice-parade-and-happy-juneteenth/comments/9)

The purposes of Rich’s headline post here are to de-legitimize that protest, shout down the protesters, limit the political damage the protest might cause to ‘his’ side, and to declare, yet again, that only progressive policies can save us. In reality, sweeping every encampment, checking every camper for outstanding warrants, and extraditing those who have them, would be far quicker and more effective in protecting innocent persons from violent assaults. Rich would far rather innocent persons continue to die violently whilst awaiting his progressive utopia, but he knows he can’t say that openly, so instead we get this.

@21 “ Until we make some move -- any move -- to pivot from empty-headed acceptance of parasites on our streets to more of a tough love model, we will continue to attract the nation's trash.”

You’re right, instead of trying to do harm reduction we should pass draconian laws so that armed and mentally disturbed people might kill fewer Seattleites, and instead go to other cities to kill THEIR citizens. Because fuck everybody else, right? We shouldn’t try to actually fix the problem, just pass it to somebody else. That’s real progress!

@29: “…mentally disturbed people might kill fewer Seattleites, and instead go to other cities to kill THEIR citizens.”

No, we’re saying a fully-staffed SPD could have gotten Cordell Goosby off of Seattle’s streets, and on his way to trial in a faraway state, where he has been accused of a violent crime. Then no one would have died. See how simple that is? All you need do is stop believing the Stranger’s bald-faced lies, e.g. “police don’t prevent crimes,” and you can understand how police do in fact prevent crimes — if we so allow them to.

not only did Mussolini get
the Trains to run ON TIME
but 'dissent' was also
Never an issue*

not Twice.

'crime'?
WHAT
Crime?

I doubt they had
much Opiate
addiction
either.

Problem
solved.

*precisely where
today's "Republicans"
wanna take the USOFA

oh and White Collar
crime DWARFS
the Shit we
see on the
TeeVee

so fund the IRS tax
the Rich & Prosecute
even those in the Suites
& Suits - there's More than
Enough to Go Around. oh and

don't EVER Believe the "Republicans."

@30: “Again this horrific crime would not have happened if we didn’t have by too many guns and too few mental health beds while your rich demagogues have many mega yachts, not fancy enough subs, and fucking spaceships for heavens sakes.”

If only Seattle had spent half a billion dolllars on homelessness over the past seven-plus years!

Or, maybe, swept every illegal encampment, checked every camper for outstanding warrants, and extradited those who had them. Then Cordell Goosby would have been awaiting trial, over a thousand miles from the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street, and if he had access to a weapon or not, he could not have harmed Eina Kwon.

“… we’ll keep falling back into this cycle of violence.”

I’m sorry, had Eina Kwon, or anyone she knew, ever done anything to Cordell Goosby, or anyone he knew? If, prior to his murder of her, there was no known connection between them, then how could a “cycle of violence” even exist?

This was a cold-blooded murder, by an unstable and violently dangerous felon who should not have been anywhere near Seattle. There was no “cycle,” just “violence” against an innocent person.

@42 You must have missed Rich's contemptuous dismissal in his diatribe...I mean "serious news article".

"though they didn’t protest in response to any of the shootings of anyone not seen as “innocent” in their eyes"

In Rich's world, Goosby and Kwon are both human beings, equal in value and consideration. Full stop. We should be weeping for the tragedy that set poor old Goosby on this path, and giving him a hug and help to get beyond it. I said it elsewhere in a different context, to the Stranger gang, it's the Goosby's that are the heroes of the story, and the Kwon's are the vile complacent types who deserve what they get for not giving all to help Goosbys.

Once you get that, folks like Rich make perfect sense.

sans the Evils
of Unbridled Capitalism
bored walk there'e BE no homeless

we let 'em Skim
all the Cream off the
Crop whilst Vulture Capitalists
purchase city Blocks worth of Housing &
'Investors' shove the Citizenry onto our Streets

and make Housing
and Education!
UN-Fucking
Affordable

they've Murdered
the American
Dream

but
let's blame
the Progressives.

late-stage
Capitalism's
nearly Completed
Regulatory* and Judicial
Capture & the trumpfster's
just waiting in the Wings to
Seize power. Adios Democracy

*open Wide
for Big Fossil

and speaking of
Judicial Capture:

Justice Alito Defends
Private Jet Travel to
Luxury Fishing Trip

In an opinion essay in The Wall Street Journal, the justice disputed a ProPublica report, saying he was not required to disclose the trip or recuse himself from his [MULTI-Billionaire] benefactor’s cases.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/us/politics/justice-alito-luxury-travel-fishing-trip.html#commentsContainer

nyt's top 3 readers'
comments from
the Article:

I am a retired federal judge and am ashamed of the federal judiciary. “Justice” Alito has now joined “Justice” Thomas in prostituting himself and the Court’s reputation. These grifters are paid more than a quarter million dollars per year. If you want to take a vacation, fine. No one begrudges you. Just pay for it yourself, the way all other federal workers must. Nothing in the separation of powers doctrine gives you a fee pass for grift.

Chief Justice Roberts— I have served under a lot of Chief Judges. None would have tolerated the corruption and stain on their court that you are apparently willing to overlook. You are a disgrace as a Chief.
--JimD; 98199

The ethics of this Supreme Court is so badly tainted that I don’t see how it can ever be viewed with even a modicum of trust.
Erik Frederiksen; Asheville, NC

Unethical and, frankly, disgusting.
This is how democracy dies
--Dr E; SF

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/us/politics/justice-alito-luxury-travel-fishing-trip.html#commentsContainer

so much for
Fucking Democracy
Goodnite American Dream
& welcome to your Nightmare

btw -- Don't try
the Fentanyl
it's to Die
for!

44: Park Place: Travis Berge died in 2020, not 2017.

@44: While it’s true Berge beat his tent-mate, Lisa Vach, to death (after at least one non-fatal beating of her, about which he had publicly bragged), he murdered her in 2020, as @48 noted. Also, his unprovoked beatings of her took place in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park, not in Ballard. (https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2020/09/standoff-reported-in-cal-anderson-after-medical-call-becomes-crime-scene/)

Then as now, the Stranger exhibited abject indifference to the brutal — and entirely preventable — death of a woman at the hands of an illegal camper.

Awesome news - it turns out "The Evidence" says if one of the furthest left places in the entire world was just a little further left, crime would go away.

@45: “sans the Evils
of Unbridled Capitalism
bored walk there'e BE no homeless”

Of course not; no capitalism means no homes, and thus not even a need for the word, “homeless.” (As Orwell noted, if the language lacks a word for it, then how can it be said to exist?)

“purchase city Blocks worth of Housing &
'Investors' shove the Citizenry onto our Streets”

Identify one city block’s worth of housing in Seattle where this has happened. Just one. After you’ve done that (HA, HA,HA), explain how this caused Cordell Goosby‘s violent, felonious crimes in Illinois.

“but
let's blame
the Progressives.”

CHOP
Defund
Encampments everywhere
Women brutally murdered by violent, unstable male criminals

Yes, we blame the Progressives.
Yes, we do.

@50: As @6 noted, many of the items on the Stranger’s laundry list of programs will not happen for a long time, if ever, and cannot be implemented by Seattle alone, e.g. rent control. So I guess it’s dead women from here until all the way out there, and then some.

Not to worry, though; the Stranger, like CM Sawant, is always ready and willing to sacrifice any number of (other) human beings to achieve utopia.

@51:

@45: “sans the Evils
of Unbridled Capitalism
bored walk there'e BE no homeless”

"Of course not; no capitalism means no homes... "

who the Fuck said
no capitalism
dipshit

it's the
UN-Fucking Bridled
Capitalists stealing our
Country away whilst You
aide & abet but way to go

you & your little Strawman
can just dry up and
blow away

& st2's
either a bot or
a fucking russian troll

"After you’ve done that
(HA, HA,HA), explain how
this caused Cordell Goosby‘s
violent, felonious crimes in Illinois."
--@cunty tenstores :)*

who said it Did
dipshit? oh that's
right. you did. piss off

*just kidding!
(have I got
that right?
the Emoji
Cancels
Culpa-
bili-
ty)?

@60; edited:

"After you’ve done that
(HA, HA,HA), explain how
this caused Cordell Goosby‘s
violent, felonious crimes in Illinois."
--@tentsores

who said it Did
dipshit? oh that's
right. you did. piss off

@above

oh and I Enjoyed the way you & st2
IGNORED* Regulatory & Judicial
Capture like they were just a
Normal thing to happen
to US insignificant
to all but the
lunatics

*nice
Deflection!

whilst I know I'll
Never convine them
their Narrative's oppressive
another POV's required & here we are

gonna miss ya bopsie

for the most part!

@54: “SPD said they were already quite aware of this man but yet somehow unaware of his outstanding warrants. So how are they not directly to blame for letting this heavily warranted madman with several warrants roam free? They are free to run peoples names for warrants, it’s almost as though they are incompetent.”

Sigh It was one warrant, for a crime of personal violence, in Indiana. (Now that we’ve performed the obligatory task of educating you on the very basic facts of the matter on which you’ve chosen to comment, we can move on with the response.)

There’s rather a large difference between knowing a crazy guy is on the streets, and in having the resources to locate him, run a check, start the extradition, etc. As SPD now has about one-half the number of officers per capita as it had thirty years ago (https://www.king5.com/amp/article/news/local/seattle/mayor-bruce-harrell-new-seattle-police-recruitment-plan-staffing-reaches-30-year-low/281-e98429ee-fc88-47f6-8890-b961393e2047) there may simply not be enough officers to check on every one of the known crazies — sorry, “victims of capitalism” — wandering Seattle’s streets.

Do you know of a local web site which has championed “defund” for years? Do you know of one which has opposed sweeping encampments? Do you know of one which has opposed police involvement in encampment sweeps? If so, you may have found some of the reasons the SPD hasn’t gotten more of these crazies off the streets. In fact, writers at that web site may indeed have some of Eina Kwon’s blood on their hands.

“The main point stands: spend all the money that is being spent looking for the asphyxiating billionaires on the ocean floor and also all the money they and their friends have dodged on taxes over the years on things like gun control, building mental health inpatient beds,”

How about you look at the half-billion dollars (and counting) which Seattle has spent on homelessness services over the past seven years, and once you’ve cataloged all of those success stories, then maybe Seattle can spend even more? Tell us all about the thousands of formerly-homeless campers who are now stably housed, and Seattle can build on that success.

Im an American who has moved out of Belltown and is living abroad now. Gun control is a no-brainer that America will never get. Get rid of assault weapons? handguns have killed Americans by the boatload for over a century. America will never be free of handguns. On the left, and I do NOT equate the left with the ignorant racist fascism of the US right, there is a giant fantasy that law enforcement is somehow out of date and human waste doesnt belong in prison. It does, sorry, you're wrong. You claim to care about all the OD deaths. Ready to bomb Mexico or profile foreign gang members and leaders to stop it? Of course not. You dream up some utopia on paper where straight men are attracted to gay men wearing makeup and tell everyone what is correct. What a black comedy of a truly sanctimonious generation.

Your utopia has failed. America is what it is. If you want to raise children save money and emigrate. Maybe if enough people leave this gun nut greatest country on earth, the elites will finally modernize it, including with up to date rail. Turkey has more high speed rail than the USA. Pathetic nation thanks to 85% ignant jeeter and country club corporate bootlicking repugnicans and 15% delusional dems. The American dream is dead and the right will never let you live freely. Yes it feels safer to live thousands of miles from where this atrocity took place, and this story is ALL about the guns, but also about a wreck of human waste wandering the streets at will, even city to city. Created in Chicago’s wonderful culture. Suppose it’s entirely white people’s fault, right, but not any ither race’s. Who are the claimed experts on this topic? Problem is each side points the finger at each other. The ease of getting guns mixed with garbage in the streets because his rights matter. There will be more. Also, along with memorials to slavery, there should be a memorial to the thousands of women of all races killed by black men, because the numbers are astounding and NO ONE will address it. History of oppression is always the excuse. Not that white jeeter isnt killing families of their own constantly also but its their own….well, and accidental trespassers because stolen land is sacred to the entitled thieving family line. Granted, putting guns in the hands of men, less so women, leads to death period, no matter where, but you cant have this conversation with the right without honesty. Then again they dont understand basic intl stats about firearms and dont want to hear nuttin because they like to make bullets at home like busy little gun squirrels. Would be funny without a million dead Americans in the last 40-50 years thanks to gunnutdom. And why doesn't the left ever respond properly?

@60: “who said it Did
dipshit? oh that's
right. you did. piss off”

Uh, you did, @45. You said there would be no homeless without “unbridled capitalism,” a term which you have completely failed to define, but then you said it threw people en
masse out into the streets for, well, you didn’t explain that at all either. I asked for a single example of many persons losing their homes this way, and, surprise surprise, that’s something you’ve also totally failed to provide.

Making up terms, refusing to support claims, and verbally abusing anyone who calls you on same won’t win you any arguments, but it’s the closest you’ll ever get, so I expect you’ll continue. Along with the hilarious sore-loser whining, of course, e.g all of @59:

“& st2's
either a bot or
a fucking russian troll”

Hahahahahahaha. Luckily, Sir Toby seems to appreciate a true joke in exactly the way you, obviously, cannot.

Im an American who has moved out of Belltown and is living abroad now. Gun control is a no-brainer that America will never get. Get rid of assault weapons? handguns have killed Americans by the boatload for over a century. America will never be free of handguns. On the left, and I do NOT equate the left with the ignorant racist fascism of the US right, there is a giant fantasy that law enforcement is somehow out of date and human waste doesnt belong in prison. It does, sorry, you're wrong. You claim to care about all the OD deaths. Ready to bomb Mexico or profile gang members to stop it? Of course not. You dream up some utopia on paper where straight men are attracted to gay men wearing makeup and tell everyone what is correct. What a black comedy of a truly sanctimonious generation.

Your utopia has failed. America is what it is. If you want to raise children save money and emigrate. Maybe if enough people leave this gun nut greatest country on earth, the elites will finally modernize it, including with up to date rail. Turkey has more high speed rail than the USA. Pathetic nation thanks to 85% ignant jeeter and country club corporate bootlicking repugnicans and 15% delusional dems. The American dream is dead and the right will never let you live freely. Yes it feels great to live thousands of mikes where this atrocity took place, and this story is ALL about the guns, but also about a wreck of human waste wandering the streets at will. Problem is each side points the finger at each other. The ease of getting guns mixed with garbage in the streets because his rights matter. There will be more.