Seattle Sucks

Never been in Seattle - I think it rains a lot and seems to be a bit romanticized in Tom Hanks' Sleepless in Seattle. Jonah at The Corner is savaging it with zest today with help from local folks writing in:

Jonah's original post:

I'm heading back to DC in a few hours. I always have such mixed feelings about Seattle. On the one hand, there's a lot to like about this town and this region. It's my kind of weather, my kind of food, etc. But I'm always amazed at how pre-Giuliani so much of the downtown is. I'm baffled at how the business community and the tourist industry can cave to the drug-addict romanticizers and panhandler enablers. There is so much skeeviness and bummery going on right at the heart of why people come to this town in the first place. And, it's not just to prey on the tourists, there are half-way houses, methadone clinics, etc all near Pike's. I don't folllow Seattle politics so I don't know how the arguments play out, but I'd have to guess there are West Coast versions of the same jackasses who thought drug dealing, transvestite hookers, and robbery were what gave Times Square its authenticity and "charm."

Some responses:

...it's not guiliani chic that makes seattle accept the winos and dopers in downtown, it's pure political correctness. no one is accountable for their state in life, we are all hapless chips in the swirling tide. this is the city that three years ago during mardi gras in pioneer square allowed a young man to be beaten to death for trying to protect a young woman from being groped by an approved victim-group. the police saw it happening, radioed to their superiors --- mustn't show too much initiative --- and the superiors told them to stay put, lest they prod the crowd to even greater violence. the police chief was later removed and now lectures for large fees on community policing strategies, while the new chief is only marginally better. when my wife and i moved here fourteen years ago we looked all over, loved the old homes in seattle and the nightlife, but decided to move across the lake to kirkland. we had kids and planned to have more and the downward slide was already apparant [sic].

Let me try to explain Seattle politics giving 3 examples.

1) It is against the law for any city of Seattle employee, including the police, to ask anyones immigration status.

2) The Seattle School District is 20 million in the hole yet the Seattle city council pays someone to read poetry at council meetings: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/council/licata/poetword.htm. [Click this link - it's unbelievable]

3) We have a 10 year plan to end homelessness which contains 6 principle actions. The first one listed... "Prevent Homelessness". Not sure why we need the other 5 actions. http://www.cehkc.org/10-YearPlanFinal.pdf. Top of page 19 if you care to verify.

I could give you more examples but I have to work so I can afford the taxes to pay off the 200 million dollar debt for a monorail system that is now not going to be built.