Comments on The Stranger Makes In-Kind Contribution to No on I-920

Go to www.deathtax.com.

"This Web site was created and maintained by The Seattle Times Company..."

Another really cynical aspect of the situation is that I-920, unlike just about every other initiative I've ever seen, has two "pro" committees. Blethen and the rest of the newspaper owners have contributed to "Yes on 920: Keeping Washington Family Business Alive", but the real impetus behind the campaign is "Committee to Abolish the Washington State Estate Tax". The latter has collected something like twenty times as much as the former.

Through this little dodge, Blethen and his cohorts are able to keep their hands clean, separate from sleazy mega-developer Martin Selig and the $839,825 (so far) that he has given to Dennis Falk, the racist, homophobic, anti-semitic "Christian Patriot" John Bircher whose hate and violent virulence is the mastermind behind the I-920 operation.

Blethen is pure filth. We should have driven the fuckers out of town, starting with Alden.

Does anyone actually buy the "Seattle" Times who actually lives in Seattle anymore?

I sometimes buy the Seattle P-I, but the Times is so suburban it makes you vomit.

Wait, aren't you a newspaper who is mixing publishing with politics and rambling on about your opinions of a newspaper that makes, let me see, a lot more profit then you do? And a paper that is respected far about yours. You never seem to have a problem rallying for a cause you support. Does making homosexual marrige legal sound framilar? As I'm typing this I see an ad to my right that promotes the 2006 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Didn't someone pay you to put this in yout paper? Are you getting involved in a POLITICAL issue? This paper that you are publishing that includes THIS article will cost you money so therefore you are showing your support for the estate tax, hum something to think about. Are you all forgetting that the richest people are getting taxed the most to support those that are in need? For all of you that have forgotten accounting proceeders, we live in a country that has a PROGRESSIVE tax rate. Now read carefully here, that would mean that if you don't make that much the IRS will not only minimilize your taxes but also qualify you for numerous deductions that "the rich" do not ever receive. I just love it when you guys run your mouth about things you really don't have much knowledge about.

Taylor Ashlyn, you idiot, the point here is that the newspaper corporations are making monetary (and/or in-kind) contributions to political campaigns that they then editorialize on. Makes it rather pointless for the No on Initiative 920 campaign to seek endorsements from those papers, doesn't it? Or to expect completely impartial news reporting from the most widely-seen source of information in most communities.

I defy you to find any contributions whatsoever in the PDC database by The Stranger or The Stranger/Index Publishing ... other than to "Bringing Real Integrity Back to Elections" (BRIBE), the satiric PAC created by The Stranger itself.

Wow you are getting defensive and did you not just give me an example of a contribution The Stranger gave to something political (BRIBE). So when The Stranger contributed to BRIBE nothing was mentioned about BRIBE in The Stranger. I find that hard to believe.

Are you being intentionally dumb, Taylor, or is it just an act?

I pointed out in my previous comment that BRIBE was The Stranger's own state PAC. So of course they contributed to, or maybe I mean "seeded" it. The wonder, I'd say, is that a couple of Marler Clark lawyers also contributed to BRIBE.

And if you had any Google skills, you'd find a number of references to BRIBE in old issues of The Stranger. Such as this one from Jan 15-21, 2004:

Speaking of holding all these politicians accountable, The Stranger's political committee, Bringing Real Integrity Back to Elections (BRIBE), has opened a bank account. We're now accepting donations so we can have a little fun at these folks' expense. We're thinking bus ads. Or skywriting! One BRIBE supporter already wrote in suggesting we send T-shirts to Godden and Rasmussen that say, "I rolled on my back for Nickels, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

Right now we're planning a fundraising party so we can make the money to print up things like that. We're looking for a restaurant or bar in town that isn't scared to host an event that challenges the status quo. We'll let you know as soon as we find a place. In the meantime, please send donations to BRIBE at 1535 11th Ave, third floor, Seattle, WA 98122.

Or this one, a week earlier:

What does one do with such an unrepentant troupe of hypocrites? One forms a political committee called Bringing Real Integrity Back to Elections, or BRIBE. BRIBE will soon announce plans for its kickoff fundraiser. (We want to buy bus ads informing voters about the three new council members' broken campaign promises.) And you're invited. This isn't some exclusive fundraiser on the 43rd floor of the Bank of America Tower, where Nickels held his Godden/Rasmussen shindig. This is a fundraiser where average folks can bitch about politicians who say one thing on the campaign trail and do something else before they're even sworn in. Send party theme suggestions to bribe@thestranger.com.

I won't belabor the point with the two other references to BRIBE in the paper, in the Jan 22-28, 2004 and Dec 30-Jan 5, 2005 issues. Nor will I include the rest of the URLs for the mentions of BRIBE in The Stranger, since the comment engine here doesn't like it when you include a lot of links.

Oops, the paragraph after the first blockquote was supposed to be part of the blockquote...