Comments on In Case You Missed It...

your use of retarded to describe the victim of this crime is deplorable.

You're totally right, Kerri. I wrote it in a hurry. I've corrected it to read "mentally disabled." Thanks.

Because car salesmen certainly wouldn't act unethical while NOT under the influence of drugs, right?

Besides, didnt the Weekly break this story? Shouldnt they be having a Josh Feit style hissy fit?

It's such non news that you had to post it on your website & give it more attention?

Dude: I think in the minds of many people in Seattle, the drug use and greed of these Huling Bros. employees has tainted the auto dealership's reputation.

Do I want to know how> Of course.

Thus, the headline works.

And it looks like 120-pt type, at best.

Right on. Better yet, see The Weakly...about the failure of public agencies to watch over this poor guy - goodness, Harborview Hospital even let him sign away his truck in a locked mental ward!

The headline does seem like it focuses on one sensational part of a bigger a problem.

"Honeycutt said a warped culture can develop even in reputable dealerships, because salesmen rely on commissions, which reward aggressive tactics."

The drug component seem pretty minor in the story. The people who wrote that article obviously didn't write headline.

This was actually one of the most entertaining articles in the Times in months.

And...uh...The Stranger wouldn't know anything about using sensationalism to attract eyeballs? And it wouldn't know anything about being puritanical? How many anti-viaduct, anti-driving, anti-smoking, anti-dogs-in-bars articles and Slog posts should it take before I start looking for Cotton Mather's name on the masthead?

This is a non-story, because, I guess, the Stranger's cover stories, like this week in particular, are ALWAYS SO MUCH MORE SERIOUS and NEWSWORTHY.
??!?
Would you be happier if they placed the dead huling sign around the city and took pictures of it?

This is a non-story, because, I guess, the Stranger's cover stories, like this week in particular, are ALWAYS SO MUCH MORE SERIOUS and NEWSWORTHY.
??!?
Would you be happier if they placed the dead huling sign around the city and took pictures of it?

Ben, the point here is this: Drugs are often used by mainstream press to scare the bejezus out of people, even when they're only tangentially involved in a story. That drug hysteria has been used as an excuse to pass a bunch of horrible laws. But often times, the real problems are rooted in far-less-sexy dysfunctional human behavior.

Without the drug spin in this headline, the story probably wouldn't be on the front page. And the drug issue shouldn’t lead this above-the-fold headline, because drugs are only a small part of the reason the dealership’s reputation is tainted.

Uh, I dunno: A buncha Oxy-snortin' car salesmen out to rob a mentally disabled guy? So we shouldn't be afraid of them? No, we should just open the doors and show them the cash, right? Ever do Oxy? You want more and more; it's worse than the need for another hit of blow. You will bust down doors to get it.

Dunno if the MSM-Alternative media crit line is really working here. If I was feeling really motivated, I could probably plow through back issues of The Stranger and find plenty of meth-scare articles that may or may not be more socially redeeming than the Oxy-heads-victimizing-disabled-man story.

Also dunno if, 25 years into Just-Say-No-To-Nancy-Reagan, there's much drug hysteria left, particularly here in the PNW pot-smoker paradise of Seattle.

I also think you're grossly underestimating the critical faculties of Seattle Times readers. Anyone who saw that headline and didn't recognize it for the touch-of-tabloid gleeful sordidness that it was has only themselves to blame. And they're probably not looking to The Stranger as a beacon in the night.

Because cliques of drug addicts, excuse me, support groups of daily/hourly users are the most ethical and honest people in other types of workplaces?

Yes there is a "drug hysteria" that equates smoking pot with running an international coke cartel... blah, blah, blah...(DH seems as ridiculously pro any drug, as his opponents are anti drug.)

But as described in the top story in this week's Stranger, drug users gathering together support and reinforce each other's worst behavior and tendendencies. I don't see how either the Sea Times or Stranger stories differ other than setting.

Using dope=bad judgement.

It was a good read, Dom. Are you an angry grad student or something?

Hey, Anna. You're right. My views on drugs differ from some Stranger headlines but they are neither pro-drug nor anti-drug. You see, drugs - alcohol, cocaine, pot, oxycodone or whatever - are just things that make people feel differently and effect the body in various ways. They can be beneficial or harmful, or both, depending how they are used. Some people are always going to use them, so we have to grow up and face reality. Making a judgment a drug is like declaring chocolate cake or fast food inherently good because they are tasty or declaring them bad because eating them in excess will give you a heart attack. They’re just cake and burgers. A reasonable adult recognizes we must be truthful about their impacts and weigh the benefits and risks of indulging our cravings, in the safest way possible -- which usually means abstaining.

Most people shouldn't do drugs, drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. But they will. They are adults and this is a (somewhat) free society. So we need honesty and accurate information.

I'm a pot activist - there's no secret there - but I can be honest. Pot makes people slow on the uptake, bemused by stupid stuff and paranoid about inane shit. It can also make food super tasty, everyday experiences more meaningful, and provide reflection unattainable in a sober state. That's just the way it is.

I fucking hate it when glassy-eyed hippies declare pot a panacea or part of an ideal daily regimen for America. Stupid stoners. The same good/bad value judgment can be applied to any drug and it's all hogwash. Drugs are simply what they are. Part fun, part unhealthy. And they all have different effects on different people.

The important thing is that the public gets accurate information so they can make informed decisions. The propaganda we get from the government is overwhelmingly packed with bullshit. Sadly, mainstream media perpetuates a lot of that misinformation and makes people so afraid of drugs they can't address the real problems of treating drug abuse, for themselves or the public. The result is a chain-reaction feedback loop involving lawmakers, the press, and parents, which lead to drug laws that do more harm to people than the drugs themselves and usurp funding that should be directed to other law enforcement activity and treatment programs to actually treat drug abuse.

This headline on the cover of the Seattle Times is perfect example of drugs being dishonestly blown out of proportion. They were a minor part of the story, but they've been listed as the leading threat in the headline.

The problem here was a swindly car salesman. But the headline screams that the problem was drugs. The repercussions of being dishonest about drugs are apparent as ever - we arrest 1.5 million people for drugs each year who are disproportionately people of color yet we fail to make a dent in curbing drug abuse. We shouldn't perpetuate that problem by spreading misinformation across the front page of the newspaper.

You know, I seriously worked at Huling Brothers several years ago in one of the offices there. (there are about 5 or 6 different dealerships under the Huling name) And the only thing I can say is that the guys involved with this, who I worked with, are serious pieces of shit. And the drugs actually is the only cool thing about them.
The perpetrators of the crime are arrogant, SUV driving REPUBLICAN pricks who are only out to make money no matter what. And we seen that in what they did to someone who was mentally weaker. And they exploit people simply for the sake of their own pleasure. To be honest, Huling Brothers is the best definition of what the GOP stands for. Destruction of other people's lives by stealing and plundering and destruction of the environmnet by selling some of the largest gas guzzlers on the road.

BTW, the couple of cases of exploitation of people with poor credit the Times article talked about are just a couple. That part of the dealership played with peoples financial numbers to get them loans to loan agencies like Household Lenders and such. Frankly, there will be more fraud exposed before this is over.

Andrew -- thanks for the look form the inside.

JW @9 -- Cotton Mather reference? That's awesome.

It really bugs me that whenever something shitty happens anywhere, if in any way, shape or form drugs were involved, it's played up in the media, by the police and politicians, etc., as drug-related, which allows the public to ingore any other reason whey something went wrong. As Dominic Holden stated, millions of people use drugs, very few of them swindle disabled people out of millions.

Dominic, you're really reaching here. Drugs were part of the culture there, and drugs cost money.

Man, even when the dailies do a great story, that gets huge readership and provides a public service, you guys have to find some way to trash them.

Once again, it's so tiresome.