The Stranger

1/13/2012
The Stranger has broken new ground again.

The Stranger (Feb.1-8, 2012) now uses racial slurs such as WHITEY, HONKY*, CHINAMAN, etc. to casually refer to Caucasians and Chinese (but never, God forbid, uses the "n-word" to refer to a black person or "k---" to refer to a Jew).

Racial/ethnic slurs are ALL ugly and made all the uglier by the fact that The Stranger has decided that some are O.K., whereas others are not.

* * * * *

On the eve of the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, I think it would honor him that I state that

You can choose to remain silent but you cannot prevent me from choosing not to.

* * * * *

I get it!

Jen Graves, staff writer at The Stranger, is not actually a person.

She is, in fact, a tape recorder (stuck on repeat play).

"Given the fact that African Americans, women, and lesbians all struggle to be seen as non-stereotypical individuals..." (The Stranger, first sentence of film review, January 3, 2012).

Why exclude African-American men (super-hip/gentle/noble/m isunderstood victims of history), Asian-American men (grinds/nerds/eunuchs), gay men (un-subversive folk-like-us), straight white men (oppressors), men--period--, seniors (sexually starved grannies), Hispanics (hard workers), immigrants, the handicapped, the French, Germans, the SPD (pigs), Republicans (rich repressed suburban white as-h---s), Micronesians, canines, inanimate objects, fat people (born comedians), and the staff of the Stranger (cool hipsters but not so poor that they can't go to uber-hip clubs and "real cheap" restaurants that the real poor can't afford to go to).

Oh, yes, it's just my prejudices as a triple minority which would put auto-proclaimed cognoscenti such as Ms.Graves to shame--that "stereotypes" African-Americans as being, in general, bigger (physically), louder, meaner, more aggressive, and more likely to play the victim role (and cry "Wolf!") than any other racial/ethnic/sexual/reli gious minority. And we all know it's the white man's fault if they are.

Oh, I'll admit that it's really Asian-Americans and whites deliver sucker punches that knock their victim to the ground, bleeding and semi-conscious.

http://seattletimes.nw...

I, for one, don't want or need her grotesque hand-wringing or commiseration.

Jen Graves is either a tape recorder or the assumed name of a (deeply embarrassed, self-satisfied) group of writers. She/they/it struggle(s) to be seen as a real, non-stereotyped individual and not a Walkman.

Encased in layers of P.C. resin like a fossilized beetle.

* * * * *

"Driving the narrow streets, I'd notice that young black men would sometimes walk in the middle of the street and refuse to move for cars. They'd downright lope, slow like the South, where African American families coming to work at Boeing in the 1950s hailed from when they moved to this neighborhood--the only area of the city where they were allowed to live until the middle 1960s. To me, this loping was a form of historical communication, intentional or not: This is our street.."

Did you ever consider actually asking one of these men what they were up--or what they thought they were up to, rather than indulging your penchant in getting lost in your own precious liberal-white fantasies?

http://www.thestranger...

* * * * *

Enough of Jen Graves, read what is worth picking up The Stranger for: the film and theater reviews--see, for instance, the perceptive review of the Tony Award-winning "Spring Awakening" [1/11-1/17/2012].

I don't have to agree with everything I read, but it should be written without hypocrisy.

* * * * *

Why are the lives of white people, Southeast Asians, Hispanics, etc. worth any less than that of African-Americans?

Why, for instance, did The Stranger to decide NOT to investigate and write about the murder of a Vietnamese Buddhist in Tacoma--a year before the Theresa Butz murder--whose young black attackers, when the man tried to flee, chased him down with a hammer and repeatedly hit his skull?

The Vietnamese man had been sitting on his porch when the young men passed by and decided to attack him. This horrible murder was almost totally ignored by the American press. As a so-called "alternative" newspaper, The Stranger could have broken new ground if it had had the courage, political and individual, to open its eyes for once.
http://seattletimes.nw...

* * * * *

Afraid of being assassinated by a tape recorder?

I am now.
10/17/2011 Edit »
The Stranger redeems itself, in part, with an issue (Oct. 12-18, 2011) on the Occupy Seattle demonstration, especially with the first-hand accounts of four staff writers and their banks (Chase Manhattan, Bank of America).

This is actually what The Stranger does best: first-hand local accounts that The Seattle Times would probably never publish, rather than second- or third-hand accounts = rumors = cliche-ridden P.C. moralizing.

Let the facts speak for themselves.

* * * * *

Speaking of facts, Jen Graves, in her recent article (Nov.1) on the Venice Biennial, ought to brush up on her art history. Venice has had centuries-old associations with the Byzantine Empire, not the Ottoman Empire. It would be like saying that India had had a century of French domination.

I hope this doesn't reflect the status of undergraduate education at Stanford.

* * * * *

Also, speaking of facts, everyone has known for a long time about the centuries-old conspiracy by white people (70% of the population) to dominate and control everything.

Why DO whites own "everything" in this country?

It is time for black men (6.5% of the population) to run things and call the shots, from Wall Street to the halls of Congress. Half of the movies we see ought to be about and star African-Americans. We'd be a more just society that way. -The Stranger editorial board
6/30/2011 Edit »
The Stranger is most definitely avant-garde: Vanguard of Stupid White Men (and Women).

[After the Republican Party's recent actions in the budget discussions in Washington, maybe I should take back what I said. Still, there is a droning monotony week after week in The Stranger. 8/1/2011.].

You don't have to be a Republican to think that much of The Stranger, in the paper's own words, "sucks."

Or to think that The Stranger resembles a liberal National Enquirer (sex, violence, sensationalism, sex).

* * * * *

What do The Stranger and a broken record (as in "LP") have in common?

They're both stuck in essentially the same groove, week after week.

You usually know before you even pick up a copy of The Stranger what is going to be inside.

* * * * *
Example: "Pizza Party Politics: What does the Worst Restaurant in Federal Way Have to Do with the Republican Party" (6/29/11-7/5/11).

The problem with repeating the mantra that "(straight)(Republican)(r epressed) old white men" are stupid, corrupt, mean-spirited, and un-hip is that it effectively encourages a herd mentality and black-and-white thinking.

More importantly, doing so robs the (young)(minority)(gay)(po or)(PC Seattle) from reflecting on ways in which their behaviors are dysfunctional and/or self-destructive.

Put on the broken LP:

Dominique Strauss-Kahn: (old) (white)(conservative) (rich) (man)
Nafissatou Diallo: (young) (black) (poor) (woman)(immigrant)

So of course DSK is the villain-cum-oppressor and Ms. Diallo the hapless victim of racism. That is, until you follow the news closely. Er...DSK is Jewish..and Socialist...woops, he should be WASP, for Chris'sake, and fascist.

http://www.lemonde.fr/...

You could as easily plug in another formula:

(young) black man kills (white, non-black)(cop)(gay)(aver age-Joe)(good-Samaritan).

Lovett James Chambers kills (Michael Travis Hood) shot in cold blood on1 -21-12*
Billy Chambers kills (Tuba Man), beaten to death.
Maurice Clemons kills (Lakewood cops), shot in cold blood
Elijah Hall kills (Manish Melwani), shot in the stomach.
Brian Keith Brown kills (James Paroline), sucker punched.
Isaiah Kalebu kills (Theresa Butz), slashing.
Jerell Thomas kills (Kris Kime), stomped to death.
Group of young men kill (Danny Vega), beaten to death and robbed.**

All in the Seattle area.

* http://westseattleblog...
** http://seattletimes.nw...

When's the last time a black person was killed by a white person, anyway?

But as long as they are people that Charles Muedde, Jen Graves, Lindy West, Brendan Kiley, etc. don't know, it's not that important, you know. They're too absorbed reliving Selma and re-reading Franz Fanon in order to offer solace to the victims of violent crime on Seattle streets.

They all know what it's like to be a minority and how the slightest disagreement is actually a racially-charged provocation andjustification for a sucker punch or a stabbing.

Now, if any of these Stranger writers were sucker-punched, I'd be the first to let them know that they must have provoked (and deserved) it.

* * * * *

Missionaries (of PC) doing it missionary-style piggybacking, indeed!

As if anyone in Seattle needs to be convinced that, on the evolutionary scale, Republicans are only just one removed from reptiles.

Take away the the kick-ass editorializing, advertisements for ass-kicking music + ass-licking sex, and serial intellectual masturbation (think Charles Muedde, and he should take it as a compliment by Stranger criteria), and you can quickly flip through The Stranger and find something actually worth reading ("The Stranger Suggests," "In Art News," theater and/or visual arts reviews) in 10-15 minutes.

What about real, rather than ersatz, "diversity" of opinion?

And less inane High School Yearbook-style group-think?
8/2/2010 Edit »
What can else to say about The Stranger?

This is THE newspaper for those think that dying their hair bright emerald green --or flaming magenta--is a sign of great daring and originality (if not obvious talent).

And need to have, in one issue, 40 pages of local music happenings...to feel informed.

How else are we going to know when, where, how, and with whom The Bareback Pornographers are doing to "do it"?
1/21/2009 Edit »
Finally the Stranger has gotten what it has for hoped for (and bent over backwards to try to make happen): the election of Barrack Obama.

Not the most qualified--in terms of experience.

And no almost hoped for "Bradley effect," contrary to The Stranger's dire warnings.

In fact, the opposite. A country 70% Caucasian elected a member of a racial minority that constitutes only 12% of the total population.

* * * * *

I wish his administration well. Anything probably would be a vast improvement over George Walker Bush.

That said, it would have, for some of us, it would have been refreshing to see a First Gentleman (instead of a man with adoring wife).

Meanwhile, I am hoping that the non-stop Obamania will diminish and a little more critical thought appear in The Stranger. The fervor of the Stranger (and others) towards Obama is not unlike that of Catholics towards the Pope.

A cabinet with a majority of former Clinton officials (plus some Republicans thrown in for good measure) may make some people more sober--about reality.

Of the GOP picks, Robert Lahood--transportation secretary--has no record of being interested in mass transit, while Judd Gregg--commerce sec'y--has been a spending hawk, highly critical of Obama's stimulus package.

Time for a reality check.

* * * * *

It's too much to hope that the non-stop expletives, tired profanities stop. No one at The Stranger realizes that the use of "f--ing," "a--h--," "sh--." etc. is plain demeaning. To other human beings as well as non-Stranger viewpoints.

It debases language and is not particularly intelligent, either, just crude.

Do we really need more incivility in Seattle?

* * * * *

During the week of January 22 - 28, 2009 appeared an article "Lessons from the Abyss (How to Rescue Health Care Out of its Deep, Deep Abyss") by Garrison Bliss, M.D. It was both informative and relevant, without the use of caricature, profanity, and bias.

It should be noted that it was written by a non-Stranger-staff writer.
7/13/2008 Edit »
Good News: It is official!

The Stranger IS indeed composed of Stupid White Men (and Women) who can't jump.

As in "stupid white people," the expression used by the young man who knocked down and beat, with brass knuckles, Kristopher Kime to death during the Mardi Gras riots in Pioneer Square.

Go back and look at the Stranger's coverage (or lack thereof) of the brutal murder of James Paroline. No mention of race. Or the outrage in the Rainier Beach community. (Another) white man killed by a black man.

In the reverse situation, it would have brought up the volatile topic or racism, the mandatory protests, and wrung its hands. Here, mention of Paroline's race (white) is intentionally suppressed to not offend The Stranger' delicate sensibilities.

"If it wasn't a case either of gang or random violence, could it be...? Let's not go there."

Didn't I tell you all along The Stranger was a (well-intentioned) wussy?

And while it rails non-stop in every issue about racism, it has consistently ignored that nationwide 90% of blacks voted for Obama--whereas HRC lost the white vote in Iowa, Virginia, etc.

Just as Michelle is unconcerned that anyone OTHER than a black man has to worry all the time about being attacked--or even killed.

If she's usually in an echo chamber, I hope he (Barrack) isn't.

Didn't take much for the Clintons, once beloved by African-Americans--an offhand remark mentioning that Jesse Jackson had also won S.C, to become reviled for being "deeply racist" and divisive.

And no one at the Stranger, during its period of Obamania, bother to disclose to the readership that Obama had supported Lieberman, not Lamont, in the 2006 Senate race. If he was anti-Iraq War from the beginning, why...?

In the space of a couple weeks Obama (1) reneged on public financing of presidential campaigns, (2) voted for F.I.S.A., (3) supports increased public funding of churches as well as (4) gun rights and the death penalty (in certain cases) and, finally, (5) voted in favor of a government surveillance bill that offers retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies--a bill that he vowed last year to filibuster).

And didn't the Obamabots say all the time that "Hillary will do anything to do to get elected, .e.g., triangulating"? She had 14 years, he did it his in 4 weeks. That makes him more efficient, I'll give it you.

(On the other hand, it has to be acknowledged that Obama is a thousand light-years better than Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson).

Objectivity- (balanced coverage) is not one quality this newspaper, even if its coverage of local news IS sometimes more "in-depth" compared to that of the Seattle Times or Pi.

Its attempts at nuance are, frankly, maladroit.

Instead, we are told to "shut up" if we publicly express confusion as to how the fee for plastic bags at supermarkets is going to reduce the use of plastic bags--for those cat and dog owners, who will simply have to buy Hefty plastic bags.

I note, too, that its Slog apparently is subject to its own internal self-censorship. One of the most horrific incidents of violence of last year, "Scary teen ultra violence at Golden Gardens," part of Charles Mudede's "Police Beat," is nowhere to be found in the archives now.

In short, the editors and writers have a pretty short memory about MOST things, congruent with the overall emphasis on "what's happening (at local music clubs)--THIS WEEK!"

In the same way they are constantly issuing ominous warning signs about the "current state of affairs," their own lack of memory is ALSO cause for alarm.

...in which case, maybe they should just stick to music instead of commentary.
11/10/2007 Edit »
In danger of becoming a parody of itself, The Stranger offers a weekly stream of local news, commentary, investigative reporting, and profanity liberally doused with sophomoric scatological and sexual humor.

The gratuitous use of four-letter words is wearisome. Since when did using "f---ing" or "ass-h-" become a sign of being "cool" rather than simply a lack of imagination and/or writing skills?

(Actually, being respectful of others and NOT brandishing an arsenal of gratuitous profanities is refreshing).

What is paradoxical is that we're supposed to be oh so blase about the casual use of "f---" but also mildly shocked by it at the same time.

Moreover, in towing the line of "political correctness,"The Stranger has a certain repetitive, hackneyed quality despite its earnest efforts to be hip.

Moreover, it weaves a lot of overt moralizing/navel-gazing into everything.

Or the constant torrent of--again self-referential--liberal white guilt ("What would I know anyway, being just a white boy?") = self-hate. Reverse racism is, I guess, cool for these folks.

Statements like this--as well as the fact that most of the music piped in in supermarkets and stores here is by African-Americans (11% of the total U.S. population) and that most Seattleites go out on a limb to help even the most obnoxious, mulish black person, it's hard to believe that they are getting shafted in Seattle.

Consider that the audience for Will Smith (the #1 movie star today) flicks, is mostly white. Or the predominance of blacks in sports, music, movies (Chris Rock, Denzel, Eddie, etc.), and politics.

I'm not especially fond of loud people, even if they are black. I am noI racist because I dislike behavior that is bellicose, self-righteous, macho, or disrespectful of others.

It is a question of CULTURE and NOT race, as most Caribbean and African immigrants do not have that "attitude" common to American blacks.

As a minority myself, I have to say I have experienced WAY more prejudice from African-Americans than Caucasians.

My strong impression is that is you asked many, if not most, African-Americans, about the significance of Martin Luther King, they would tell you that he stood up for the rights of BLACK--not all--people.

And few know that he stood for NON-VIOLENCE.

And if Obama is elected, many, if not most, AAs will see him as "THEIR" president, unfortunately. My guess is that other minorities will be reluctant to vote for him.

Higher rates of incarceration of blacks? Yes, if the ones committing violent crimes are disproportionately black.

Who's "making" them do it? Oh, I forgot. Racism made those young men knock people to the ground and stomp all over them during Mardi Gras in Pioneer Square several years ago (I know it's a asking much to think beyond what happened last week).

For all its tough talk, The Stranger is often pretty wimpy.

What would be truly cutting-edge is if they published an issue exploring the failures of black community leaders and exposing the fig-leaf of "racism" used to mask their own self-serving ideology of victim hood forever. If it ain't whites that's doin' to them, it's the Jews, Latinos, Asians, government, doctors, you, your dog, etc.

Stranger, you shouldn't assign collective guilt to an entire race (white people).

* * * * *

Hey, it's free...

And it does cover local news that otherwise might slip past us. Plus the weekly local listings of events...

And I do enjoy some of the feature articles, such as those on the local arts scene--critic Matthew Kangas, the Lawrimore Gallery, Henry/Frye collection face-off, etc. The report on the troubles of local theater was up-close and revelatory.

I regularly flip through to Dan Savage's tongue-in-cheek, scatological, sexually "take-no-prisoners" column.

Charles Muedde's writing sometimes sparkles with intelligence and insight, e.g., his review of David Rieff's new book on the death of his mother, Susan Sontag, was excellent. Or his article on his trip to Perugia to investigate the sensationalist murder...Not his anachronistic references to Franz Fanon.

Fifty pages of ads covering the local music scene gives an indication of the readership The Stranger is aimed at.

You get the drift ...everything bad that happened during the week was the work of the usual suspects: Christian fundamentalists, Michael Jackson, other weirdos, SPD, stupid white men, Republicans, and pusillanimous Democrats.

.