As socialist Seattle city council member stormed into office in 2013 riding the momentum of an upset victory and an equally upset contingency of residents horrified by Kshama Sawant’s appointment to public office, the wheels came of the chariot of apparent bliss in liberal wonderland.
One of the first public rally cries of the rookie politician was to advocate for a government seizure of Boeing factories and facilities in the Puget Sound Region through eminent domain and transform the world leader in aviation to a producer of fleets of buses owned by the workers.
Nearly four years later, Sawant is still in office which is a testament to the astounding voting trends of residents within her district and begs for roughly 2000 pertinent questions beginning with “Why.” As the city struggles to adjust to the continued influx of tech dollars, changing demographics and an exploding housing market, the political climate open to the acceptance of an incumbent socialist remains turbulent at best.
Recently, Seattle city government was rocked by scandal as Mayor Ed Murray was accused of sexually abusing minors. Sawant has generated a record level of frustration from opponents, which prompted the creation of an online petition calling for her removal from office. Thus far, the petition which was introduced in November of 2016 has garnered over 26,000 electronic signatures. Unfortunately, the effort does not have substantial legal merit.
Sawant, a well known Trump detractor and enemy of the Second Amendment has recently raised the ears and concerns of fellow politicians and state agencies after she unleashed a insane battle cry for civil disobedience in prompting protesters and demonstrators on May 1st to take to the freeways and the airport and cause as much confusion and chaos as possible in celebration of civil rights and equal pay.
She is demanding that employers display leniency in allowing workers the day off to attend the May Day festivities. Her irrational suggestions and flawed interpretation of the First Amendment rights were met with a quick retort of harsh criticism from colleagues and law enforcement officials.
May Day in Seattle is typified by throngs tens of thousands of marchers in cloud of marijuana blocking the streets of downtown and Capitol Hill, and of course the infusion of anarchists and the stark degradation of mostly peaceful activities into blatant destruction of property and pure violence.
The pathway of smoke, filth, litter and property damage equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. At last year’s protests, Molotov cocktails were a noticeable addition to the array of weapons supplied by domestic terrorists and the threat of similar artillery raises the level of tension between citizens, protesters and police.
Of course May Day 2017 falls on a Monday and the trials and tribulations of commuters and local business caught within the gravitational field of the demonstrations should only add to the overall angst and despair. Sawant’s self- serving and reckless prodding of illegal behavior simply introduces more gunpowder to the fire of malcontent and puts the police force who she collaborates with in serving the sanctity of her constituents at a severe disadvantage. The adage holds true that all current vocal advocates of socialism throughout the annals of history on a civic front are merely narcissistic.
Sawant’s willingness to promote a “Berkeley” style climate as an unproductive and costly alternative to engaging in the reasonable process of democracy in eliciting policy change is the crux of the current generation of militants attempting to force the hand of society. While the peaceful, verbal and written dissent of government and laws is a needed and natural cog in the democratic machine, the acceptance of integrating civil disobedience into the process by some is leading to the detriment of personal freedoms.
Residents in Portland, Oregon, found out earlier this week that the kick-off event to the Rose Festival was ultimately cancelled due to the threat of disruption and violence by anarchists. The passive aggressive response by city leaders in providing additional security needed to allow Multnomah County Republican Party members from participating in the event, ultimately led to a victory for the crazies and set an unheralded precedent that criminal threats quantify as a viable mechanism of change.
In a nation of laws, there is absolutely no room for the implication by an elected official of encouraging illegal behavior that compromises individual liberty and carries the risk of injury or death. The inability of Sawant to properly and accurately assess the current political climate in Seattle and make a calculated and reasonable decision in response to the pending headaches of May Day in the best interest of residents is disconcerting and incorrigible at the surface and anti-american as further layers are unveiled.
The biting irony in this sorted narrative is that those self-appointed warriors composed of baby boomers and generation- x who fought valiantly against the establishment and promoted diversity, have themselves become the absolute authority in creating a sanctuary city lacking any inclinations of political balance. However, voters were sensitive enough to elect a proven socialist over any candidate with conservative values. While there is no chance her majesty will yield her throne, the rest of us can only hope and dream in the realm of electronic petitions.
Sign the Anti-Sawant Petition here.