The radicals in the Northwest have not accomplished anything of merit yet to earn the phrase, “only in Seattle”. While it is tempting to create a harrowingly hazardous weekly column focused on the craziness of Washington politics and theatrics that is the dichotomy to the pampered and pillowed safe zone enabling cantankerous insanity, these thermodynamically reckless people just don’t deserve accolades for regularly burgling time, energy, and tax dollars. But this unsettling plot and critique on the devolving status of society deserves mention as it could happen anywhere, even in red areas if propagated by a specific set of circumstances.
Thus, Only in Seattle- reports have come in from all channels that weekday mid-morning Seattle radio talk show host Dori Monson (9am-noon) has been suspended indefinitely for a tweet which definitely ruffled the collective feathers of the LGBT community and social justice warriors, and caught the attention of management, which swiftly generated the sanctions.
The allegedly “offensive and transphobic” tweet taken out of context by the online peanut gallery of instant gratification, references Washington incumbent Governor and failed Presidential candidate Jay Inslee, who supports strict climate change initiatives, and progressive transgender policy. The post does not attack a specific individual or the right to exist as how one feels. Monson mocks the subversive tactic by certain lawmakers to apply scientific doctrine only when serving an agenda.
The attempt at tongue and cheek humor to highlight the possible detriment of furthering controversial legislation based on emotion, was obviously not well-received on one side of the political spectrum, and now the keyboard soldiers and self-righteous reactionary community of the social networks are feverishly working to eradicate the talk radio personality from a digital existence. Many in Washington and around the country are concerned with the potential ramifications of laws being enacted that do not resonate with their values or beliefs. However, under the current totalitarian flavor of the era groupthink spawned narrative with no tolerance for tradition, either agree on everything, or face the music of the Statler brothers in full repeat mode. Original and critical thought has perished beneath layers of cyclical rhetoric.
Monson, born and raised in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, is known as a Conservative voice in a sea of Liberals, and paid to counter the viewpoints of fellow talk radio host and outspoken Democrat Dave Ross on 97.3 KIRO-FM. The radio station, which is owned by right leaning media conglomerate Bonneville International, is regularly one of the highest rated broadcast entities in the Seattle-Tacoma market, which ranks as the 13th largest in the US.
Disturbingly, the lightning quick actions to pull Monson off the air from his weekday gig, and from his role as the pregame and postgame host of Seattle Seahawks broadcasts does not entirely compute, as he earns his paycheck continuously stirring the pot in evoking visceral reactions, which ultimately drives audience numbers and equates to healthy ratings and revenue for the parent company. His ideology also aligns to the politics of corporate leadership.
With the concepts of news and entertainment perpetually and deliberately intertwined in a winning business formula that is the blueprint for success on radio and cable television, taking a shot at a politician pandering to the Green movement and special interests does not merit the severe punishment and only indicates that free speech is being parsed into the distinct categories of what is said, and what can be said.
Curiously, with the essence of the social justice movement integrated into the billion dollar business model of the NFL, any actors and participants must walk a politically correct tight rope, or be banished for life in an unceremonious vaporizing tribal offering. Former ESPN radio personality Colin Cowherd learned the harsh lesson of falling out of favor with a professional sports brand, and was fired for his pointed remarks criticizing the virtues and values of the Dominican Republic education system while talking major league baseball, in becoming the first major casualty of the contemporary thought police era of cancel culture. Even the polarizing right-winged Tucker Carlson of Fox News faced a few tense days in social network purgatory for claiming on the air that Black Lives Matter “is not about black lives”.
Monson may have hinted in the tweet to a truly disgusting and unacceptable incident of legislative oversight, as a convicted murder and kidnapper, who tortured his victim for hours, was afforded a tax-payer funded sex change while serving a life sentence in the California penal system. As Democratic lawmakers of Washington state share an overriding majority in the capitol chambers, similar to their colleagues to the south, there is a general wariness from the Conservative populace that what happens in California, doesn’t always stay there. The consequences of drafting reckless policy that caters to specific individuals and not the majority of constituents can be alarming, severe, and perpetual. Because for every moral and good intentioned person, there exists ten others, lacking scruples and decency in exploiting the system, proportions and numbers that must be painstakingly be considered in preserving a free society.
As the debate wages on nationally as to individual rights, the roll of genders and the future of athletics, and the status of the First Amendment, monumental thresholds continue to be crossed, and in some issues there is no turning back. The business world continuously surrendering to the left side of the political ledger is not healthy either, for the future of Democracy and diversity in thought.
When media personalities and opinion columnists are censored for simply doing their job in not egregiously violating community standards of decency, the direction that the nation is headed needs to take serious and a vigilant look in the mirror, as basic freedoms hang in the balance.
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