When we moved from New England to the Pacific Northwest back in the ’80s, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it rained a lot in Seattle, Bruce Lee was buried there, and whatever I saw on Here Come the Brides TV show. Because Massachusetts was such an economic pit then, our family became economic refugees when our oldest got to kindergarten age.
Initially, Seattle was what we described as a “live and let live” city. It was beautiful and surrounded by a spectacular natural environment. The politics were left, but much more moderate, and people generally adhered to a you-do-you and I’ll-do-me mentality. Like how people were portrayed in the ’90s TV show Northern Exposure, filmed in Washington.
Seattle was once known for its friendly, small-town feel despite being a big city. Good humor about Seattle’s quirkiness proliferated in the ethos. But since then, radical leftist politics, in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion, has turned Seattle culture into a monoculture of uniformity, inequality, and exclusion. The socialist/Marxist leaders and activists have purged humor, kindness, and respect for others’ beliefs right out of Seattle.
In the beginning, I was so captivated by this wonderful city I wrote a book about it called Seattle Curiosities (The Globe-Pequot Press, 2009). Sadly, rather than useful for tourists, it now seems more valuable as a time capsule showing how people once viewed this formerly great city. I was also so enthralled by Seattle’s fascinating history I wrote another book called It Happened in Seattle (The Globe-Pequot Press, 2009).
If you prefer video over the written word to discover Seattle’s former charming quirkiness, it was captured brilliantly in a sketch comedy show called Almost Live. It ran from 1984 to 1999, presenting skits like a spoof of the TV show Cops, using stereotypical people from various Seattle neighborhoods and its suburbs.
For example, Cops in Ballard was set in a historically Scandinavian neighborhood known for its elderly population. It featured Bill Nye as Officer Sig Kølvned (yes, the Science Guy and a very funny cast member before climate change caused his humor to recede).
Officer Kølvned stops an elderly woman on a sidewalk for “speeding” with her walker. The officer warns, her walker’s tabs are also expired.
There’s a spoof of “Miami Vice” called “Ballard Vice.” Rather than the iconic pink flamingoes, ducks waddle down a wet, grassy embankment in the opening credits.
There were also skits involving coffee and Seattleites never jaywalking or honking their horns. People wore T-shirts that read, “Seattle Sun Festival: July 32nd.” Seattle was fun back then.
Then, the Democrats shifted gear, stepped on the gas, and began to mow down all political resistance to the Party.
Seattle used to have fun making fun of itself. Even its government didn’t take itself too seriously. I loved my adopted home of Seattle so much I dedicated over two decades serving and protecting its people as a member of the Seattle Police Department.
That’s until, as a cop, I became a target of the radicals’ purge. Labeled a “dinosaur,” I could no longer carry out my duties properly. I retired some 10 years earlier than I otherwise would have (I wrote a book about that too).
The tyranny that is Seattle today shows me I would not have lasted another 10 years.
With my former colleagues, whom Mayor Jenny Durkan said she would fire after October 18th, I would have been among that group of resisters. I would not have complied with a “mandate” to turn over any medical records to political tyrants regardless of vax status.
It began in earnest back in the late 90s. As the radical social justice warriors advanced, officers like me were no longer people who simply had a different political view. We were “wrong,” they were “right,” and we should just shut up or leave. Eventually, I left — so many of us have.
Today, Seattle has mutated into something not only politically radical but also just plain mean.
It’s heartbreaking when a city you’ve loved so much and served so faithfully has changed so much and has treated you so callously. Now, my entire family in Washington is seriously considering following so many of our friends out of this slave state to a free state.
We’re about at the end of our tether, dealing with Dictator Jay Inslee and his Marxist-inspired Democrat Party’s cruelty, which they’ve inflicted on Washingtonians, especially our children.
Originally from New England, he’s a Boston sports fan. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Jody, a retired firefighter. He enjoys spending time with his adult kids and three grandchildren.
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