Few people would think of Madison Park as a likely venue for a protest march, but mini-demonstrations do sometimes happen here. A few weeks ago, for example, four or five senior citizens appeared in the business district to demonstrate in favor of taxing the rich and against corporate tax evasion. Why they picked Madison Park for this public display was not obvious, but perhaps it was the presence of a particular bank branch within our midst (one of the protesters supposedly was holding a sign reading "Bank of America is a tax dodger").
And on Wednesday night there was another demonstration in the neighborhood, this one in a residential area. Students from the University of Washington set up a candlelight vigil in front of the Walker-Ames Mansion (aka Hill-Crest House) in the Washington Park section of 36th Avenue E. The mansion is the residence of the UW President, and the students were on hand to protest against the University's concessionaire at Husky Stadium, Sodexo, which is accused of providing "sweatshop-like" working conditions for its employees. Not surprisingly, the company denies the practice.
In any event, the nighttime vigil here in the Park proved much less eventful than the sit-in at the UW President's office on campus, which took place earlier in the afternoon. That demonstration was broken up by UW Police, who hauled 25 or so students away, citing them for trespassing. Although Seattle Police were on hand for the candlelight protest, the twenty or so students in attendance were reportedly on their best behavior. According to our correspondent, some candles were lit, some songs were sung, and after about a half hour everyone moved on.
By the way, that silhouette in the upstairs window is apparently not interim UW President Phyllis Wise. She was reportedly not at home at the time of the demonstration. Incoming UW President Michael K. Young will be assuming his new position on July 1 and will presumably become a Madison Park resident and neighbor at about the same time.
[Photo sent from the Iphone of J. Waltz.]
This is terrific, there is hope for the 'Park' yet. How do I find out when the next protest is going to take place so I can join in?
ReplyDeleteSocialists are always looking for a handout, or a free ride.
ReplyDeleteSorry this blog is becoming a promoter, or provoker, of social issues. It would be great if it went back to being an apolitical and entertaining neighborhood blog.
if you don't want social issues discussed then you should do more than complain, see the people who run Madison Park or start your own vanilla blog!
ReplyDeleteThis still is America and we have freedom of the press, even in Madison Park!
anything can be spun into a social issue - even a poor little dog getting run over by a bus. if you don't like social issues, then turn off your tv, radio and computer, close the blinds and lock the door.
ReplyDeleteIt is not very constructive to use the word 'socialist' as a dirty word, it would be like me saying the person who wrote the comment above is a 'fascist'. These kind of personal attacks create more heat than shedding light. If you look at the history of the US, major changes, eg, women getting the right to vote, happened because of protesting. Protesting takes courage and encouragement, so I say 'Go protestors!'
ReplyDeleteI also don't see what this story or any of the comments has to do with being a socialist. Before you throw around ten-cent words because they are "en vogue," you should know what they mean and therefore, if they apply.
ReplyDeleteI think it was Twain who said something about remaining silent and letting others think you are an idiot, rather than speaking and removing all doubt.
Socialist, socialism = "spread the wealth around". That's what it is folks. Take the wealth of others and "spread" it around to those of us who didn't earn that same wealth. I wonder who is the moral judge about that. Tax them more and more, increase government control, create government runaway monopolies (utilities, health care). The rich already pay most of our taxes. That's not a tent-cent amount (or word). Check it out.
ReplyDeleteYOU, who likely paid at least a penny of income tax, should not be okay with companies that make billions in profits paying less than that. True, rich people may pay most of the income taxes in this country, however, their income tax contribution is a mere drop in the bucket compared to what is NOT being paid by many tax-dodging "American" corporations, such as Bank of America and GE.
ReplyDeleteIf you are content with that arrangement, you are not a capitalist, you are a fool.
The fool is the person who thinks that extra taxes from the rich (mostly small personal or family companies) will be collected by our politicians and returned to us instead of blowing it in their projects that make government bigger.
ReplyDeleteI would trust any company, small (most of them) or large, to return that money to their investors and to put it to better use through growth. They are the ones who REALLY spread the wealth around, much more than politicians.
I remember when our governor first took over with a $500 million surplus, spent it in a few months and has been in the red ever since.
There is a limit to how much government can tax.
It is time for socialists to stop hiding under other names, such a progressives, and come out of the closet. They are afraid of the "S" word because they have been such a failure.
The last anonymous comment suggests that all of those people collecting Social Security and Medicare are closet Socialists and in effect welfare recipients. Is this True or False?
ReplyDeleteToo bad that the some people have no idea what "shared sacrifice" is, even if they are part of what caused the financial melt down that we're in!
If trickle-down economics works so darned well, why have the last three two-term republican administrations passed on HUGE recessions to their predecessors?
ReplyDeleteI know it is fun to pretend, as we do about the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and unicorns, that wealth given to the wealthy is put back into the economy, but history shows no such thing.
As for the above comment, when conservatives gripe about entitlement programs, they are not talking about the ones THEY participate in, just the ones everyone else does.
As for socialism being a failure, there are some cases where that has been true and some where the situation has been quite the opposite.....just like capitalism.
Socialism has its followers in this area. That is why we have a defacto one-party system in Seattle and King County. Big Government rules, no competition. No excuses from them. Hire a bicycle city manager for $90,000+ salary to impose new paths on the streets (more costs).
ReplyDeleteI am not a Republican but someone responded that the last three, two-term Republican administrations left us with large deficits. It's like it's always Bush's fault. Never mind that they had Democrat Congresses who ran up the bills. The last Republican Congress did overspent and were kicked out in the next election but only to be replaced and outdone by the incoming Democrat Congress led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed. They ran up the bills in the last two of Bush's years and brought us the banking crisis. Those are facts.
Then they got another two years with Obama. That is the last four years and counting. Together, they have run the highest deficit ever, surpassing those three Republican administrations combined. Do the math. They are still at it. They are still trying to SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND by printing money!
I don't know why the same writer would say that SS and Medicare recipients are socialists by my definition. You misunderstood. Those are people who worked all of their lives and sacrificed to benefit in their retirement.
Go ask Obama why he will do away with Medicare in 2014, not the Republicans That is ObamaCare, you know. He is replacing it with ObamaCare. No more Medicare in 2014.
All Medicare funds go to support another thirty million recipients. It's the same pie being shared by many more. We all get a smaller piece. Obama will appoint a committee of 15 "experts" of his choosing who will decide how services are "spread around". Those are facts too. There really are better ways.
The last comment is FULL of Republican talking points that were just reputed in the New York 26th District. The Democrats are not killing MEDICARE, the REPUBLICANS recently voted to END it by voting for the Ryan Plan!
ReplyDeleteBottom line, what does any of this have to do with "protests in Madison Park"? Should protests be banned in Madison Park or would you allow only the Tea Party protests since they couldn't be "Socialist"?
What?? The Democrat above just missed all the points.
ReplyDeleteRead Obamacare, few of your legislators have read it. Medicare ENDS and is replaced by Obamacare. Ask your congressman. Facts are facts. Ryan's plan does NOT kill Medicare. It makes it survive viably.
You are spreading misinformation.