SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: No moral difference between homeless encampment dealers, Seattle politicians

May 23, 2019, 6:59 AM

Northgate, homeless encampment...

Seattle's Navigation Teams cleans up a homeless encampment in Northgate in January 2019. (Carolyn Ossorio, KIRO Radio)

(Carolyn Ossorio, KIRO Radio)

There was a huge homeless encampment drug bust a few days ago. I don’t think many people were horribly shocked by what was in the camp — felons, guns, $20,000 worth of cash. It was an absolute den of iniquity.

Politicians like Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant want to protect camps like this, despite the fact that we know that teenage girls are being raped, are being used as hookers in these encampments, so that their pimps can buy heroin. This is the kind of third-world squalor happening all around the Puget Sound area.

So finally, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg — who has provided a revolving door for felons, and has de facto legalized small amounts of drugs — says that because of the level of drug dealing in this homeless encampment, he finally is going to crack down a bit.

“The people who profit off of that misery, I have no sympathy for them, and they are going to go to prison,” he told KOMO 4 News.

Why can’t Seattle refuse to coddle drug vagrants like Denver, San Diego? 

That sound-bite made me crazy — “the people who profit off human misery.” What do you think our mayor, city council, county council, and the people at SHARE and LIHI — the people making six figures off the homeless-industrial complex — are doing? We don’t seem to care about that because it’s all folded neatly within our political system.

Think about the people making six figures off the homelessness industry. Think about the politicians who get power because of the homelessness crisis. They keep saying, “We need to raise taxes so we can get more of your money to deal with this problem.” What are those politicians doing? They are profiting off the human misery.

I hate to tell you this, but a lot of our elected officials and the people appointed to these six-figure jobs are morally and ethically not that different from the junkie dealers in these homeless encampments.

If only we could throw the politicians in prison. We spend $100,000 per homeless person per year in the Puget Sound area. Don’t you think there are a lot of them profiting off of that human misery? But if a politician does it, it’s just, “Wink, wink, we’ll all take care of each other.”

The drug dealers and the politicians are the same people.

Satterberg also told KOMO, “I think that most of these large encampments are places where there is daily drug use going on.”

Remember when those community stakeholders told us in a press release that only a small percentage of the people in the encampments were drug addicts? Why would they try to spin that lie? Well, it’s easier to raise our taxes if we believe it’s just for people who are down on their luck. But here, by his words, the prosecutor is clearly acknowledging that the community leaders are lying to us.

If Satterberg comes around, great, but the way we have been dealing with this problem up until now is insane. Finally, it sounds like we are talking tough. Let’s see if we start actually acting tough.

The people he is talking tough about are, morally, very similar to the politicians profiting off of this problem with power, money, connections, jobs for friends, and deals with developers.

Juan Carlos Arce, human rights defender and refugee from Nicaragua, poses for a photo in Barcelona,...

Associated Press

6 refugees speak out as UN-backed treaty to help people fleeing war and persecution marks 75 years

GENEVA (AP) — Tuesday marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which was born after the ravages of World War II to help people fleeing war, violence and persecution. Proponents say the treaty has saved millions of lives. Respect for it, though, has come under strain: Some countries have denied entry to asylum […]

3 hours ago

FILE - President Donald Trump listens as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at Presi...

Associated Press

Netanyahu’s first meeting with Trump since the Iran war began is a chance to smooth over strains

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday is the first since the two leaders launched a joint war against Iran and a chance for Netanyahu to smooth out strains in their relationship. The meeting comes as both face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection […]

3 hours ago

Jay Clayton testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing to be the next Di...

Associated Press

Senate expected to confirm Jay Clayton as next intelligence director

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to confirm Jay Clayton on Tuesday to become head of the nation’s intelligence agencies, ensuring that a permanent director is in place as the midterm elections approach. Clayton is expected to be confirmed along party lines after a contentious hearing two weeks ago in which he repeatedly refused […]

4 hours ago

Newly-sworn Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., sister of Lindsey Graham, walks past cameras as she leaves...

Associated Press

South Carolina Republicans line up to run in special primary to replace late Sen. Lindsey Graham

WASHINGTON (AP) — The field of Republican candidates vying to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on November ballots is nearly set, with at least 10 hopefuls filing their paperwork and launching into a two-week sprint toward the Aug. 11 special GOP primary. It’s been a jumbled and frenetic period during what would have otherwise […]

4 hours ago

Members of the military stand outside of the U.S Capitol to practice for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C...

Associated Press

Lindsey Graham’s funeral to draw Trump remarks and world leaders in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, the son of pool hall owners who rose to become one of his generation’s more influential U.S. politicians at home and abroad, will be eulogized Tuesday during memorial services across Washington. Graham’s remains will arrive at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican served for more than 30 years as […]

4 hours ago

FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. (A...

Associated Press

2nd octogenarian in modern US history faces lethal injection as Florida plans 2 executions Tuesday

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is set to become the first state in nearly a decade to carry out two executions in a single day, planning lethal injections Tuesday for an ex-police officer convicted of a young girl’s murder and an octogenarian who would be the second-oldest inmate put to death in modern U.S. […]

4 hours ago

Dori: No moral difference between homeless encampment dealers, Seattle politicians