SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori says goodbye with the Top 5 Kshama Sawant Moments

Nov 7, 2019, 5:17 AM | Updated: 6:16 am

amazon, seattle, sawant, Kshama Sawant...

Councilmember Kshama Sawant speaks at a protest after Amazon donated $1.5 million to a PAC aimed at Seattle elections. (Hanna Scott, KIRO Radio)

(Hanna Scott, KIRO Radio)

With election results not looking good for Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, Dori had to come to terms with the fact that he might have to say goodbye to the politician who has given him so many entertaining hours of radio over the years.

“We might have to get her as a weekly commentator on the show,” Dori said.

To pay tribute to Sawant, the Dori Monson Show team came up with the Top Five Kshama Sawant Moments. Take a look below, and then listen to the clip above to hear these unforgettable moments set to Michael Bolton’s “How am I Supposed to Live Without You.”

5) Outrageous name-calling

Whether it was calling Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Seattle’s biggest job provider, “our enemy,” or referring to Seattle police officers who had been exonerated in a shooting as murderers, Sawant has certainly come up with vivid insults for people with whom she disagrees over the years.

4) When Kshama Sawant started a music career and joined The Police

Or, as she might refer to the ’80s band, The Murderers.

This moment came about with Sawant’s stuttering after Councilmember Sally Bagshaw called her out at a council meeting for using city resources to print her own personal Socialist Alternative materials.

3) When she demanded that Boeing stop making “war machines”

In 2013, the then-newly-elected council member came up with an idea for how to produce public transportation faster and keep jobs in the region when Boeing was planning to move jobs out of Washington.

“The only response we can have if Boeing executives do not agree to keep the plant here is for the machinists to say, ‘The machines are here, the workers are here, we will do the job, we don’t need the executives because we are the ones doing it anyway. We can retool the machines to produce mass transit instead of destructive war machines,'” she told KIRO 7 TV.

2) The “no head tax” chant

In an iconic clip that became Dori’s 2018 Awesome Audio of the Year, a group of construction workers frustrated with the short-lived Seattle head tax used Kshama’s own favorite tactic against her by drowning out her words with repeated chanting.

1) When she hung up on Dori

After standing him up and being late to her phone interview, Kshama Sawant finally had a conversation with Dori on the air in 2014. But after a particularly difficult question about the salaries of union bosses, there was something not often heard from Sawant — radio silence. She had hung up on Dori.

But, as Dori said on Wednesday, “maybe if we get her on the payroll, she won’t be able to hang up on me.”

Do you have a favorite Sawant moment that Dori forgot? Share in the comments or email the show.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

shootout...

James Lynch

1 dead, 3 injured in shooting and stabbing at Pasco Halloween party

One person died, and three others were injured in a violent incident in Pasco early Saturday.

23 minutes ago

Associated Press

New Mexico mom charged with murder after son, 10, fatally shoots teen in loud music dispute

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities in New Mexico have filed murder and other charges against the mother of a 10-year-old boy who fatally shot a teenage neighbor in a dispute over loud music. Elaina Gomez-Villeda, 40, was scheduled to make her first court appearance Monday afternoon on an open count of murder as well as […]

35 minutes ago

bite of seattle (6)...

Luke Duecy

The Spin: KIRO Newsradio uncovers voicemail telling police to delay Bite of Seattle shooting briefing

A voicemail from Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s public safety director adds a new dimension to questions about why the city waited roughly five hours to publicly brief the media after a deadly shooting at the Bite of Seattle. In crisis communications, the first response can be just as important as the response itself. And when […]

49 minutes ago

gig harbor...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘They keep it expensive’: Gee says Gig Harbor can afford $800M school plan, but locals push back

Gig Harbor homeowners in the Peninsula School District could face an $800 million bond for two new high schools and a new stadium. Gee Scott loved the idea.

58 minutes ago

Boil water Fall City...

KIRO 7 News Staff

Boil water notice issued for parts of Fall City including 2 schools

A boil water notice has been issued for the Fall City area.

1 hour ago

Snohomish County Fire...

KIRO 7 News Staff

A mother and child rescued from a balcony during Snohomish County apartment fire

Firefighters rescued a mother and child from a fourth-floor balcony during a Saturday night fire at High Grove apartments in unincorporated Snohomish County.

2 hours ago

Dori says goodbye with the Top 5 Kshama Sawant Moments