The Washington Post in a column last week informed its readers that the Seattle football fans are very nice. (Link requires free registration.)
When the Redskins take the field Saturday against the hometown Seahawks, more than 66,000 Seattle fans are certain to be maniacally noisy -- and immoderately nice.And they control their smoking and recycle.More than an occasion to see beefy men butting heads, the National Football Conference playoff game is an opportunity to examine the curious mores of an American city that worships at the altar of civic politeness.
Goody-two-shoes behavior is endemic and appears to be spreading -- by order of law. A new city ordinance requires lap dancers to keep four feet from patrons. A new no-smoking law requires smokers to move at least 25 feet from the doors, windows or vents of a public building or workplace before lighting up. Starting this month, there's a $50 fine for residents who improperly mix their recyclable garbage....Why do the very nice people require laws on their behavior? After an analysis of our history the WA Post quotes Brit and long-time Seattle author Jonathan Raban
... says that a chilly Scandinavian undertow continues to tug at the soul of the city."Strangers when they first arrive say this is quite a friendly town," Raban said. "They don't realize that the good manners are usually more of a protective barrier than an invitation to intimacy."
To Raban, the city's eagerness to legislate nice behavior suggests what he calls "the deep authoritarianism of the liberal mind." He added: "Liberals like to think they are on the side of liberty, but actually they are on the side of authority."
UPDATE: The Seattle Weakly's cover article this week is Big Nanny is Watching You with a graphic of the nanny.
Posted by Ron Hebron at January 17, 2006 03:51 PM | Email ThisKeep in mind, the Seahawks are actually a Kirkland team.
Posted by: Jeffro on January 17, 2006 04:00 PM"A Kirkland team" may be an understatement.
Posted by: Timothy on January 17, 2006 04:14 PMWe're so polite we let people from other places vote in our elections. God forbid we'd be so impolite as to complain. . .
Posted by: barchester on January 17, 2006 04:43 PMWe're so polite we......?
Posted by: mimi on January 17, 2006 04:54 PMTouche~!
Posted by: Misty on January 17, 2006 05:07 PMLiberals are on the side of facism, as long as the dictator hates the U.S., (ala Chavez, Castro) or the strong arm of the state is implementing their will.
But chilly Skandinavian undertow? Are there any left? The Ballard School of Driving has shut down.
Posted by: Shaun on January 17, 2006 05:11 PMYou've gotta love these guys.
Posted by: Misty on January 17, 2006 05:12 PMWatch him get a get out of jail free card!
Posted by: dcat on January 17, 2006 05:19 PMPlease protect me from me.
Posted by: Jason Woodruff on January 17, 2006 06:31 PMAn unmistakable sign of a liberal..."It's all about me!!! I've got RIIIIIIGHTS!!!"
Posted by: South County on January 17, 2006 07:38 PMWhat gives you the right to foul my air? Simple question. And in this case, a CLEAR majority ruled. I just like clean air when I am indoors in a public place. How is that liberal? How is that anything but taking care of my health? You want to smoke, go for a walk, smoke in your car, your house, your boat. You do not have the right to foul my air, expose me to smelly clothes and life threatening illness.
Posted by: My Left Foot on January 17, 2006 08:10 PMOne last thing, if it was up to me cigarettes would be illegal. Period. You smokers should be sent to behavior modification camps and re-educated with electro shock therapy, lobotmy and aversion therapy. It is disgusting to smoke. Bad for you, bad for those around you. Now, that should get you going.
Posted by: My Left Foot on January 17, 2006 08:17 PMI can’t stand smoke I’m a conservative so there!!!
Posted by: dcat on January 17, 2006 08:23 PMThere, fixed it ;'}
Posted by: alphabet soup on January 17, 2006 08:44 PMThey were born with a frontal labotomy. It is their birth right!
Their hands were already outstretched into other people's pockets!
Their crying resembles Gore, Hillary, and Dean all rolled together and their chorus of voices are most prominently heard nearing a presidential election. It really sounds alot like the shrill yells of horrified dying beasts!
They never wake up completely, they live in a semicomatose state of dreamland all their dear lives.
Thank goodness they are nearing total extinction!
Posted by: GS on January 17, 2006 09:00 PM
THS, the thread was about politeness not the abortion issue, property rights or gay sex. And calling me names is not polite not to mention very Christian Right of you. May the God of David have mercy on your soul.
Posted by: My Left Foot on January 17, 2006 09:02 PMThat would be great can we send them all to Bagdad?
No Smoking and best of all no liberals too! Wow that would be something it would make my life heaven!
I hope it will be on the next ballot...oh if corrupt liberal King County ever gets it to me that is!!!
Posted by: dcat on January 17, 2006 09:17 PM... ought to change our city's name to Stepford.
Posted by: ERNurse on January 17, 2006 09:28 PMOr does that law apply exclusively to the Democrat elites like Patty Murray?
Posted by: ERNurse on January 17, 2006 09:31 PMNo, Left Foot. It means that the corrupt King County has once again imposed its vile self-worshipping will upon the state. Again.
And my right to free thought supercedes your right to utter stupid and inane slogans.
Posted by: ERNurse on January 17, 2006 09:34 PMIt passed in EVERY county. Now go back to work.
Posted by: My Left Foot on January 17, 2006 09:42 PMWhat you don't realize, of course, is that your utter stupidity is clearly evident for any critically-thinking human being to see.
And when confronted with truth, you of course revert to the typical stupid liberal sputtering, tangential rantings, and scattering of extraneous subject matter. Man, you don't have a single self-birthed thought in your head. Guess you extrapolated the whole "right to abortion" thing to mean your own thoughts as well.
Dude, you are one sad specimen.
Liberals think they are above the law there for they can spew what ever they want! With no thought their little heads!
Posted by: dcat on January 17, 2006 10:05 PMRon had a very interesting and humorous take of Seattle. Sad that people couldn't see the truth of the topic, at least in a little way.
Since we are off-topic, is this wage fixing by the State legislature constitutional? How can the State set health care limits on WalMart legally? I know Gregoire can fake the legality, but where is Rob McKenna? He had to give his okay on the legislation?
It's convenient for me and that's all the justification I need. Besides, I'm much smarter than the rest of you.
Left foot - does that about sum it up?
"One last thing, if it was up to me cigarettes would be illegal. Period. You smokers should be sent to behavior modification camps and re-educated with electro shock therapy, lobotmy [sic] and aversion therapy. It is disgusting to smoke. Bad for you, bad for those around you."
And let us be honest here, Lefty. As far to the left as you are, your advocacy of abortion is a gimmie. You do support a woman's right to choose, don't you?
So let's add hypocrisy and evasiveness to the list of Lefty's philosophical and intellectual flaws. That's the problem with the liberal mind: A practice is only okay if it fits in with your particular way of looking at the world, and when confronted with the truth, the liberal is unable to justify the rationale and resorts to diversion and arrogant, pithy slogans. You do not have the right to decide what is best for me. Hell, you can't even produce a coherent flow of logic to defend your statements.
The attitude that you and other liberals demonstrate as evidenced by your comment that I cited is selfish, immature, impertinent, officious, arrogant, intolerant, bigoted, and damned rude.
I stand on the position that your comments are inane and indefensible. And now you should get back to work- although your job may not fit the collective ideal for which you Gulag- and torture- loving liberals yearn. I guess you could always move to Beijing.
Posted by: ERNurse on January 18, 2006 09:08 AMI wonder if my vote in scabattle / king county / washington state has anything to do with what gets into office.
scabattle could be a nice place if the libs would quit defecating where they (and I for the time being) sleep.
/disgusted with this liberal / communistic sewer...
Posted by: fox3 on January 18, 2006 10:57 AMMighty harsh on Soup don't you think?
Posted by: Amused by liberals on January 18, 2006 11:36 AMThe unfriendly people seem to me to be those that moved to Seattle because they thought they'd find a liberal and leftist utopia. These are truly unfriendly and disaffected people. These are the people that give you a deer-in-the-headlights look if you so much as ask them on the street if they know where the nearest Starbucks is.
The sad thing is that Seattle seems to work so hard at attracting even more of these people.
Posted by: BananaLand (aka Iguana) on January 18, 2006 12:02 PMYou make a very thought provoking point. Seattle used to be a friendly, clean, and relatively safe place to live.
Today the place is full of bums, illegals, and snotty self-rightous liberal socialists who believe fervently in things that don't exist
and ignore the important ones that do.
No matter how unrealistic it may be, liberals will happily destroy Seattle in pursuit of a liberal utopia.
It'll never work . . . but it will make Seattle an even more unpleasant city.
Here we are, trying to show the world how neighborly we can be, and you have yourself a hissy-fit. Maybe you should go ahead and light up!
Posted by: alphabet soup on January 18, 2006 05:14 PM