Enemies

It could be fairly argued that one can judge an activist’s worth by his or her enemies. An activist who has no scars is probably an activist only in his mind.

Consider Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. He’s quite possibly the world’s most popular hero, yet it’s hard to imagine how anyone could have more enemies. The army of media whores that dogpile on him alone is staggering.

In fact, I get far, far less publicity than Chávez, even when I’m running for office right here in Seattle. Apparently, the Seattle Mafia decided it’s more efficient to simply pretend I don’t exist. It’s amazing how infrequently local newspapers mention me.

But when they do mention me, they almost always find a way to insult me. I’m most frequently condemned for my lack of civility. Another common strategy is to suggest I’m insane. During one campaign, The Stranger called me “the requisite loon.” That’s the same paper that endorsed Judith Billings because she has AIDS.

A number of media whores have ridiculed me as a conspiracy theorist. So what kind of moron could NOT believe in conspiracies after the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

Reporters for the Seattle Times and other papers have actually lied about me, claiming I’m a one-issue candidate or suggesting that I’m not a candidate at all.

In other news, a local media whore sent me a computer virus during my first campaign for public office (1999). He claimed he was merely relaying holiday greetings from Bill Gates, Senior, adding, “It just goes to show, you can never be too careful.”

A webhost dumped one of my websites (Jail4Bush), falsely claiming it violated the Patriot Act.

I could write a book about the shit I endured as an employee of the Seattle School District. The cruelest torment of all was being uprooted from schools after I had become attached to the students. Getting layed off in 2002 was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Nowadays, the retaliation is pretty much limited to media whore attacks during my campaign bids and games corporate operatives play on online forums and blogs. I’ll post some details when I find time.

In the meantime, I’ve never given up, and I never will give up. I enjoy getting even.