Seattle DSA endorses Kshama Sawant for Seattle City Council, District 3
Councilmember Sawant has been a tireless advocate for workers and tenants during a period where the Council was under intense pressure to fold to corporate interests. She has never wavered in her support for the issues that matter most: from fighting for the $15 minimum wage, taxing big business, and rent control.
That’s why Seattle DSA is proud to endorse Kshama Sawant as the best candidate for both D3 and for Seattle’s working class.
NOTE: The Seattle DSA gives all candidates fair consideration for endorsement. If you are a Hellhole reader and a candidate seeking the Seattle DSA’s endorsement, please reach out to us at [email protected] for more information about our endorsement process.
Abortion. On demand. No exceptions.
Across the nation this past week, legislators passed some of the most stringent abortion bans in recent history. Alabama’s governor signed a ban all abortions past 6 weeks. Missouri is likely to pass a ban except for medical emergencies (but explicitly not for rape or incest after an amendment failed). These bans are ultimate back-door prohibitions:
With a conservative supreme court majority and scumbag idealogues filling the federal judiciary, everything is at risk. Yes, even in Washington.
Local creeps Matt Shea, Vicki Kraft, Brad Klippert, and Jesse Young co-sponsored the Washington abortion ban bill. Make no mistakes, abortions are healthcare and ought to be fully-covered and funded publicly. It should be available on demand, with no exceptions and no wait period.
Limiting abortion to cases of rape, incest, or emergency is not enough – it’s a ploy to control women. Exposing the double-standard of reactionaries is insufficient.
We demand an alternative that’s by protecting the right to abortion, not just access. “Access” to abortion, like “access” to healthcare means “only for the rich.”
Washington has a fascism problem
Washington’s fascists belong in the dustbin of history. Northwest commies fought the dastardly silver shirts who supported Hitler during WW2. Turns out, you’re either fighting fascism or letting it flourish. There’s no agree to disagree on genocide.
Dakota Reed, a Monroe resident, is on trial this week for planning mass shootings at synagogues and schools. A sitting State Representative wrote a holy war prepper manual against political opponents to his left. Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys bus up and down I-5, feigning innocence when their freedom rallies mysteriously attract hordes of white nationalists. It’s a dangerous world. Whatever liberal, safe bubble people imagine we’re in is squeezed between capitalists and their fashy, pro-bono bootlickers.
How can you get involved? Speak out, don’t let goose steppers’ talking points go unchecked in private or in public, get involved in Seattle DSA, Seattle Solidarity Network, Solidarity and Direct Action Seattle (formerly IWW Seattle General Defense Committee of Seattle), or Snohomish County Citizens for Human Rights.
Shaun Scott Gets National DSA Endorsement: Winning Democracy Voucher Race, Frightening Big Business
Last week, the National Electoral Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America endorsed Shaun Scott for Seattle City Council in District 4.
With that, Shaun joins the ranks of AOC, Carlos Ramirez–Rosa, Julia Salazar, Lee Carter and other socialists who won national endorsement (and later went on to win their elections).
Additionally, Shaun is leading the Democracy voucher race with with over “4,066 vouchers collected, totaling $101,650 — $12,000 more than anybody else.”
But make no mistake, big business isn’t about to roll over. Companies like Amazon have pledged to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat Seattle DSA-endorsed candidates like Shaun and Kshama in 2019. Their spending is part of an effort to craft a (somehow more) corporate-friendly city council to march in lockstep with Mayor Durkan in an accelerationist push toward a neoliberal nightmare.
We can’t let that happen! Shaun’s already hit the fundraising cap for the primary, but the campaign needs feet in the street. Sign up to volunteer, and show up to canvass this Sunday at 11AM (meet at Red Square at UW). Let’s get more socialists in City Hall!
Note: The Seattle Hellhole represents the views of its writers and does not represent official positions of Seattle DSA at large. Its writers are a collective working on independent pieces, editing, and design to deliver this each week. If you want to volunteer, join us in #wg_comms_design on Slack or email [email protected]