[Tony Aroma]

Whatever happened to free speech? Now the federal government is pressuring a newspaper to change their pro-legalization stance.

White House Requests Meeting with Seattle Times to Bully Against Pro-Pot Editorials

The Stranger has learned that immediately after the Seattle Times ran an editorial last week supporting a bill to tax and regulate marijuana, the newspaper got a phone call from Washington, D.C. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy director Gil Kerlikowske wanted to fly to Seattle to speak personally with the paper's full editorial board.

The meeting is scheduled for next Friday, an apparent attempt by the federal government to pressure the state's largest newspaper to oppose marijuana legalization. Or at least turn down the volume on its new-found bullhorn to legalize pot.

Bruce Ramsey, the Seattle Times editorial writer who wrote the unbylined piece, says the White House called right “right after our editorial ran, so I drew the obvious conclusion… he didn’t like our editorial.”

“MARIJUANA should be legalized, regulated and taxed,” the newspaper wrote on February 18. “The push to repeal federal prohibition should come from the states, and it should begin with the state of Washington."

This isn't the first time the Obama Administration has campaigned to keep pot illegal. Kerlikowske, who is also Seattle's former police chief, also traveled to California last fall to campaign against Prop 19, a measure to decriminalize marijuana and authorize jurisdictions to tax and regulate it.

Is the Seattle Times the more reticent to speak up? Apparently not. It ran another pro-pot editorial in today’s paper.

Kerlikowske's office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

https://slog.thestranger.com/slog/arc...o-pot-articles

[David762]

Well, now that you asked, "Yes, free speech is dead." At least as far as the prohibitionists are concerned. I don't know who exactly owns the Seattle Times, but obviously they are not owned by the 5 - 6 major corporations that own most of MSM, because they certainly aren't following the Corporatist "party line". You can be pretty certain that the editor in question, the senior newspaper staff, and maybe even the Seattle Times itself is due for some extra special attention from the IRS. That's how a Police State operates ...

[Tony Aroma]

MPP was pleased to see The Seattle Times' recent editorial calling on the Washington legislature to tax and regulate marijuana for adults in the state.

We subsequently learned that Gil Kerlikowske, the Drug Czar, had immediately requested a meeting with The Seattle Times editorial board after reading the editorial. We are shocked that he is planning to spend taxpayer dollars to travel to Seattle in an effort to have the board reconsider its position.

Putting our shock aside, MPP sees this as an educational opportunity. The people of the United States deserve to know how their elected officials are using their money. They also deserve to know what the Drug Czar says behind closed doors to defend a system that is truly causing far more harm than good. With all of this in mind, MPP respectfully requests that The Seattle Times editorial board live-stream this meeting, so that we are able to participate virtually in the conversation. Would you like to see the board live-stream this meeting? If so, please enter your information below to demonstrate the real support for this petition, which we will present to The Seattle Times editorial board. Thanks for your support!

https://control.mpp.org/site/Survey?A...SURVEY_ID=3951

Originally Posted by David762

Well, now that you asked, "Yes, free speech is dead." At least as far as the prohibitionists are concerned. I don't know who exactly owns the Seattle Times, but obviously they are not owned by the 5 - 6 major corporations that own most of MSM, because they certainly aren't following the Corporatist "party line". You can be pretty certain that the editor in question, the senior newspaper staff, and maybe even the Seattle Times itself is due for some extra special attention from the IRS. That's how a Police State operates ...

Family-owned and Independent

The Seattle Times is the largest locally and family-owned and operated metropolitan newspaper in the United States. For over a century, the newspaper has been under the continuous ownership of the Blethen family. It was founded in 1896 by Colonel Alden J. Blethen, [. . .] Today, under the guidance of the fourth generation of Blethens, more than 1.5 million people read The Seattle Times over the course of each week, making it the region's most widely read daily newspaper.

[merlin123]

Lived in Seattle most of my life and we are free thinking folk. Thumbs up for the Times for not backing down.

wow...


Maybe somebody should let them know they aint stopping cannabis...regardless of how many people they kill or meetings they hold...

The people have spoken - legal or not - cannabis isnt going anywhere.

[iBogart]

Stick it to the man every way you can.

[Nirvana_Papaya]

Shame that Gil turned out the way he did. When he got picked, everyone was so excited, because he was working in Seattle when the lowest priority law was voted in, and he seemed to support it. But he lost his balls somewhere along the way.

[Corpsey]

i thought he was cool with weed....

check him out here:

[ddrew]

Go Seattle Times!!!

And Fuck You gil