As the tendrils of despondency have efficiently covered a large portion of the North American continent in a glacial-like sheen comprised of unctuous sentiments fueling bizarre, careless and ineffectual actions, the focus of the radical cause has now gravitated toward the traditional mediums of radio, newspaper and television in a vane and last gasp attempt to defeat an insurmountable reality.
The battle lines have officially shifted from the grotesque post-protest and demonstration nightmares of strewn garbage, human waste and abandoned pets, to the subtle realm of public policy policing.
The award winning Seattle Times, a seasonal and consistent resident in the land of biting and careless reactionary dogma, has inexplicably and surprisingly partnered with Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on a cause that does not involve flying and lodging county security personal halfway across the planet on the tax payers’ dime to provide tactile protection of an elected official during and LGBT conference. No, this indelible and illogical attempt by Murray in the most blatant and despicable means of limiting individual freedoms for the sake of tax revenues, has even the hippies of hipsters in the central district dropping their collective joints and startling the health care professionals “properly” administering the illegal drug of heroin into the veins of addicts, as police can only idly stand down and laugh as the words “criminal” and “arrests” have become passe and ACLU bait in a city whose governing council has lost touch with reality.
Murray has proposed a 2% sugary drink tax on each ounce of soda purchased by city residents, which means that a 12 ounce bottle of a popular soda will cost an additional 24 cents. Ouch! The mayor’s brilliant plot to implement a sin tax on soft drinks comes in the wake of city government in other great places to live literally busting in on the rights and the choice of the individual. In the pioneering micro-nanny states of Berkeley, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and of course Boulder, the voters have obviously not spoken and the results from the debacle of an experiment are proof to the insanity of a large proportion of democratic politicians. The repercussions from a 1.5 cent tax per ounce in Philadelphia are already extremely telling, as consumer demand has dwindled, leaving beverage suppliers and supermarkets to face the reality of layoffs as profits shrink.
The role of the Seattle Times in the pending local debacle is that the newspaper recently published an article examining the demographics of soda drinkers and with the needless politically charged and ridiculous headline of “No soda tax for diet drinkers? Seattle’s plan excludes drinks favored by rich and white”. Murray’s plan will somehow not include diet beverages, even though the lab results from tests on aspartame are far from enlightening.
When have the world of soft drinks become a doorway for flawed racial dialogue? Suddenly, the scheming and affluent caucasian drinkers of diet-sodas are dictating an alleged race war (Quick! Rush the Bridge center and confiscate all the non-alcoholic beverages). Look no further than the excuse of the current climate of political rhetoric and the last ditch and heedless efforts to facilitate another recount for Hillary and waste countless and valuable resources in the planning of at least four years of continued and self-justified whining.