[Seattle-editorial] Feature proposal: Seattle a Leader in National Mandate of Apathy and Distrust

[jonathan lawson]

Good one, good linking of national/local issues. It seems a bit vertically 
long...we don't usually have such lists of links! Are all those stories of 
feature quality? The "Discussion" ones seem particularly numerous, for 
example, and they're all basically doors without nameplates. Having 
collected all those links, it might be cool to do an annotated list of them 
(with titles or summaries) and post that as a newswire article, then link 
to that.
Also, in the past we have tried very hard to find non-corporate sources for 
features. Hopefully you could find an indie source for the Washington Post 
info?

Thumbs up with the following little proposed edits:

At 03:27 AM 11/9/2002 -0800, Brandon Faloona wrote:

subtitle: SEVENTY PERCENT OF SEATTLE VOTERS STAY HOME
title: Seattle a Leader in National Mandate of Apathy and Distrust

Seventy percent of Seattle registered voters - a staggering three hundred 
thousand - did not cast a ballot in last Tuesday's general 
election.  Statewide non-participation was not as stark, but tallied a 
solid fifty-five percent. Non-voters, also including those eligible to vote 
but chose not to register, constitute a silent majority casting a long 
shadow over our electoral process. The Nov. 5 turnout nationwide was 
reported to be
<a href= http://tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6700>the lowest ever</a> among
the world's established democracies.

<p>Corporate media spinmeisters, however,
<a
href="http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/news/politics/4455549.htm">reported
a "slight rise"</a> in turnout nationally, and scrambled to fill airtime 
without volumes of
VNS exit poll data to over-analyze.

<p>Democracy is about <a
href="http://commondreams.org/views02/1106-07.htm">"government that draws
its power and legitimacy from its citizens,"</a> making it nearly
impossible to position present day America as the world's leading
democracy.

<!---
please try to find a non-corporate source for this
With big money running America's two-party political machine,
the public's trust in government continues to erode. The day after
soft-money became effectively illegal in federal campaigns, leaders of
both major parties were <a
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19207-2002Nov6.html">reported 
to agree</a> on specific ways to legally circumvent the spirit of the law.
-->

<p>
<a href="http://indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=214895">To Vote or Not
to Vote?</a>
<p>
<b>Indymedia Election Coverage:</b>
<a
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=32028">Portland</a>
-
<a href="http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=215225">direct
action</a> |
<a href="http://twincities.indymedia.org:8081/index.php3">Twin Cities</a> |
<a href="http://stlouis.indymedia.org/">St. Louis</a> |
<a href="http://la.indymedia.org/">Los Angeles</a> |
<a href="http://houston.indymedia.org/">Houston</a> -
<a href="http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2002/11/5265.php">post election
poll</a> |
<a
href="http://twincities.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/11/2002-11.html#5817">Minnesota</a>
|
<a href="http://maine.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=2709">Maine</a>
<p>
<a href="http://www.fairvote.org">Center for Voting and Democracy:</a> <a
href="http://www.fairvote.org/e_news/election2002.htm">The 2002 Elections
and the Case for Reform</a> |
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19814">Why
Don't We Vote</a>

<p>
<b>Election Reports / Irregularities:</b>
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19496">1</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19716">2</a>,
<a href="http://www.seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19725">3</a>,
<a href="http://indyhawaii.org/news/2002/11/96.php">4</a>,
<a href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=38027">5</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19704">6</a>,
<a
href="http://twincities.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=8124">7</a>,
<a href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=38047">8</a>,
<a href="http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=215225">9</a>

<p>
<b>Discussion:</b> <a
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19708">1</a>,
<a href="http://twincities.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=8205">2</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19686">3</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19592">4</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19548">5</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19543">6</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19509">7</a>,
<a href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19116">8</a>,
<a href="http://la.indymedia.org/news/2002/11/21906.php">9</a>,
<a href="http://utah.indymedia.org/news/2002/11/3209.php">10</a>,
<a href="http://austin.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=4129">11</a>,
<a href="http://austin.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=4129">12</a>,
<a
href="http://twincities.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=8165">13</a>,
<a
href="http://twincities.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=8140">14</a>,
<a
href="http://twincities.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=8143">15</a>,
<a href="http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=31733">16</a>