"Rank and Vile: The Police Union Blames Gotcha Media for Its Own PR Mess"

Dominic Holden (The Stranger):

America got a double treat a couple years ago when, first, Sarah Palin couldn't name a single newspaper she reads during her famously embarrassing interview with Katie Couric. And then, for her second act of idiocy, Palin went on Fox News in an attempt to clean up the mess and blamed not herself but "the state that is so sorry today of journalism."

Which brings us to Seattle this week. Some readers may be familiar with the Guardian, the internal union newspaper of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild, written by and for the city's 1,350 sworn cops. A controversy ensued in January after The Stranger republished recent officer-written editorials that slammed the city's "socialist" agenda and "the enemy" at City Hall, spoke of wanting to repeal racial and social justice training, exhibited contempt for oversight, and joked about shooting at the ACLU and African American leaders. That exploded into a firestorm picked up by the Seattle Times, KING 5, KIRO FM, and other outlets. MORE...