Victory!

THANK YOU for voting for me. Your efforts were not in vain.

Of course, this election was just another farce, shamelessly manipulated by the Seattle Mafia. So how can I claim victory when the corporate media are claiming my opponent, Harium Martin-Morris (aka Whorium), “trounced” me? And wasn’t voting just a waste of your time?

First, I never expected to win the election, which really wasn’t much different from the four other elections I’ve participated in. My opponent is an asshole with no issues who nevertheless raised many thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. In comparison, I didn’t receive one penny in contributions and probably didn’t spend more than about $5 while filing my initial paper work.

In addition, Whorium was unconditionally supported by every corrupt organization in Seattle. He was endorsed by the union whores who comprise the Seattle Education Association and the Teamsters, along with the Alki Foundation, King County Municipal League, various phony activist groups (many of them broadcasting propaganda via blogs) and the corporate media.

Against such odds, I predicted I would get about 15% of the vote. In fact, I received a quarter of the vote—over 20,000 votes. That’s a very significant accomplishment...and it’s just the beginning.

Besides getting votes, I educated people. Though I never really finished developing my campaign website (I was rudely interrupted by some outside interference), I think I ran a rather clever campaign. First, I called my campaign “Blomstrom vs The Seattle Mafia” and made www.seattle-mafia.org my campaign website. Thus, I put one more political website on the map even as I promoted the idea that Seattle is ruled by a bunch of corporate crooks.

I also used my campaign to publicize the Seattle Mafia definition I authored at Urban Dictionary, further encouraging people to click the thumbs-up icon. As of this writing, the score is 49 YES votes to 93 NO. In other words, well over a third of the people who have visited this page agree with my definition.

Ironically, many of those who voted no also agree with my definition. After all, many of them are undoubtedly Seattle Mafia members themselves. They’re simply voting NO in a vain attempt to shoot me down.

So what alternative definition for Seattle Mafia have they come up with? None. All they can do is vote NO, enhancing their helpless idiocy.

Significance

But what does it all matter? Who really cares about 20,000 lost votes or some silly definition that less than 200 people have voted on? And who cares about anything when this was probably the last school board election we’ll ever see?

Well, the Seattle Mafia certainly cares. The corporate media and phony activist blogs worked very hard to undermine my campaign from the very beginning. In the process, they dropped some rather obvious clues that they were worried about people supporting me. Some morons suggested that I’m a good reason for abolishing school board elections entirely.

On a higher intellectual level, a group of private school students who interviewed me asked if I thought the Seattle Mafia was plotting to outlaw school board elections because of me. The answer is YES.

Yes, I’m aware of how arrogant that sounds. But how many other candidates (for any office) can you think of who are really challenging the status quo? I wish there were other candidates I could network and ally with, but I’ve never found one since I first ran for public office in 1999.

Hope

Well, if you’re a hard core pessimist or a typical Seattle liberal who doesn’t give a damn about children or democracy anyway, then Campaign 2007 was just another kick in the groin for the good guys.

However, I very clearly stated in my statement in the Voters Pamphlet that I believe America is being destroyed by corporate corruption and that I’m intent on fighting back. Obviously, I’m not going to storm the White House and set things straight all by myself. All I can do is my part, and I did it—and so did everyone who voted for me.

I can’t see into the future. I don’t know if we’ll ever have the satisfaction of seeing George W. Bush and his pal Bill Gates behind bars (or worse). I don’t know if Mayor Greg Nickels or any of the corrupt school board members who will probably soon be working for him will every pay their dues.

But I’ll never stop fighting the good fight. I would never surrender children to those disgusting assholes. And if it’s going to take a major revolution to fix this country, then let it start right here in corporate Seattle.

Some Positive Things

Before I continue, let me list some of the specific election results that I consider positives.

Reflections

Three Little Questions

Many of my critics accuse me of arrogance, typically claiming that I don’t accept advice. In fact, most of the “advice” I receive can be classified as stupidity or manipulation.

Nevertheless, I’m not close minded. Heck, I wasn’t even aware that private school students aren’t required to take the WASL until I was so informed by some students from Holy Names Academy. I allowed them to interview me towards the end of my campaign, and I was also astonished when they asked if I thought I was the reason the Seattle Mafia is moving towards an appointed school board.

At any rate, I’d like to lead off my Campaign Reflections section with three questions that focus on three of the biggest campaign issues...

1. Am I responsible for our vanishing elected school board?

2. Why are we closing schools?

3. Why aren’t private school students required to take the WASL?

Appointed School Boards

Obviously, I can’t know for sure why the Seattle Mafia wants to abolish school board elections. Appointed school boards are a hallmark of corporate “education reform” (aka privatization), having been instituted in a number of cities. Yet Seattle has been surprisingly slow to follow the lead.

My guess is that an appointed school board was deemed unnecessary since school board candidates are effectively groomed and appointed by the corporations that run this city anyway. So why rile citizens by taking away their right to vote if you can dupe them into thinking they’re participating in democracy?

This idea might have worked fine except for one problem: Yours truly. I made some big waves when I first ran for a seat on the Seattle School Board in 1999, even if I didn’t get many votes. In subsequent election campaigns, I refused to play by the Seattle Mafia’s rules, and I tweaked a lot of noses. So, yes, I think it’s quite likely that I’m the reason the Seattle Mafia is taking away our right to vote for school board representatives...but hold the criticism.

If you were about to say it’s my fault that we’re moving to an appointed school board, then go to Hell. I did what any intelligent, caring human being with a little backbone should have done. I ran for office and spoke the truth. If the corporate whores who run Seattle can’t handle the truth and want to silence me by having school board members appointed, then point the finger of blame at them.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the Seattle media informed the public that there was interest in abolishing Seattle’s elected school board. What they didn’t mention is that the idea had already progressed beyond the talking stage. Near the beginning of my school board campaign, I attended a sham public forum at Seattle’s Town Hall where a truly disgusting whore named Pat Wasley (a UW official) revealed that a bill that would allow for an appointed school board had already been introduced in Olympia!

Fortunately, it didn’t pass. However, Wasley insisted that the bill was poorly written, and that they’ll succeed next time.

I focused on this frightening manipulation as one of the biggest election issues. Isn’t it amazing that virtually no one else even mentioned it? An interesting article did appear in the Seattle Times near the end of the election campaign (on October 28, 2007): Fix public education by Donald P. Nielsen, a former Seattle School Board member and possibly the biggest asshole in the history of that disgusting body.

Nielsen claims that allowing citizens to elect new school board members introduces an element of stability, adding, “Moreover, the people who choose to run for office in our cities, particularly for school board, are often unqualified for the position.”

Then the hypocrite turns around and babbles, “Currently, Seattle has four very attractive candidates running for the School Board, but that is not the norm.” In fact, Nielsen, regularly endorses school board candidates. What he’s apparently saying is that all school board candidates are bad—except for those he endorses.

As for stability, perhaps no one has done more to destabilize Seattle’s public schools than Don Nielsen and the superintendent he recruited, the derelict retired General John Stanford.

Ironically, Nielsen is speaking a half truth when he claims most school board candidates are lemons. The truth is that virtually all of them are lemons, and those endorsed by Nielsen are typically the worst.

But the same can be said of candidates for the Seattle City Council or Mayor’s office, not to mention the office of Governor or even the President of the United States. Shall we solve the problem by abolishing all elections, allowing business interests to appoint anyone they choose?

Yeah, right—let’s put our gangster mayor Greg Nickels in charge of the Seattle School Board.

Why Are We Closing Schools?

In the above mentioned article, Nielsen also wrote, “Seattle, which is a relatively small urban district with only 46,000 students...”

Excuse me, but I believe we had an enrollment of 46,000 students more than a decade ago. So could someone remind me, once again, exactly why it is that we’re closing schools?

I say it’s just another manifestation of corporate downsizing. Certain people stand to make a lot of money by screwing children a little more.

Private Schools vs The WASL

As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t even aware that private school students were exempt from the WASL until some students who interviewed me opened my eyes.

Well, is that an example of bias or WHAT? If you have enough money to send your children to a private school, then you don’t have to worry about the WASL. But if you can’t afford private school, then you’re stuck with the WASL, along with whatever derelict principal the district assigns to your school.

That’s utterly sick.

Anna Louise Strong

Early in my campaign, I read an interesting article in the Seattle Times: Seattle School Board | “Leadership” likely campaign theme by Alex Fryer, June 9, 2007.

Fryer began, “Before Anna Louise Strong gained fame as a communist writer, before she became friendly with Chinese leader Mao Zedong, she lived in Seattle and won a seat on the Seattle School Board. . . . The Seattle establishment pushed her out in 1918, after only two years.” And that’s about all Fryer had to say about Ms. Strong, who I had never heard of.

The theme of his article appears to be political moderates versus radicals, with the former favored for school board positions. Like most early press, my name wasn’t even mentioned. Nevertheless, I suspect I was the inspiration for the comment about Anna Louise Strong. After all, I promote a mixed economy including a strong dose of socialism, which some idiots equate with Soviet- or Chinese-style communism.

At any rate, I’ve done a little research on Strong, who is a fascinating character. She was indeed pushed out of office by her fellow school board members, a striking slap in the face to those who elected her. Apparently, Seattle has always been run by assholes.

At any rate, I’ll have more to say about Anna Louise Strong on my Seattle Mafia site when I find time.

The Education Establishment

The Seattle media have generally portrayed school board directors and Green Party members Brita Butler-Wall and Sally Soriano as grassroots activists who have worn out their welcome. The newly elected school board members are depicted as part of another house-cleaning, this one with more corporate support.

I have a different opinion: Brita and Sally never were genuine activists. They were effectively appointed to the school board by corporate interests and agreed to move on after they did the dirty work they were assigned.

What really amazes me is the brazen cooing over the BUSINESS COMMUNITY and EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT during Campaign 2007. As you might expect, the enormous contributions the winning candidates received are generally ignored or even described as good.

In other words, this election was just another example of business as usual. I don’t think the 20,000 people who voted for me approve of that.

Media Whores

Linda Thomas

I maintained a nearly complete media boycott during my campaign with a couple notable exceptions. First, I accepted an invitation to submit a “guest blog” to a site run by media whore Linda Thomas in association with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I knew it was a set up, but at least I had a chance to write my own text, and I was also allowed to post comments, so I decided to give it a try.

You might find Guest Blogger: David Blomstrom, along with associated pages, an interesting read. Notice all the people who attacked me from the very beginning, almost always posting anonymously and seldom spelling my name correctly. Then, after I began asking the other candidates serious questions, Thomas blasted ME for “harassing” the candidates.

You can read Thomas’ thinly veiled endorsement of Harium NO ISSUES Martin-Morris at SeattlesChild.com.

Emily Heffter

“If you’re hung up on that freakish Seattle civility, you’ll probably want to vote for my opponent, Harium ‘No Issues’ Martin-Morris (or, as I’ve dubbed him, Whorium).”

That’s what I wrote in the SECOND PARAGRAPH of the HOME PAGE of my campaign website proper. I think most normal people can pretty easily figure out what I mean by NO ISSUES.

So I was shocked when I read School Board race in District 3 lopsided (October 11, 2007), wherein Seattle Times media whore Emily Heffter wrote, “His Web site criticizes Martin-Morris for taking up only school-related issues in his campaign and ignoring national and international political issues.”

When I demanded a retraction, Heffter sent me a reply quoting a statement from my Whorium page: “Apparently, he’s [Whorium] only interested in school issues during election campaigns.”

OK, at worst we have a misstatement. I should have written that Whorium only PRETENDS to be interested in school issues during election campaigns. In fact, I never even heard heard of the guy until he filed as a school board candidate.

But even if you accept that passage as a misstatement, it still doesn’t even begin to square with the statement I made on my campaign HOME PAGE. In fact, I frequently criticized Whorium on my website and a variety of blogs for his LACK OF ISSUES. I made his striking lack of issues a major campaign theme.

At the very least, Heffter should have asked which statement was true: My oft-repeated complaint that Whorium had no issues or my single tongue-in-cheek statement that suggests he cares about school issues only during election campaigns.

Nowhere did I criticize Whorium for caring about local school issues instead of national or international political issues. That was and is a bald-faced lie.

The Stranger

Like the Seattle Weekly, The Stranger is an alternative paper in name only. It actually works hand-in-hand with the mainstream media in weeding out any good candidates who might run for public office.

The second time I ran for State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), The Stranger endorsed former SPI Judith Billings. Why? Because she has AIDS.

This time around, they endorsed Harium Martin-Morris, “a candidate who told us he doesn’t have a problem with intelligent design in schools.” Why? “Because he’s not mentally ill.”

Apparently, I’m mentally ill. Why? Because my “website is loaded with conspiracy theories about teacher suicides and the ‘Seattle Mafia.’”

In fact, my website is not loaded with conspiracy theories about teacher suicides. I have stated my belief that the late Garfield High School teacher Tom Hudson was framed. Of course, I have many conspiracy theories to offer relating to the Seattle Mafia, just as George Bush, Inc. is a rat’s nest of conspiracies. Are the bozos at The Stranger telling us they don’t believe in conspiracies?

In Strange and Stranger, I recount how media whore Jonah Spangenthal-Lee began attacking me on a blog BEFORE he invited me to an endorsement interview with The Stranger. Now if you want to call THAT a conspiracy theory, be my guest. Just make a note that it’s a theory that checked out as true.

Frankly, I thought that was awfully low even by Seattle standards. The bottom line: The Stranger’s endorsements are worth their weight in corn dogs.

KUOW

I’m still not sure what to say about the radio station KUOW. Are they on the level or not?

I initially decided to snub them, especially after it was revealed that they only wanted to use a recording of me as a sound byte. Amazingly, KUOW reporter Phyllis Fletcher visited my apartment twice in an attempt to interview me. (I wasn’t real pleased with being woken up after working the night shift.)

And yet I kind of enjoyed the report Fletcher aired, even if they spelled my name wrong on KUOW’s website: School Board Race: Bloomstrom v. Martin-Morris (9/26/07). The report included the sound of someone knocking on my door, followed by an unanswered phone call. Next, an actor read an excerpt from my website. It helped get the point across that I’m not really a big fan of local media.

To her credit, Fletcher did mention the Black Mafia, an idea Whorium laughed off. However, I’m confused about her claim that I want an end to busing. I think busing is generally bad, and it would be nice to see it fade away, but I don’t recall definitively stating that ending busing is one of my issues.

But what about the main interview the folks at KUOW were planning? I decided to accept their invitation after I was informed via e-mail that “Ross [Reynolds] will ask you each what YOU think the important issues are and why voters should vote for you.”

In fact, that never happened. The program was pretty much scripted, and I never had a chance to discuss what I regard as the most urgent issue—the imminent loss of an elected school board. Moreover, I had the perception that my opponent knew what questions he was going to be asked in advance. His responses were largely bullshit, but he was very quick to respond to the questions, and he is a smooth talker. Maybe KUOW’s corporate sponsors could shed more light on my questions.

Check out The Conversation (10/24/07) for yourself. (Whorium and I start in about 35 minutes, about 2/3 of the way through.)

Phony Blogs

When I first became politically active, I frequently commented on the amazing absence of political websites in a high-tech city like Seattle. The Seattle Mafia has finally addressed that problem. In recent years, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of political websites and blogs have sprung up.

These phony activist blogs are capable of spinning propaganda 24/7. One of the worst is Crosscut, which was established by David Brewster, found of the Seattle Weekly and one of Seattle’s premier media whores. In fact, several of Seattle’s biggest media whores are regular contributors to Crosscut.

Here’s a sampling of what they wrote about Campaign 2007: No, really, this is a watershed election (David Brewster, Nov. 5), A great big dose of antiestablishmentarianism (David Brewster and several other media whores, Nov. 7), Why voters expelled the Seattle School Board class of 2003 (Dick Lilly, Nov. 9).

Browse through those articles and see if you get a sense of being swallowed up in some giant bubble full of hot air and rhetoric.

Another dirty blog is Seattle Public Schools. The main contributors appear to be former school board candidate Charlie Mas, Melissa Westbrook and Beth Bakeman. All three are assholes.

Though I can’t locate it at the moment, I recall one thread where Mas declared that my opponent was assured victory and/or I was a lost cause, therefore there was no use discussing me on his forum. Wow, what a courageous attitude.

In a thread titled Interpreting the School Board Election Results (November 9, 2007), Beth Bakeman writes, “I find the number of votes David Blomstrom received alarming. How could 18,562 people (and still counting) vote for him? Are those the voters who haven’t read anything about a candidate and just choose based on name?”

She also describes candidates Maria Ramirez, Sally Soriano and Darlene Flynn as “intelligent and principled losers” and hopes they remain active in Seattle School politics. Ditto for Brita Butler-Wall and Irene Stewart, who didn’t run for re-election, she says.

Finally, the stupid bitch recommended an article about the election written by former Seattle Times media whore turned school board member Dick Lilly.

Needless to say, I added a comment, setting this bozo straight on just about everything.

The Alliance for Education

Since my campaign focused on fighting corporate corruption, it’s important to note the organization that unites Seattle’s corporate pedophiles (figuratively speaking, of course; whether any of these dirt bags are pedophiles in the literal sense is something only they can tell us), the Alliance for Education.

I believe I was the only candidate who criticized the Alliance for Education, which seemed to keep a fairly low profile during the campaign. However, I was intrigued by a rather bizarre editorial that appeared in the Seattle Times just before election day: Seize the school day (November 5, 2007).

The editorial ends with this disturbing passage:

“The carpe diem mood suffusing the School Board races shouldn’t disappear come Wednesday. Support ought to shift to the Alliance for Education, which serves as the district’s fund-raising arm.

“The nonprofit organization has regrouped under a new leader and touts a renewed focus and mission. The influx of money in the races is a welcome sign that the stars are aligning.”

Just remember: Our newest school board members were bought and paid for by the Alliance for Education.

Corrupt Endorsements

Virtually all organizations that make campaign endorsements in Seattle are corrupt. The more notable include the Alki Foundation and King County Municipal League, along with just about any organization that includes the word “Democrats.”

The media that distinguish between business and labor endorsements are liars. Local unions, including the Seattle Education Association (SEA), Teamsters and King County Labor Council, are in bed with the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. I have direct experience with the SEA and Teamsters, and I can tell you firsthand that they shit on their dues paying members and do not give a rat’s ass about democracy or children.

Of course, media endorsements ought to spell the kiss of death to candidates who accept them as well.

Microshaft

One of my primary campaign targets was Bill Gates/Microsoft, yet I almost missed the news about their endorsements.

In School races get cash from business (Seattle Times, Oct. 27, 2007), media whore Emily Heffter informs us that the major contributors to school board candidates in Campaign 2007 included Microsoft executives Steve Ballmer and Jeffrey Raikes and their wives, Connie and Patricia. They each gave a large sum of money to Whorium.

So how many people believe any one of these assholes cares about kids?

Speaking of money, Heffter tells us in another article, “Even without the latest contributions added to their total, Maier, Carr and Sundquist hold state records for the three most expensive School Board campaigns in sate history. Each raised more than $100,000.”

Well, what else can or should I say? I’m getting tired of writing, and I imagine you’re tired of reading if you made it this far.

I apologize for failing to really finish my campaign website before the election. Nevertheless, I feel that I still had more than enough information online to give voters a good judge of my qualities.

I am in the process of putting a lot more political information online (on several websites), and I suspect my Campaign 2008 website will be significantly more developed than this one.

Thanks again.

Can’t afford to donate money to my campaign? No problem! You can join the team by simply visiting Urban Dictionary > Seattle Mafia and clicking the yellow thumbs up icon , indicating you agree with my definition. Doing so will help publicize the fact that there IS a Seattle Mafia. If you’re working for the Seattle Mafia and want to click the thumbs down icon , that᾿s fine, too. Either way, you’re helping my campaign. :)