Liberalism transformed Seattle from a wide-open, anything goes port town to a repressed land of sex police. (drug, attorney)
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Here's an interesting book about the history of vice in Seattle, from about 1950 to 2010. The author is a long time investigative reporter for the Seattle Weekly:
Seattle in the 50's, 60's, and even somewhat in the 70's was a wide-open port town. There were bordellos, strip clubs, and gambling joints. The city had a 'tolerance policy' on the grounds that it would prevent East Coast mobsters from trying to move into the city.
A famous madam named Nellie Curtis ran a bordello out of the LaSalle Hotel (now affordable housing for seniors) in downtown Seattle. She later moved to Aberdeen, WA, which was even more wide open.
Seattle also was not the left-liberal bastion that it is today. A stripper named Candy Renee said that she was a staunch Republican, and filed for office in 1956 saying that she wanted to "see everyone get a fair shake." Quoth Candy,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Anderson
"Any man who can find fault with my platform is plainly closing his eyes to the facts," she said, hand on curvy hip.
She hoped to go to the state legislature and repeal some of the states blue laws, which police used as leverage to collect payoffs from vice-based enterprises. As late as 1969, Seattle had a GOP mayor, James 'Dorm' Braman, who left for a post in the Nixon admin. Today a GOP mayor would be unthinkable. Our last mayoral contest was between an environmental attorney and an openly gay state Senator, both liberal democrats.
Fast forward to around 2000, and the 'tolerance policy' had disappeared. The book follows the career of local strip club magnate Frank Colacurcio. In 2006 he was caught in a campaign finance scheme to funnel campaign funds to 3 city council members. His purpose was to get the city council to rezone some land that he owned adjacent to his club so that he could use it for parking. The city refused to rezone it; I used to go to his club, and he had it all paved and ready for use, but he would always have it roped off so that no one could park there, in compliance with the law. After he ponied up the campaign cash, the council relented and rezoned it for him. Now there were about a dozen or so new parking spaces at the club.
That was elevated into a major scandal by the press. Colacurcio settled the case and paid a fine, but police chief Gil Kerlikowske (now drug czar under Pres. Obama) was determined to get Frank. The FBI was brought in, and an agent named Corey Cote was "on Frank's trail for much of the decade." A female undercover agent got herself hired as a waitress at the club, and worked her way into a management job. A camera was mounted on a utility pole outside the club for 24 hour surveillance. Seattle police spent thousands of dollars working undercover buying lap dances from strippers. They amassed a truckload of documents and evidence.
In 2009 Frank and his business partners were all indicted for racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud, and money laundering. Eventually all except Frank took plea deals that included shutting down the clubs and turning over about $5.8 million in cash and property. "We are shutting down a corrupt criminal organization that made millions of dollars exploiting women," said U.S. attorney Jenny Durkan (now rumored to be a possible replacement for Eric Holder).
Frank refused a plea deal, and died in 2010 at age 93 before a deal could be reached, or a conviction obtained. The government sold off the property, and the main club eventually reopened as a strip club under new ownership.
So a guy who tried to bribe city council members ended up getting arrested? You act like you can't find a strip club, hooker, or casino in Washington.
I don't know about Washington, but in Oregon you can drink hard alcohol while watching full nude dancers, and can easily make a run to an indian casino to blow some gambling money. And then if you are feeling really frisky, you shouldn't have any problem finding someone who will go to bed with you for money.
So a guy who tried to bribe city council members ended up getting arrested? You act like you can't find a strip club, hooker, or casino in Washington.
I don't know about Washington, but in Oregon you can drink hard alcohol while watching full nude dancers, and can easily make a run to an indian casino to blow some gambling money. And then if you are feeling really frisky, you shouldn't have any problem finding someone who will go to bed with you for money.
Wait...what? Are you telling me that some strip clubs don't allow hard alcohol?
Wait...what? Are you telling me that some strip clubs don't allow hard alcohol?
I don't know about Canada, but in most places in the US strip clubs that serve alcohol can only be topless. Oregon is an exception - full nude stripping and alcohol are allowed in the same establishment.
I don't know about Canada, but in most places in the US strip clubs that serve alcohol can only be topless. Oregon is an exception - full nude stripping and alcohol are allowed in the same establishment.
How utterly bizarre! Why? What difference does it make if the strippers are topless or nude?
Wait...what? Are you telling me that some strip clubs don't allow hard alcohol?
Oh yeah, typically your most conservative states have the tightest rules when it comes to strip clubs. Virginia has some of the worst strip club laws, Oregon obviously has some of the best.
I don't know about Canada, but in most places in the US strip clubs that serve alcohol can only be topless. Oregon is an exception - full nude stripping and alcohol are allowed in the same establishment.
Total nudity, both male and female, and as much booze as you can put away.
Now you know.
the main club eventually reopened as a strip club under new ownership.
Doesn't this invalidate your entire point?
It's true that strip clubs have been shutting down all over (and not just in liberal cities like Seattle), but that's mostly because of the Internet.
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