To CNN’s Brian Stelter, size apparently matters. This was the crux of his latest beef with arch-enemy Fox News Channel for evidently having displayed a map of the area of Seattle occupied by protesters that used to be called CHAZ. (Over the weekend, the organizers decided to change the name to CHOP, although there is some dispute over whether the “O” stands for “occupied” or “organized”; the “P” stands for “protest.”)
But I digress. CHOP has become the latest bone of contention between the Left, which celebrates the occupation of either city-owned or private property by malcontents, and the Right, which is critical. Among the supporters is Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who views the experiment as nothing more a block party, which she hopes will metamorphose into “a summer of love.”
Stelter, who also approves of CHOP, was attempting to demonstrate that FNC has exaggerated the problem, but he and the show’s control room were not on the same page. At the point in his spiel where Stelter instructs his viewer to “look at this map,” the screen behind him displays a photo of one of the CHOPpers brandishing a large rifle. When Stelter says, “When you zoom way out, you see this is just a small part of Seattle,” the image of the armed guard remains, though now ghosted by a green screen resolving into a street shot. Eventually, a small map appears. But when Stelter instructs the control room to “zoom the map out,” the photo of the armed guard returns. Apparently, Joe Biden isn’t along in his struggles with technology.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
As to Stelter’s point that the occupied area is “only six blocks,” that knowledge provides cold comfort for owners of businesses in the area and Seattle citizens in general. Ron Amundson, who owns properties inside the zone, attended a meeting Sunday between city leaders, business and property stakeholders, and the protesters. In an article at the website of station KIRO, Amundson is quoted as acknowledging, “Many businesses are afraid to open. … [W]ithout having control of the situation, there’s just a lot of uneasiness and unknowns.”
