The strange and tragic saga of Seattle radio host Mike Webb
He was found stabbed to death last week, which raises questions about his stated fear that someone had it in for him. Or was that just mental illness talking?
Sometimes the paranoids are right. That simple truth offers a slim and twisted hope to the mentally ill and is a vexation to journalists.
For paranoids, the chance that their reality might one day be validated by the rest of us must offer a ray of hope. But finding that they really are out to get you is strange consolation.
For journalists, sifting through fear-driven delusions is part of the tedious work of finding possible stories. Over time, you tend to dismiss the ramblings of the tinfoil-hat crowd. But once in a while you re-learn a lesson: Just because someone is paranoid doesn't mean they're wrong.
Which brings us to the questions left by the apparent stabbing death of former KIRO-AM talk show host and longtime Seattle radio personality Mike Webb. The discovery of his body last week and the fact that police are treating it as a homicide brings us back to Webb's spoken fears. He had said he feared for his life, that someone was out to get him.
Were Webb's fears merely a sign of mental imbalance? Or were they valid? Or both?
Before his fall, Webb himself offered liberal Seattle a ray of hope. Before Air America, during the boom years of right-wing hot talk, as the great unraveling of the George W. Bush years progressed, Webb offered something few local radio listeners could find: a guy making a stand against the insanity that seemed to be gripping our country. Naturally, he was on late at night on a show that sounded like a junkyard for advertising. But Webb offered an oasis where liberals who had been demoralized by a stolen election, WMD war, and passive media could tune in and enjoy some unabashed pushback.
I was a guest on Webb's show a few times, usually by phone, one or twice in studio. It was a frustrating show to be on, especially for someone spoiled by the long segments public radio offers. The format of commercial talk radio allows mostly sound-bites; real conversation is difficult.
But Webb was a master at throwing fast punches, of both baiting and calling bullshit on callers who challenged him. He came in ready to rumble with his conservative callers and he routinely bludgeoned them with the facts. Ironically, as things played out, Webb was often the sanest voice on the station.
Webb treated me with courtesy, and I respected what he did. But there was another side to him. Webb's behavior alienated some of his KIRO colleagues. His firing from the station, his conviction of insurance fraud, his courtroom behavior, and his courthouse breakdown all suggested a very troubled man. And much of that trouble was documented on Michael Hood's BlatherWatch blog, which became a forum where Webb's friends and enemies hashed out their views of the man.
I saw a sign of Webb's troubled side a few years ago when I was editor of Seattle Weekly. He called me to complain about a freelance writer who was looking into a dispute Webb had with the Seattle Police Department. Webb was nearly hysterical, felt the reporter was harassing him, which wasn't the case. Webb seemed to have flipped out.
He was even more upset later when the Seattle Weekly's Geov Parrish wrote a cover story about his insurance-fraud troubles. Webb was terrified someone would publish his picture – he was afraid of death threats. I sympathized with that. At the time, I was having my own stalker problems. But I never thought for a second that Webb's woes weren't a legit story. He was a Seattle media figure in the middle of a public meltdown. We'd done tough stories on local conservative radio personalities, like John Carlson and Daniel Lapin. We weren't going to look away because some of us might be sympathetic with Webb's politics.
But none of us took pleasure in the weird downward spiral his life. His breakdown seemed like the classic arc of someone headed for rock bottom.
Webb was a gun-toting gay liberal who had chosen to be on the frontlines of fighting with radio wackos and busting the chops of a president who dubbed those who oppose him as evil. For that, he was abused and threatened. Were Webb's politics and celebrity a factor in his death?
I don't think murder victims bring murder on themselves – the killers are the ones to hold responsible. But it is fair to wonder if Webb's mental-health problems caused him to put himself in jeopardy. Did self-destructive impulses lead him to associate with a "shady character" who didn't have his best interest at heart?
No one wants to end up as a pitch for Ann Rule's next book. I can't imagine that Webb did. The police will investigate and I hope they catch whoever killed him and bring them to justice. He certainly didn't deserve this end.
I also hope they can help answer the questions Webb's sad saga raises. Will we find that his paranoia was justified, or that it was just one step toward a self-fulfilling prophecy?
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Comments:
Posted Tue, Jul 3, 7:47 a.m. inappropriate
Webb vs. Crosscut?: While Knute's essay is appreciated, the obvious fact that Crosscut is extremely late to the trough in this matter raises serious issues about the purpose of this e-paper.
Many of us customer types had hoped that Xcut would be a challenge to Seattle's dieing news media. Instead, Xcut only comes to ther Webb topic a week or so after the events and then it posts a fluffy, unnformative, rather personal essay.\
Why is this?
It may be that Knute and David do not think the story worth their attention. I could buy this IF Xcut had done a better job of covering some other ,issue. Surely enough is happening.
Or, it may be that the Xcut model is to be no more than a personal blog, responsive to the wims and hormonal surges of its owners. While I value the people who have put XCut together, the effort is overkill as one more blog.
SeattleJew
Posted Tue, Jul 3, 11:39 a.m. inappropriate
Conspiracy anyone: How long will it take for Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame, Hillary Clinton, Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews, et al to scream 'vast right wing conspiracy!' and try to connect Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, and President George Bush to the Webb case??
Posted Tue, Jul 3, 1:28 p.m. inappropriate
nothing wrong: I see nothing wrong with Knute's article on Mike Webb. It's difficult for anybody to know the deeper truth to any man or woman, all he did was relate his own experiences.
Posted Tue, Jul 3, 4:55 p.m. inappropriate
Tangled Webb, still catching flies: Knute, thank you for this piece on Mike, a genuine individual who brought important issues out in the open, no matter how difficult in may have been. Too often those who challenge the status quo, on the right or the left, are accused of mental illness. In the public effort to shove these people into labeled silos, we marginalize them instead of listening to their very real, very well articulated arguments. We become obsessed with a melt down, an embarrassment, a mistake, instead of focusing on the actual veracity of what those individuals have said. In the end, we are the losers, because all too often, we miss the point because we've been so busy dancing at the demise of our distracted democracy. Mike Webb brought an important voice to this land, because he defended our values while not being afraid to fight our own Libocracy.
Posted Tue, Jul 3, 5 p.m. inappropriate
It's also important not to color individual or collective reactions to such a death with a political brush. As Sheriff Tate said to Atticus Finch upon the death of the wastrel and racist Bob Ewell, "Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. Let the dead bury the dead." But here, unlike To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a culprit needing to be found, brought to the bar of justice, and punished irrespective of anyone's opinion of Mike Webb.
Think what you will of him - this straight, conservative, evangelical Christian has strong thoughts indeed - but what was done to him was completely and totally wrong. In death he's entitled to the fullest expression of the criminal law on his behalf just as he deserved its fullest expression for crimes he committed during his life. Everyone is entitled to equal justice under law.
No matter anyone's lifestyle, occupation, or criminal history, murder is murder. From 1983 to 2001, over 80 prostitutes in the Vancouver, B.C. area, many of them Aboriginal or first nation people, disappeared without a trace. For years, local authorities dismissed these disappearances as inconsequential because of who the victims were, both occupationally and racially. Besides, bringing these cases to light would hurt tourism. It wasn't until a combination of outside pressure and the work of a few courageous cops stirred the municipal pot that a serious investigation was undertaken that eventually resulted in the arrest of area pig farmer, Robert Picton. The murder of a prostitute is no less a crime than Mike Webb's murder or the murder of a candidate for sainthood.
Abrasive, thin-skinned, paranoid, argumentative, nasty, or even bigoted, he still was entitled to life. As Mossback says, "He certainly didn't deserve this end." Nobody deserves this end.
As a retrospective, Mossback's is legitimate in so far as it is his personal written eulogy. It's unfair to criticize him or Crosscut for being late or not covering the story of Webb's death more aggressively. While I'm no fan - in fact I'm opposed to its concept - of public radio, Mossback's comparison of the commercial talk radio format versus public radio notes that in commercial radio, "Real conversation is difficult." Maybe so, maybe not, but it's not at all difficult to start a conversation with a personal essay such as the one he wrote.
Xenophon's very fair point is well taken: "It's difficult for anybody to know the deeper truth to any man or woman, all he did was relate his own experiences."
Tragic though it may be, Mike Webb's death isn't a defining moment in the history of radio, Seattle, crime, or Western Civilization, nor should it be made one. His is the criminal death of one human being - a death that demands justice. The investigation and, hopefully, prosecution of the accused should be no more or less vigorous than that of any other murder victim. Who he was and what happened to him aren't necessarily related except from an evidentiary standpoint.
And Mossback's personal remembrance of the good, the bad, and the ugly about Mike Webb speaks for itself. If someone has a different point of view, let him start his own electronic newspaper and publish away to his heart's content.
The Piper
Posted Tue, Jul 3, 7:37 p.m. inappropriate
Mossback brings a perspective not seen in other papers.: I suspect Mossback writes for Crosscut because mainstream newspapers do a less than effective job at asking "why" or "what if." They are losing readers and likely Brewster's Crosscut wants Berger to stir the pot of public awareness and put contemporary life in perspective.
Seattle is a tight little island of urban complacency. We need someone who challenges our thinking and reminds of us of our history, our cultural idiosyncrasies and ponders why we behave as we do. Crosscut has never promised to be a daily newspaper with breaking stories detailing the who, why, where and when. It acknowledges traditional news stories with links. What Crosscut and Berger bring to this medium is a refreshing point of view that causes us to think by putting the news in context.
Mossback sometimes picks on Seattle's little immaturity's and inconsistencies. We need to see the humor when our leadership begins to believe their own press, but behave as though they are teenagers with a inferiority complex if our buildings aren't replaced every 30 years with new age architecture or some civic feature isn't considered world class.
Whether it be writing about "Seattle Nice" or commenting on the architecture of buildings whose long time patrons have never sipped a latte at Starbucks, Berger reminds us that there was a lifestyle and culture here in Seattle long before the Dot. Com. era brought in people who were escaping the lifestyle of other cities only to realize Seattleites didin't want to be converted into the cities they left.
Posted Thu, Jul 5, 3:20 p.m. inappropriate
RE: Mossback brings a perspective not seen in other papers.: Well said, all of it. But personally I'm a bit sceptical of anyone who calls the victim crazy, as Berger does. Self fulfilling prophesies may be the operative clause at play here, but whose? The real answer is both the 'victim' and the 'profilers'. Which is the worse?
That's a judgement call in every case, but the clause to remember here is the one about 'cycles of abuse'. Just because you can now call everyone crazy, doesn't mean you aren't crazy now yourself, or were once a victim of same.
Your reference to 'Seattle Nice' is not only timely, it is also relevant. A bit more honesty might be tough to take, but its tough love, and it is the only way to go - just so long as it doesn't kill you.
Sure, the implication was that it was a shady character is one possible one in this case, but there are others, and given Webb's 'profile' just as possible, if not more so. And those other options need not be conspiracies either. Certainly there are Jack Ruby's in every city in America.
One thing we can be sure of though, it wasn't a Washington Cease Fire opponent!
FWIW, I'm still waiting for Crosscut to take on the politicians that blame the public for their 'failings'.