I don't have a particular axe to grind…

…in the current facilities dustup between the Supersonics and the city. While losing the Mariners or Seahawks would have saddened me considerably, I long ago lost interest in the NBA. In fact, I find some visceral appeal in the "they're millionaires, screw 'em" argument. It's certainly a better one than, for instance, "it's bad for business."

Jon Stahl's been beating the anti-Sonic drum over at Evergreen Politics, mainly on a class resentment line, but most after NBA Commissioner David Stern's testimony about the one stop entertainment facility the Sonics hope to build on the Key Arena site, he writes...

If you, like my state Senator, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, are supporting the remodel in the mistaken belief that this is somehow good for Seattle's bars & restaurants, think again. This is about greedy, incompetent NBA owners like Howard Schultz asking the taxpayers and businesses of Seattle to subsidize his failing business venture.

I don't know, of course, but it may be that Senator Kohl-Welles has taken the time to talk to the bar and restaurant owners and workers on lower Queen Anne and surrounding precincts - they are her constituents too, after all - and discovered that they'd rather try to compete with an enhanced Arena than try to survive without the Sonics (and the Storm, which be the greater loss in my book).

Because, just maybe, having crowds of people out for an evening's entertainment pass your doorway dozens a times a year really is good for the bars and restaurants in the neighborhood.

Maybe 'screw the rich' isn't always a good enough answer for every question.

Maybe...