As a Seattle sports fan, this was the most cringe I've ever felt watching a talk show segment based on how bad it was.
Yes, the idiots who did that are idiots. In fact, the moment after the verdict when I was writing a piece of satire for my site (I won't link to it because that's not the point) I knew seeing how the vote aligned how this was going to be spun.
This was clearly a hit piece by Full Frontal to get views.
1) The council members weren't voting on whether to build a stadium or not BUT RATHER a decision to have a street vacation for a single block which the arena would later be built over. This is an industrial street that has been shown on countless occasions over the past few months to have literally ZERO traffic even though the Port has contested that it will damage traffic flow which it won't.
2) The current arena proposal and the Kingdom, as she highlighted in the piece, are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. The Kingdome was paid for 100% by King County using municipal bonds while the proposed arena will only have 40% of its funding from a combination of the City of Seattle/King County where the remaining 60% is private investment and any costs over budget will also be paid for by private money.
3) Hey Samantha Bee, the City of Seattle and King County actually approved the arena funding back in 2012. The only reason this is a big deal is because unless you want the stadium to be crap (it theoretically could be built without a vacation but it'd be beyond small compared to NBA/NHL standards) there needs to be a street vacation FOR ONE LITERAL BLOCK. The Port of Seattle have had a vendetta out for the arena even before the 2012 votes and has found a way to undermine the entire project using a complete smear campaign and faulty reports.
4) The main outcry regarding the vote, other than the clear smear campaign led by the Port of Seattle, is that one of the individuals who voted against it, Sally Bagshaw, voted in favor of the exact same arena proposal back in 2012 and has, over the past few weeks, essentially backstabbed the voters. Here's a more in-depth breakdown on her reversal if you care to read
I know there is no way Full Frontal or Bee will issue a correction on this subject but it's a bit sad as someone who would love to go into the same profession as her to use the same shady tactics as the politicians she so eloquently lampoons on her show for her own gain because hey, if a bunch of vocal minorities shout something online, they must be speaking on behalf of the strong majority as well.