Doesn't anyone see the obvious parallels between this incident and Detroit a few years ago?

Either the news is inaccurate (not the first time) or the report quoted was inaccurate. Passengers on this flight were on the air saying that they were not let off the plane, and that it took some time for a passenger who needed medical assistance to receive clearance from a Customs agent.

The same passengers were quoted as saying that a bump was worth $700, but 18 hours on a plane with no food, water, and misleading information from the flight crew was worth $200.

Issues:

Fog at Seattle (act of God / Weather)
Divert to Moses Lake (conscious decision to send a DC10 to a small regional airport with no facilities / crew / NW presence)
Continuing weather (act of God)
Maintenance issue (no blame, but exacerbated by location)
Maintenance issue (no blame, but exacerbated by location)
Running out of food / water / broken lavs (NW all the way)
Public image of keeping people on a plane for 18 hours (priceless)

Cheers.