[Mpls] SSB and Labor;Police and News Biz

[Jim Mork]

It occurred to me today that SSB may not have lost to RT due to the 
incessant spectacle of gifts to private business and the lawsuits that the 
city lost for this and that.  I was working for city government in the 
period leading up to her loss. I was a union member.  Gingrich was running 
his circus in Washington.  Because SSB was SO focused on "fiscal 
responsibility", she laid off a whole bunch of union employees by 
eliminating their positions. Unlike RT, she didn't have a problem of reduced 
state aids to deal with.  But she was living in the shadow of some kind of 
threat like that. However, the economy was very good, so the city wasn't 
hurting.  Nevertheless, SSB went ahead with her cuts.  And what I'm thinking 
now is that her firm labor backing went soft after that.  Because to cut 
union positions on the mere THREAT of revenue cuts just looks TOO much like 
trying to be a pleaser.  Had she steadfastly stood up for labor, she might 
have had a motivated interest group fighting for her.  But she looked like a 
pushover for business, so suddenly labor just didn't passionately care what 
happened to her.  Often when a government is overturned, it is because its 
support has gone soft like that.  The leader has isolated herself from 
anyone who would fight to keep her on.  She wouldnt fight to keep us on.  
Why would we care after that if she kept HER job?  I don't know if ambitious 
candidates sensed that and made their decision at that point, but I could 
see how they would.  A general can never tell the troops, "I don't care" or 
they may just not feel like coming out of the trenches.

Police and News Biz
Mr. Krasnov, instead of answering sensibly, tries tossing down a gantlet: 
"Perhaps, then, the City Council and the Mayor should state on City 
letterhead which parts of the Minnesota Statutes and Minneapolis
Ordinances the police should enforce and which they shouldn't, and which 
neighborhoods the directive will apply to"

Virtually all the laws are a dead letter.  They don't get enforced and 
really should be removed from the books.  They sit there and molder until an 
opportunity arises and then get misused as they are in this case.  Go ahead, 
Mr. Krasnov, report some crime against you that falls below the radar for 
"really important stuff".  Then you'll have to eat some crow since you imply 
that, somehow, the laws normally ARE enforced.  We citizens know of this, 
and we don't hassle the police because we expect some common SENSE from 
them.  The tax bill, if we truly tried to enforce the laws, would rise 
several times. But citizens simply won't PAY for true enforcement.  So it is 
silly to ask for a signed statement which laws will be enforced. If you 
can't get a repeal, don't expect a signed statement. It is called politics.

________________________________________
Jim Mork
Cooper Neighborhood
Longfellow Community
Minneapolis, MN
We think. You'll like it here.
And we're more fun than a barrel of Norwegians
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