Michael Thompson wrote:
That said, why is it the business of the Minneapolis City Council to
vote on this [don't ask, don't tell] like St. Louis?
Sometimes I think this is a "why is there air?" question. The two
answers that come to mind are: 'human rights is everybody's issue,'
which is true, pompous, and grates on the nerves, and 'let's take every
opportunity we get or can manufacture to point out stupidity.' Were I
on the city council, a fate worse than death, I would justify it as a
crusade among politicians from the bottom up to stamp out stupidity at
every turn.
Of course there's 'we're in the middle of a war and having one hellish
time garnering troops in an all hands on deck situation.' That's the
case at the moment; a symbolic claim of patriotism never hurts a politician.
Thompson again: Certainly the city council has more important things to
do than this. If symbolic votes are how we want the city council to
spend their time...
WM: There are a couple of pat answers that come to mind here, too. One:
Let them do this, it will keep them from creating mischief. Two: If you
haven't noticed, quite a lot of what the city council does is symbolic.
They make ordinances, half of which no one pays any attention to and
only the City Clerk's office even remembers, another half of the
remaining ordinances are there to annoy people and satisfy some maniacal
mind set among a majority of the ever-changing councils. I cite a recent
ordinance to demand that all new housing have a higher roof pitch,
mostly because the notion of a picture perfect city is an absurdity on
the face of it, a contradiction in terms, and subject to the whims of
every succeeding council. They christen buildings, bridges, neighborhood
improvements, yadda, yadda. (The remaining 25% of ordinances are what
makes the city run or limp.)
The staff who do the actual work of the city--bricks and mortar, paper
and files--are lifers. After a certain number of years, they figure out
that they're gonna say uh-huh to the short termers on the council and do
it the way that works for them.
Thus, let them do this. It can't hurt and, who knows, it might help.
WizardMarks, Central
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