Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ I think there is a simple answer to Mary's question. Issues like gay marriages tend to distract the electorate from the real issues. Add to this the reason this is a valid issue is the argument that "activist judges" change law to suit their position. Lets see. We have a liberal press that do not take the conservative position, we have activist judges, we have had long term partisan politicians who leave their employer because of issues related to the administration's position. What does this tell us? It sounds to me like someone has an agenda and they will eliminate anyone who gets in the way. Mike Fratto Payne Phalen
>>> "Mary" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 03/25/2004 12:19:12 AM >>> Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ Hi all: I couldn't help but connect the following: national and state Democratic mantra that the issue of gay marriage is 'distracting' us from key problems like failed war on terrorism, unemployment, etc; our amazing ability on this list to stay with that issue; and today's dramatic air quality alert, along with Andy Driscoll's question - anybody counting? If anybody IS counting, we have had quite a few of these alerts in the past two years. Indeed, depending on whose index or rating system you use, Minneapolis/St Paul is either one of the worst or mid-range for air quality in the entire country. Without question, nobody in environmental circles is saying our air quality is good anymore. In some ways, it's easy to zap off a post with opinions on gay/het marriage. These are philosophical and political and moral questions we feel we can grapple with based on our individual/personal knowledge. Pollution is another entire altogether. How to combat the plummet in air quality our state has experienced the past few years? How to combat industrial polluters? Far more difficult (and perhaps more important?) to zap off a post on why we're experiencing such a dive and what to do about it. What are we going to do about air quality in the metro area? Ideas? Anybody know how many 'alerts' we have had in the past year? Anybody besides me notice the haze over the city today? French philosospher Michel Foucault routinely asked: why does one question appear rather than another? Although I do grind my teeth atDemocratic assertions that constitutional questions regarding marriage are only a diversion from failed Bush administration problems and real issues facing the country, those Democratics are onto something about the focus of national and local political conversation. Why focus on marriage? Are there more pressing issues for St. Paul? The nation? Why this issue -- framed in astoundingly archaic and fear-based terms -- and not another? Is pollution a more pressing local and national issue? Unemployment? Racism? Lots of different issues, but regardless of rhetoric and political strategy: the air quality in the twin cities is a pressing issue for citizens of this city and one that we ignore at our own peril. Mary Petrie Mounds Park Mary Petrie Mounds Park _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
