This is getting embarrassing.
Los Angeles got its act together and passed one.
Across the country, 113 cities and counties have passed resolutions urging President Bush to work for peace, to exhaust all diplomatic options, to keep military force firmly where it belongs—as the last possible resort. These aren’t by any means binding resolutions that have a hope in hell in and of themselves of affecting anything. But they’re yet another telling sign of the profound distrust growing daily in this country regarding the coming (but not inevitable; never inevitable) war. —If you scan that list, though, you’ll note a rather glaring exception: Portland, Oregon—the most livable city, a progressive’s dream, capital of the People’s Republic of Multnomah County—axed an anti-war resolution on a 2 – 2 vote.
Erik Sten voted for it. Pro-business law-and-order mayor Vera Katz voted for it. Dan Saltzman, though he’s on the record as opposing the idea, ducked the vote that day. Randy Leonard mumbled something about not having enough information, and voted “no.” —Randy. Baby. You got elected to know enough about stuff to make decisions. Okay? That’s what being on a city council is all about. But a tip? You really, truly don’t know enough about something, you abstain. You don’t vote against it. Okay?
And Jim Francesconi—
Francesconi said he saw no point to the resolution. Despite having written a letter as a private citizen to President Bush objecting to unilateral military action. He’s keeping mum about the why, but there’s a number of guesses. Most hinge on a memo sent to the city commissioners the day before the vote from Portland Business Alliance head Kim Kimbrough, which stated, “Time spent by the City Council during Council meetings debating, hearing, or acting upon the proposed resolution only helps to diminish the credibility of the Portland City Council.” Perhaps this is what Leonard didn’t know enough about; why Saltzman skipped the vote; why Francesconi voted no. —If so, well, as the Willamette Week put it, “A single letter from Kimbrough trumped the marchers and the thousands of cards, emails and phone calls City Hall received in support of a resolution against attacking Iraq.”
(“Diminish the credibility of the Portland City Council.” You know what else diminishes that credibility? Aside from ignoring the will of the voters? Having our city’s public education woes held up as an object lesson in the funny pages. What’s that? No connection? It’s not your fault Salem can’t get its act together? We should blame the Brainstorm readers who voted down Measure 28? One city resolution against unilateral military force won’t do a whit to help the kids? —Well, yes. And no. There is no direct benefit; no magic money will suddenly come pouring into any coffers because the city council stands up and says, hey, folks? We over here in Portland just want to go on record as saying this is, you know, a bad idea. But. There is a direct and profound connection between the educational crunch we’re facing all across the country and the 150-some-odd-thousand troops waiting for Turkey to vet our credit history. Doonesbury makes it. Body and Soul spells it out a little more clearly.)
This war is wrong. More and more Yanks are coming to realize this every day and are speaking out against it. One of the ways we have of speaking out is to ask our elected representatives to say something for the official record. City councils and county commissions do this all the time, every day, across the country. Thousands upon thousands of Portlanders stood up to ask our city council to say something for the official record against this war—and they declined.
That is what diminishes the council’s credibility most of all. —Trust me. I think we’re going to have a hard time forgetting this one.
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So, Kip, does this mean you're pondering a run for Mayor ? C'mon, you know you want to !! :)
God forbid I find something else to procrastinate.
Why not ? Leonard continually procrastinates acting like anything other than a complete and utter asshat. This morning, he was proclaiming the byzantine procedures for altering City property a "failure of the [City] employees" or somesuch drivel. Nice. Yeah, we low-tier Civil Servants make up all those stupid rules the general public hates. We wield absolute power over all. And we do it strictly to ruin the general public's day. Because, you know, we hate the general public. Our management has nothing to do with it. In fact, there isn't really any management. We just fabricate robots to sit at their desks, then we pocket their big salaries and laugh all the way to the bank.
Head. Bang. Wall. You know the rest.
Not only do you hate America, you hate Portland. I'm calling the Jane Galt goonsquad on you.
Kevin, how would you like to wake up Monday to find 12 mortgages and 68 liens placed on your lovely home ?
I WILL BURY YOU.
:p
The above works better if you imagine it said in a Yaphet-Koto-in-*Homicide* voice. ;)