The Leader Of The Band
Lest there be any doubt about who thinks he is providing direction for the new city council majority, one need only read the most recent offering on the blog published by a guy who very much resembles my theoretical character, Your Neighbor.
He closes his pathetic little tome with a reminder to the new majority on the council that they'd better follow his lead, or else. He reminds them of "a former City Council member" - a not-too-veiled reference to the chronically inept Chris Steel - a man Your Neighbor took credit for getting elected in 2000, then got him "un-elected" in 2004 when Steel turned his back on him after he realized just what an insidious force he was in our city.
It looks like Your Neighbor feels it necessary to remind his little flock that he's in charge - the guy with all the ideas and strategy - so they'd better toe his line if they don't want to end up like Steel.
I would never defend Steel's performance as a councilman. He was hapless and incompetent, but benign. This new crew, though, is far from benign. With an unbreakable majority, they will just continue to inflict damage on our city with no way to stop them.
So, as we move into 2007, I find myself wondering how those 10,122 voters who elected Mansoor feel about having a neo-Nazi calling the shots in our city. Will they just sit quietly back while he provides the song book for the new majority as they go about expunging the Latinos from within our borders? Will they cheer these moves or cringe when they realize what they have done to this city with their votes? The 49+% of us who didn't vote for Mansoor and Leece are already seeing our fears coming to pass as the ruling troika has begun formulating plans to institutionalize the quashing of debate of important issues when they come before the city council. If they are successful, no longer will our young jailer/mayor be obliged to go through the formality of hearing divergent viewpoints on issues when he already has his mind made up - he will simply cut off the debate whenever he darn well pleases and call for a vote.
Meanwhile, Your Neighbor stands on the podium, baton in hand, ready to lead his little band of "music makers" in the destruction of our city - a city already reeling from the reputation Mansoor and his crew have inflicted on it as a bastion of intolerance.
Do you recall that I warned about your rights being trampled next? This is how it starts...
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 12/20/2006 01:21:00 AM
4 Comments:
Good to see you are focusing like a laser on the who, and not the what, that is degrading this city.
I direct your attention to the most recent entry on Byron de Arakal's Itchingpost.com blog. He and the author of the CM Press seem to be on the same page.
Whoh! Is the grasshopper turning on his Master, the student on his self-proclaimed mime? Are you saying that Byron is also a Neo-Nazi as you have called the author of the CM Press?
When I read Byron's latest blog entry it seemed to me that he was recounting the recent history of politics in our city and not advocating for the ideas he suggested were required for the current majority to get re-elected.
Your reaction and implied interpretation of his work is very interesting.
Lurker,
No, I'm not saying that Byron is a neo-Nazi like that other fella. The other guy has a body of work over many years, written and oral, that make that assertion irrefutable. I won't try to put words in Byron's mouth about his motives. It seems clear that he views the fact that slightly over half of the voters chose Mansoor and Leece in November as a clear signal that those 10,000 or so voters agree with them and want them to continue on their path. Nowhere in Byron's posting did I read that he agreed with Mansoor and Leece (and Bever, too) on the issues - just that apparently many people did.
No, I think he has thrown down the gauntlet at the feet of the new majority. The way I read it, he's saying to this trio, "OK, let's see what you've got!" Basically, he's challenging them to put up or shut up.
I agree with his assessment of the impact on this community of those items he lists at the end of his post. The phrase "firestorm of controversy" comes to mind as I contemplate just how the residents of this city may react to any of the actions he proposes, much less all four of them. I also agree that, if they proceed along those lines, the turmoil that marked the past year due to the ICE proposal will look like a picnic at Fairview Park by comparison.
Do I agree with Byron's suggestions? Nope, I do not. I think there's a good chance that the first two would be found to be unconstitutional, despite the fact that Hazleton, Pennsylvania has passed just such ordinances earlier this year. Nor do I think there is any chance the new majority will suffer he same fate as Chris Steel, the most incompetent public official in my memory. At least, not for the same reasons. I don't think they will turn their backs on their core benefactors as Steel did. I think they are of one mind and will lock arms and stomp, lock-step, through the rights of residents of this city for at least the next two years. They've already laid the groundwork to stifle opposing views, which will likely be implemented within the first month of next year - probably in the first meeting, since Katrina Foley will be absent and Mansoor won't have to deal with her debate of the issue.
As far as what you're trying to read in my previous comment, above - I just observed that Byron and the CM Press author said the same thing in slightly different ways. In my view, Byron's observations were matter-of-fact, while the other guy's was a threat. Make of that what you will.
Regardless, thanks for writing.
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