Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Tense times in River City
Tonight the City Council voted to ask Gayor West to resign. As before, there was considerable public comment and considerable smarm by the council. This time, Grand Lion Eugster got into the act.
Along with asking West to resign, Council is also amending the city charter to gain some impeachment power, because the current setup (in which council can't do anything to a mayor) clearly led to the current unresolvable mess.
Former councilman Eugster, who wrote the current charter, tried to take control of the proceedings several times, and narrowly escaped being forcibly removed.
Eugster vs the world (3 mb WMV clip, captured from public access cable a few minutes ago)
Eugster is a supreme megalomaniac, an absolute populist purist and an expert demagogue. Needless to say, he ended up comparing the council to Hitler.
Aside from the demagoguery, his basic point is simply wrong. As a defense lawyer, Eugster sees the world in terms of due process. He fundamentally misunderstands politics, which has everything to do with reputation and very little to do with due process.
West himself seems to share the same misunderstanding, from a different angle; he somehow believes that all will be okay if he can answer the charges. Trouble is, he's answering the charges on national TV, while refusing to speak to the council.
Council is ridin' for the brand, trying to preserve civilization. It doesn't matter whether a court would find West technically guilty or innocent. It doesn't matter if the Cowles newspaper acted unethically in conducting a sting (which it probably did). At this point, preserving the city requires removing West from office, and that's what the Council is trying to do by all available means. ¶ 8:48 PM
Tonight the City Council voted to ask Gayor West to resign. As before, there was considerable public comment and considerable smarm by the council. This time, Grand Lion Eugster got into the act.
Along with asking West to resign, Council is also amending the city charter to gain some impeachment power, because the current setup (in which council can't do anything to a mayor) clearly led to the current unresolvable mess.
Former councilman Eugster, who wrote the current charter, tried to take control of the proceedings several times, and narrowly escaped being forcibly removed.
Eugster vs the world (3 mb WMV clip, captured from public access cable a few minutes ago)
Eugster is a supreme megalomaniac, an absolute populist purist and an expert demagogue. Needless to say, he ended up comparing the council to Hitler.
Aside from the demagoguery, his basic point is simply wrong. As a defense lawyer, Eugster sees the world in terms of due process. He fundamentally misunderstands politics, which has everything to do with reputation and very little to do with due process.
West himself seems to share the same misunderstanding, from a different angle; he somehow believes that all will be okay if he can answer the charges. Trouble is, he's answering the charges on national TV, while refusing to speak to the council.
Council is ridin' for the brand, trying to preserve civilization. It doesn't matter whether a court would find West technically guilty or innocent. It doesn't matter if the Cowles newspaper acted unethically in conducting a sting (which it probably did). At this point, preserving the city requires removing West from office, and that's what the Council is trying to do by all available means. ¶ 8:48 PM
