January 22, 2003
Council Shitcans Antiwar Resolution
After nearly 2 1/2 hours of public testimony, beginning with Congressman Earl Blumenauer, the Portland City Council rejected a proposed antiwar resolution by a 2-2 tie vote.
Commissioners Francesconi and Leonard voted against the proposed resolution, while Commissioner Sten and Mayor Katz voted in favor. Commissioner Saltzman was absent, out on some personal matter, but he was known to be a vote against the resolution in advance of the hearing today.
Leonard and Katz were, in some sense, the surprises.
Leonard's position was a surprise mainly because his reasoning cannot in truth be called by that name. Having first explained that he simply didn't know enough, he then proceeded not to abstain from voting -- the proper course of action when one does not know enough -- but to vote against the resolution for two inexplicable reasons:
1. Because nearly 3,000 Americans were killed on September 11, 2001 (an act which, of course, has nothing whatsoever to do with Iraq); and
2. Because during the first Gulf War, Israel valiantly refrained from retaliating against Iraq's Scud missiles (an act for which, apparently, we are now expected to reward Israel by taking out Hussein once and for all).
So it wasn't so much that Leonard didn't know enough, but rather that what he thought he did know made no legitimate sense.
For even short-term City Hall watchers, Katz's vote in favor was somewhat unexpected. Especially since she began he explanatory statement, before pronouncing her vote, by relating her childhood in Germany during the rise of Hitler, and how so many people and nations around the world stood by in silence. Her point, she said, was to illustrate that sometimes the decision to go to war is unavoidable, as it was in World War Two.
But we are not now, she continued after a beat, at that point when it comes to Iraq.
So there you have it. After some 40 or so cities across the country have passed similar resolutions, Portland gives that movement the big Rose City finger.
What today's events mean for the nascent process of convincing the City Council to take up yet another contentious national issue -- civil liberties in the aftermath of 9/11 -- remains to be seen. Although I, both as an observer today and an organizer for the civil liberties campaign, don't hold out all that much hope.
Comments (8)
The One True b!X on 22 Jan 2003
Me, I will be at Bar of the Gods to have a recuperating drink and ponder the future of City Hall "national issues" activism.
Elaine on 22 Jan 2003
This is a dark, dark time for this country and all who believe in what it is supposed to stand for. You're fighting the good fight; but the times might be such that "good" will not finish first.
Jack Bogdanski on 22 Jan 2003
Don't despair on the civil rights issue. That is one on which City Council action can actually affect the outcome. How the Portland police treat people in this difficult time is truly a local concern. If the City Council tells the police to lay off the heavyhanded Ashcroft tactics, they might just do so rather than face an unhappy Council.
In contrast, as for the war, with all due respect, who really cares whether the Portland City Council thinks we should go to war? They have no more to do with it than anybody else. It's like asking whether the Blazers or the school board are against the war, or what Sean Penn or Sheryl Crow thinks. It makes no real difference.
Also, earth to Vera, I'm kind of tired of hearing how the U.S. is acting like Hitler. When the Holocaust analogies come out, my bullshit detector starts ringing big time.
Steve on 23 Jan 2003
Via their positions on this resolution, I have been trying to draw insights into the Council's minds regarding the Reservoir issue. Maybe it doesn't work, since Francesconi and Leonard are the 2 I figured most sympathetic to the reservoirs. But then we do have Saltzman, the Water Bureau head, who was conspicuously absent and yes, who would have voted no.
Steve on 23 Jan 2003
Via their positions on this resolution, I have been trying to draw insights into the Council's minds regarding the Reservoir issue. Maybe it doesn't work, since Francesconi and Leonard are the 2 I figured most sympathetic to the reservoirs. But then we do have Saltzman, the Water Bureau head, who was conspicuously absent and yes, who would have voted no.
The One True b!X on 23 Jan 2003
Also, earth to Vera, I'm kind of tired of hearing how the U.S. is acting like Hitler. When the Holocaust analogies come out, my bullshit detector starts ringing big time.
To be fair to Vera here, that's not what she was saying. She was illustrating through her personal history that sometimes the decision to go to war is unavoidable. She did so in order to set up the contrast with today's situation, in which we have not reached the point at which that decision is unavoidable.
The One True b!X on 23 Jan 2003
Today's coverage from The Oregonian. Ongoing coverage and commentary from Portland IndyMedia Center is here, here, and here.
Jack Bogdanski on 23 Jan 2003
Sorry if I missed the mayor's point. When people start reaching for the Holocaust for analogies, I tend to tune out.
I guess she's saying Saddam is nowhere near as bad as Hitler, at least not yet, so let's lay off for now. Fair enough.