TIME FOR A BATH

A lot of folks link to L.A.W., and I normally don't report that.  Today, however, I came across a new link to this website I found interesting.  It's from a blog* whose allegedly conservative authors are rolling their eyes at the disgust we peasants here have voiced over the players' shenanigans at city hall.  One of them, having once worked inside the bowels of city government (as an intern), this now all-knowing critic lets us know that there is a lot of crap going on there -- but, hey, that's how the sausage gets made and so outsiders like us should get a clue.  Maybe.  But then getting used to the muck (maybe a little too quickly), perhaps our impressionable young critic no longer notices the stench.  That's when it's helpful to have an outsider note that it's time for a bath.

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* It appears that the relevant remarks in this blog entry have been deleted since we originally linked to it.  It may be nothing more than an error on our end or theirs, but it's a small matter in any event.  We apologize for the confusion.  See here for further commentary on criticism of the Local Area Watch.

Comments

[Steve Goulet]

I can't make sense of this, it looks like these guys are just talking about sports (specifically about a trade the Tigers could make to improve their already excellent pitching). Maybe you posted the wrong link?

Thanks,

--Steve

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Steve.

The link is correct, but the entry has been changed. The original "Conspiracy Theories Abound ..." entry had some baseball chat in it, but also remarks about websites that had negative commentary on a city attorney that one of the bloggers knew from an internship.

Regards, Bill

[NW Activist]

Steve and Bill,

I can confirm that the information posted on the blog site has, in fact, been changed from what it said earlier last week to all sports-related stuff now. This guy was definitely talking about his internship at the G.R. City Attorney's office, and how all the corruption that takes place there is just part of the regular, everyday activity at city hall. Maybe City Attorney Phil Balkema got wind of this former intern's boasting on his blog and got a little nervous that the guy might blab out something that would be criminally incriminating? I think that's very interesting, don't you? Thanks for making us aware of this site, Bill. Our group will be watching and monitoring it from now on.

[The Executive Director]

Thanks for the confirmation, Phyllis.

It wasn't clear to me from the original post and comments that the bloggers' object of admiration was Balkema or that they were admitting to knowledge of criminal (as opposed to unethical) activity. Moreover, I don't think we need to take too seriously the prattlings of the beer-swilling law students who maintain the blog.

However, their remarks provided an opportunity for a useful lesson. Yes, it's naive to believe that there is no corruption in the city government, however it's never naive to be outraged by it. To not be is cynical, and cynicism is a cop-out. It is a surrender of virtue to vice.

Regards, Bill