holy facism batman!
Posted: 4/24/2003, 2:06 pm
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/5576044.htm
ay carumba! fuck i am so glad i don't live in "progressive" california. somebody needs to do something about these crazy hippies.
Posted on Mon, Apr. 07, 2003
Looking down on frowns
DISGUSTED EXPRESSIONS ARE OUT TOO IF P.A. COUNCIL PASSES CONDUCT PROPOSAL
By Nicole C. Wong
Mercury News
Palo Alto may need to call in the Demeanor Police.
The city council is wrestling with a code of conduct that urges elected officials not to roll their eyes. Or shake their heads. Or frown.
Experts say the council's plan to discourage non-verbal forms of ``disagreement or disgust'' is odd, unenforceable and almost an infringement on free speech.
``It's just bizarre,'' says University of Kansas Professor Burdett Loomis, who specializes in political civility. ``You'd be thinking all the time, `What expression do I have on my face?' ''
He adds: ``When is someone frowning? Maybe that's their ordinary look.''
Palo Alto is the last city in Santa Clara County without a handbook on city council do's and don'ts, according to Mayor Dena Mossar.
The council began drafting one almost a year ago. Council members shuddered after seeing an elected official in neighboring Mountain View convicted of violating a rule on interacting with city staff.
But it quickly became clear that Palo Alto council members had bigger problems dealing with each other. Their bickering stole the spotlight at meetings, and it became obvious they just couldn't get along.
So now they're engineering the appearance of courtesy and cooperation.
Experts acknowledge that civility plays an important role in politics. It allows decision-makers to ``disagree without being so disagreeable,'' Loomis says.
But politicians usually don't push politeness rules so far.
Council member Judy Kleinberg, who led the committee that drafted the guidelines, says council members should show each other more respect by following ``the rules we learned in kindergarten.''
That, she says, means no ``tsking'' or exclaiming, ``Oh my gosh!''
``I don't want to muzzle my colleagues,'' she says. But they should try to act like adults.
``I don't think the people sitting around the Cabinet with the president roll their eyes,'' she says.
At a meeting last month, council members spent almost five hours picking at the eight pages of proposed protocols, which contain 44 points ranging from being familiar with issues on the agenda to addressing each other by their formal titles.
They'll take another look at the how-to-behave guide May 5.
Council member Jim Burch wishes they would just get it over with.
``It's a waste of time,'' Burch says. ``We've got more important things to do.''
Some spectators agree.
Joseph M. Hardegree, a 38-year-old information technology manager who grew up in Palo Alto, says the council's situation would be ``kind of hilarious if it wasn't so tragic.''
``What a waste of taxpayer money,'' says Hardegree, now a resident of San Francisco. ``We have our problems in San Francisco, but gosh.''
Hardegree cites the examination of facial expressions and body language as a prime example of the ``Palo Alto mindset,'' which focuses on ``unbelievable minutia.''
But council member Nancy Lytle, who was at the center of the past year's controversies, says this is no laughing matter. As someone who frequently gestures and exhibits emotions, Lytle worries about being stripped of her power to persuade.
So she wrote a memo calling for the clause regulating body language to instead ask for ``respectful silence and decorum, paying and showing signs of attention while colleagues, staff or the public have the floor.''
But her latest idea hasn't caught Kleinberg's attention.
``I didn't look at them,'' Kleinberg says of the suggestions in Lytle's memo. ``I had other things to do.''
Experts say Palo Alto's effort to ensure ``decorum in discussions and debate'' is over the top. Local governing bodies aiming to increase civility usually stick to censoring content, rather than conduct.
``You can say: `No personal attacks,' `No profanity,' '' Loomis says. ``But to try to govern body language and facial expressions -- which may or may not be voluntary . . . somewhere, common sense just has to take over.''
And at some point, the law kicks in.
Freedom of speech allows everyone to grimace or roll their eyes, said Terry Francke, general counsel for the non-profit California First Amendment Coalition. While Palo Alto's proposed protocol seems to stifle that Constitutional right, it doesn't say a word about enforcement.
``I would love to be in the audience the first time this goes into effect to see who is expected to be the demeanor police,'' Francke said. ``What happens if a council member is caught grinning too much? Are they going to be asked to put on a mask?''
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ay carumba! fuck i am so glad i don't live in "progressive" california. somebody needs to do something about these crazy hippies.
Posted on Mon, Apr. 07, 2003
Looking down on frowns
DISGUSTED EXPRESSIONS ARE OUT TOO IF P.A. COUNCIL PASSES CONDUCT PROPOSAL
By Nicole C. Wong
Mercury News
Palo Alto may need to call in the Demeanor Police.
The city council is wrestling with a code of conduct that urges elected officials not to roll their eyes. Or shake their heads. Or frown.
Experts say the council's plan to discourage non-verbal forms of ``disagreement or disgust'' is odd, unenforceable and almost an infringement on free speech.
``It's just bizarre,'' says University of Kansas Professor Burdett Loomis, who specializes in political civility. ``You'd be thinking all the time, `What expression do I have on my face?' ''
He adds: ``When is someone frowning? Maybe that's their ordinary look.''
Palo Alto is the last city in Santa Clara County without a handbook on city council do's and don'ts, according to Mayor Dena Mossar.
The council began drafting one almost a year ago. Council members shuddered after seeing an elected official in neighboring Mountain View convicted of violating a rule on interacting with city staff.
But it quickly became clear that Palo Alto council members had bigger problems dealing with each other. Their bickering stole the spotlight at meetings, and it became obvious they just couldn't get along.
So now they're engineering the appearance of courtesy and cooperation.
Experts acknowledge that civility plays an important role in politics. It allows decision-makers to ``disagree without being so disagreeable,'' Loomis says.
But politicians usually don't push politeness rules so far.
Council member Judy Kleinberg, who led the committee that drafted the guidelines, says council members should show each other more respect by following ``the rules we learned in kindergarten.''
That, she says, means no ``tsking'' or exclaiming, ``Oh my gosh!''
``I don't want to muzzle my colleagues,'' she says. But they should try to act like adults.
``I don't think the people sitting around the Cabinet with the president roll their eyes,'' she says.
At a meeting last month, council members spent almost five hours picking at the eight pages of proposed protocols, which contain 44 points ranging from being familiar with issues on the agenda to addressing each other by their formal titles.
They'll take another look at the how-to-behave guide May 5.
Council member Jim Burch wishes they would just get it over with.
``It's a waste of time,'' Burch says. ``We've got more important things to do.''
Some spectators agree.
Joseph M. Hardegree, a 38-year-old information technology manager who grew up in Palo Alto, says the council's situation would be ``kind of hilarious if it wasn't so tragic.''
``What a waste of taxpayer money,'' says Hardegree, now a resident of San Francisco. ``We have our problems in San Francisco, but gosh.''
Hardegree cites the examination of facial expressions and body language as a prime example of the ``Palo Alto mindset,'' which focuses on ``unbelievable minutia.''
But council member Nancy Lytle, who was at the center of the past year's controversies, says this is no laughing matter. As someone who frequently gestures and exhibits emotions, Lytle worries about being stripped of her power to persuade.
So she wrote a memo calling for the clause regulating body language to instead ask for ``respectful silence and decorum, paying and showing signs of attention while colleagues, staff or the public have the floor.''
But her latest idea hasn't caught Kleinberg's attention.
``I didn't look at them,'' Kleinberg says of the suggestions in Lytle's memo. ``I had other things to do.''
Experts say Palo Alto's effort to ensure ``decorum in discussions and debate'' is over the top. Local governing bodies aiming to increase civility usually stick to censoring content, rather than conduct.
``You can say: `No personal attacks,' `No profanity,' '' Loomis says. ``But to try to govern body language and facial expressions -- which may or may not be voluntary . . . somewhere, common sense just has to take over.''
And at some point, the law kicks in.
Freedom of speech allows everyone to grimace or roll their eyes, said Terry Francke, general counsel for the non-profit California First Amendment Coalition. While Palo Alto's proposed protocol seems to stifle that Constitutional right, it doesn't say a word about enforcement.
``I would love to be in the audience the first time this goes into effect to see who is expected to be the demeanor police,'' Francke said. ``What happens if a council member is caught grinning too much? Are they going to be asked to put on a mask?''
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