Today's Tribune column: "On certain hot local topics."

Elements of today's column have appeared here in the blog. I generally refrain from verbatim reuse, a preference greatly assisted by a tendency toward compulsive (and annoying) revisions and rewrites of my material. I'm not at all sure what that means, except that there are too many words and not enough time.

BAYLOR: On certain hot local topics

Let's hope that the sun shines into the obscured conceptual niches of the political dark side, and tiny shoots of rationality start poking their way toward the light. If not, perhaps we can continue to rely on the council's only officially declared Republican to cast swing votes that really matter.

Just my 'pinion: Smack talk and death threats.

Americans seem increasingly adept at talking vitriolic nonsense, a festering malignancy that reflects declining educational standards, and which has been exaggerated by the cloaking capabilities of the Internet.

Just the same, I’m not sure it was a good idea for Mayor England to take the recent “death threats” to the city council and make them public.

To begin, exaggerating a lesser threat runs the risk of imbuing it with unwarranted credence. We’re not talking Al Qaeda here, folks, although an element of the dynamic remains consistent. Drunk, sober, real or imagined, a person choosing to make a threat in any situation wishes to alter the dynamic by insinuating a possibility of physical violence.

Most of it is bluster and bluff from the terminally doltish, but if making such threats public manages to frighten anyone, then it’s a mission accomplished by the bully. My gut feeling is that this should have been handled by the police without public notification until after the fact, when it could be done coolly and dispassionately rather than interjected when it was.

My wife disagrees, correctly noting that the current anger fetish making its way among those fearing impending marginalization (read: angry whites, many male, some not) provides justification for some of the unwashed and unbalanced among them to shift their rage from an Internet portal or telephone call and transform it into the realm of the physical, and that these buds are nest nipped early.

Hard to argue with those lines of thought, either.

However, now that these “death threats” are public, it would be a fine time for all elected officials in New Albany to make a public pledge of opposition to violence of any form – written, verbal or physical. This could come as a written, signed statement from City Hall, and a resolution from the council.

Anyone offering odds on whether councilmen Dan Coffey and Steve Price would abstain?

Isn't this a pertinent juncture for the revival of a Human Rights Commission?

Discussion?

Open thread: City council, sewer rates and death threats?

Obviously, I did not attend, although I'm confident that The King would have appreciated these emerging tan lines. Following are local media tweets in reverse chronological order up to the time of posting. If those in attendance have anything to add, please do, and I'll follow on Friday morning with links to newspaper coverage.

CJ_Harold_Adams @newalbanian It was a blast and still going when I left at 9:30.

CJ_Harold_Adams Sewer rate increase will have no effect until bond ordinance passes.

CJ_Harold_Adams Companion bond ordinance to sewer rate increaae tabled til 27th to update language to reflect selected rate option.

CJ_Harold_Adams Sewer rate increase passes on final reading 5-4. 23 percent immediately and 20 percent in 2012.

CJ_Harold_Adams Mayor England opened council mtg w angry attack on alleged death threats to members over vote on sewer rates. Calls for prosecution.

CJ_Harold_Adams Full time council attorney passes first two readings. Decisive third reading at next meeting.

trib_daniel Said it's over sewer rate

trib_daniel mayor says members oh his administration threatened, has on tape and will press charges