Opinion

As usual, our readers are doing a great job of analyzing the local election results in these pages, and we really don’t need to add much. We have just a few observations on the stylistic issues which affected the campaigns for local taxes. Our front page election night photos said it all. They were taken by a photographer who doesn’t cover city politics, didn’t necessarily know the names and numbers of the players, and just shot what he saw. In the Measure B victory photo we saw a bunch of happy parents lifting apple slices to toast their victory. Among them were fathers Dan Lindheim and Larry Gordon, who darn near drove us at the Planet crazy with a steady stream of letters, commentary pieces and “informational” phone calls. Voters who were paying any attention at all to local elections couldn’t miss the message; if they didn’t catch it in the Planet, they could have seen the hundreds of signs on their neighbors’ lawns around town. Good job, guys. -more-

A friend has a post-election analysis: “I’m disgusted and fed up with the working class in this country. They sold out their own self interest for the right to yell ‘faggot’ out of their pick-ups.” She’s got a point. About half of the American electorate has once again distinguished itself by preferring snake oil to vitamins—not the first time this has happened historically, not even the first time in my lifetime, but it’s always disheartening to see this self-destructive behavior in action. -more-