Here's another risk to the future of humanity
/
herbie salamon’s grandfather (standing)
After issuing a clarion call for unfettered, unlimited abortion, the group calling itself “Greenwich Voices for Democracy” turns its attention to and politicizes another urgent matter: Greenwich Avenue “bump-outs”:
From their victory proclamation, with supplemental editorial comment in brackets:
This Monday night at the RTM (Representative Town Meeting) meeting reason won over theatrics.
The outrage machine [someone’s outraged, alright, but whom?] powered by the new leadership of the Republican Town Committee (RTC) failed [by one vote] to garner the necessary votes to strike the state-funded grant to add new safety and ADA-compliant [“safety” and “ADA” — words of virtue in any policy discussion] bump-outs on Greenwich Avenue.
With this new RTC outrage machine, [there’s that term again] we have seen, firsthand how this radical-right [heard that one, too] RTC plans to run local politics in Greenwich. They organized around misinformation [quick, call Merrick Garland!] They managed to get dozens and dozens of residents, almost entirely Republican [“almost”, but not all Republican: Mr. John B. Cooper, Democrat from Rock Ridge, has demanded the return of traffic policemen to the Avenue, because the rich have always preferred white-gloved concierge service] nearly none of whom live in the downtown area, [must one live on or adjacent to Greenwich Avenue to have an opinion on this matter? Is Belle Haven considered “downtown”?] to write angry emails to the entire RTM body. And, with their experience from hijacking Board of Education meetings, they jammed [I believe that means a lot of them showed up to lobby their representatives — how dare they?] RTM committee meetings and shouted down Town officials [what’s your position on shouting down justices of the Supreme Court? Conservative speakers on campuses? Busting up church services? Just wondering.]
Since 2016, as democratic norms lay shattered one by one, and Trump [whew! Four paragraphs in, and they still hadn’t brought in the Orange Man — I was getting worried] took a stranglehold on the Republican Party, our local, Greenwich Republican leadership repeatedly said that’s not us. They promised that what’s happening in Washington is there, but we are here, focusing on local issues that matter to people’s lives. [and if there was ever an non-local, international issue, it’s bumps on Greenwich Avenue. Next up for consideration by the UN, replanting crocuses on the 2nd Congo’s hill].
Well, that’s no longer the case with the newly-elected leadership of the Greenwich RTC. They easily fall in step with the national radical right [again with the term?] and have enthusiastically adopted their causes and their tactics.
As these things go, what happens on Greenwich Avenue matters as much to me as the doings of organic farmers on John Street; I’ve avoided the place since it went Rodeo Drive back in the 90s, and if I’ve been on it ten times in the past three decades, that’s a lot. But I am interested in what these ladies of “Greenwich Voices for Democracy” née “Invisible Greenwich” are complaining about:
Organizing in opposition to a political issue
Sending letters opposing that issue to their elected representatives
Attending RTM committee meetings
Voting, as RTM members themselves, against the issue and speaking against the proposal
These are still the basic rights of citizenship in America; it’s disturbing that a group masquerading as a supporter of Democracy is so opposed to the exercise of those rights.
