re: State Senate Bill May Save New Orleans Monuments

It's more basic than that man. Individuals' rights. Why should you have any say on how another city conducts its business locally?

This whole thread is literally:

Thank god the rest of the state can bail out New Orleans residents for entirely electing officials who don't support their interests.

Get some personal responsibility.

It's an interesting situation and I think I agree with you that local governments should make the final call (even though I disagree with Landrieu). I'm interested to see how it plays out with this bill being introduced.

I'm wondering if there's anything on the books about whether the committee or city takes precedence when it comes to monument related issues.

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This should be up to the citizens of New Orleans. Not the NOLA city council and not the State Senate. If opponents can college enough signatures to get a referendum put on the ballot and the people of Orleans parish vote to remove, that should be good enough for anyone.

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Pure democracy isn't exactly the best process when dealing with a fairly uneducated populace driven more by visceral emotions than by reason.

So the majority should not govern?

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If opponents can collect enough signatures to get a referendum put on the ballot and the people of Orleans parish vote to remove, that should be good enough for anyone.

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Agreed

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So the majority should not govern?

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If we're being honest about our form of government, it was designed to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

I'm not saying there aren't good reasons for removing the statues. I'm saying that doing something like this should be approached with caution and with a conservative attitude. Once you remove them, they may never come back.

Given the volatility of the current sociopolitical climate, it's very hard for the voices of reasoned men and women to be heard.

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So the majority should not govern?

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the majority of representatives governs better than the majority of hte population

Good. The majority of their local representatives made their decision.

FalseProphet, In a perfect world, yes the majority should govern. But this country is not comprised of perfect politicians who always act in the best interests of the community they represent. In this case, it's a black vs white issue, and that is not said in any racist context, simply as a matter of fact. And in this type of issue, it's all pure, raw, ugly politics vs what is good for the common cause. The "blacks " may win, the "whites" lose, but it's been a long time since N.O. has been so publically divided along racial lines. So the city loses in the big picture. This all originated from Landrieu, as he was quoted as saying one day while driving past Lee Circle: " how embarrassing it would be if my son ever asked me why a racist was honored by a such a prominent statute." No local black politician or citizen raised this issue. Landrieu did it for pure political reasons, knowing he is term limited & will be looking for a plum political job down the road. Under Hillary perhaps.