One of the most active left wing folks around my part of the world is Kalamazoo City Commissioner Don Cooney. Cooney’s sort of a left wing institution around here and when he was elected to the city commission several years ago, the local paper quoted a local Republican official as saying something to the effect that the city should be renamed the People’s Republic of Kalamazoo.
Anyway, Cooney is anything if not consistent, especially when it comes to civil liberties. For example, Cooney’s official web site mentions his opposition to the Patriot Act (the city passed a watered down, pointless resolution against the Patriot Act),
We have to advocate for policies that are going to affect our people. That’s why I am so supportive of the resolution challenging the Patriot Act which I think severely limits the civil liberties of our people.
Don’t mistake Cooney for one of those knee-jerk civil liberties types always trying to uphold free speech at every turn, however. For the last several years he’s also been one of the leaders of a right-left collaboration to get rid of live nude dancing in the city.
The city’s about to pass an anti-nudity ordinance that would make that illegal (with some sort of lame exemption for the arts). According to Cooney, banning live nude dancing is okay because,
I think there’s strong evidence that businesses like these damage families . . . and dehumanize women.
Everybody gets to be John Ashcroft for a day, apparently.
Sources:
Don Cooney for Kalamazoo web site.
Citizens support nudity ban. Ed Finnerty, Kalamazoo Gazette, March 30, 2004.
