Chicago's City Council, not considered one of the more effective political bodies on the planet, drifted further into irreverence this week.
And behind it all all Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward. That lakefront ward is just south of Evanston, so the moonbattiness from the Leftist suburb has slipped into Moore's consciousness.
In 2003, Moore sponsored one of those meaningless resolutions opposing the US-led coalition invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Guess what? We invaded anyway and Saddam is awaiting trial for his crimes against humanity.
Now Alderman Moore is behind another City Council resolution.
From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required:
A City Council committee on Monday weighed in on the war in Iraq, hearing emotional testimony on both sides of the issue before advancing a resolution calling for an "orderly and rapid" withdrawal of American troops.
If the full council approves the measure, Chicago would be one of the first big cities in the country officially to urge the federal government to end the war, said Ald. Joseph Moore (49th), a lead sponsor of the resolution, already endorsed by 40 of the council's 50 aldermen. The council will consider the measure Wednesday.
And what heft might Chicago's opinion have?
"When you have a city as diverse as Chicago is and large as Chicago is weighing in on this important issue, I think it will have real impact," Moore said. "We are not Berkeley, Calif., or Madison, Wis., that routinely passes this sort of resolution. We are from the heartland."
(It goes on...)
The council's Human Relations Committee, which considered the resolution, has received a letter of support from Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist and mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.
The "heartland city" of Chicago is made up of 50 wards. In 2000, Al Gore won every one of those wards. In 2004, John Kerry repeated the Democratic sweep of Chicago.
This afternoon, Alderman Moore was one of the speakers at a downtown Chicago rally organized to express opposition the war in Iraq, as NBC 5 Chicago reports.
But Alderman Moore wasn't done for the day. The versatile lawmaker has proposed a law banning foie-gras in Chicago:
(This comes from the Chicago Tribune too, but I found a Duluth, MN newspaper link without a registration requirement.)
Once the hog butcher for the world, Chicago could become a foie-gras-free zone if the City Council adopts a proposal to ban the fancy liver dish made by force feeding ducks or geese.
Such a change would have a limited effect on Chicago and the state as a whole. Fact is, most people wouldn't miss the buttery delicacy.
Birds are not raised for foie gras anywhere in Illinois, and it is served at only a handful of high-priced restaurants and specialty markets, where it can go for $100 a pound.
(Some more)
Foie gras, which translates from the French as "fatted liver," is usually served as pate. It is created when grain slurry is forced down a tube into the esophagus of geese or ducks to make their livers expand. The process, which bloats the liver to six to ten times its normal size, is tortuous, acceptable or even agreeable for the birds, depending on whom you ask about the contentious issue.
"I have been asked on a number of occasions why I introduced this ordinance," said Alderman Joe Moore.
"The answer is very simple," he said. "Our culture does not condone the torture of innocent and defenseless creatures."
Moore said he wasn't sure if he had ever eaten foie-gras.
Of the seven aldermen who showed up Tuesday for the hearing before the Committee on Health, three said they were certain they had never eaten it.
In fact, some weren't sure what it was.
That's the latest from the heartland tonight. Drop in tomorrow, as I'll certainly find more craziness to report on.
And the next time I drive into a pot-hole on one of Chicago's streets, I'll still smile knowing at least one alderman wants to ban foie-gras in the Windy City.
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