Rahm Emanuel’s dangerous free speech attack

Nope, Mayor's should not use their powers this way. But right now all they are doing is being very public about their dislike for a certain businesses, which is fine an I applaud them for it. It's pretty facist for the government to ban businesses based on their leadership's opinions (yes, choosing how to spend your money is protected under free speech in the US.)

 

The mayor did nothing wrong, he simply expressed his opinion in an attempt to garner public support. He never once said in his letter that he would prevent the company from operating in Boston, he didn't even imply it. He simply said that he urged them not to open a location there, as it would be an insult to a diverse and accepting city.

This was brilliant politics on his part. Not only did he make Chick-fil-A look bad, but he showed the people of Boston that he is willing to stand up for them, and got international attention doing so. Personally, I think he just guaranteed his reelection.

 

Actually, I think Menino made a huge mess out of this as much as I appreciate his sentiments. The letter was ok yes, but before that Menino gave some damaging quotes to the press.

Mayor Menino on Chick-fil-A: Stuff it - BostonHerald.com

This is the first report on any of this that I know of. In here Menino is quoted saying “If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult — unless they open up their policies.” To me that basically means he's threatening to use the licensing process to arbitrarily ban businesses with views he doesn't condone. Talk about abuse of power! As the gay community, we don't want to go up against free speech. It's a terrible and unnecessary position to make our case from and we'll lose. Here in Boston this has given all the homophobes a chance to come out of the woodwork and clobber us on opposing freedom of expression, and it's been driving me crazy. I just want this story to go away.

Also, Menino will be reelected indefinitely until he decides to quit. Somehow he's a fixture here even though I don't think he's the smartest guy :dry: