The supervisors of a Pennsylvania have been reminded that being an elected representative in a democratic republic does not mean carte blanche for the representatives to do whatever they please. Read A Dog's Life for the details.
Posted by Andrea Harris at March 1, 2003 01:25 AMIt boggles the mind that these extremely minor Pennsylvania functionaries should think that their duties include passing resolutions on matters proper to the federal government alone. But they're not the first, are they? Berkeley has been doing that sort of thing for half of forever.
Imagine the fury that would rage if the fifty state legislatures were to do the same thing. Imagine if the final tally were close, or tied twenty-five states "for" to twenty-five states "against." It would be Election Night 2000 all over again -- and this time on a matter of life and death to thousands.
I think we all know who's to blame.
Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at March 1, 2003 at 06:59 AMAs someone who works for a state legislature, I think it's incumbent on me to say that the divide wouldn't be anywhere near that close. Even the most leftwing legislatures would be close calls on this, while in most states an antiwar resolution would have pretty much no chance whatsoever.
That said, of course this is the exclusive province of the federal government. The states and locals are free to have their say, but doing so has no more real effect than the opinions of private citizens. As this story demonstrates, it's a great way for local pols to overreach and alienate their constituents, though.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at March 1, 2003 at 08:31 AM"As this story demonstrates, it's a great way for local pols to overreach and alienate their constituents, though."
Sounds like something I'd be for, then. }:->
Posted by: Kevin McGehee at March 1, 2003 at 01:08 PM