I
attended the annual League of Oregon Cities conference in Eugene a few
months ago. It was very informative. I met quite a few nice people. I
also won a nifty coffee mug.
After going to a few seminars and
listening to endless conversations in the hospitality rooms after the
regular day sessions, I discovered how to decipher the meaning of
political speech. It goes something like this:
I'm an elected official. The other guy is just a politician.
I
am passionate about my cause because it comes from the heart. The other
guy is just trying to advance his personal political agenda.
I
oppose the other side's position in the spirit of meaningful dissent in
the marketplace of ideas. The other guy is engaging in hate speech.
But the best quote of the day came from keynote speaker Bill Grace from Seattle's Center for Ethical Leadership. I'm not making this up. Are you ready? Here it is:
"Government is the moral center of the community".
oooohhkaay........ I did not know that. . .