Our leaders have just unveiled their new line of clothing for the upcoming season, and it is see-through, but they would have us believe that it is the wardrobe of democracy.
In reality it is nothing short of a raw and deliberate abuse of power. Sadly, however, they have also found many willing tailors amongst Peachtree City residents to perform this pantomime with them.
Last Thursday night five elected officials met at the Peachtree City Council meeting to discuss and determine the fate of gas golf carts in our town. The fact that they considered this a valid topic of discussion in the first place should strike fear and trembling into the heart of every Peachtree City resident. Such a use of power is a scary thing.
When a town’s lawmakers enact rules based on their preferences, the would-be tailors may find that the next time they appear in this garb, they will not be so pleased with the sight. As a matter of fact they may just have some of their property outlawed because the council doesn’t like it, although they’d be given 10 years to get rid of it. This is the first step to tyranny.
And lest you think I’m painting a bleak and foreboding picture from a slightly cloudy day, Council member Eric Imker at least had the decency to be honest about this. After listing all the arguments for and against the ban and labeling them nothing more than “emotional issues” or “a wash,” he stated that it really boiled down to this: they stink, he doesn’t like the smell, away with them all.
That’s the problem with naked power: it is an obscene fashion. Smell and noise are highly subjective standards by which to judge vehicles. The measure of all things legal will have become the likes and dislikes of the majority of the City Council which we must conform to.
The online survey that was touted showing that the vast majority of the population supported the ban was held up as reason enough to enact the ban. (Could people vote more than once and so skew the results? I truly hope it was the result of an active few rather than the majority.) The disturbing fact is that it shows some would encourage the City Council to act as their personal goons to force their fellow citizens to comply with their wishes and desires.
The would-be tailors, denying any complicity, have ignored the obvious and encouraged council members Imker, Sturbaum, and Mayor Haddix, who seem unashamed to employ their power in this manner, to force their own tastes on others and to declare it to be fashionable.
Credit goes to council member Vanessa Fleisch for playing the part of the little boy who proclaimed the truth about the emperor’s/council and their attire. It is time we stood alongside her and decried this abuse of power lest nakedness become commonplace.
Donetta Toussaint
Peachtree City, Ga.
