On The Bright Side, The Demand For More Trailer Parks Will Probably Create Jobs

Ah, democracy. What other system of government lets the people decide what elected representatives should focus their energies on, then provides support through taxes to fund those policies that have become, by popular definition the common good.

Of course some people's definition of what should be common because it's good is a little different.

The council near the end of its 70-minute meeting heard the first reading of a proposal to amend the ordinance the city’s governing body previously adopted putting in place the Uniform Public Offense Code developed by the League of Kansas Municipalities. The council is expected next week to consider the proposed changes, which would include repealing the part of the code that bans domestic battery.

OK, so the first thing we're thinking is that if you make domestic battery legal Cops will never film in your city again. Plus, according to several leading economists, repeal of the ban would not appreciably affect the sale of men's undershirts.

The city attorney’s office says the repeal would force Taylor, who said Sept. 8 he would no longer prosecute misdemeanors committed in Topeka, including domestic battery, to start prosecuting that crime again. Dombrowski told the council her mother always told her two wrongs don’t make a right. She said repealing the part of city ordinance banning domestic battery would be “the second wrong” after Taylor stopped prosecuting those crimes.

Now, let's make sure we understand this. Even though, at the present time, it's illegal to punch out your spouse, the city attorney isn't prosecuting those cases anyway?  We thought only bankers could decide what laws they wanted to follow.

Mayor Bill Bunten responded that everyone on the council supports punishing those who commit domestic battery. He also said that if anyone thinks those who commit domestic battery will go unpunished here, “they’re dead wrong.”

"Course some of you will be just plain dead," he added. "But hey, you think we got some sort of nanny state going on here? You really want government in your bedroom. Or your living room, or your front porch, or wherever it is you're getting the crap beat out of you 'cause you made runny eggs again?"

Councilman Chad Manspeaker urged the public to contact the city governing body and the district attorney’s office to share ideas to resolve the matter amicably. “I think the public needs to have some input as to what happens with this,” Manspeaker said.

Oh Councilman Manspeaker, how quaintly naive of you. "The public needs to have some input..." That is so twentieth century.