WaPo runs a profile of the city of Seattle on the front page today --because, of course, tomorrow is the Battle of Two Washingtons in a football playoff game. I dunno if the Post is trying to say Seattle deserves to win because they're better people than we are, but doesn't this exactly fit your concept of a liberal haven?
Goody-two-shoes behavior is endemic and appears to be spreading -- by order of law. A new city ordinance requires lap dancers to keep four feet from patrons. A new no-smoking law requires smokers to move at least 25 feet from the doors, windows or vents of a public building or workplace before lighting up. Starting this month, there's a $50 fine for residents who improperly mix their recyclable garbage. If the state liquor control board approves, a new city ordinance will ban the sale of cheap wine and beer in neighborhoods where people hang out and look slothful.
Then there's this:
Nine out of 10 women claim to exercise at least once a week.(I think we might know the 10th woman, right readers?) At least one historian has the city leaders' number:
To Raban, the city's eagerness to legislate nice behavior suggests what he calls "the deep authoritarianism of the liberal mind." He added: "Liberals like to think they are on the side of liberty, but actually they are on the side of authority."
