Post in Keeping bars open longer for the RNC

Apr 03 18:05 UTC

This IS St. Paul, and I'm proud of all my home town has to offer. Neither
St. Paul nor our fair neighbor to the west has ever advertised ourselves
anywhere on the planet as being the hotbed of alcohol-based entertainment,
or most other forms of adult-only entertainment either, for that matter. And
that's just fine with me.

I live here by choice, rather than in any of the various communities I lived
in in the US and W Eur in times past, because we DO have a high quality of
life. Absolutely we have lots of work to do to make it better for everyone,
as we should, but among our tasks is NOT one that encourages thousands of
people to wander around drunk -- inside or outside -- any time of the day or
night.

What a ridiculous notion!

Refusing to do so doesn't make us look or become more sophisticated,
comparable, or anything else. It's just playing to the lowest common
denominator. Our job is to be ourselves, do our best, and be proud of it. We
have a beautiful community full of great people, the vast majority of whom
are educated, welcoming, respectful, and who care about our community, good
government, strong partnerships, and doing the right thing.

Wow.

How lucky any visitors are, especially those fully engaged in our country's
democratic electoral process, to have the chance to do it right here where
the notion of the common good was pretty much invented.