I voted against Clay Chastain's light rail plan. Now I'm really sorry I did. What a great opportunity to stick it to The Man.
I voted against it because Clay is annoying, and because my good friend David Martin said it was a bad idea.
But now that the measure won, I'm bummed I wasn't part of the rebel party.
Whether the actual plan was a bad idea or not doesn't matter. What's great is that an outsider who is pretty much disliked by all the folks in power managed to push a major public works project past voters.
That never happens here!
Bond issues are the domain of the dumbass in-crowd.
Or they're supposed to be.
Ha!
I love it!!
I wish I could share in the credit.
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
3 comments:
Too bad more of the people who so giddily voted yes won't have to share in the actual sorting out of the messy details and dealing with trying to salvage anything practical from it.
Then they might have a better understanding of why the people who actually have to plan and run these things (not exactly "The Man" I might add) weren't in favor of it.
But yeah, at least it shows democracy can still work here.
I agree, and don't mean to slight thoughtful, educated folks like you. My comments were very KC-centered. This town is run by a small, not very smart in crowd. And I'm just tickled pink when I see them lose.
Interestingly, I voted for it with an understanding that is is flawed based on this sense that light rail is constantly on the ballot and never goes through, so I thought of it as a vote of general support for new approaches to mass transit in KC (as opposed to just building more parking lots so that people can keep driving everywhere)thinking, well, it'll never WIN. It was kind of like voting for a third party candidate. And now, look! But my reaction has been part of my overall sense of disbelief over the past few days. I can still imagine saying "I had this crazy dream that it got really warm and dems won the senate and the house, then Rumsfeld resigned and now we're getting light rail. Oh, and Marty McFly is gonna be awwwwwright."
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