It was Gov. Romney, I think, whose presidential campaign slogan was ‘Believe in America.’ I’m not a Republican (I’m Libertarian), but I did like the slogan. America is worth believing in.
I believe in Whitewater, too. Not how she’s been depicted, entirely, but how she truly is, and in the good things that lie ahead for us, here. Our city, now and in the years ahead, offers and will offer so much to so many.
Consider the Council session last night – the vote over the bus did not go my way, as a vote. And yet, and yet, it very much went a good way as a discussion – the level of discourse among Council is far better than even a few years ago. The quality of reasoning matters fundamentally.
That’s a real gain – it’s not enough to say ‘I want this,’ or ‘I want that’ – there should be meaningful explanations of why one believes something. We have that sort of discussion a bit more each year.
Watch a Council discussion on video from a few years ago and compare it with one more recently – we are developing a better politics. Better than we had, and also likely better than other towns nearby. Not Left or Right, simply better. There’s a good distance to go, but we can clear that distance if only we’d keep pushing harder.
There’s every now reason to keep working for that higher standard. I know I’ll do my level best – there’s no better place to be.
(I’d guess that Janesville’s visiting officials really don’t see that we expect more of officials here than is probably expected of them in their own city. The gap between that city’s officials and our representatives is notable; we’ve a higher standard.)
We don’t have to settle and I don’t think we will.