Daily Bread for 12.5.23: An Uncharitable Gift Is Still a Gift

 Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 37. Sunrise is 7:10 and sunset 4:20 for 9h 10m 29s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 47.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

  The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM. 

 On this day in 1879, the Humane Society of Wisconsin is organized in Milwaukee. Inspired by Henry Bergh, a New York City philanthropist, and his Humane Movement, the state Humane Society was formed to protect both animals and children.  However, with the formation of child protection laws in the early 1900s, the Humane Society of Wisconsin began to focus primarily on animal protection.

Linked above is the Whitewater Common Council agenda for the first council meeting of December. Embedded below is the full agenda packet for the session.

A few remarks this morning on yesterday’s comments. 

1. Several readers last night and this morning emailed me to ask what I thought of a comment yesterday criticizing the evolving present in favor, presumably, of the (stagnant) past in Whitewater. There are differing views in this city. It’s a town of fifteen thousand people, not fifteen old men. One encounters all sorts of views with sangfroid. An uncharitable gift is still a gift. 

2. It’s true, as commenter New Attendee notes, that imitation is a form of flattery. I am also reminded of the venerable account of conjurers’ imitation serpents being devoured by the original.  

3. If it should be true that someone in the city cleans up alone, then the critical commenter could improve that situation by helping. 

4. Whitewater’s problems did not begin a year ago, as anyone not sadly confused would know. Holdovers from Whitewater’s failed past policies never want to look back further than a few months. Oh, no: these gentlemen led the city to her present state over a generation. They should look first to themselves, and not those having arrived more recently. This old guard is blame-shifting and excuse-making.

If they want to see who put Whitewater in difficult straits, they need only look into a mirror.

See Chronologies (‘In the case of bad politicians, however, the objection to a chronology is clear: to be reminded of their past errors and delays is a reminder they don’t want their constituents to have’) and Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater 2023 (‘One sits and listens to this common council president, on council or the community development authority for decades, as he blames others for the lakes project, why certain types of stores are in town, and ignores why so many other businesses have over the years gone under or left for other communities. Where does he think he was all these years?’). 

5. These policy conflicts over the last year are about much more than someone new at city hall. This conflict is about the effort of a few tired old men to perpetuate their manipulation of public institutions for another generation. That conflict will not end until they stop. A critique of their actions will not end until they stop. They’ve overreached, fumbling and stumbling about to keep this town in their grip for another generation. 

That’s not a conflict merely between city officials. An aged ilk has precipitated a conflict among residents. That ilk might have left well enough alone. They didn’t. They bear the responsibility for this conflict. No month or season, no election, will end this conflict. It will stop only when their unmerited overreaching ends. Not a moment sooner. 

There are many twists and turns ahead. Whitewater is the adventure — and the work — of a lifetime. 

Here’s tonight’s full council packet: 

Amazon announces 2 new robots: Digit and Sequoia: