It really was always burning. By now you've likely heard, either from my diaries, a friend or the news, that Mount Vernon, WA is giving Glenn Beck the key to the city. Sadly, I have to write that Mount Vernon is giving the key; the truth is, there is only the mayor and a few outlandish followers that support this. It's truly this one man out on a branch, and he's sawing it off as fast as he possibly can. If you've ever wanted to see what it looks like to hang a man out to dry publicly in front of the nation, follow me past the jump.
It feels good, y'know? By this point, I've all but accepted that my hometown is giving Glenn Beck the key. That part isn't fun. Where it gets fun is seeing everything but the kitchen sink being tossed at Mayor Bud Norris for his myopic decision to Mount Vernon in the public eye. All news is good news, right?
And the town is truly up and pissed over this. Just skimming the letters to the editor page shows that there's a well-versed opposition to Norris' decision. Your phone calls have really set a stark tone in the city, worrying businesses and citizens alike. If anything comes of this, it definitely won't be a well-funded re-election campaign.
Let's peruse the Letters to the Editor page:
In January of this year, Mr. Beck wondered aloud if President Obama is the Antichrist, has devoted his Fox News broadcasts to religious speculation about the Apocalypse, and has publicly endorsed the John Birch Society. To put the title of journalist behind Mr. Beck’s name is to dishonor Walter Cronkite, Edward Murrow, Tom Brokaw and a host of true journalists. Mr. Beck is a self-serving entertainer whose goal is to plant right-wing radical ideas that have the potential to inflame his audiences.
Mr. Ronhaar is entitled to his own opinions per Mr. Beck, but not to his own facts.
Bruce D. Vilders
Oh sure, the first amendment guarantees people like Beck the dubious right to say nearly anything they want to say. But nowhere in that amendment is there any mention of rewarding purveyors of meanness and hate. No keys to the city are mentioned.
Every resident and every business in Mount Vernon and in Skagit County should be outraged with Mayor Bud Norris’ decision to honor Beck. Should it happen, we’ll thereafter be known all over the U.S. as "The City That Counsels Hate." We’ll be shamed.
Who will want to visit or shop in such a city?
The economic impact is a point brought up quite often as retaliation against Norris. Mount Vernon hosts the Tulip Festival every year, a celebration of one of our largest crops. It's one of the largest festivals in the state, and poses a huge economic impact for the town if it is skipped. However, people have also threatened to boycott local businesses if this goes through. Local coffee shop owner Cyrena Gilpatrick counters:
Mount Vernon stores are the wrong target and progressive-minded business owners across the city would suffer. Collateral damage is never necessary, especially when many of us are cringing at the thought of a day in honor of Glenn Beck.
Our target, in this case, is the mayor alone, who needs no City Council support to give out keys to the city. In fact, he doesn’t need our support; it’s complete executive power and he can act on it whenever — and for whomever — he chooses.
So perhaps, instead of negatively affecting the city’s local businesses, which help stimulate the local economy, we should offer our complete and undivided attention to giving Bud Norris what he truly deserves — retirement.
And she's right: This is us versus the mayor and the mayor alone. Even the local newspaper that I took aim at in one of my prior diaries has come out firing all rounds at the mayor. Their editorial board writes
Thanks to the mayor, Mount Vernon is on its way to becoming a national laughingstock. Newspapers and broadcast outlets from Seattle to Boston have picked up on the story.
Painfully, many of the headlines read "Mount Vernon to award Glenn Beck keys to the city," or some variation of it. The fact that it is solely the mayor’s show is lost on the out-of-town media.
...
Norris recently mused that it would bring some attention to Mount Vernon if he could bring the city’s famous (some say "infamous") son here.
Well, unfortunately, mission accomplished.
(I suggest reading the whole thing. It's scathing)
Finally, even the City Council is fed up with Norris' grandstanding. While he has total reign to do as he wishes in giving out the key -- mind you, the first he's given out, disregarding any soldiers who have passed away, all the individuals who help better our community, and Demi Moore, who attended middle school here and has about as much of a right as Beck -- all but one single member of City Council turned down offers of free tickets to the event. They had the foresight to see the idiocy of his actions, it seems. City Council member Mike Urban took it in his own hands to write a fantastic letter to the editor and distance himself completely from Norris' ridiculous decisions.
The true concern I have in respect to this situation is what has Glenn Beck done to better this community to deserve such an award? What has been done to leave our community a better place? Simply being from somewhere should not be enough to warrant an honor regardless of what one has accomplished for themselves on a personal level.
...
Furthermore, I’m personally dedicating Sept. 26 to everyone who has made that positive difference in moving our community forward. Please join me in celebrating "No Longer Underappreciated Volunteers Day" by personally thanking someone for his or her dedicated time and effort. Please continue to encourage them all year long to greatness for all of our benefit.
To him, I say thank you. To you, as well, I say thank you. I've been pushing for calls to the mayor's office for almost two weeks now, and I'll do the same in this diary. Norris feels the heat of a failing idea and you've all stoked the fires around him. There is still a chance that Norris wakes up and realizes that he is destroying the community by going through with this. The only way that happens is if we keep calling and keep reminding him that choices have consequences.
Contact info:
phone: (360) 336-6211
fax: (360) 336-0623
email: mvmayor@ci.mount-vernon.wa.us
If you get through, make sure you tell him to take special care in enjoying his last term in office. He's killed any and all chances to have another.