Wednesday, January 15, 2003
IL: Evanston Passes Anti-War Resolution; Chicago Expected to Follow
by John Tabin

Joining a gaggle of city councils who've decided to pretend they were elected to represent anyone's foreign policy views, Evanston, IL, a suburb immediately north of Chicago and the home of Northwestern University, passed a Resolution opposing war in Iraq Monday night. Alderman Edmund Moran, a liberal independent and the Council's sole non-Democrat, cast the one dissenting vote.

The City of Chicago is expected to pass a similar resolution tomorrow; about 30 of the city's 50 aldermen are signed on; Ald. James Balcer is so far the only one opposed, at least on the record.

I was at the Evanston City Council meeting, and the most striking thing about the evening was how the anti-war protestors who came to speak during Citizens' Comments were long gone by the time the Council went through the motions of debating the resolution. The results were a forgone conclusion after the Rule Committee debate, and I suppose they weren't interested in hearing any counterargument.

Nonetheless, Ald. Moran did make a pretty good counterargument, focusing on repect for the armed forces and their mission. David Weigel transcribed Moran's speech for the Northwestern Chronicle, NU's conservative weekly, and I expect there will be more on this topic at the Chron website in the next couple of days.

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