EDITORIAL SUPREME CYNICISM WILL L.A. CITY COUNCIL GET AWAY WITH ITS SHAMELESS ATTACK ON HONESTY?CHALK up a victory for the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. : The 2nd District Court of Appeal has ruled that although council members did all they could to make the wording of Measure R as ambiguous and unhelpful as possible, they didn't technically break the law. And so, even though Measure R is designed to confuse con·fuse v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v.tr. 1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; throw off. b. , it gets to stay on the November ballot -- treacherous language and all. Way to go. If voters knew what Measure R was all about -- extending council members' time in office from two terms to three -- they would strike it down overwhelmingly. Council members know this, which is why they've tried to disguise the measure with all sorts of political tricks. One of those tricks: The council amended the ballot's questionable language from saying that Measure R ``lengthened'' council members' terms to noting only that it ``changed'' them. Get it? That way, careless careless adj., adv. 1) negligent. 2) the opposite of careful. A careless act can result in liability for damages to others. (See: negligent, negligence, care) voters might not recognize Measure R as the assault on term limits that it is. The first judge to look at the measure found this deception so offensive that he ordered the original language restored. But the city appealed, and the appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. has ruled that although vague, the wording isn't illegal. The council's description could have been ``more complete, and thus more informative,'' the court observed, ``by noting the measure increased the number of terms a council member could serve from two to three.'' But, the judges added, ``To comply with the election statutes, the ballot title need not be the `most accurate,' `most comprehensive,' or `fairest''' possible.'' Nope, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the court, anything short of an outright lie is apparently good enough. Of course, the same class of people -- self-serving politicians -- write these laws, exploit them and interpret them, which may explain why the public is losing faith in government. Fortunately, the people still have a say at the ballot box and can repudiate TO REPUDIATE. To repudiate a right is to express in a sufficient manner, a determination not to accept it, when it is offered. 2. He who repudiates a right cannot by that act transfer it to another. the cynical and deceitful games played Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. by the council. |
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