I have to respectfully disagree, at least up to a point, FRiend Hale.
There’s really no place for foul language in a public meeting.
As a professional wordsmith, I can think of any number of forceful responses to Buchanan’s abusive remarks that would have gotten the job done without resorting to profanity.
As I stated in my earlier posts, I covered hundreds of public meetings over my many years as a newspaperman. I never witnessed anything this deranged.
However, I definitely knew some mayors and council members who would have put Buchanan in her place in short order.
In particular, one mayor — oddly enough an old-fashioned Democrat — had a marvelous ability to keep things calm by simply raising his pencil and calling for order in a measured but firm tone.
Who would have thought an ordinary number-two pencil could become a symbol of authority?
I even did a lighthearted column on this: “When Mayor xxxx points his pencil at you, you’d best pay attention.” He took it in good spirits.
We’ll agree to disagree.
We’re in a war with these people. There’s no being polite to people who want you dead, silenced, erased, humiliated, and otherwise vanished.
I grew up on the streets of North Philly. There’s only one way to deal with folks like her.
I’ll leave it there.