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Rejecting Chick-fil-A Is Good Power Play for Mayor
Boston Globe ^ | JULY 29, 2012 | Tom Keane

Posted on 07/29/2012 7:28:49 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Boston Mayor Tom Menino wants to keep fast-food chain Chick-fil-A out of Boston because the company opposes same-sex marriage. Legally, Menino may in the wrong. Yet he is also completely in the right. The dustup has been portrayed as a First Amendment issue. In truth, it’s more about smart politics, mayoral power and — like it or not — Menino’s ability to make the city in his own vision.

Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy is reputed to have invented the chicken sandwich; his first Atlanta store in 1967 has grown to a multi-billion-dollar empire with over 1,600 outlets. Finding a Chick-fil-A in New England is tough, however. There are just three, and the chain is now looking to expand north.

From a gastronomical standpoint, Chick-fil-A is no big deal. (My bucket list includes sampling all major fast-food chains. McDonald’s Chicken sandwich is much better.) But what does make Chick-fil-A unique is the Bible Belt religiosity that suffuses all it does. The family-owned company says its “corporate purpose” is “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.” Each of its stores is shut on Sundays. And the company spends much time advancing its spiritual philosophy. Some of those causes, such as promoting foster care, are widely praised. Others, including preserving “the biblical definition of the family unit,” have raised hackles, including Menino’s.

On July 20, the mayor sent a blunt letter to Chick-fil-A decrying its anti-gay stance and telling it to “back out of your plans to locate in Boston.” Both the left and the right have assailed him for this, seeing it as an attack on free speech. Where does this end, they ask? Will the city now stop someone from opening a store because he’s, say, a Yankees fan?

Except, of course, that Menino isn’t suggesting that such foolish reasons should factor in deciding the businesses Boston welcomes. He’s talking about something much more serious, a basic civil right (one, admittedly, not all agree with). Put in a different context, if Chick-fil-A supported a return to the days of Jim Crow, my guess is a lot of folks now lambasting Menino would react differently.

Then too, while the First Amendment prohibits government from censoring speech, it doesn’t make one immune from the consequences of those remarks. Leominster, for instance, just fired a cop who targeted Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford with a racial epithet. The slur was protected by the First Amendment, but racists shouldn’t be on the police force, either. The same with Chick-fil-A. It can say what it wants. But those words do have meaning, and they cause many to worry how they translate into action. Will Chick-fil-A treat married gay employees the same as married straight employees? The way the company deeply intertwines business and religion raises a reasonable doubt.

But all of these are legal niceties, irrelevant from the viewpoint of a politician like Menino. His attack on Chick-fil-A is, instead, an illustration of the effective use of power, something the mayor learned long ago. As acting mayor in 1993, he imposed a freeze on water and sewer rates. His opponents mocked him, noting mayors don’t control an independent agency. The laugh was on them — not only were residents grateful that someone was at least trying to do something, but he also got his way. The bully pulpit has power; the hikes were deferred.

So too, last year Menino was ridiculed for his efforts to get Niketown to remove profane T-shirts from its windows. Would the city have won if it went to court? Probably not. But they were removed anyway.

And to what end is this power used? A hallmark of Menino’s tenure has been his effort to remake Boston’s image from a backward place of small-minded bigotry into a modern city that is inclusive, diverse, and civil. If that means lashing out at companies such as Chick-fil-A, so be it. Were Chick-fil-A to sue (unlikely, since the mayor has clarified he wouldn’t hold up permits over the issue), odds are Menino would lose in a court of law. But in the court of public opinion — 19 years and counting — he’s winning.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antichristianbigotry; chickfila; gaystapo; homofascists; homosexualagenda; jarrysandusky; menino; muppets; pedophiles; perversionlovers; perverts; sodomhusseinobama
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1 posted on 07/29/2012 7:28:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway; SkyDancer
Gee Tom... When do you start endorsing a Krystal Nacht against Chick-Fil-A?

You would have made a good Nazi.

2 posted on 07/29/2012 7:31:42 PM PDT by Northern Yankee (Where Liberty dwells, there is my Country. - Benjamin Franklin)
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To: nickcarraway

Screw Boston and their moronic mayor. Same with Chitcago. I’ll never set foot in either place again if I can help it.
Are there any Chick Fil As in New Hampshire?


3 posted on 07/29/2012 7:33:34 PM PDT by Past Your Eyes (What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.)
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To: nickcarraway

I would love to see the polls that show he’s winning in the court of public opinion in attacking Chick Fill A. Anecdotal evidence is that many liberals are against his actions. Only the angry left/ lunatic fringe left is solidly behind him.

The issue isn’t homosexual marriage as such, the issue is setting a standard that you have to be liberal to run a business in Boston. If you do not pass the thought police test on homosexual marriage, the threat was that you would be denied business license and zoning approvals to run a business. Perhaps the writers of this article think the bully pulpit is okay for that, but from what I hear, even many mainstream liberals are shocked at his actions and statements.


4 posted on 07/29/2012 7:34:49 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: nickcarraway

” Legally, Menino may in the wrong. Yet he is also completely in the right. The dustup has been portrayed as a First Amendment issue. In truth, it’s more about smart politics, mayoral power and — like it or not — Menino’s ability to make the city in his own vision.”

“Legally MAY”

“Also COMPLETELY in the RIGHT”

“SMART POLITICS”

And there you have it, folks. A nice summation of what is wrong with American politics, in particular, today’s Democrats. “Legally” doesn’t matter. But “smart politics” does. And what’s “right” to those “smart politicians” is what it’s all about. Their careers, their assets, their “legacy”

The Framers were smart guys, to see thru all this BS centuries ago. Yet the 1/2 of the electorate just keeps on electing and re-electing these self-centered bastards who’s only concern is themselves.

Meanwhile, formerly great cities like Boston, NYC, LA just swirling away. Wake up, idiots.


5 posted on 07/29/2012 7:35:05 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat
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To: Northern Yankee

Was Obama a vistor to Boston in the last 4 years, when he shared the same opinion?


6 posted on 07/29/2012 7:35:47 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

If the idiot thought he was winning, he wouldn’t have backed down. I try not to hate people, but sometimes the leftists make it very difficult.

I am completely fed up with them telling me that what is sick and perverted is natural and normal and something to be proud of. IT ISN’T!!!


7 posted on 07/29/2012 7:36:22 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

I bet his teen unemploment is over 50% real smart costing all those jobs.


8 posted on 07/29/2012 7:40:44 PM PDT by scooby321 (h tones)
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To: Past Your Eyes

Butcha CF sees their profits go up over the next few months...


9 posted on 07/29/2012 7:41:04 PM PDT by dps.inspect (rage against the Obama machine...)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s much better just to laugh at this fool:
http://www.mumblesmenino.us/mumbling.htm


10 posted on 07/29/2012 7:41:52 PM PDT by No One Special
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To: Past Your Eyes

Cathy should sue this left wing lowlife thug in federal court for violating his civil rights. He is a wealthy man and probably does not want the aggravation. He also has a business and employees to protect. However this type of intimidation must be stopped.


11 posted on 07/29/2012 7:42:22 PM PDT by allendale
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To: Northern Yankee

Well, I am not positive about too many things, but anyone who thinks McD’s chicken sandwich is “much better” than CFA’s is a fool. The quality of the two sandwiches is not even close.
I guess there is no accounting for taste.


12 posted on 07/29/2012 7:47:00 PM PDT by BIV (typical white person)
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To: nickcarraway
A hallmark of Menino’s tenure has been his effort to remake Boston’s image from backward place of small-minded bigotry into a modern city that is inclusive, diverse, and civil.

ROTFL!!! Bostonians are going to love that! A bunch of small-minded bigots.

13 posted on 07/29/2012 7:48:31 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (The NRA did not create James "The Joker" Holmes. Harvey Weinstein's Hollywood did.)
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To: Past Your Eyes
Pheasant Lane Mall, according to a Howie Carr listener on Friday.

The show bought a bunch, and had a lackey, in a chicken suit, handing them out in front of Boston City Hall.

A cop came out, and gave the lackey personal grief for not finding a less embarrassing way to make a living other than in a chicken suit, but didn't hassle them otherwise.

14 posted on 07/29/2012 7:54:50 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: nickcarraway

Because “remaking” a society in this way has always worked out so very well...


15 posted on 07/29/2012 7:55:14 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: nickcarraway
Should Chick-Fil-A get to open a new store in Boston and Chicago, they will forever be hounded by the big city corrupt Democrat machines:

There will continually be strikes, one after another, by the Trades....carpenters, concrete guys, plumbers, Iron Workers, glaziers, delivery trucks etc,etc,etc,etc.

If they ever get built, they can expect a weekly visit by the fire inspectors, health dept, EEOC, , etc, etc, etc,

Then, the city will put up a bus stop, no parking signs, no standing signs, no-right-turn and no-left-turn signs all around the stores to preclude parking or turning into the lots. The city's gangs will be given easy sentences for crimes in exchange for breaking windows and spray painting gang-shit on the buildings.

Ah...life is good in communist-run cities.

16 posted on 07/29/2012 7:58:50 PM PDT by jmax (I'm armed...round is chambered...full magazine is inserted...safety is off.)
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To: Past Your Eyes
Are there any Chick Fil As in New Hampshire?

Only in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua.

17 posted on 07/29/2012 8:01:14 PM PDT by Jim Noble (Diseases desperate grown are by desperate appliance relieved or not at all.)
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To: nickcarraway

Translation: If the mayor can’t get what liberals want legally, he should resort to bullying. OTOH, if a conservative mayor employed the same tactic, they would scream bloody murder about the usurping of constitutional government. The ends justify the means.


18 posted on 07/29/2012 8:06:11 PM PDT by beef (Who Killed Kennewick Man?)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s strange how those that scream for tolerance are so intolerant. Why it’s kind of perverted, isn’t it?


19 posted on 07/29/2012 8:06:11 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah, so shall it be again.")
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To: Past Your Eyes

Nashua in the Phesant Lane Mall on DWH


20 posted on 07/29/2012 8:08:09 PM PDT by pietraynor (Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. Ronald Reagan)
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