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Gonzalez Resignation, Burner's "Burn Bush", and the Bellingham Farmer's Market  Ah, Monday morning two-thousand-and-seven, U.S.A., birds singin', glaciers melting, all around us space and stars winking and yes Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez resigns. Will the full truth and accountability for the methodical purge from public service of ethical Republicans like our own US Attorney John McKay of Western Washington ever unfold? Or will the citizens of this country remain content with lies? Darcy Burner says "Burn Bush". But there is an endless supply of wrong-doers in this world. As much as we need to hold them accountable and keep them out of power, our problems stem not from these leaders, but from the civic illness that causes citizens to elect and defend them. We need structural changes that, simply speaking, make community life more conducive to nurturing citizens and good government from the ground up.
"I believe that the way people carry themselves at the Farmers' Market is essentially the way of citizens, and that referring to the market as civilized is an implicit recognition of this fact. . . We know that most cities through most of history have grown up around markets. We know that people needed gathering places in order to exchange material surplus for deficiency, but also to exchange news, stories, joy, and grief. . . . As Steve weighs my broccoli and Lucy counts out my change, the whole history of their farm and of our friendship is part and parcel of what we exchange. Moving back through the market, back to the spot where I'm to meet Abe, I see in dozens of conversations around me an interweaving of these life stories, and I find delight and security in realizing once again that this fabric is Missoula, my home, my city." Daniel Kemmis, The Good City and the Good Life.
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