It was all I could do to refrain from blogging yesterday. I sort of made a pact with myself that on the Thanksgiving holiday I wasn’t going to post anything, but leave up a happy, holiday message all day. I did it. But it was brutal. Why? Because of this news item:
“There are options,” Nichting, a trail proponent, said after learning that the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB), which has exclusive domain of the nation’s railroads, denied a request from Peoria and Peoria Heights to keep Pioneer Industrial Railway off the eight-mile line. “(The options) include litigation and possibly doing a Meigs Field operation. There one day and gone the next.”
Wow. It’s not often in Peoria that you have an elected official seriously suggest that the city deliberately commit a felony. The stupidity of Nichting’s statement is remarkable. If the city were to deliberately do a “Meigs Field operation,” they would be subject to civil and criminal penalties, and the federal government would likely order the rail line be restored at the city’s expense to boot. Nichting ain’t Daley.
But what makes Nichting’s statement most egregious is not the possibility that the city would really take such action — that’s most unlikely — but rather that it plants the idea in others’ minds. It gives the appearance of an official endorsement to anyone who might be inclined to vandalize the railroad line. That’s what makes his statement really irresponsible and reprehensible. The council should censure Nichting at their next meeting for making such a suggestion.
City Manager Randy Oliver will have no part in illegal activities. In an e-mail today, he said, “The Administration never has and never will be involved in any illegal activity. The Police Department’s District patrol cars have been alerted to the possibility that someone may try to destroy public/private property. Any actions of this type will not be tolerated.” So scofflaws, beware.
This falls under the “What The F*** Was He Thinking?” category.
I never been a fan of Silver Spoon but this takes the cake.
You already said it – “Nichting ain’t Daley”.
In the first place, Nichting, and those with like thoughts, aren’t trail “proponents”. They’re fanatics.
The public should demand Nichting’s resignation. As a elected official he took an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States. He has violated that oath and forfeited his right to be a elected official.
When will the trail proponents issue their repudiation of “Wild Eyed” Nick’s remarks?
I remember attending a seminar at Carver Community Center where Nichting espoused the rule of law and that students should stay in school and learn all they could and learn to obey the law and live as good citizens. Wonder where he went astray since then?
SD, Perhaps Nichting is hearing voices and they are commanding him to say crazy illegal things. If that is the case he should have a mental workup and given appropriate treatment. If he has not been hearing strange little voices he should be looked at as a criminal and treated accordingly. Removal of Nichting from the council is a must; he is not a good person and he doesn’t know what the “rule of law” is.
jail time
To the Trailheads: Give it up or co-exist.
Read today’s JS under the Opinion page both the View and the Forum, several interesting letters regarding this subject. And as usual they have their facts wrong.
Nichting is doing a “Marcellaism”…it’s either his way or the highway and he’s taking his ball and going home.