Have you ever gone to a local government meeting where citizen input was invited and it made you wonder about whether democracies are good ideas?   As I watched this woman’s speech (to the Santa Cruz California City Council) on Reddit.com, I wondered whether it would ever occurred to her that she’d be more effective if she had command of any facts or if she performed a coherent analysis before standing up and talking.

I don’t mean to pick on her too harshly.  She seems sincere.  This does remind me of many government meetings where ill-informed citizens dominate.   This is the price to pay, though, if you want to give well-informed citizens a chance to talk too.

These are only excerpts from the woman’s full speech.  Therefore, this a very patient city council, indeed.