October 8, 2003

PROTECT THEM FIRST

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper is of the optimistic conviction that people of opposing views can reason and work together. And sometimes indeed they can. But sometimes they can't, and that's probably the case in the longstanding conflict between pro- and anti-Columbus Day groups. The mayor attempted to find common ground between them and seems to have failed, but that's all right. Political factions in a big city are going to disagree. It's the mayor's job to protect the ability of each to assemble in public without facing the sort of physical intimidation deployed against Columbus Day paraders in the early 1990s.

Rocky Mountain News

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