Body language police

[Gidney N Cloyd]

:eyes: :crazy: :eyes: :crazy: :eyes: :crazy:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-elmhurst-20100726,0,6350263.story
Deprived of the opportunity to speak to a City Council committee about its plan to hire a $30,000 state lobbyist, Darlene Heslop apparently could not contain herself. She sighed and rolled her eyes — and was promptly ejected from the June 14 meeting. Surely nobody expects the committee to conduct its business effectively if citizens are free to make facial expressions in public. (Can you hear our eyes rolling?)

"Making faces behind the mayor's back is disruptive, in my opinion," said committee chairman Stephen Hipskind, who told Heslop to leave. (Wait — the mayor didn't even see it? Facepalm.) Other aldermen objected to the eviction, and two of them got up and left, ending the meeting for lack of a quorum. (Silent applause.)

Now the city attorney has been directed to research the legal definitions of disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior (we're shaking our heads here), with an eye to drafting an ordinance to curb non-verbal outbursts. His work should begin and end with state law, which defines disorderly conduct as "an act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another, or to provoke a breach of the peace."

Where do you draw that line? (Eyes uplifted, palms outstretched, as if beseeching the heavens.) Menacing others, throwing objects and setting fire to the dais are clearly out of line. But is it disorderly to yawn, fidget, smirk or scowl? To circle an ear with an index finger to signify "cuckoo"? To feign a self-induced upchuck, as we're doing now?

[Warpy]

1. Gotta love the guys who have nothing better

to do than draft incredibly silly and totally unenforceable laws, like singing on Sunday or giving the wife a peck on the cheek out in the open. This is just more of the same and the oaf should not only be thoroughly ashamed of himself, he should be drummed out of any position of authority forthwith.

[dtexdem]

2. Yeah, remember during the HCR debate last summer ...

when all those protesters showed up at town-hall meetings and disrupted them by rolling their eyes?

Some of them even blatantly made faces.

Hey, the First Amendment only covers freedom of speech, not of body language.

;-)

[Earth_First]

14. Sh*t! I remember the POTUS being called a "YOU LIE!" during a joint session of Congress!!!

...was Joe Wilson escorted out of chambers for his outburst?

:shrug:

[LaurenG]

3. Ha hehhe

Surely nobody expects the committee to conduct its business effectively if citizens are free to make facial expressions in public.

Surely they do though. Unless, of course, City Council is composed of pre-teen kids. Get a grip. :rofl:


*sticks tongue out at Mayor and council*

[sharp_stick]

4. I would some fun at the next meeting

every time Hipskind opened his pie-hole there would be some pretty obvious but subtle body language going on.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

6. The college I work at cablecasts it's board meetings and we had an eyerolling problem at one time.

There was this one looneytoons board member who would say the damnedest goofy things and the admins in attendance could be seen rolling their eyes. Someone finally told them the cameras were picking it up before it got back to Trustee Tweedledum.

[Demeter]

17. Or Farting

That would be a blast!

[66 dmhlt]

18. I personally find farting to be "alarming, disturbing and ..."

"A breach of peace!"

The law speaks clearly to this issue.

[Demeter]

19. But Think What a Stink of a Lawsuit Would Result!

The doctors speaking to involuntary distress, the defense claiming it was intentional....

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. I grew up in this town and I can just imagine them trying to "...curb *non-verbal outbursts*."

[TheWraith]

7. Chicago's local government is an absolute catastrophe.

Daley expects to be treated like a king, including getting to threaten the life of reporters who question him--he's actually done this on camera--and his aldermen are like princes, above the laws that govern all the rest of the little people.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. I think this more of a typical small town tinhorn problem than a Chicago issue.

I can tell you for certain that Elmhurst and other towns near it wouldn't exist if it weren't for people fleeing Chicago/Cook County.

[jtuck004]

9. Huh. No freedom of speech in Chicago. Still... n/t

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. It's not Chicago. Small suburb to the west of the city. nt

[jtuck004]

11. Thanks. just looked at the blurb, thought it was funny ;)

The little things that people get bent out of shape about...

[LiberalFighter]

12. It doesn't look like Illinois or at least in DuPage County have partisan municipal elections.

BUT considering that DuPage County is considered to be a strong Republican stronghold until just recent. Hipskind is likely to be a Republican.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. DuPage (& IL 6th) are getting very purple. I tried looking up Hiskind's party but...

...no luck so far. I did find his address and phone number, though. Maybe I should just drive over and ask. :D

[Politicalboi]

15. I wonder what would have happened had she yelled out

You LIE!. LOL!

[awoke_in_2003]

16. "non-verbal outbursts"

giving someone the finger or waving your genitalia around might be a non-verbal outburst, but an eyeroll?