I liked this part, most:
(bold mine)
... why did the council wait until 55 minutes into a 60 minute debate to ask the city solicitor to explain the relevant law. I replied that the councilors all knew what her answer would be – that the city erecting the manger on city hall grounds was illegal – and that they didn’t want to hear it.
Another student speculated that the real objective of the council was to have the statues restored and the display better lit but that the location of the display wasn’t that important to them. I disagreed with this assertion, telling the students that this whole debate wasn’t really about religion, it was about marking territory: moving the nativity scene back to city hall would be an unequivocal statement of who holds power at city hall. On Tuesday night, the councilors weren’t acting on behalf of the 105,000 people who live in Lowell; they were acting for the 11,500 people who voted in the November city election, a group that is older and whiter than the average resident; a group made up of many who not only see nothing wrong with the city spending money raised through taxes to erect a Christian religious display on the grounds of City Hall, but also see any questioning of that as a direct attack on them, their values, and their way of life. That’s why Councilor Mercier insisted on at least three occasions that her motion be decided on a roll call vote so “everyone knows where each councilor stands on this.” She wanted everyone who votes in the city election to know which councilors voted against Jesus. None did. The motion passed unanimously.
I've shut off comments here because there is a compelling chat happening over at Dick's blog. So, please, chime in there.
The only note that I'll add at this point: Clearly, Councilor Mercier jumped the shark when she said that those that don't like having a manger scene on Lowell's City Hall plaza should move to another country. That few seconds of Council folklore will linger in Lowell politics for years to come.
