Updating our earlier post, because foie gras is a frontline quality-of-life issue. Like -- what is it? [Pause.] -- like global warming.
CHICAGO August 23, 2006 (Sun-Times) - Mayor Daley urged the City Council on Tuesday to come to its senses and repeal a foie gras ban that has made Chicago an international laughingstock in restaurant circles. ... "Restaurants are a great industry ... All of a sudden, you can question anything you serve in a restaurant -- the poor snails and the mussels and the shrimp, the lobsters. You can go on and on."Ald. Joe Moore* (49th) said the City Council has no plans to repeal the ban.
"The mayor had the opportunity to veto the ordinance. He chose not to. Let's move on. ... It's not as though we're alone on this issue. Ten European countries and the state of California have passed laws banning the manufacture and sale of foie gras. We're kind of catching up with the rest of the civilized world," Moore said.
Apparently France does not make Mr. Moore's cut of civilized world countries. Why, even Pave does not go this far.
Daley also said he's not about to direct city health inspectors to rush out and enforce the ban that took effect Tuesday. ... The mayor also cast doubt on how vigorously city attorneys would defend the ordinance against a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Illinois Restaurant Association and a group known as "Chicago Chefs for Choice."
CHEFS' LAWSUIT SAYS BAN IS FOR THE BIRDS
CHICAGO August 23, 2006 (Sun-Times) - The ban, which went into effect Tuesday, is unconstitutional, according to a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by the Illinois Restaurant Association and a corporation owned by Chicago chef Allen Sternweiler. ... "This lawsuit is not about whether or not the production of foie gras is or is not humane," [Barry S. Rosen, attorney for the restaurant group] said. "This lawsuit is about the bounds of local governmental power."Some legal experts aren't so sure that's a strong argument considering, for example, the city's long-standing ban on the sale of spray paint, which isn't necessarily made in Chicago. "How does this differ from the spray-paint ban?" said Douglas Baird, a University of Chicago law professor. "It doesn't strike me as a terrific argument." The foie gras ban is "basically a generic regulation of commerce, and the power of the city to enact broad, generic regulations of commerce is pretty big," Baird said.
* Mr. Moore takes time from other important projects enumerated on his Web site to drag Chicago into a better foie-gras-less world: opposing the pre-emptive military invasion of Iraq, demanding an immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq, opposing the unconstitutional provisions of the "so-called" USA Patriot Act (which is so called), his chairmanship duties on the National Democratic Municipal Officials Conference, his duties on the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), his Howard Dean appointment to the newly-formed DNC Committee on Budget and Finance. It is amazing Mr. Moore -- obviously a big-picture guy -- found the required time to save his immediate constituency from foie gras.
PFFT (What is this?): Civilized world me-tooism 1¼ | Rayonnement américain 0
