Can't we 'all' just get along?

By JACK MCELROY, editor@knews.com November 27, 2005

The parsing of political speech is a fascinating, if sometimes dispiriting, endeavor.
The most noted instance in recent history might be Bill Clinton's prevarication: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

But we had a great example last week within our own Knoxville City Council.
The debate centered on the question of who-all is "all."

Councilors Bob Becker and Chris Woodhull started the fun by lobbing a carefully crafted verbal grenade into the chambers, taking delight, one suspects, as their colleagues either charged from the trenches or dove for cover.

The bomb was a seemingly innocuous resolution affirming that "all people within the corporate limits of the City of Knoxville are deserving of respect and dignity" and, therefore, the city "recognizes the humanity" and "expresses its intent to promote the well-being" of all people.

The zinger was a clause that spelled out just who might be included among "all people."

Woodhull and Becker's resolution said "all" meant everybody "regardless of race, creed, color, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or citizenship status."

Nowadays, at least two groups on that list ain't part of "all" in the minds of some Knoxvillians.

If missives to this newspaper are any indication, some folks believe immigration status and sexual orientation are variables that raise questions about whether other folks deserve much promotion of well-being.

The astute politicians at City Hall are well aware of this sentiment and adroitly dodged the issue. On a 5-4 vote, they struck the words that enumerated who was included in "all.'

Then they unanimously passed the measure, which has no actual impact on city policies.

So to recap:

Two councilors wanted City Hall to affirm Knoxville's growing acceptance of diversity and hoped to set the stage for more discussion of inclusiveness.

Council responded with a 5-4 disagreement that shut off discussion.

Joe Hultquist, who offered the amendment, said he wanted to avoid "divisive issues." Marilyn Roddy, Steve Hall, Barbara Pelot and Joe Bailey agreed.

So now Knoxville can boast that it has declared its support for dignity and respect for all people, just so long as there's no mention of who all those respected people are.

"Hopefully all means all," concluded vice mayor Mark Brown.

Hopefully. But the incident calls to mind another famous example of political parsing, this one courtesy of George Orwell in "Animal Farm":

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Jack McElroy is editor of the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 342-6300 or editor@knews.com.