This weekend, the Chronicle Editorial LiveJournalists opined on the following important matter:
Now in his third and final term on council, Berry risked raising the hackles of a good chunk of the electorate by describing cat owners as “un-American” and proposing an ordinance to allow diners to bring their dogs onto restaurants’ outdoor patios.
According to Berry, no invitation will be issued to feline owners. “Cats are not cool,” Berry told Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman. “They don’t belong in restaurants or near people food. Cats aren’t even good pets. You don’t own a cat; a cat owns you.”
While the councilman’s comments might have been tongue-in-cheek, he’ll find those words will make plenty of cat fanciers bare their claws.
The Editorial LiveJournalists do not discuss the substance of Councilmember Berry’s proposal, but instead ramble on about his wife’s potential bid for a Council seat that has not opened.
It’s a little sad that the Editorial LiveJournalists couldn’t figure out that Councilmember Berry’s comments about cats to the Chronicle‘s fine humorist (Ken Hoffman) were very tongue-in-cheek. Councilmember Berry is a pretty funny guy, as anyone who listens to his radio show or who has heard him speak knows. It’s also pretty funny that the same editorial board that seems to go out of its way to offend a good chunk of its Harris County audience nonetheless sees fit to lecture Councilmember Berry on potentially “raising the hackles of a good chunk of the electorate.”
Hoffman ran this followup from Councilmember Berry today:
Call off the dogs — or should I say the cat lovers? I’ve heard from lots of people who were upset that I insulted their beloved cat Fifi by calling cat lovers un-American. I was being facetious. I now see why politicians speak in PC. People need to lighten up. I joke with my friends about their cats, they joke with me about my dogs. It’s just a joke — a flippant, lighthearted jest about cat owners from a proud dog owner.
As for the ordinance, that’s not a joke. I suspect very few restaurants will allow dogs on their patios, but there should be a place for that in the marketplace. For those like you who disagree, don’t go to those restaurants. I wish people would stop imposing their will on restaurants and let the marketplace decide issues like this. We need less government intrusion into areas where the marketplace is the best guide.
The ordinance isn’t a joke, but as noted previously, it is a questionable priority. And it’s strange for Councilmember Berry to be extolling the virtues of freedom in the restaurant market even as he talks about Houston not being ready for multiple companies to compete in the shared-ride airport shuttle market.
BLOGVERSATION: TBIFOC, Off the Kuff.
