The “AWFUL” in the title is not an indictment in se of CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell’s jubilant report on St. Paul, Minnesota’s new, diverse, all-female city council, but an acronym: Affluent, White, Female, University-educated, and Liberal; the type that would reflexively cheer this story. And in O’Donnell’s case, foist it upon others by selecting it to close out the evening newscast.
Here’s the report in its entirety, as aired on CBS Evening News on Tuesday, January 9th, 2024:
NORAH O’DONNELL: Finally, tonight, I think you'll like this story. History was made in Minnesota's capital city of St. Paul today. Or should we say, HER-story was made. St. Paul’s new city council was sworn in this afternoon, made up entirely of women. And get this: six of the seven council members are women of color, and they are all under the age of 40. Four of them are new members, and say that affordable housing and access to child care are some of their top priorities. Congratulations to them and the people of St. Paul. I am bettin’ that they get some stuff done.
The problem with this report, obviously, is that it reduces these elected officials to skin color and genitalia (unless O’Donnell’s trying to slip a “trans woman” by us, which would be a whole other story). O’Donnell doesn’t get into the substance of these women beyond their aforementioned immutability.
And when you look past identity and go to substance, OF COURSE this is a far-left city council. A quick review of each of the candidates’ campaign websites reveals their leftist inclinations and intentions upon taking office.
- Ward 1 Councilwoman Anika Bowie, for example, proposes “equity” in the city’s property tax system.
- Rebecca Noecker of Ward 2 champions “gender-neutral bathrooms in all new (city) buildings and redesigning existing bathrooms to be gender-neutral at the earliest opportunity.”
- Saura Jost of Ward 3 asserts that “climate justice is racial and economic justice”.
- Mitra Jalali of Ward 4 wants to shift policing “away from the costly and reactive traditional model of only police as a response from 911.”
- Ward 5’s Hwa Jeong Kim wants to eliminate single-family zoning, because “safe, stable and affordable housing is a human right.”
- Nelsie Yang of Ward 6 feels that “decisions around climate justice are deeply rooted in racism and classism”.
- Cheniqua Johnson (she/her/hers) of Ward 7 is a former staffer for Keith Ellison who also believes that “access to quality affordable housing is a fundamental human right.”
St. Paul’s City Council isn’t just diverse and all-female, but wildly woke. This is the substance that O’Donnell left out in her excitement about this “her-storic” event.
But O’Donnell is right about one thing. They’ll get some stuff done, all right. Commie stuff, though, which probably won’t make it into the next report on this city council.
The woke mind virus has truly corrupted our institutions.
