Oh good lord, what year is it? 1816? 1916? No, it’s 2016 and Mayor Rawlins, the octogenarian Hunts, and assorted prim ladies all have their collective knickers in a twist about the Exxxotica convention’s planned return to Dallas (I’m sure someone at the convention could fix that problem BTW). Speaking of which, is it me or does the Hunt supported New Friends New Life organization (so in a huff about Exxxotica) sound like it might need booth space at the convention?
Of course being Texas and politics, the legality of their ban had no bearing on their pandering indignation to an electorate wistful for the days of The Scarlet Letter. Mayor Rawlings and his supporters on this issue seem to want us in chastity belts but then attempt to bar the one convention that would surely offer the best selection.
Why is it a win-win-win for Exxxotica?
- The location may be TBD but the convention will happen.
- The city will lose the lawsuit to be filed by convention organizers.
- All this pearl-clutching pique has given Exxxotica gobs of free publicity which will boost attendance.
What did the city of Dallas gain besides a chance to show off its crinolines and hoop skirts? Nationwide embarrassment. As Dallas tries to become an international city, boasting sophisticated real estate product and ever higher prices per square foot, this type of time-wasting lip service, masked as civic responsibility, is counter-productive. In sex and civics what you don’t want are spectators pointing and laughing. Believe me Mr. Mayor, they laugh with fingers fully pointed.
How many of these relocating corporations are thinking, “Dorothy, I don’t think we’re in California anymore.” I can’t imagine they’re moving to Plano because of Dallas’ loose morals, but I do imagine daily eye-rolls as newspapers are read and this drivel takes center stage.
Appellation isn’t Oversight
Kay Bailey Hutchison herself was at the council meeting sitting cozy with the Hunts. Ms. Hutchison, I’m sorry to inform you that when a public building is named for you, you do not get to approve of who uses it. If it was a library you would not control the books either. I’m sorry you appear to believe your personal opinions override the law and the Constitution. If you want the building renamed, that’s another issue entirely.
The job of government-owned properties is to ensure equal access regardless of the views being promoted. That’s the open society you’re supposed to be a representative of. Instead, on this issue Dallas government is a petulant child using censorship to cherry-pick the morality of the city.
Government is also not in the business of enacting laws or bans for the betterment or detriment of a single person or entity. It’s tenuous legal footing. Heck, the city attorney doesn’t support the mayor and he did it anyway. Perhaps when (not if) the city loses Exxxotica’s lawsuit, the city attorney should turn around and arrest the mayor and councilors who voted for the ban. That’s the consequence of paying for sex, isn’t it?
It’s all very Victorian Iranian.
Yes, Iranian. In January, Rome boxed in nude statues to spare Iran’s president from seeing ancient naughty bits. Talk about negating the phrase, “when in Rome…” Let’s not forget in 2002, our own US Attorney General John Ashcroft spent $8,000 to cover the breasts of the “Spirit of Justice” and the loins of the “Majesty of Law” statues at the Justice Department.
Of course in no short supply during today’s council session were the specious arguments that a convention containing porn and French ticklers is somehow connected to sex-trafficking and the degradation of women. Chauvinistically, no one ever seems to make the argument that sex degrades the male performers at all. Funny that.
Besides, Texas doesn’t need any help from Exxxotica to promote the enslavement or degradation of women. The state’s defunding of Planned Parenthood and the resulting the uptick in children born to poor, now trapped, women without access to medical care (whose long-term support will now disproportionately rest on taxpayers) – did just fine. A fur bra? Not so much.
Exxxotica’s Danger? Empty Pockets
Maybe there’s some danger or violence this particular convention brings to town we’re not aware of? Nope. Last year’s Exxxotica resulted in no slaves traded or recruited, no increased violence towards women, nor likely even an increase in parking tickets surrounding the convention center. Vice cops who actually attended last year’s convention were “bored” with the goings-on.
What Exxxotica IS about are porn starlet autographs and all things battery-operated that’ll empty wallets and likely wind up in the attic or the trash in a month. And honestly, in 2016 it’s about people without a reliable internet connection.
A Moral War on Plastic?
Is the problem these prudes have with Exxxotica tied to environmental concerns about all the non-recyclable plastic phallic symbols on display? I mean it can’t be about phallic symbols generally, because in the first six months of 2016 there will be 19 gun shows in the Metroplex … nearly one every weekend. While none are at the Dallas convention center, innumerable Texas officials are A-OK with that.
Rawlings was quoted as saying he wasn’t going to hide behind the Constitution concerning Exxxotica’s first amendment rights, and yet that’s just where you’d likely find the city council on gun control.
In The End …
When a hospital patient leaves without a doctor’s approval, it’s called AMA (Against Medical Advice). When the mayor and council act ALA (Against Legal Advice) they should be personally, financially liable for the consequences. They should also be forced to issue a public apology to the city for violating the laws they were elected to uphold. Unfortunately as always, it will be the people of the city of Dallas who will pay for their elected officials’ political hubris in both money and in burnishing our reputation as a priggish backwater.
UPDATE: Adultcon, Exxxotica’s main competitor reached out to the convention center one day after the city council voted to ban Exxxotica. How much free publicity will our city council be giving them? Moths to a flame … and our city council is on FIRE! 🙂
Rawlings was also quoted today as saying, “You can’t have freedoms without boundaries.” To refresh the mayor’s memory, here’s the dictionary definition of “freedom”
- The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: e.g. He won his freedom after a retrial.
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Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
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The power to determine action without restraint.
I think the mayor mixed up “freedom” with “free range.” You know, where chickens can run around to their heart’s content … in a fenced-in field. Only after it jumps the fence does it have its “freedom.”
Remember: Do you have an HOA story to tell? A little high-rise history? Realtors, want to feature a listing in need of renovation or one that’s complete with flying colors? How about hosting a Candy’s Dirt Staff Meeting? Shoot Jon an email. Marriage proposals accepted (they’re legal)! [email protected]
