Third in a series
Re “Praise the Lord and Pass the Invocation”
After initially saying he would lean back at Monday evening’s City Council meeting and silently observe the trajectory of Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells’s proposal to remove the word “Invocation” from a pre-meeting ritual, Vice Mayor Mehaul O’Leary instantly returned to form.
A dedicated opponent, Mr. O’Leary’s Irish eyes morphed into orange flames as he vowed, “I am going to fight this to the death.”
As his friends know, when Mr. O’Leary lays down such a marker, he is not idly shuffling his feet in the dirt.
As a religious person who attends Mass every Sunday, he sees a lofty purpose in retaining the title of invocation,” and he means to use his body as a human shield to preserve that right if necessary.
The vice mayor issued a warning to the mayor.
“She had better be ready,” he said.
“If God is taken out of my Council meetings, I might as well step down.
“The Supreme Court ruled that city councils can make up their own minds on this,” Mr. O’Leary said. “The invocation is more for the benefit of the members of the City Council than anyone else. The purpose is for the members to put their minds in a higher place when they make decisions to defend the public.”
(To be continued)
