Lost in Wonderland

"Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried Alice.

Without so much as a peep, the Champaign City Council Tuesday night voted 9-0 to approve the extension of employee benefits to same-sex domestic partners. This act gives the same benefits to domestic partners of employees as those received by legally married employees. You can read the whole story here on the Daily Illini's web site. For some reason, it's not on the N-G web site. (Who's surprised?)

Unless you're a constant peruser of meeting agendas, this one slipped right by you. Certainly there was nothing to be found in the local press (i.e. the N-G) the past two days indicating this issue was to come before the council.

"Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried Alice.

My response: It's about damn time. Or: it's past about damn time.

At the same time:
-- Why now?
-- How did this slip through the cracks?
-- How did a council as conservative and study session-addicted as Champaign's approve what in most areas is a very controversial plan? With no study session? (Or no 'announced' study session...?)
-- How did it pass unanimously?
-- And finally, how can he same council that can't get its mind around something as obvious as a smoking ban approve something as historically controversial as this? Unanmously? With minimal debate?

"Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried Alice.

Good work, council.

You constantly keep us guessing.

And so it goes.