Don’t Ever Change, Cambridge

In these uncertain times, it’s nice to know we can rely on some things. The sun will always rise and set. Gravity will always hold us down. And Cambridge will always be liberal to a fault.

During last week’s elections, a troop of Boy Scouts set up donation boxes at polling places to raise money for the troops in Iraq. In typical Cambridge fashion, the city removed the boxes and the Boy Scouts because they may have had a “pro-war” bent.

Marsha Weinerman, executive director of the city’s Election Commission, said the boxes were removed after a resident complained to commission workers about their implied “pro-war” message.

“We contacted the law department, and it was determined that the best course of action would be to remove the boxes,” Weinerman said.

Way to stand up to those preteen hawks, Cambridge.

The Secretary of State told the Cambridge Chronicle that most of the Scouts’ booths were legal.

Weinerman cited a law that prohibits political messages near any polling station in an election. But state law prohibits political messages pertaining to a particular election within 150 feet of any polling station, according to a spokesperson for Secretary of State William Galvin’s office. There is no law stopping someone from promoting an unrelated political message within 150 feet of any polling place.

This is how the idea that those who are against the war are also somehow against the troops gets started. Good for you, Cambridge. You’ve managed to teach a group of kids that ideology trumps empathy every time.