Photo used as evidence against Keith Meyer in Davenport, Iowa

(Publisher's Note: This article appeared in March 2013 in the Reader's printed and online edition. Given the disarray the courts and justice system is in locally, state and nationally, the lessons learned over 12 yeears ago are worth re-visiting again. It is also an example of why county grand juries should be more widely known and engaged as the backstop to governments gone wild.)

Here we go again, forced to suffer playground politics with Davenport's city council, evidenced by infighting rather than cooperating, reacting instead of reasoning, and plotting versus planning. This term, the thorn in the Davenport council's side is Ward 3 Alderman Keith Meyer, who used bad judgment in delivering a Christmas carol that was less-than-flattering to various aldermen.