Tank City Initiative 54

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Cue the laugh track. Prepare for a hearty chuckle.

A 21-year-old computer geek who apparently can't part with World Trade Organization protest glories has written a lighthearted but unnecessary initiative that requires the Seattle mayor to sit for 30 minutes in a dunk tank every Nov. 30 to commemorate the 1999 World Trade Organization demonstrations.

Initiative author Ben Livingston is an intelligent young man with a good sense of humor. But he and his supporters are missing a key point: WTO is over!! Let it go.

Sure, some people are riled at Mayor Paul Schell over a variety of things. That comes with the job. And no harm would come from a mayor sitting in a tank of water while people reminisce about the protests.

(Hey, if the temperature in the tank is high enough, the mayor might mistake it for a hot tub.)

The problem with this whimsical idea is it cheapens the initiative process and elevates WTO beyond its logical place in history.

WTO was a poorly planned fiasco, but it has been examined and discussed from almost every angle. Enough, already.

The city can do without Livingston's proposed "Freedom to Peaceably Assemble Day."