Terrifying Quote of the Day

I was watching the "DiVinci Code" DVD on Saturday, when the character Sir Leigh Teabing (played by Ian McKellen) comes out with most of the most terrifying quotes that I believe that I have ever heard. It seems appropriate that on this day of worship in many religions, that we take a moment to consider it.  

"As long as there has been one true God there has been killing in His name."

Bread & Circuses

The Toledo Blade printed a special section recently on the impending grand opening of the new Lucas County Arena in Toledo. Soon to be the home of the "Walleyes" hockey team and the "Bullfrogs" (our new arena football franchise), this modern cathedral of entertainment is all but ready for its debut. 

While the naming rights for this new venue have yet to decided, it has even gained a nickname through the efforts of Fred Lefebvre of WSPD, calling it the "FinkRink" in honor of outgoing mayor Carlton S Finkbeiner. As well as the above named sporting events, this new facility is already destined as an true entertainment hot spot, with many other types of amusement on the way including: comedy, music concerts, and yes, even the circus will come to town here in Toledo. 

This special section in the daily paper and some of the recent posts on "Thurber's Thoughts", along with the closeness of the upcoming elections, got me making strange connections (yeah I know, big surprise). "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," said George Santayana, and I think perhaps he was right. It seems to me that our politics today have a curious parallel to historic events. 

You see, the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire came when the people began to lose touch with what had made it (and them) the heart of civilization, the seat of reason, and the center of justice and freedom in the world. Some part of the spirit that drove the creation and growth of something that had never been seen before in Europe seemed to have gone out of it. Something of that greatness, not only of its leaders, but of the people themselves seems to have dried up, withered, and died. 

The Romans, somehow forgetting the very principles that made them great, diminished as a government. Wearied with almost never ending wars and perhaps robbed of some of their best and brightest as a consequence, they began to fail as a people. The citizens, grasping almost desperately at glories of the past, sought instead a standard of living that they no longer earned and cheap entertainment to fill the growing emptiness within them. 

The Roman government of the time, being shrewd politicians rather than great leaders and recognizing the threat to their power, gave in to these desires. They held huge gladiatorial contests in their grand coliseums with recreations of past glories, with the life and death struggle of men pitted against beasts and each other, and finally with people whose opinions differed from those of the leaders being horrifically sacrificed. 

The common people were entertained with the pomp and ceremony of these "games". They had all of the drama of life and death, all of the inspiration and indoctrination required to keep them content with their leaders, and of course bread and wine were distributed. You see, you couldn't very well expect these mere shadows of what were once a great people to sit through a day of entertainment without being fed and having something to ease throats that were parched from cheering such entertainment. 

I think about that a lot now, as I see Toledo spending over $100 million on this new entertainment venue. Likewise for many of the citizens of the US slouched in front of their televisions, seeking other idle amusements. And while they pass their often meaningless hours, they clamor for their leaders to give them ever more. Pay our mortgages and give us special deals to buy new cars or refrigerators. Provide us with health care and insure our retirement. Whatever it is that we want to keep us happy, give it to us now whether we have worked for it or not. 

Yet like those Romans of history, we could all too soon find ourselves with the Huns, the Mongols, and the Vandals at the gate as we enjoy our pastimes. Even as we attempt to amuse ourselves, history may well be recording this as the dimming of the yet another bright light in the dark tide of the history of Man. Caught up in our 'bread and circuses', we may at last be forgetting the best part of ourselves and ignoring that which seeks to destroy us from without and within.
 

TFP Column: Issue 3

I have once again put my two cents (not sense) in for this weekend's Toledo Free Press, this week weighing in on State Issue 3, which will be on the ballot in November. 

Being a rather strict Constitutionalist, I am not a terribly big fan of the use of a Constitutional Amendment this way, and I go into a bit of just why that is. 

This weekend's TFP is rather unique on the subject of Issue 3, in that the Publisher Tom Pounds (who I respect greatly) has weighed in on the other side of the issue from me; while Editor In Chief Michael Miller (another person on that respect list) slides a rather interesting and extensive piece right in the middle of the road on the subject. 

It's not often (at least I've never heard of it), that you see a newspaper do this kind of thing. There's a lot going on in the rest of the TFP, and the only way you are going to know what's going on in the Glass City this week is to give it a read this weekend.  

(Just as an FYI, there are different versions of my column in the print and electronic version this week. The print version went in a while back, but Michael Miller allowed me to update the column for the electronic version.)

Alfred Nobel & His Fiendish Prize

So President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize for "giving the world hope for a better future". Wait, have I missed something? Is Democracy established in Iraq? Has peace broken out in Afghanistan? Have Iran and North Korea abandoned their nuclear programs? Have Israel and the Arab world declared their undying love for one another? 

President Obama is in the tenth month of his presidency, and other than running up the national debt of the United States by a couple of trillion dollars, he has accomplished little. I'm sorry therefore, but I find that giving a Nobel who has yet to actually accomplish anything of consequence says more about the Nobel committee than it does about our current president. 

Add to that those previously awarded to Al Gore for bringing questionable science to the world's attention, the award given to terrorist leader Yasser Arafat, and that of the Secretary General of the less than useless United Nations Kofi Annan; and I think that you can safely say that this completely discredits the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Never has so much fuss been been made for so little accomplishment. I am reminded of the quote from George Bernard Shaw, 

"I can forgive Nobel for having invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Peace Prize".

Quote of the Day

"Occasionally when looking, I see someone who appears to be both relatively intelligent to be aging fairly well. Before being able to congratulate myself however, I realize that I am not looking in a mirror but out a window."

 - me

You Go Home Now

Like a nightmare that you cannot seem to wake from, the time of the current mayor of Toledo just never seems to end. While the latest (and we can only hope final) stint in office of three-term Mayor Carlton S. Finkbeiner is about to end, it appears that it and he will not go quietly. Apparently aware of the impending end of his reign, Carty continues to miss no opportunity to stake his claim to one last bit of celebrity. 

When this lame duck mayor is not in front of the cameras announcing projects and milestones that never seem to occur, he is touting as if they are his own, projects that he has had nothing to do with. When not attending the manufactured publicity events like the destruction of a communication tower, he can still find the time to mistakenly defend the hiring or retention of ill-qualified, ill-behaved, and/or over paid city employees. 

Intent apparently, on wishing to establish a legacy for his split terms in office ( a term-limited two initially, and now this third), Carty cannot seem to go through a week without at least five mostly useless and patently manufactured press conferences. (Hmmm, who does this remind you of?) 

While failing to adequately perform his own tasks however, our Mayor still manages to find time to tell city council how to do their job. While famous for spending money on expensive plumbing, ill-advised real estate deals, unprofitable competition with private businesses, and landscaping projects for soon to be empty properties; our mayor has the effrontery to damn council members for not managing to fill the pothole of a budget that he created during his time in office through his plan of taxes and fee imposition and creation, all of dubious nature and questionable legality. 

While infamous for playing fast and loose with the rules regarding how he operates under the city charter, he yet finds opportunity to cast aspersions and attempts to exert pressure on council members for operating within their own rules for their own ends; even when such influence directly violates the separation of powers defined in that charter. While assuming a absurd posture of pretended principle and heaping scorn and ridicule on any citizens or media who dare to question him on the narrow view from his bully pulpit, he nevertheless appears ready to question the motives of any and all around him on anything he sees fit. While assuming a false mask of almost regal bearing, he continually destroys any illusion of majesty through wild-eyed rantings and nonsensical ravings. (John Mason Brown had a great line about this: "He played the king as if afraid that someone else would play the ace.") 

Well today places us but ninety days from the end of this dreadful nightmare. In but three months, we in Toledo will finally be able to wake up from what has appeared to be an almost "Groundhog Day" experience. A new mayor will take the stage (with hopefully a few new city council members will join the process as well). 

Perhaps this new mayor will learn from his predecessor and stay a bit more out of the limelight. Maybe he will learn to play nice with city council and not threaten to take his ball home every time that he doesn't get his way. Maybe he will even be able to rebuild some level of the trust that no longer exists between Toledo, its citizens, and its neighbors. 

As for our soon to be ex-"cheerleader in chief", I can only recommend to Carty Finkbeiner what the owner of the Chinese buffet suggested to the calorically challenged diner: 

"You go home now. You been here too long." 
 

"Imagination Station" Is Almost Here

For those of you who haven't been paying attention (which is probably most of you), the former Toledo COSI (Center Of Science and Industry) is about to reopen its doors as "Imagination Station" on October 10th. I can hardly contain my excitement! Who wouldn't be excited though with a venue, now funded in large part by taxpayer dollars, that has:

• Taken its name from similar facilities in Wilson, NC and Lafayette, IN; after dropping the COSI name that Columbus would no longer allow it to use
• Is still in the same ill-suited building downtown
• Has still not presented its business plan publicly in spite of its acceptance of taxpayer funding (where are all of you YMCA people on this, by the way?)
• Has not decreased it's $8.50 entrance fee, in spite of the taxpayer largess
• While it has promised many new exhibits, has not actually said whether they are in place and if so, what they are

Now I know that we are all supposed to be set aside the harsh realities of life for the children, that science is an important part of a child's education where such an institution might help, and that we should probably be grateful that anyone is doing anything in downtown Toledo other than pulling out. I am afraid however, that the folks at Imagination Station have done nothing yet in my mind to prove to me that they are worthy of such enthusiasm, or of the public trust that they have been given for that matter. 

I am willing to give Imagination Station a small chance to prove itself worthy of the money now being lavished on it by Toledo taxpayers, but only a small chance. If the history of those running this facility is to be used as any indication, I suspect that they will deserve little else. It is my fear however, that it won't be long before we hear that they are going to need additional funding in this tough economy, that the exhibits will not be able to be refreshed as often as earlier committed to, and that many of their other grand plans will simply not be able to be realized. 

Perhaps then they can reorganize yet again, come to all of us cup in hand, and perpetrate yet another failed business plan on Toledo's citizens. Hey, then we could rename it: "Reincarnation Imagination Station", the museum that just won't die. 
 

TFP Column, Not

For those of you looking for me to highlight my column this week in the Toledo Free Press, you will be disappointed (or perhaps relieved). Circumstances beyond my control have occurred and I received a call late yesterday delaying the publication of the effort that I put forward. The reason for this will become apparent next week.

Meanwhile, the usual cast of characters will be busy outdoing my contributions to this outstanding collection of weekly news and views, and I urge you to peruse all of it on this first chilly weekend of fall.

Quote of the Day

"When as a young man I was promoted from the production floor in printing to management, I was informed that such an elevation required that half of my brain be removed. When I left management for sales, they insisted it was necessary to take the other half in order to fill the position. Now while this might on the surface appear to qualify me for elected political office, the fact that they left my spine intact may in fact preclude me from such duties."
- me
 

My Candidate's Campaign Speech

I don't write campaign speeches for candidates, though for a number of years while "The West Wing" was on, I felt a calling to do so. I soon discovered however, that I had neither the looks of Rob Lowe nor the talent exhibited by his character Sam Seaborn (nor that of the writers of the show for that matter). I expect now that such an opportunity will never come my way in real life, so I thought with the elections so close in November and the campaigns winding up, that in place of that dream I would write the speech that I would want a candidate running for office in this city to give. 

We come together as Toledoans once again to decide the direction that this city's future will take. Too often in the past, we have allowed ourselves to stand idly by while the interchangeable candidates and unchanging policies have held sway in the Glass City, doing little more than holding this city back from the promising potential that we all know exists. Far too much of that potential has been squandered by a group of professional politicians who move from the School Board to the Council Chambers on their way to even higher office, or who have purposely ignored such potential by continuing the 'business as usual' policies that this self-appointed ruling class imposes on this city.

The fault for this loss does not lie entirely with the political parties, though they have long turned politics in Toledo into a twisted game where the only thing that matters is the number of players you have on the field.  Neither is it entirely the fault of unions, though their symbiotic relationship with local government long ago reached a point where it's killing the host.  Perhaps it's not even the fault of apathetic voters too lazy to look beyond familiar names and too concerned about the latest celebrity scandal or popular TV show to make educated choices at the polls ... or any choice at all for that matter. 


It's long past time that voters in Toledo looked beyond some these partisan loyalties and started looking at what must be done to stop the runaway train of regulation, taxation, and obfuscation that Glass City government has become.

Contract with the city's unions need to be fair, but not to reward its employers on a far grander scale than those paying the bill for such agreements.  Efforts to support supposed 'quality of life' issues instead need to buttress the quality of streets and sewers necessary to that city's life itself.  Beautification projects long designed to hide this cities flaws must be set aside in favor of repairing those flaws instead.

It's far past time when Toledo stopped looking at ways to maintain its past and began to start looking at ways to define its future.  



Stop seeking ways to generate revenue through levy, permanent temporary taxation, and fees derived from marginally legal surveillance of its citizens.  Stop placing bureaucratic red-tape and onerous regulation in the way of small businesses seeking nothing more than to remain in Toledo.  Stop adding to the burdens of a budget filled with constant effort to erase red ink and start finding ways to live within a budget that has too many residents and businesses voting with their feet.  


We can begin by running an independent audit of the city to see where we 'really are' where revenues and expenditures are concerned.  We can continue by doing what government does best when opportunity knocks and potential presents itself, get it out of the way.  We can build a strong foundation for change by understanding that any level of government works best that infringes on the efforts of its citizens to improve their lives the least.

The beginning is simple enough.  Place a majority in Council that will not add to its already onerous list of laws, but instead seek the removal of those which most stand in the way of progress.  Place a majority in Council that can look beyond the interests of Unions with big pockets to fund future ambitions and look instead to citizens whose taxes pay the bills.  Place a majority in Council who understand that government cannot fix everything and should not try to since often creates more problems than it solves in its attempts.


None of this may stave off the current problems caused by the economic downturn, but even a few might begin to turn the ship of state and chart for it a more promising course.  None of this may end the exodus in the city, but doing so may encourage some of those refugees to return.  None of this may end the distrust of Toledo's neighbors, but might show them that we are making an honest effort to regain such trust.


Doing something so radically different may not solve the problems that the Glass City faces in an economy continually growing tougher, but hold more promise than continuing to follow policies that have long since proven ineffective at doing anything but adding to the city's never-ending budget woes.  Doing so might likewise at least be a small step in regaining the trust of those who long ago lost faith and gave up on the elected leaders that got the city into this mess in the first place.

Now is the time to shake off those shackles of the tired and shopworn past and look ahead.  Now is the time for a clean break with that past and those associated with it, in order to find a better future.  Now is the time to realize that most of today's Council has history of failure and find promise instead in the unrealized potential of new leadership for the Glass City.


Should any of you candidates out there actually believe in any of this and wish to use any or all of this speech, you may do so with my blessing (and with credit given of course, I want to make Sam Seaborn proud).