Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 11, 2007 THE BLAME GAME

Ah, the good ol' days...although they are not very old...like THREE MONTHS!

The old adage "No news is good news" has been in play since May 1st...the new Mayor and City Council apparently working together...QUIETLY AND WITHOUT RANCOR OR FANFARE...in an effort to stop the bleeding and at least stabilize a declining/dying city. What a relief...what a pleasure.

Then the new Mr. Mayor decides to reopen old wounds...first on WKRO and then the August 2nd edition of the Cairo Citizen...about how the mismanagement of the past administration is responsible for Cairo's current woes. Why? Like we don't know that's how "your side" feels!

Not unexpectedly, the old Mr. Mayor felt compelled to respond...in kind...about how the mismanagement of the past administration is responsible for Cairo's current woes. Why? Like we don't know that's how "your side" feels! We heard that tune for four looooong years as you and the city council waged a war of attrition that left the rest of us as collateral damage.

Enough already! Singer/Songwriter Stace England got it oh so right in his CD, Greetings From Cairo, Illinois. In the final song - an eloquent plea to the current residents of Cairo, entitled "Can't We All Just Get Along" - Stace so aptly identifies those responsible for Cairo's current plight when he sings "It's a hell of a mess, we oughta confess, we're all a little to blame."

Yes...you want to know who is to blame for what we see everyday...you want to point the finger of blame at those responsible...start with the person in the mirror!

The last thing Cairo needs as we start our "inventory project" and our "petition drive" is a reminder by either side of the deep anger and resentment or the petty jealousies that have divided and defined Cairo over the past century. We either need to put the past to rest and move on...or erect a tombstone and move out.

It's time to decide.

But, in the interests of "equal time", here is the response of Cairo's former mayor from the August 9th Cairo Citizen...

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