EDITOR'S NOTE:

Received the following message in an e-mail from a member of CAT at 10:38 p.m. on Friday night...

• "I heard that he left in route to attend a funeral. I don't know whose funeral though."

If true, Superintendent Leotis Swopes has not only my apology, but also my condolences.

Below is the original post...

As in "Missing in Action"!

Golly...did I waste my time in the wee hours...and Friday morning!!

The spirit moved me to make protest signs (well, badges) and make the trek to Shawnee Community College to attend the annual Regional Institute. Thought it was one of those "mandatory" things. Oh, well...

Before I go further, it should be noted that this edition of CAT Tracks is NOT entitled AWOL...as in "Absent Without Leave". I'm sure that Cairo Superintendent Dr. Leotis D. Swopes had AN EXCELLENT REASON NOT TO ATTEND.

After I had been at SCC for about an hour and having NOT seen the Cairo Superintendent, I (being the ever-curious former CAT) started asking...teachers...administrators..."Where's the Superintendent?" The multitude of responses..."Haven't seen him." One person (who was NOT a CAT) made the catty remark..."He's probably on the Interstate on the way to Chicago." Finally, I found one person who said he thought he saw him in the distance (in a gray suit even). However, that person immediately qualified his identification when a group of Cairo folks chimed in that THEY had not seen the Superintendent...the "witness" said "Maybe I was mistaken." (Of course, being my catty self, I had to inquire of the "witness"..."How much did he pay you to say that you saw him?" Chuckle, chuckle...)

For you non-educators, a word of explanation. This might seem much ado about nothing...why were you even looking for the Superintendent??? Because...THAT is how you PROVE that you were at the Regional Institute...you make sure you look up your immediate supervisor and say "Good morning...how are you doing today?" In case there was any question of whether or not you attended the Regional Institute, you have an administrator witness! Of course, the ultimate "insurance" (so that you won't be threatened with "docking") is to have the Superintendent as your witness...where any "challenge" would normally originate. So...THAT is the one day that you go looking for trouble (okay...THAT was catty on my part)...THAT is the one day that you go looking for the Superintendent and say "Good Morning!"

Therefore, we will just say that Cairo Superintendent Dr. Leotis D. Swopes was "MIA". If we ALL missed him...and he WAS there...then he has my heart-felt apology!

BUT, now that THAT is all out of the way...

Since I was up in the wee hours "making signs" and DID attend the Regional Institute even though retired, let me have my say...

Here is my (painfully bad) update on a familiar childhood song:

Oh, where, oh where has our Leotis gone
Oh where, oh where can he be
In August he made sure we traveled long
Today he’s no where to see!

Oh, Swopes, oh Swopes where’s the good doctor gone
Oh where, oh where can he be
At Meridian, his words were so hateful and wrong
Our response did he fear to see?

AND, since I was up at midnight creating "protest signs", below are the best unseen badges/buttons at today's Regional Institute:

Okay, I've "vented"...let the weekend begin!!! Have a GREAT one...

POSTSCRIPT: I've been known to listen to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, etc. in the past, but during the final month before the election...there is just NO WAY!!! Therefore, I have fallen back on the liberal "drive-by" media for my election news...namely, Keith Olbermann's "Countdown". If you have ever seen it (and it is over-the-top LIBERAL), Keith closes his show with a countdown of sorts...actually a "countup"...how many days have passed since President George W. Bush declared his infamous "Mission Accomplished". (It's right at 2000 days.)

Well, I'm going to start my own "countdown"...how many days since Cairo Superintendent Dr. Leotis D. Swopes made his racially tinged plea to the Meridian Board of Education to "Take our high school...PLEASE, take our high school!"

TODAY is the 8th day since Cairo Superintendent Dr. Leotis D. Swopes tried to sell us out!