THE CANTON TRUSTEE SAGA

Wednesday, March 08, 2006


This is a story about a local matter. The location is Canton Township in the state of Michigan. The township is run by a supervisor and a board of trustees. This is about one of the trustees.

He came to my attention a few years ago when he ran for a seat on the Board of Trustees. I noticed, because the campaign literature he sent to Canton homes had him dressed in a Marine uniform and using patriotism and his sacrifice for our freedoms shtick to get votes. I really hate that type of pandering and I voted for someone else but Canton voters bought into it and he got a seat on the board.

His name was in the paper constantly. He opposed about everything the Board suggested. It appeared he was a contrarian and a populist, again pandering to the people of Canton as someone who will stick up for the common man. His objections and antics became more bizarre as time went on and he was looked on as a basic pain in the ass that wasted people’s time more than doing anything constructive.

The one time I saw him at a Board meeting, he came in at the very end, made a commotion entering the room and then the meeting ended.

A few people tried to criticize his antics in the local paper but were attacked by what appeared to be his fan club or his gang of like minded individuals.

The final straw for me came when he announced he is re-enlisting in the Marines because someone has to protect and defend our country. The local paper carried his story big time and a local editor wrote a lengthy column questioning his support for the Iraq war but praising his dedication to our country; willing to put his life on the line to defend our freedoms when fewer and fewer are willing to do that anymore.

He was re-enlisting but he would not vacate his Board of Trustee seat; he wanted that waiting for him when he got back.

I saw his actions as a continuation of his use of patriotism and his uniform to gain publicity for future political campaigns and I said just that in a letter to the editor.

Predictably, his harpies came out in force lambasting me with every imaginable charge. I also received an email, anonymous of course, from some inbred moron who used the vilest language to malign me and my family as well as issue a threat. The writer had a problem with my ethnicity and my service in the Air Force as well as perceived leftward leanings. He called me an “eastern European hippy (sic)”. Since my hips are rather narrow, I think he meant hippie.

This type of polarization is quite the norm in this country as exemplified by my previous post of attacking the Colorado teacher that dared to suggest that Bush sounds a lot like Hitler did.

It reminds me of the Hans Christian Anderson tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” where two scoundrels convinced the emperor that the invisible clothes they would sell him could help him see who was pure of heart and spirit because only the pure of heart could see the clothes, people who could not see the clothes are just evil. In the story, everyone did not want to appear un-pure of heart or evil and praised the non-existent clothes. Finally an innocent child cried out that the emperor was naked.

My letter to the editor basically exposed what was quite obvious to some people; the Trustee was using the flag, his uniform and the war on Iraq to further his political goals – he had no clothes!

There were specific accusations that the Trustee defenders made against me that need answers.

One letter writer accused me of supporting Al Qaeda by my views. I don’t know if people practice selective ignorance or are blinded by the truth when it does not validate their views but HISTORICAL FACTS are now in and the invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda or terrorism or the 9/11 attacks. The sad and sick irony is that the invasion of Iraq gave Al Qaeda a new home, many new members and renewed energy to harm Americans and anyone else they want. All these years Saddam Hussein kept Al Qaeda bottled up in Afghanistan by not allowing them access to Iraq. BUSH ACTUALLY HELPED AL QAEDA AND PLACED AMERICANS IN MORE DANGER THAN EVER BEFORE BY INVADING IRAQ AND DEPOSING SADDAM – thank you very much Mr. President.

Another writer basically called me a coward for enlisting in the Air Force instead of going to the Marines and the front lines. I don’t know if these people remember the 60s or the Vietnam War but many 18-19 year olds, like me, were being drafted and placed in the Army or Marines.

Some gave this some thought and quickly enlisted in the Air Force even though it meant serving an extra two (2) years in the service of our country. The reasons are simple, they wanted to learn a skill they could use after their military service, wanted the opportunity to attend school and did not want to be mere cannon fodder. They provided essential services to the war machine during Vietnam.

President Bush and Vice President Chaney had other priorities and did not give ANY TIME TO THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY DURING THE VIETNAM WAR. Please don’t bring up Bush’s National Guard duty; that is really a joke.

So these defenders of Bush and Chaney look aside at their lack of ANY military time but give me grief about my four (4) years in the United States Air Force – go figure.

Another letter writer made a point of stating that the Canton Trustee is going to Iraq to defend our freedoms. The War on Iraq was an invasion on our part; we were not defending diddly shit. Our freedoms are not at stake in Iraq. The only things at steak in Iraq are innocent American and Iraqi lives so please do not feed me that sack of shit.

Another accusation was that I may have a political agenda and that is why I am pointing out that the emperor has no clothes – no way.

People are always saying “Support the troops” and any criticism of the war is somehow “Not supporting the troops”. We have an all volunteer military so all the troops in Iraq are there because they signed up; it is their JOB. We support them by paying our taxes which in turn pays their salaries so WE ALL SUPPORT THE TROOPS so what the hell do people mean by “support our troops”?

Do the troops care if we support the war on Iraq? That is a different story. You may ask the troops IF THEY SUPPORT THE WAR ON IRAQ. Many reports say they do not and now we know that most Americans do not support it either.

I remember talking to my friend that has a teenage son and how he asked him about the war on Iraq. He stated that if the U.S. was attacked, he would be in the front of the line to join the military and defend our country. If the draft was reinstated right now and he was drafted to fight in the war on Iraq; he would go to Canada. You see, the war on Iraq has nothing to do with defending our country, it is Bush’s folly trying to democratize all Arab countries and probably Christianize them also – it is total bullshit and not worth one American life or Iraqi for that matter.

This whole Trustee episode does not put our country or citizens in a good light. Some appear no different then the Taliban morons or the cartoon protestors. The fact that they are fooled by a demagogue like this Canton Trustee is sad and I guess if he can use this power to his advantage then shame on us all.

Janusz