February 22, 2004
The Blame Game – Enough Already
Politicians and Citizens Play The “Ain’t It Awful Game”
By Fred H. Arm
Open any newspaper, turn on the radio, or watch TV and you will be bombarded with refrains of how awful things are and who is to blame. The Governor blames the former Governor, the Democrats blame the Republicans, and the Richmond City Council blames the Administration. The simple fact remains is that we are all in a helluva financial pickle. So f--k--g what!
It is hardly surprising there is so much complaining since we learned this behavior growing up while at home. Your mother blamed your father, your sister blamed her brother, and now you can blame your own spouse. Does it solve anything? Of course not! It only exacerbates the problem. Now, not only are we going broke in our fair city, everybody is at everyone else’s throat and the problem just gets worse every day. Enough! It’s time forget about your petty grievances and get down to work resolving the problem.
Since there is no money to hire help to get us through this crisis, why not tap into the army of able-bodied volunteers whose minds and bodies are rusting away in retirement bliss. The city already has a corps of volunteers working in advisory committees, design review boards, planning commissions and the like. I am convinced that once you put out the word, there will be more than enough people clamoring to help out during this disaster.
So I offer you a challenge: you frustrated politicians, to put away your swords and sharp tongues. The time has come to reach out into the secret lairs of the community to tap into the wealth of human resources who are ready, willing, and able to get us back on track to create a city government we can all be proud of. Your whining and complaining is best left at home. In fact, it probably does not do you much good there either. Get a life!