Mayor’s Row………..by Ned Mitchell
What an exciting time it has been in Sesser for the last few days. Our 8th grade boys basketball team finished up a perfect 25-0 season by winning the Class M State Championship. Coach Brian Gibson, team players, cheerleaders, fans, teachers, administrators, and lots of family members packed the Rend Lake College Gym for the tournament and cheered the Red Devils on to victory. Sesser’s Main Street was decorated for the occasion and a victory celebration was held in the Woll Room upstairs at the historic Sesser Opera House. I could not help but think about the kids as they entered the Opera House and how that very same room was once a teen town in Sesser. We have now restored it to where it is available for public use and this was a fitting scene for a happy occasion. Congratulations to Sesser-Valier for bringing home this trophy and to these kids who worked very hard all year long to become undefeated in 25 games. What a record! This is our future and we are very proud of these kids and their hard work.
Hubert H. Humphrey, a great statesman and one of my favorite politicians once delivered a speech talking about how we as Americans would be judged by history. One of the main criteria addressed the subject of how we treat our sick, our elderly, our children, and our less fortunate citizens. I still have that plaque and think about it from time to time. The speech and Humphrey came to mind last week as I was reading about the disabled veteran’s plight in Illinois. Embarrassed, ashamed, upset, are just a few words that come to my mind.
Here is the story. Illinois now has 1,000 disabled veterans on a waiting list to be admitted to one of the several veterans homes in the state. There are hundreds of empty beds and a thousand veterans in need, so what is the problem you might ask? Our politicians in this state are in a circular firing squad pointing at each other and casting about blame. While they are busy shooting political barbs at each other we have a thousand veterans who have defended this nation going without proper care. Even those who are patients of these facilities are suffering. A recent study that was released revealed that patients in these homes only get one bath per week at some facilities and often their meals are delivered so late they are cold. Bed sores go untreated and physical therapy, forget that.
The Veterans Affairs Department says there is a critical shortage of nurses. A state representative from Granville, Illinois says the problem with staffing is the process by which nurses are hired. It takes about 5 months to complete the application process to be hired by the state if you are a nurse. Sounds right on target to me! Now if you are a nurse just graduating school and eager to get in the work force, are you going to apply and wait 4 or 5 months for a job? Absolutely not, you are going to take the first job that comes along that will help you pay the bills. Back to the circular firing squad of politicians, they are going to have a huge press conference to break ground on a new 80 bed expansion at the veteran’s home in La Salle. Never mind the 231 empty beds they now have, we’re going to add 80 more to that total! Senators, State Representatives, GOVERNOR, democrats, republicans, independents, you all should be ashamed of yourselves. While you all are out bandying about telling folks how good they have it, perhaps you should go stay overnight in one of these facilities and see first hand for yourself just how it is we treat our veterans. In the last few years over 200 staff positions have been cut by this state at these homes. Let me see, we can find 3 million dollars of tax payer money to help build a little league baseball field in Marion but we can’t seem to find the money to give our veterans decent care. I know treating a disabled veteran’s bed sores or getting one bath a week, or eating a cold meal is not nearly as glamorous as fielding an amateur baseball team . I’ll bet the hotdogs will be hot in Marion at the ball field and the beer will be cold. Are our veteran’s heroes or are they forgotten? You be the judge and when you see an elected official out campaigning, ask them!
James Carville, the “rajun Cajun”, political advisor to President Bill Clinton, was in Carbondale last week and put on an outstanding performance. I say that to point out that I am not the only democrat who is not happy with the direction my party, that of the working men and women, has taken. Carville went so far as to say “democrats today are so lost for direction they don’t know whether to wind their butts or scratch their watches.” I could not agree more. Democrats seem to have three main topics on their agenda, abortion, abortion, and abortion. All during the latest Supreme Court hearings time after time all we heard from these supposedly intelligent democrats is “what will happen to Roe vs Wade?” What difference does it make you nit wits, we lost the election for president. The person who wins the office of president gets to appoint people to the Supreme Court. Did you really think President Bush would appoint someone that shared your goofy agenda? If John Kerry were president do you think he would appoint someone with opposing views? Of course not, that is how the system is supposed to work. You win, you get to name the Supreme Court, you lose, and boy do you really lose!
Now we have our famous Senator Barack Obama heading up the democrats in their quest to see who is the most corrupt. I know Senator Obama well as I did serve with him in Springfield while I was there. He is one of the most intelligent and articulate people I know. No doubt in my mind, he is honest to the core. He has his work cut out for him on this venture however. Obama’s main problem now is he speaking of virtue in Washington but back home Illinois democrats and republicans are oozing in sleaze. Scandal after scandal is haunting the reformer/unreformer governor and our former governor is on trial right now for corruption. Indictments are all over the place and federal investigations are rampant in Springfield and Chicago. So while Senator Obama is out in Washington whacking republicans he has failed to clean up his own back yard first. If anybody can pull this one off it is Obama and I wish him well but at the same time it would be nice for him to at least behind the scenes tell his cohorts in Illinois to get their act in order at the same time he is preaching this message in Washington.
Hopefully all of you gardeners remembered to plant lettuce on Valentine’s Day. I did, keeping tradition and am eager to see spring come around in about 32 days. I have noticed tulips and lilies sprouting out of the ground and trees are starting to bud so those are all good signs of Mother Nature telling us to be patient, new life is approaching fast. The days are getting longer and soon grass will begin turning green and need to be mowed.
Special birthdays this past week include Delmar Jones who turned 81 and is enjoying his retirement doing things he likes to do. My granddaughter Johnel, turned 7 on Sunday and she is very excited. She is having a roller skating party this weekend and as of this writing it is up in the air whether or not I will be donning roller skates for the event. It you feel any earth tremors Friday evening in Benton that is me taking a spill at the roller rink!
If you need us give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322 or write nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org , we are happy to hear from you!
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