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CAT Tracks for October 1, 2010
PISSED! |
I offer the following "apology/retraction"...
...I am sorry for using the foul word above!
Call it righteous indignation...
...or, considering the circumstances, maybe the devil made me do it!
Apparently the September 15th edition of CAT Tracks has struck a nerve in Illinois political circles...
Apparently my PERSONAL advice to readers of CAT Tracks to think "Anti-Christ" when they saw Republican Candidate for Governor Bill Brady's name on the November 2nd ballot - because the Dude is on PUBLIC RECORD that he wants to go after the pensions of already retired teachers...LIKE ME - has upset the powers that wanna be!
Apparently someone in the Republican Party has complained to the IEA that one of their "affiliates" has used such a term in describing their candidate for Governor.
And, apparently because the IEA doesn't like to be portrayed as a Democratic "lapdog" (or because of political campaign legal considerations), the objection by the Republican Party is having a ripple effect.
BTW: The IEA and NEA do endorse Republicans for office. Maybe not as often as Democrats, but they do...sometimes to my chagrin (like in 1998 when the IEA endorsed George Ryan over Glenn Poshard.) The IEA and the NEA support the candidates whose positions they think most favor the objectives and goals of public education and public school teachers...OR...whom they think will win and whom they don't want to alienate.
Well, excuse the hell out of me!
As regular readers of CAT Tracks will recall...
I have on several occasions during the past two years (since my retirement on June 3, 2008) MADE IT PURRFECTLY CLEAR - CAT TRACKS IS MY PERSONAL WEBSITE...in which I wax poetic concerning my former school district and my former union.
I was going to look up the many editions where I have gone on record with that FACT.
Two things stopped me:
However, one link/edition was easy...
That was the day of the CJSHS Retirement Luncheon...when this old CAT slinked out of Cairo School District Number One. That's when I made it official that I would no longer be speaking for the Cairo Association of Teachers...that the opinions expressed on CAT Tracks were MINE, AND MINE ALONE!
In later editions of CAT Tracks (they ARE out there, but I ain't gonna look for 'em), I ironically used the analogy of a BELOVED REPUBLICAN ICON (former President of the United States Ronald Wilson Reagan) recalling his dramatic seizing of the microphone during a primary debate...saying he was paying for this microphone...and he was going to use it!
Yes...I am paying for this website and I will say whatever I damn well please!
It's not like I made up a bunch of lies about Bill Brady...I published a page out of the IEA Advocate that I ass-u-me reflects Brady's official campaign positions.
IF those positions are in error, I apologize and will be happy to publish the official position. Illinois Republican Party...since you are apparently monitoring this website, send me a copy!
Or, IF the IEA got it wrong, I would be happy to publish their retraction. (I DID remove the scans that I made of the IEA Advocate just in case they were in error.)
You know...I could go on and on and on...
But, really!
Talk about a tempest in a teapot!!!
Is the election for Governor of Illinois really that close that we are taking a lowly website with a readership of probably less than 100 people (many of whom live out of state) to task for an off-hand "Anti-Christ" reference.
Also...
I just re-read the above article. If CAT Tracks is such a force in Illinois politics, I wonder why I haven't heard from the "Mighty Quinn"...my "DREAM" that he would be joining his Republican and Democratic predecessors in prison...paving the way for Governor Sheila Simon!!!
Methinks that thicker skin is required of political candidates. If Bill Brady and/or his supporters can't handle a single private citizen exercising his right to free speech under the United States Constitution and the Illinois Constitution, well...if you can't stand the heat, maybe you aren't ready for the kitchen!
Note to Bill Brady...don't EVER think of running for President of the United States! If you can't handle CAT Tracks, what the hell would you do with the likes of FOX NEWS, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity???
Oh, that's right. FOX, Glenn, Rush, and Sean only call Democrats the "Anti-Christ"...or Muslims...or Socialists...or...
Note to IEA...feel free to remove the CAT Tracks link from your website so that there will be no confusion as to its authorship/affiliation. CAT Tracks is NOT an official publication of the Cairo Association of Teachers and does NOT represent either the IEA nor the NEA.
If an apology or a retraction was in order or desired...that was it!
I am Ron Newell and I approve this message...
