Reading the following story should encourage all of us to remember "this could happen to any city."
In 1966 I recall visiting Cleveland for a Church of God Convention that my mother would drag me to (always unwillingly it seemed) as a preteen. The city was littered, the stench of the pollution from Lake Erie as well as the surrounding factories left an impression in my mind that made me vow never to embark anywhere near its borders again, even if God was calling.
But in the recent years, things were changing, based on better times in the past decade prior to year 2000. Cleveland was developing in the arts, seemed to be expanding educational initiatives, and had a halfway decent (knowing nothing about "fooz-ball" as Bobby Bochet's Mama called it") pro football team, the Cleveland Browns.
Then we get the current administration who promises to be the president of all the people.
Well, how can the president of all the people allow at least 42,000 men, many who are heads of families, to provide leadership for the foundation of family and community when all opportunities have, like Elvis, "left the building."
The "building" in this case is the building of American Education, the building of more opportunities for the poor, and the building of a sense of community as opposed to an "us" versus "them" attitude that has split this nation's priorties to the point where we no longer have a middle class, but instead we are now more like "a nation with two parties," run by an Imperial Wizard who can't stand to be questioned about his actions.
Well, November 2, 2004 will give those of us asking the questions an opportunity to tell the current administration, all of them, what to do: let them all move to Cleveland Ohio in 2005 so they can feel the pain firsthand they have caused over the past four years for our brother and sister Americans.
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