Having Said That by John DePetro
Monday, June 07, 2010
It was only fitting that last Thursday night as the Celtics and Lakers began Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Rhode Island House was also on the legislative court for the final “games” of the General Assembly season. The home court advantage belonged to the Lakers, as is always key in the NBA finals, because teams know it can be tough, if not impossible, to win on the road. In the NBA, the home team always gets the calls, with a wink and a nod from the ref.
The other night at the State House, the home court advantage belonged to Organized Labor, which got all the calls from the ref (Speaker Fox) and walked away with another victory. The perpetually losing team (the people of Rhode Island) was once again on the wrong side of a rigged game, watching all the calls go the other way. The biggest collection of spineless cowards (better known as team General Assembly) taking cues from the head ref, sided with labor against the people. Pass the problem onto the city and town taxpayers, but “leave the unions alone” might as well have been the chant from the stands.
Rep. Bob Watson pointed to organized labor leaders, describing them as “rats,” scurrying around the building all day and into the night. It called to mind the old expression that on a sinking ship, when “the water rises, the rats come out.” Well, the “S.S. Rhode Island” is sinking fast, and the other night at the State House, the rats were out in force.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOne of the” chief rats,” Bob Walsh, the Executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, arrived on Smith Hill with one very important message, delivered in the form of a “letter” handed to all reps.
Was the letter intended to communicate that Walsh and NEARI were concerned that $32 million was being cut from education for the cities and towns? Not in the least. Walsh had a different message for the reps: “Leave the COLA’s alone”! Remember, in Rhode Island, the “cost-of-living adjustments” for pensions trumps the education of our youth every time. The NEARI rap says "It ain’t about education, but all about job preservation.” P. Diddy wishes he could rap like Bob Walsh.
The actions displayed at the Rhode Island State House last week could be described as “Profiles in Cowardice.” It was only fitting that the labor leaders sat high above the representatives, in the gallery. It was as if labor had invisible strings, they were puppeteers treating our state reps like puppets. Even in tough economic times, the “show - or the game - must go on.”
Let’s hope the Celtics make out better with the refs during the finals than we (the people) did on Smith Hill the other night.
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