Walk A Mile In His Shoes!

A friend forwarded to me a recent posting from a web site called Assmotax. For those of you that are not familiar with the web site it appears to be a site that is used by several local individuals to banter back and forth among themselves about various topics. Greg Travis, that was recently appointed, with some controversy I might add, to the Monroe County Economic Development Commission, apparently hosts the site. His wife is Sophia Travis, is a member of the County Council. The following excerpt was posted by Greg Travis; By the way, were you in attendance at the event you cite, where National Guardsman Kirk White was, supposedly, "verbally intimidated" by hippies? Not very manly, if true, is it? greg [ This Message was edited by: greg on 2005-06-09 21:30 ].

Initially, I must say that I was shocked that anyone, much less a County representative, could be so callous by questioning the manhood of Kirk White, the same Kirk White that is currently serving a stint in the National Guard and stationed in Afghanistan. I visited the web site to make sure that I wasn’t taking the comment out of context. Reading the posts that lead up to Mr. Travis’ comment was a discussion that was centered on what is considered to be acceptable public activism and issues concerning the recent I-69 protests.

The meeting in question was one where a group of obnoxiously loud anti I-69 protestors shouted down Kirk White and others in attendance to a point where they were concerned for their safety. Travis is insinuating that this type of public discourse is somehow acceptable as long as it’s for a cause he supports. Kirk White by every account is a decent person, a commendable public servant and someone who is currently risking his life to protect the very freedom that allows people like Greg Travis the opportunity to promote their ill-conceived agendas without the fear of government retribution.

People like Greg Travis and others in his party can dress themselves up in a cloak of civility but it is comments like this one that allow their true nature to shine through. I am thoroughly sickened by the prospect of having public officials like him being given the opportunity to make insulting comments about fine and upstanding citizens of our community. As for his comment, the old adage “walk a mile in his shoes” clearly would apply. When it comes to manliness, what Kirk White does in a day defending our country’s freedom and security would most undoubtedly make the likes of Mr. Travis wet his trousers. We should make sure that comments like this one are never forgotten and certainly not forgiven; that's the least we can do for Kirk White and his family.

Roadless Summer or Mindless Summer?

A small group of anti I-69 protesters calling themselves “Roadless Summer” had their inaugural rally in Indianapolis this past Saturday. In all about fifty protesters participated in what turned into a senseless act of vandalism. As the group’s leaders were whipping the participants into a heightened fervor, someone took it upon himself or herself to spray paint anti I-69 graffiti on the limestone walls of the Capitol building. In looking at the average age of those arrested it appears they were probably to naive to understand what happened but clearly old enough to know better. Obviously this was a conscious act by someone as they undoubtedly came prepared with spray paint. Former Bloomington resident Frank Ambrose that was arrested in 2001 for spiking trees in Morgan-Monroe State Forest was one of the protesters that was arrested Saturday. At the time, Ambrose was thought to be connected to another yet another subversive group called Earth Liberation Front or ELF. Of those arrested at least two others reside in Bloomington.

By every account Bloomington has been doing an exemplary job of breeding and feeding these liberal activists. They are encouraged to be disruptive and uncivil as long as it’s for the right cause. When their prodigy’s happen to get caught in an illegal activity like they did Saturday, all of those that have help fan the flames plead ignorance, condemn the activity and disavow any knowledge of those involved, all the while snickering under their breath. In my opinion spray painting the Statehouse is no different than the type of defacement of public property that is occurring in Bloomington to roadway stop signs or the uncivil protest activities that occur at our local I-69 offices.

Roadless Summer, Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads and Hoosier Environmental Council all in their own way plan to interrupt the process and planning of the new interstate highway in hopes to cause the project to be abandoned. It’s almost laughable that these small factional groups are continuing to oppose a decision that has already been made. They’re insistence on disrupting the process will only raise the overall project cost, which by the way happens to be a major reason for their opposition to the project in the first place. This is nothing more than an infinitesimally small segment of the population that moves from one cause to another finding a method to vent their frustrations with society by manifesting their anger in the form of civil disobedience and discourse. Each of them in their own way must have a need to oppose something, maybe even several things on a daily basis thereby justifying their existence. Rather than a Roadless Summer it could turn out to be nothing more than a Mindless Summer for those that get involved in this charade.

Mayor Kruzan's Comments Troubling

I recently read an article in the Herald Times that reported the 45/46 bypass widening project will be pushed out again, this time until 2009. It’s not the postponement of the project that bothers me but I must admit, the congestion on this main arterial has caused me to be late on more than one occasion. The most unsettling news out of this article was Mayor Kruzan’s comments regarding the project in general. He was quoted as saying “I’ve reviewed the plans a number of times and am always struck by what a monster the new bypass will be. I think people will be surprised at how much it will change the character of the northern and eastern parts of town.” He added, “given the lack of east-west connectors, the bypass is an obvious asset for that cause.” However, he went on to say “while I see benefits of the project, I have to confess to having the nagging feeling that this is going to be a lot more concrete that will play into the “build it and they will come” scenario” and then added “But I can’t help but think that we can’t always build our way out of problems without creating a whole host of other issues.” Whether he likes it or not the problem already exists and has for some time. Not addressing the problem is a dereliction of duty.

Once again we are lead to believe that building roadways and infrastructure is a bad thing for our community. Somehow he wants us to believe that moving vehicles around the city via the bypass efficiently is going to ruin the feel of that section of town. You know what happens, you build good roads and then someone is going to want to use them. This section of highway is carrying way too much traffic as it is and is well beyond the limits of safety, this is why it was targeted for improvement in the first place. Besides being the only major east west connector this is a primary route used by thousands of vehicles heading to and from Lake Monroe. Whether the Mayor and the rest of the no growth proponents like it or not Bloomington and Monroe County needs people with vision to plan and provide for infrastructure to meet the needs of our community as it exists today and in the future. They should embrace these improvements as a reward for having a growing and vibrant community where people want to work and live. They should accept the fact that not everyone wants to walk or ride a bicycle and therefore they too should have the expectation of traveling on a safe and modern roadway system. Not once have I read or heard what strategies are being put in place by our current administration to plan for growth. We constantly hear about where they don’t want growth to occur but we have never once heard where they would like growth to occur. It’s this lack of concern and absence of forethought about the future of Bloomington that troubles me the most.