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Peter Wrote -

"As a teacher, your point is well taken when it comes to consistent participation, and I will do everything possible to encourage school department employees who live in town to attend all Town Meetings. More participation in the process will hopefully promote more honest debate, discussion, and conversation about local issues in the future. However, name-calling, base accusations, and the creation of fake animosity between the elderly and the school department will continue to spiral the dialogue into the gutter, which is what we have now. I believe honest and respectful engagement will curb practices of the past. I think you would be pleasantly surprised on some levels where many within the school department will agree with you on many issues regarding our town. You only need to talk to them and listen. Then at least you can respectfully agree or disagree."

I couldn't agree more. This town (all towns for that matter) are really going to have to start thinking long and hard about the future. Gerald Celente, a trend analyst who correctly predicted the the fall of the Soviet Union, the crash of the dollar and the soaring value of gold, as well as this current real estate crisis; was on Fox News the other night predicting that by 2012 the United States would be in a crisis that will be even worse than the great depression.

Normally I don't bite on the doom and gloomers, but when I researched the guy, and found a lot of other experts that agreed with him, I figured maybe I should listen. Maybe you should too.

We are going to have to get creative, and dare I say (to the delight of the Obamites) make sacrifices. Our current standard of living in this country is in real jeopardy. I've never been more frightened for the future of this country than I am now. I hope I'm wrong, but hope is not going to get us very far. We are going to need to defend ourselves from those who want to take our money, and deprive us of our standard of living.

This is a situation I will be watching very closely. When it evolves...if it evolves...we need to be ready.

That said, I respect the teachers of this town. I really do. My criticism is not so much of the teachers, as it is their leadership. I read a saying once, "When I am weaker than you, I go to you for freedom, because that is in accordance with your principles. When I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom, because that is in accordance with my principles." We all become corrput by power, it's human. Some fall victim to it worse than others, but inevitably we all fall. The problem with the school leadership is they have tasted their power for so long now that it has become second nature. They have lost the art of communication, of negotiation and of compromise.

To be sure, my side is human as well. The BOS members have lost their cool. The spirit of vindication is alive and well in our town politics; from board members to citizens. My power is my words, and I use them unapologetically and at times mercilessly.

We are going to have to figure out a way to work together, but in order for that to work, we are all going to have to agree that something has to be done. It's not enough for one group to say, "Okay, we need to fix this." We all need to say it, and then we need to do it.

So I hope that the teachers and others members in the school department will join with the Town in these coming days/weeks/years, and not fight them, but recognize at some point, concessions will have to be made. On all sides.

P.S. As I ran the spell check before posting, Peter had two spelling errors. I had a few more than that, but see...they are mortal...and I feel much better about myself!

-Mike