Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Cambridge MA: One-eyed King

Robert Winters is called "The Premier Observer of Cambridge Government."
Americans don't think logically. They do not think politically. Winters is a math instructor. (City Cable TV refers to him as Professor.) He thinks logically. He understands how the proportional voting system works. He is happy to explain it to anyone who will listen.
His web site consists mostly of government information for those unwilling or unable to find it on the city web pages.
He ridicules persons with disabilities. City officials and taxpayer funds address bullying in the schools. But officials ignore bullying by teachers, psychologists, police and politicians.
Winters is a teacher. To persons with disabilities he is an upper class cyber- bully thug. He is admired by academic elitists and self-centered politicians in Cambridge.
Winters says he "learned" about "The Final Report of the Cambridge Neighborhood Safety Task Force." issued on Nov. 19, 2007. [This report is not available online. It is reportedly available at the City Clerk's office.] 50 persons spent 14 months preparing it. Winters did not say that he read the report. At the City Council meeting on December 10, 2007 one councilor explained that some city residents rely on a 9-week city employment program as their only form of employment. It reveals how some residents think, but also what being "The Premier Observer of City Government" means.
For uninformed voters Winters' superficial reporting helps to understand one city issue. To some upper class residents of Cambridge, many of whom have PhD.s, Winters is the most informed. But he is an apologist for the sorry state of local government. He seldom criticizes what goes on. He sees no corruption, and has mild opinions of misguided acts of the city officials.
He never criticizes police abuses and ridicules persons with disabilities. For Cambridge he is the One-eyed King in the Land of the Blind.
"[V]oters don't want the truth; they want to be flattered and made to feel good. [. . .] To tell [them] the truth is risky, for [they are] unlikely to welcome news that [they] are being cheated and [have] colluded by [their] stupidity and indolence." (David Slavitt, Blue State Blues, page 82) For the Cambridge voters Robert Winters provides more than enough for them to understand.
Here is the link to my letter, a different perspective, to the City Council about "The Final Report of the Cambridge Neighborhood Safety Task Force."
http://tinyurl.com/28846n

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