"Scanning the horizon for that man, woman, or committee that can pull rabbits out of hats"? Read REALNEO!

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 06:10.

The Plain Dealer's Phillip Morris writes, in his column today, "I'm trying to play it cool, but in the wake of National City Bank's collapse, I'm frantically looking for silver linings"... "scanning the horizon for that man, woman, or committee that can pull rabbits out of hats"... "still listening for someone to convince me that there is continued reason to believe that Cleveland is reinventing itself and will emerge stronger and more efficient". Phillip is obviously looking for all the wrong answers, inspiration and leadership in all the wrong places, from all the wrong people who put NEO and America in this disastrous situation, and are still are in charge of our local and national economies... although not for much longer. And, Phillip is obviously hearing from his chosen "leaders" the same old lame-o, last-ditch Cleve-O establishment vision of salvation, highlighted in his column... "I'm just glad we still have good hospitals."

Sorry to tell you, Phillip, but our "hospital" leadership isn't any better to or for Cleveland, America and the world than NCC leadership, and is in fact the same people, and is answerable to the same few "Power Brokers" as NCC, and is failing. The leadership and owners of our bloated, inefficient healthcare system and health industry companies have sucked the unhealthy tit of America dry. Their prescription... "buy viagra, and go f**k yourself, America."

In a few more years, Morris will be writing about the loss of University Hospitals to the Clinic, or Mayo, or a Federal buyout of all of them, as skyrocketting healthcare costs for baby boomers who just won't die gracefully force massive consolidation of "health" service providers, and reductions in services. That will be healthy for the world, but will shock those wanting to depend on the same old snakeoil, con-men and cons that have caused all our world's problems.

Don't expect today's failed industrial leadership to succeed in the new economy or resuscitate the failed old economy.

For your comfort, Phillip, be real and read REALNEO... feel free to join and interact with the real leaders of our new economy.

That will help you understand why, as you say, "Few institutions, including this newspaper, are going unscathed".

Start Small. He'll give you a big "hug" and tell you the real story of "comfort food" that will warm your heart and give you far more than just hope, with a promise of real goodness for the region, America and the world.

Conclude with heavy metal, and the great people of the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County and others here and nationwide who battle lead poisoning... the real toxic problem of real NEO, caused by the real industrial leadership here.

These are some of the true leaders of this community who are lifting up 100,000s of our people from the immense pain and suffering of poverty and industrial catastrophe here that far eclipses the tanking of a bank by the same greedy industialists who destroyed our land, public health, education, economy and society.

We have your answer, Phillip, if you are seriously looking for the truth.

Be real!

Growing OLD in America

To follow up on Norm's comments.  Dear Phillip--you can be that leader.  We need to recognize that family starts at home and that caring for our children and our parents in America should start in Cleveland.  Intergenerational and intercultural respect for one another.

Growing old in America is not a happy scenario.   America likes to measure itself against third world countries, and hold itself up as the standard.  Well, we have lost our standard for taking care of our own, and frankly, third world countries do a better job at it than America. 

Our children grow up without respect for their elders and our elders in the city are targeted by the medical industry, the drug store "titans" and developers with their federally subsidized senior warehouses. 

Yes--I am especially directing these comments to one "leader," in particular.  We are killing our own communities with short-term GREED and our LEADers respond with, "I can't stop private interest!"  Well, you can start by not greasing the bulldozer skids and the wholesale demolition of buildings that stand in the way of those private development schemes. And, someone needs to speak out against the next wave of developer profits reaped off the taxpayers who fund the demolition of inconvenient properties that will be so conveniently stacked up for them by the county land bank.
Do, I have to remind those of you, who only see the "poor people" in our city as dollar signs, that you will grow OLD one day, too?