MORE MUSICAL CHAIRS OR MAYBE MASS ACTION

While the local Republican propaganda machine worries about ousting what little political opposition to Republican domination remains in the county, be it as it may, the real issue of realizing “home rule” in battling hazardous waste disposal slips slowly into a “tax solution.” Then, all those who believe all political concerns come down to taxes and jobs will be fat and happy. Then they can spend all their time trying to remove DelMonte from office. Then the game of government-as-usual musical chairs can continue. And the community of citizens, if we can still call them that, can slide deeper into its depoliticized state of consumerist-intoxicated oblivion.

Although the time is ripe for a mass action actually led by conventional politicians coming together and socially concretizing the power behind “home rule,” you would think that the legally rationalized resistance of upper echelon state bureaucrats were on the order of tablets of stone written by the hand of God. All our legalistic paper tigers seem to be able to do is find reasons why this insult to our local integrity can’t be fought.

Somebody needs to get angry and drop this mild-mannered attitude of pseudo-diplomatic prudence. If the issue of human health, not to mention the status of our so-called “world-class destination” is not enough to passionately move our putative leaders to serious and unprecedented action, then they are equally complicit in sacrificing the well-being of Niagara Countians to business as usual. Once the, now estimated 3000 trucks start rolling into Niagara, everyone can go back into their holes, take a deep breath and sigh of relief: chanting: thank God it’s back to meaningless, ineffective blessed ‘business as usual.’

Burmaster’s “home rule message” as reported this morning in the Buffalo News is just that: a “message.” No one’s going to read the message let alone respond to it. And it’s not about the real issue in the first place. If the plague of local lawyers cannot find some way to fight this at the local level while the local politicos decide if they are going to get off their asses and begin to think outside the box, then all is once again probably lost. Who’s kidding who if we actually believe that it means anything to “ask the state legislator for permission” to do anything.

Possibly this is an issue for the U.S. Supreme Court. Surely there's a legal eagle out there with an IQ above 40 who can make this the rights issue it really is.

So if we get the tax we give it to some health agency and they will do a study to find out just how sick we are going to get in the future. This is impotent and effete thinking and indicative of politicians who forgot that action is the greater part of justice.

The point is that the ideological use of law by the State of NY to justify the sacrifice and abuse of Niagara’s ecological integrity is a politicization of the law in the interests of NY State and BWM but not in the interest of the forgotten people of Niagara County or Western NY. When the fundamental and untranscendable value of health, well-being and values of a people is at stake, those people must and justifiably can politically give themselves the right to say “NO!” to an indifferent and insensitive bureaurcratic state apparatus that has long since stopped listening. Such self-assertion of values is a political declaration of local self-determination that democratically transcends the States presumed “right” to dictate how healthy we should be or what our “rights” are. We can only choose to take this stand as a sovereign “home-rule” Community of communities deciding for local self-empowerment. No one will give it ito us. Moreover politically CWM’s right to do business does not trump our right to lead healthy lives in a clean environment.

If no one has noticed even Erie County is on our side. What do the local bureaucrats pretending to be leaders need, a written invitation? Permission from the big boys? The return of Jesus Christ. Please, Politicans, get off your chicken-asses and do something besides talk and side track this into another tax problem.