A Different Kind of Christmas Gift

The reaction to the discovery that someone had left a four or five month old baby boy in the lobby of a hospital a few days before Christmas was as swift as it was condemning: Who, the media and police wondered, could do such a horrible thing? I, however, suspect that the “culprit” was a loving and caring (albeit stressed-out) person, perhaps a teenaged mother overwhelmed and embarrassed by the reality they could no longer adequately care for the child.

The law, somewhat arbitrarily to my mind, allows for a newborn to be dropped off at a fire or police station, or a hospital, within 72 hours of birth … no questions asked. The law was put into place to provide a reasonable and safe alternative to simply throwing a newborn into a trash bin. In this case the parent evidently thought they could care for the child (which, according to reports was indeed very well cared for) but four months later, for whatever reason, decided they could not handle parenthood. So now law enforcement is looking for the parent(s) with punitive purposes in mind — but should they be?

The baby had no bruises, no burns, no broken bones … the boy was obviously well-fed and wrapped in warm clothing when found. To my mind this was a Christmas gift — an undamaged child. Rather than punish the parent(s) I’d pin a medal on them for making a right decision for the child … to leave the boy somewhere he’d be quickly found and properly taken care of.

Unfortunately, there is no simplified way for a parent to relinquish custody of a child; the red tape, shame and guilt makes the process arduous at best … even for a stable individual — just try to imagine what a stressed-out new mom might be feeling and going through.

If we as a society want to locate the parent(s) it should be for one reason, and one reason only … to help them if we can. Rather than heap opprobrium, scorn, and the weight of the law on their heads, we should be asking what we can do to make this parent strong and sufficient enough to be able to successfully raise the boy into manhood. That, to me, would be in the true spirit of Christmas.

What “Union”?

Please keep this in mind while reading the following: There’s a name for political systems where the citizenry is afraid to criticize the police or those in authority; they’re called totalitarianism states — Nazi Germany being one of the most recent examples. Citizens so afraid, so cowered, so lacking in backbone deserve neither liberty nor freedom.

Now, with that said, I suspect that Samuel Gompers, Joe Hill and Mother Jones probably all spin in their graves every time the local media makes the mistake of calling the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association a union — it’s really not. The difference being, union members look out for fellow members, while members of this “association” selfishly voted (overwhelmingly, I might add) to forgo saving 150 safety forces jobs in Cleveland. Instead of preserving jobs they said they would pass the hat for the benefit of their soon-to-be laid off brothers. Ha! How long will that last?

Faced with a looming budget deficit (a shortfall that was talked about in the media long before the election, but few were paying attention) Mayor Jackson took a pay cut himself, suspended longevity pay for city workers, and all non-bargaining unit city employees will have to take 10 days of unpaid furlough next year, which lowers their annual incomes by 4.17 percent starting in February.

Nonetheless, the safety forces, who are protected by a collective bargaining agreement, voted overwhelmingly to allow fellow men and women in blue to get laid off rather than tighten their belts and take a pay reduction along with everyone else on the city payroll. Talk about arrogance. They obviously feel they are “special” and should be treated better than other city employees … but then, they’ve seemingly always felt that way. They snugly wrap themselves in the American flag to ward off any questioning of their motives, and anyone who dares to criticize them are characterized as unpatriotic, subversive, or worse … which is simply not true. Uniforms don’t confer on their wearers an exclusive on patriotism.

And, while I deeply admire and respect those men and women who choose to go into a line of service most of us would not elect, the truth is, they lined up, begging to get into the police and fire academies … no one puts a gun to their heads and forces them to join. They need to quit bitching, moaning and hanging on the cross. If the job is too dangerous, they can always find another line of work, or instead work in one of the supposedly safe suburbs where they prefer to live; I assure you that qualified people will line up to take their places in Cleveland, and many of those candidates probably wouldn’t mind living next door to the people they are sworn to protect.

What’s wrong with Cleveland? A good place to begin looking is at our selfish safety forces. Now, for all of the readers whose panties are by now all in a bunch, go back and reread that first paragraph over again. Telling the truth is a tough job, but hey, someone’s got to do it.

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier's From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.frombehindthewall.com.