Windsor Star Declares Victory ??

The strike by nearly 1,800 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members against the City of Windsor taxpayer is over. It seems the Windsor Star has declared victory. And good for them, I say. I am sure Chief Honcho Jim Venney and co-chief honcho Marty Beneteau, the editorialists, opinion writers, headlines writers and all the plain old reporters who participated in the Windsor Star policy of "polarization" are proud of themselves, and must certainly be celebrating this big victory. Just look at the cartoon on page A6 (Saturday July 25/09). The truth of the matter, in my opinion anyway, is that the Windsor Star as an institution sees itself as "the community".

Some of you might say I am being a little hard on the good folks over at the Windsor Star? No, I don't think so. In my post of July 16th, I wrote:

• Recently, a Windsor Star Editorial admitted that sometimes "Polarization is not always bad and it has often been a necessary step in important causes and movements." That sums up their position, clear as day

Now, they want all of us to move on. Let's not dwell on this 101-day-old strike and how it was reported. How convenient: you can write the stories, write the opinions, publish the cartoons, and then decide we don't need to talk about this anymore.

The main editorial (Saturday July 25/09) on page A6, titled "Back to Work", laid it all out.Terms like we have to "move forward" or "move on" or such sentiments are everywhere. The last words in the editorial are "time to embrace a spirit of good will and co-operation". That's it--discussion closed.

In my opinion, the Windsor Star threw a bundle of spitballs at CUPE workers in their operation "polarization". This performance would have made Gaylord Perry--the famous baseball pitcher and modern king of the spitball--proud.

The big difference between Gaylord Perry and the Windsor Star: Mr. Perry wrote a book and gave a full confession. Maybe Jim Venney and Marty Beneteau can do the same thing. And when they do, we will forgive them and then "move on".