There's 'three' sides to every story

cross-posted on From Where I Blog

Question:

What do the Israelis and the Arabs, the environmentalists and equestrians at Shawnee National Forest and union correctional officers and officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections all have in common?

Answer:

There will never, ever be peace, agreement or harmony among any of these individual groups as long as Mother Earth is spinning. In fact, after dealing with the opposing sides at Shawnee National Forest and then tackling the question of prison understaffing I think the Israelis and and Arabs have the best chance to kiss and make up.

I worked a good portion of the week putting together a two-part series about the alleged understaffing at Illinois prisons. The reason I used the word 'alleged' is because there is an ongoing argument about whether or not prisons in Illinois are short-staffed.

First, the raw numbers don't lie and they show that there certainly is understaffing. They also don't lie when looking at the fact that Illinois prisons are dramatically overcrowded (35 percent more inmates than the 27 adult facilities were designed to accomodate).

But, what exactly do those numbes mean? It all depends on who happens to be talking.

Shortly after the first story ran this morning the email messages began, apparently by administrative staff, telling me that there is no understaffing, that violent incidents are declining and that the argument by correctional officers is all smoke and mirrors in an attempt to get more people hired.

I think the comments in the story by Jeremy Johnson, a local union president at Big Muddy Correctional Center, concerning local lawmakers and the Blago administration speaks volumes.

Given, Johnson is only one individual, but he is the president of a local union with more than 300 members ... that represents 300 families ... and he feels strongly enough to say 'on-the-record' that the guv did not keep his campaign promise about 'never balancing the budget on the backs of working class people.' He also states that many elected lawmakers have not offered adequate support about the problem -- real or imagined -- of understaffing.

And the second part, featuring comments from the wife of a correctional officer, will carry similar accusations.

Is there a common ground concerning the issue/non-issue of understaffing in Illinois prisons?

After talking to numerous people this week I don't believe there is and will take that question one step further by saying that both sides can present a pretty compelling argument.

I suppose it boils down to what a wise old man once told me when he said that there are three sides to every story. When I told him I had always heard there are two sides to every story, he commented that there are two sides but somewhere between those two sides you will always find the third side which is 'the truth.'

Here's the first part of a two-part series that ran today. The second part will run on Monday.

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If he walks like a candidate and talks like a candidate and looks like a candidate ... then he must be a candidate. I'm talking about Edwin Eisendrath who was in Southern Illinois during the weekend.

Eisendrath has not 'officially' announced that he will challenge Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the Democratic primary, but with nominating petitions to be filed between Dec. 12-19 its a given that it will happen.

Eisendrath made a swing through Southern Illinois on Saturday and met with Southern Illinoisan reporter Andrea Hahn. On short notice, Hahn did an excellent job putting the story together to get it in Sunday morning's paper.

It's interesting to note that Eisendrath has already garnered more than the required 5,000 signatures but said he plans to have more than 10,000 signatures when he files later this week. It's interesting to note that Eisendrath worked as a volunteer for Blago during the last election but now says, "People don't want four more years of self-promotion in the face of real challenges."

My, what a difference four years makes, huh?

I spoke with a local elected official over the weekend, a lifelong Democrat (actually a Yellow-Dog Democrat) who also volunteered for Blagojevich four years ago. He has now jumped on the Eisendrath bandwagon and has secured 10 pages of signatures on petitions. (Note: I said 'A' Yellow-Dog Democrat ... and not 'THE' Yellow-Dog Democrat that frequents this site.)

One comment Eisendrath made while in Carbondale goes hand in hand with a question I raised on this site a few days ago about Blago's overflowing campaign coffers and whether money can overcome bad poll numbers."Public trust matters a lot in politics -- and you can't buy it back," Eisendrath said referring in part to Blagojevich's $20 million re-election fund.

Here's the entire story about Eisendrath's campaign swing ... errr ... visit ... to Southern Illinois on Saturday.