More Gubmint Lunacy

This bit o' lunacy is from the Chicago Sun Times:

CANCER SURVIVOR SUES OVER FIRING

Ronald Michalowicz, a fire inspector for the village of Bedford Park, was given a 27 percent chance to live as he battled a rare form of tongue cancer.

The community rallied around him, raising about $25,000 to help.

He fought the cancer into remission."

So far this is a heart warming story. A man faces certain death but against all odds and with the help of his friends, he struggles and wins.

Now let the gubmint stumble, stagger and fumble its way into the picture. Like a turd on a wedding cake the village gubmint makes an unexpected and unwelcome intrusion:

"But the village where he had worked for 28 years fired him for taking the contributions, in alleged violation of the Illinois Gift Ban Act and village code prohibiting employees from soliciting gifts that could affect their decision-making.

On Friday, Michalowicz sued Bedford Park, its mayor and village board in federal court for allegedly violating his rights. "The emotional stress I'm going through is unbelievable," Michalowicz said."

Michalowicz lost 107 pounds during his cancer treatment. I know cancer survivors (and unfortunatley a few who didn't) and have witnessed what these poor people go through. As one of them explained, "the doctors have to kill you slowly to kill the cancer".

"Michalowicz was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and continued working until March 2004 while undergoing chemotherapy. He left work when brutal radiation treatments began. He lost 107 pounds.

In January 2004, two colleagues at the village decided to solicit donations to help Michalowicz pay his mounting bills."

And now he must initiate legal action to fight to get his his job back; fired for accepting money that he did not solicit.

"A building inspector, Steve Edwards, cleared a form letter with the mayor at the time, Ronald Robison, to ask for contributions. "

Mr. Edwards must have had a vision, some preternatural sense of an impending idiotarian intervention. As so often happens, a "Singularity of Stupid" can appear at any time, anywhere. Unfortunately, even the best preparations fall prey to the crushing ignorance of the accompanying “Dumb Horizon.”

No thought emitted from inside an dumb horizon will ever reach a sentient being outside the horizon. The sentient being is unable to recognize a cognizant communicative pattern amid the foul, flatulant noise, hence the name “Dumbass Hole”. From the size of the Singularity, it appears that Village of Bedford Park has a "Super Dumbass Hole."

"It just seemed like the right thing to do," said Robison, who is no longer mayor. Michalowicz looked so bad the mayor figured he was never coming back to work.

No matter, the poor man survived and the CEO of the Village at the time gave his blessings to the whole affair.

"Michalowicz argues he has no conflict. After he returned to work, he notes, he wrote up four businesses that contributed to his fund."

His attorney, Michael Ettinger, said he doesn't understand why the village fired his client.
"His crime seems to be that he recovered from cancer," said Ettinger, who is representing Michalowicz with attorney Richard S. Zachary.

Michalowicz was only one year from retirement.

This sure sounds like payback time to me.

To contact Bedford Park, use this link. I'm sure they will be more than happy to hear from you.