I just read a brilliant letter to the editor on Stltoday written by Jay Unnerstall entitled “Aldermen should pass a resolution calling for Gardner’s resignation.” Yes, of course they should. So too should Mayor Jones. And our congresswoman Cori Bush. All our civic leaders should stand up for the good of the City and call on Gardner to resign. But they don’t. And that raises an important question we should be asking: why aren’t they doing what’s right?
It is remarkable that civic leaders from all across the state, including the governor, the attorney general, the state legislature, and local municipal mayors, have called for Kim Gardner to resign – but the people closest to the problem remain silent. Why?
Are they all like newly elected Alderman Bret Narayan? He publicly called on Kim Gardner to resign as part of his campaign. However, as Unnerstall reports, now that Narayan is safely ensconced in office, he has apparently changed his mind.
In my view, their failure to act is simply political cowardice. They all know, just like Narayan knows, that Gardner has brought the Circuit Attorney’s Office to the brink of collapse. They just want to avoid any political fallout from taking a position that might jeopardize their popularity with those misguided voters who still support Gardner. Jones, Bush, the alderpersons, et al., want to remain silent and under political cover and let the bad guys, the Republicans from Jeff City, do the dirty work that they know needs to be done. They should all be ashamed of themselves.
I would like to remind our so-called leaders of Dr. King’s compelling words: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Terry as usual you are spot on.