• We have a council member who has threatened to use firefighters as her personal “enforcers.” Imagine the police report: “Victim was assaulted by 150 men wearing suspenders, who arrived in large red trucks with ladders on top. Witnesses said the assailants used a large rubber hose...”

        • We have a CAN commission that CAN NOT do anything. The cast of thousands appointed to tackle race relations has not taken a moral position on the most significant race issue in town — the boycott — because it might be controversial. No kidding. Apparently, CAN stands for Clueless And Neutral.
       

A $2 million joke

        • And when it comes to knee-slappers, Whoopi Goldberg is a Hollywood square compared to the comical boycott demands.

        The Black United Front Web site (www.cbuf.org) demands include: “Appropriate at least $2 million annually to support CCY for workforce development.”

        That's very funny. The Citizens Committee on Youth had $5.4 million yanked by the county after CCY billed $156,000 for a $16,000 program and tried to collect for students who didn't show up. The demand to give them $2 million a year must be a practical joke — because jobs and training already exceed the demand.

        On any given day, more than 1,000 jobs are available at Cincinnati Works at 37 W. Seventh St. downtown. Bulletin boards show “Help Wanted” at hospitals, hotels, grocery stores, banks and hundreds of other businesses in the Cincinnati area.

        These are not minimum-wage peon jobs. Most pay $8 an hour and up, and all offer good benefits.

        Applicants can get counseling, spiritual and personal. They are taught how to introduce themselves and how to handle a job interview. And staffers help resolve and expunge criminal records so that old felonies don't hold anyone back.

        This is not a government program. It is funded by individuals, businesses, foundations and United Way contributions. According to founder Dave Phillips, who donates his time for $1 a year, Cincinnati Works has permanently placed 700 workers in five years and will place about 500 this year at a cost of about $8,000 each — compared with about $30,000 a year for welfare.

Meet reality

        Cincinnati Works is a bargain. And it really works. So why is it one of our best-kept secrets?

        Maybe because it reveals a deep truth that is uncomfortable for politicians and boycotters, who prefer shallow excuses such as “racism.”

        The problem, said Mr. Phillips, “is the people side, not the job side.”

        Workers fail if they don't face reality: Employers want people who show up on time, drug-free, willing to work. It's that simple — and that complicated.

        The boycotters don't talk much about real jobs because they are just working a sign. Instead of “Will Work for Food,” it says, “Give us cash — or else.”

        If Cincinnati falls for it, the joke is on us.

       E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.
       

Covington loses historic landmark
Odd Fellows fire a profound loss
Traffic, businesses affected
Fire reveals illegal meth lab
Local leader had 'Red Scare'
Pilots resist firearm ruling
Anderson says no to loan program
Front plans to protest at council
Obituary: 'Ben' Henke, gun expert for sheriff
Residents unite against development
Testimony begins in cemetery trial
Transfer cites 'dishonesty'
Tristate A.M. Report
William J. Keating gets Metropolitan Award
Women urged to help one another
BRONSON: Help wanted
HOWARD: Some Good News
KORTE: City Hall
SAMPLES: Connections
SMITH AMOS: Education
$2M cuts for schools to fall hard on staff
Building name honors manager
Butler opens new terminal with ceremony
Governor honors schools
Makeover planned for Miami Township
Man convicted of assaulting officer
Plan consultant sought
Stay out of landfill, trustee told
Taft's message a hit with firefighters
Youth on side of new GOP star
Police say woman is decades-long fugitive
Senate coaxes House on budget
Audit: Most abuse of disabled not reported
Callery votes against center
CovCath fund raisers not worried
Holmes educator disciplined
Lexington bishop accused of abuse
Louisville must release audit
Mailed DNA leads to man's indictment
Paper ordered not to use its name
UK rethinks privately run projects