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	Some Critics SNAP to Judgment By Russ Lemmon Toledo Blade April 16, 2006 http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060416/COLUMNIST34/604160493/-1/NEWS01 Seven molasses-coated Lemmon Drops to nibble on while waiting for the first spotting of a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: • In ranking all-initial organizations that provoke the most intense knee-jerk reactions from their opponents, the ACLU would have to be No. 1 nationally. Take your pick for No. 2, PETA or the NRA. In Catholic-rich northwest Ohio, SNAP might challenge the ACLU for the top spot. On Thursday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held another one of its orchestrated, made-for-media events in front of the Toledo diocese headquarters. SNAP representatives were there to deliver a letter to Bishop Leonard Blair, asking that the Rev. Gerald Robinson not be allowed to wear his clerical collar during his murder trial. SNAP's problem is that a certain percentage of Catholics automatically dismisses its message. Just because it's SNAP. (I could make a case that SNAP's insistence that the Oscar-nominated documentary Twist of Faith be shown in a commercial venue in the Toledo area was a big factor in why it wasn't.) Had SNAP not made an issue of Father Robinson wearing his clerical collar in court, I never would given it a thought. But, you know, it is a valid argument. (For what it's worth, I disagree with SNAP's stance.) For providing us with food for thought, SNAP should be praised, not scorned. • With Paul Ormond, chief executive of Toledo-based Manor Care Inc., receiving $17 million in compensation last year – that's more than what most of us would make in seven lifetimes, by the way – let there be no mistaking that nursing homes are for-profit ventures. • The Toledo Board of Education delayed the vote on the closing of five schools for five days. Ultimately, it decided to close them, thereby cutting the district's projected $12 million deficit in half. All the delay did was expose the board's backbone. It needlessly extended the anxiety among those at the targeted schools and, looking ahead, left the board with five fewer days to work on something that will be even tougher – making another $6 million in cuts. • Memo to veto-threatening Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner: A Costco in the hand is worth two Wal-Marts in the bush. • In my favorite e-mail of the week, loyal reader Martin encouraged me to "keep beating the drum" for unigov. (Last week I wrote that Fort Wayne, Ind., is discussing the consolidation of city and county governments, a move that may allow it to escape the stigma of the Rust Belt.) "But I cannot see the communities in Lucas County putting aside their differences and coming together in the name of northwest Ohio spirit, efficiency, and unity," Martin wrote. "We have such tremendous assets here – No. 1 being location, No. 2 being location, and No. 3 being location – but we still seem to be rusting out." • In Monday's televised debate, Lucas County commissioner candidate Tim Wagener talked a good game about regional cooperation. Then again, the Maumee mayor wasn't asked about his city's unwillingness to publicly discuss a smoking ban. Toledo could have used some moral support when it enacted a smoking ban in 2003, but Maumee's elected officials were too timid to even bring the subject up for public debate. (Toledo doesn't need help now because the smoking ban enjoys widespread support.) • On a scale of 1 to 10 for genuineness, I give the political alliance of John McCain and Ken Blackwell a 3. Russ Lemmon writes two columns per week for The Blade. His Behind The News column appears on Sundays. His column on the local media appears on Mondays. » E-mail him at rlemmon@theblade.com or call (419) 724-6122. » Read more Russ Lemmon columns at www.toledoblade.com/lemmon
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