Legalectric

The Pages of Shades: Fairy Tales

Emperor Micheletti exposed!!! The whole world is watching, and a lot of people know… In today’s Grand Rapids Herald Review Bob Beech speaks the obvious truth that must be said:

Reader likens Excelsior project to ‘Emperor’ fable

Editor:

In the fable, â??The Emperorâ??s New Suit,â? by Hans Christian Andersen, remember how the emperor commissioned a wonderful new wardrobe which took lots of hard work, time and money to create?

I quote here from the fable; â??One day two swindlers came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers, and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined. Their colors and patterns, they said, were not only exceptionally beautiful, but the clothes made of their material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid. â??That must be wonderful cloth,â??thought the emperor. â??If I were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth I should be able to find out which men in my empire were unfit for their places, and I could distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this cloth woven for me without delay.â?? And he gave a large sum of money to the swindlers, in advance, that they should set to work without any loss of time. And remember, when he finally appeared in public in his new outfit, how everyone pretended to admire the fancy clothes — even thoâ?? he was totally naked?

And remember the end of the story? Again I quote the fable; â??The emperor marched in the procession under the beautiful canopy, and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed: â??Indeed, the emperorâ??s new suit is incomparable! What a long train he has! How well it fits him!â?? Nobody wished to let others know he saw nothing, for then he would have been unfit for his office or too stupid. Never emperorâ??s clothes were more admired.

â??But he has nothing on at all,â?? said a little child at last. â??Good heavens! listen to the voice of an innocent child,â?? said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said. â??But he has nothing on at all,â?? cried at last the whole people. That made a deep impression upon the emperor, for it seemed to him that they were right; but he thought to himself, â??Now I must bear up to the end.â?? And the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity, as if they carried the train which did not exist.â?

Well, the reason for fables like that is staring us in the face right now. Itâ??s called the Mesaba Energy Project. We need to expose their naked grab for our money before we get caught holding the bag for what needs to be their risks, not ours –the people of Trout Lake and Iron Range townships. They propose to use our land and our money to build the stateâ??s most expensive experiment ever producing electricity which will not be used locally and for which our people will see absolutely no improvement in their quality of life or lowering of taxes.

Bob Beech
Bovey