By Kevin Zwick
Staff Writer

“A small–town mayor is like a community organizer, but with actual responsibilities.”

–Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate

These are some of the most ridiculous words ever spoken by a politician. Community organizers are an essential component to a working society. They come from all aspects of life, whether they are lawyers or mechanics, soccer moms or priests, and they volunteer in their communities or travel to other communities to better the quality of life.

The position of a small-town mayor is a great public office which comes with great responsibility. As mayor, one would have to organize many communities, as they are a public servant and should be working for the people. But to say community organizers, in general, have no responsibility basically spits in the face of any hard working individual that tries to improve the quality of life in their community or someone else’s community.

Community organizers range from just one person, or a whole group of people, to even an international organization. The Boys and Girls Club of America stresses the importance of a better quality of life for children in a community. They also receive donations from local businesses that help fund events for the children of communities. That sounds similar to what volunteers would do at their local church: Improve their community by offering the children a safe alternative to the streets.

Another organization that improves communities is Habitat for Humanity. This international organization operates on the labor of volunteers and donations of money and materials. The workers who build shelters for Habitat for Humanity do not get paid. They give up summer vacation time, spring breaks, and other time they could use to their leisure, on bettering the lives of people they might not even know. These volunteers are like the students from Marywood University and thousands of other universities that work in other countries or even somewhere in the United States to better the quality of life in communities.

So Governor Sarah Palin, say what you will about Senator Barack Obama’s experience, but do not put down hard-working people that care about bettering their community and the lives of their fellow neighbors.