Loading...
 

CourseCorrection

trying this
I Promise I won't do any politicking for awhile.G

Sour Grapes and Saddlle

George Hirst

Course Correction November 16, 2006

The election is over. We have now endured a course correction. Historians, I am sure, would remind us all that every once in awhile the majority party changes. The party on the right has now become the minority party while those on the left are in the majority. That is not new, nor is it wrong. It is the way this beloved nation of ours has lived its life.

The divisions that were seen can no longer exist. Those of us who voted and those of us who did not vote may not lay blame on how the election turned out. In fact, we cannot find fault now, the results are now our responsibility. We have changed course. We can say to the persons elected, now its your job to run our country. To the voting public we say,do your part, a job we have not done well for a long time. We must pay attention to what the people of the governing bodies of the land are doing. It is not just seeing to it that they keep the promises they made. The bipartisan actions that both parties have done to keep the other party at at bay need to be out in the public forum, seeing to it that we are one nation that cares for all people, not just the favored in the public face. The next election is two years away and before we get involved in that, we need to tend to the country both nationally as well as locally.

The public reaction to the negative campaigning during the election demonstrates the way a voting public changes things. We cannot allow fault finding to continue in the political life of our state and our nation. I was so dismayed by all the half-truths, the flat out lies and other unfavorable campaigning that was used. It is my hope that politicians have learned their lesson and will find better ways to get votes and bring out voters. Another concern is the amount of money that the media collected, surely we all are better than that waste of time and effort.

Stark County did not turn out well. Forty five percent of 47,919 went to the polls. Toulon and East Toulon townships, which encompasses most of Wyoming and Toulon, were among the worst at forty two and thirty nine percent. On the good side, votes cast for our elected officials, Sherriff, Treasurer, Clerk were given nearly a hundred percent of all votes cast. That is a vote of confidence. I believe we can safely say that Stark County is a bipartisan county,at least among those who vote. My read of Stark County is that is has changed course, not in the majority party, but in the way we do business. Maybe, just maybe, we can learn to approve of tax increases to support the important things in the county.

My fear of a monarchy is now gone because Americans have decided that they want the United States to remain a republic. Somewhere I read that the body of any political entity is often wiser as a whole than any of its parts. This is where I see Thomas Jefferson's wisdom as the way I like to think I live. Gary Panetta of the Journal Star said it best: "He(Jefferson) believed that citizen participation was more than voting and paying taxes. -that it was part of everyone's fullfillment as a human being." this was from a program given by Clay Jenkinson, author of "Becoming Jefferson's People, Reinventing the American Public for the Twenty-First Century",

A word of appreciation to Dodie Hirst for her editing skills and to our daughter, Kris Hirst for her suggestion for a title to this writing.

SourGrapesAndSaddleSores



Created by KKris. Last Modification: Thursday 25 of January, 2007 22:14:16 EST by KKris.