This is a politically-themed post. If you're here for photos and innocuous garden-based posts only, you'll want to skip this one. :o)
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I don't know if WKRG hired a new "media consultant" or one of the existing employees got a bee in his/her bonnet, but someone has been posting a lot more often on Twitter, lately. (...Well, unless I just started following their account recently without noticing it. Which is possible, during some of that bad weather we had a month or two ago...)
Anyway, this morning's Twitter link back to the dreaded FACEBOOK was this: "If you live in Baldwin County you may have noticed a common theme with the upcoming election. Do you think there is enough political diversity in Baldwin County?"
(And then there was a terribly blurry and amateurish photo of some of those ugly "candidate signs" that people stick along the roads before elections. I mean, seriously, anyone with even a moderately-intelligent smart phone could take a better photo with their eyes closed. Someone could probably draw them a better picture with a box of Crayolas. (g) But that's all beside the point...)
First, the very way they pose that question irks me. Hm. I wonder what they think the answer should be... (More on that in a minute.)
Second, since they ask about "political diversity" I assume they're referring to the fact that this is primarily (and by "primarily", I mean "far and away") a conservative/Republican county-- in a "red state", to boot. But really, it doesn't matter what kind of diversity they're oh-so-subtly suggesting might be lacking... because my answer is that, no, I don't care about diversity or lack therof in this matter. (Actually, enforced diversity doesn't appeal to me at all, in most matters.)
As far as I know, nothing and no-one is stopping anyone else from running for these offices (or other offices, when those positions come up for grabs). Now, possibly the reason that there aren't many (any?) democrats running this time is that they are familiar with the local political waters and know that they don't have a serious chance of winning, if they run as democrats. Do I care? NO. If it mattered that much to me, I'd probably have to move somewhere else, because (again) democrats are out-numbered around here.
That brings me to things that do worry or concern me...
-- I am concerned that with so many people flooding into our county, its character (political and otherwise) is bound to change. I worry that I won't recognize the personality of this place-- the only place I've ever lived!-- in another few decades. I don't want people bringing us down with a whole fleet of other sinking ships, and I'm afraid they will... (That may sound funny, coming from a woman who married "an outsider" from a country that's very different from the U.S., politically. (g) Yes, but I made sure of his personality and beliefs beforehand. ;o))
-- I do worry that "Republican" doesn't mean what it meant 30 or 40 years ago.
-- I'm frustrated that I can't believe what candidates say they stand for. Instead, I'm convinced that many (if not most) would tell a thousand lies without batting an eye, if they thought it would advance their political careers. I'm disappointed that politics is a lifelong career for so many of these people-- and that they still turn around and expect us to honor them for their so-called "public service". Yeah, it's not "public service" anymore, for most of you. You make a career of it, and you are generously recompensed in the form of pay, power/influence, and shady inside deals for you and your families. You will not get my automatic respect and gratitude, too.
Meanwhile, WKRG asks, "Do you think there is enough political diversity in Baldwin County?" There's an implied answer. ("No, of course there's not! A democrat should waste his time and money in a hopeless bid for power!") Really, how are you supposed to answer "yes" to that? "Yes, I think there's enough political diversity, even though you just pointed out in your previous statement that there's a 'common theme with the upcoming election'."
We know that diversity is all-important, these days-- even more important than qualifications and just deserts and getting the best person for the job. If you aren't for more "diversity", then there must be something deeply, horrifyingly wrong with you. How can you ever have enough diversity?!
Another strike against you, WKRG. I find myself tuning in to your news coverage less and less frequently, and this latest delight isn't changing my mind.
