Friday, June 22, 2012

Trial by Jury

"Sandusky found guilty."

Rejoice not in the vanquished, nor cheer the righteous. Weep only for the weak, the vulnerable, the men left wanting. Strive to make ours a better society. Be humble for the victims.

Remember Joe's broken heart. He suffered, in a way, for those who put their reputations ahead of the welfare of children.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Being the Enemy

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”*


Pogo - Earth Day 1971 poster.jpgAs a matter of disclosure I must confess to conservative tendencies. They manifest themselves as membership in the Republican Party, that rag-tag but august collection of –isms often confused with big cigars, private jets and seven-figure private sector employment. More accurately, my particular flavor of this pathology is personal freedom, common defense and deference to established law as opposed to outcome-based judicial fiat. Yet, somehow, I and mine have become the enemy of all I hold dear.

I am…gasp…a public employee.

In circles both big and small within the conservative movement I have become anathema, a pariah, a parasitic creature both slovenly and voracious. I work a “non-punishing schedule” (Ann Coulter), am “overpaid” (The Wall Street Journal) and receive lavish, nearly gluttonous fringe benefits (Powerline). Visit the comments section of nearly any national conservative blog, offer a suggestion that public employee pay is not our biggest problem and wait to be pummeled. A guy from Minnesota who has “started a number of businesses” informed me that government was “way too big” and should be trimmed by firing significant portions of the inept workforce.