OMG..it's over....we need a big bar of soap!

That's right... finally over, the silence is deafening! 

      The RNC and DNC are finished.

           These past 2 weeks of late nights, trying to stay awake to hear the platitudes and wisdom of of our national leadership, has been trying to say the least. and for what purpose?

         I have never seen so much taffy pulling of the facts. Stretching the numbers to fit the desired story line has gone beyond absurd. It has become deceitful. Do we all need to take internet training in "Fact Checking 101" to be prepared to speak with or listen to a politician? Something is seriously wrong here.

        A root cause of all this is the money. Yup! there's money to be made at every twist and turn in our political and governmental process. I guess, we the citizens, of the USA, lose out in all this CRAP. (a.k.a. CRAP).

   
Of course the people who could have made and sold the balloons for the indoor DNC finale Thursday night probably had it even worse.

The 4 ive's

           Hopefully the day of the high cost low value political convention extravaganza has taken it's last breathe. When you consider the money spent, the lack of any really valuable and decisive content, the divisive, derisive and contrisive  mood setting, how can we be proud of our American Political System? How can we even trust such a process  to be in our best interest?

            How can people intending to lead the country think that trash talking one another, and by warping the picture of reality to fit their agenda, make them leadership material.? Worse, how has their behavior affected us towards each other? Do we come away increasingly despising those holding a different view?

           It simply doesn't work! It equates, in total, to despicable moral standards and values. Yet, what is it we hear from their respective podiums and endless TV and radio ads? ..."blah, blah, blah...of high moral standards and family values...blah, blah, blah".

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 

            Let's face it if we lived our family lives as politicians live their political lives, we would be a dead society. The good news is that we the citizens are better than our politicians. Why do we tolerate it? Why do we accept it? Think about this....what if we citizens didn't watch TV for a week, didn't expose ourselves to their campaign ads, didn't answer their phone surveys?  What happens to the flow of money? Do you think we could have an effect? Do you think anyone would notice? Oh yeah baby! they would ... because the money for advertising is based on viewer/ listener statistics. and thus begat the news cycle... Lohan, Cruise, Obama, Romney, Biden and Ryan...Clint Eastwood and James Taylor and don't forget the potential rain fall over Bank of America Stadium  or was it lack of ability to fill the stadium seats for Thursday night that drove a decision to move indoors... did you know how much the respective 1st wives dresses cost?

It's all theater using the outcome of our future 

as some poetic point of persuasion.

      Where I come from, how I was raised, what I was taught is:

• You don't ever lie
• You don't even stretch the truth
• You don't omit facts that would change the conclusion 
• You step up and take consequences for your statements and your actions

 Or you get soap in your mouth! 

The news as they want it to be!

        We live in a complex and fast paced world where we not always have the full facts and understanding.  In the past, we have expected our "media" all of it ... newspapers, television, radio, internet etc. to help us "gain" that understanding by reporting the news. Good old uncovering the facts... let the chips fall where they may.

      It is truly unfortunate with information traveling every moment of 

            every day at the speed of light around the world ... the truth, the 

                whole truth and nothing but the truth often comes a day late and 

a dollar short and tattered.

        Unfortunately, what we continually get is bias reporting of what the various media outlets want the news to be. It can be obvious but at times very subtle ... watch and listen closely. It has to do with what questions they ask and what answers they will accept from each side (right vs. left). It has to do with the adverbs and adjectives they use to tell the story. It has to do with the focus they take with a story. It is all a complicit soup of politicians and favored media chasing the dollars... and as well those that feed off the the carcass of our elected government such as lobbyists/PAC's... and don't forget suppliers of government contracts, those that take advantage of earmarks and pork, that is.

       Frankly, there is not a piece of soap large enough to tame this dismal array of "gangsta's"

       Given the values displayed by our national candidates, I'm not sure what choice to make... so I suggest we all just go to bed and not watch TV for or week.

Are there any good people in government?

       Yes of course there are. They are the ones that ran for office to focus on the needs of the citizens and not on themselves. They are the ones who prepare themselves to fully understand a situation and develop their position and cast their vote with insight and impact. They see things through and they accept responsibility when things don't always hit their mark.

          In Wrightsville Beach we have two very good elected officials 
          in Mayor David Cignotti and Alderman Bill Sisson. They have 
       consistently and conscientiously demonstrated their focus is on the 
                                               needs of our citizens.

      With two new members joining the board, after last November's election, progress and productivity on the TOWB Board of Alderman have taken large steps backward. Each meeting has become an uphill climb to get the right issues on the table, let alone openly discussed and objectively decided. Why? Because three Alderman are not working openly with all members of the board, but rather as a group of three crippling the process of government.

      Whether national or local, government needs to be watched by it's citizens and prodded when it gets off track.  An important tool in watching government is to attend meetings or view the meeting via TV or internet.

The open availability of town meetings on video accomplishes many things:

1. It provides a full visual and audio record of the meeting
2. It provides the information to the citizens almost immediately
3. It shows the full discussion and engagement of the board members
4. It provides the citizens a window into the workings of their elected officials
5. It promotes the engagement of a broader swath of citizens into civic activities
6. It promotes teamwork between government and citizens
7. It helps to remove cynicism and doubt across the community

       Despite the recent effort by one citizen to record and stream the August 27th, TOWB BOA Meeting, we still don't have a sustainable high quality video recording /streaming solution. The leadership of our town... that is all five members of the Board need to step up and unify on this matter.

            The citizens want it; the citizens need it! 

"....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...."

            Thanks for reading,

                 Liz & Noah