When I was working in Wagoner County, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa, the sheriff and county commission chair at the time got upset someone had written “Here I sit giving birth to another Democrat” on the wall in the men’s restroom on the western wing first floor of the county courthouse
They had spent a lot of money renovating the building and adding a lot of needed space. So I can understand being very upset if it was something major. I was never told the size or scale of the writing but vandalism is still vandalism. However, they acted like it was a huge issue as if someone had smashed out the windows. My guess would be it was the average size someone writes on the walls and stalls.
Of course by the time I had heard about it, they had painted over it. I’m sure it didn’t take much of an effort. I think if someone had wrote “Republican,” would we have found out. The sheriff and commissioner were old Southern Democrats. And there had been some hostility between the Republicans, who were mostly Reagan Republicans, and the old timey Southern Democrats.
But there was even questions of whether it had actually happened at all as the men’s room was near the County Clerks Office which had just changed hands in 2004 from Democrat to Republican. Even though there are security cameras in the hallway, there are none in the restroom.
But if they were as serious of petty vandalism as other things, the sheriff might have been re-elected.
The idea that people are vandalizing the Lincoln Monument Reflecting Pool with a sharp knife that stretched hundreds of feet of the liner is absurd. It’s possible that millions was spent for a company that did a sham job as the President received a kickback on. And I’m no chemist or biochemist but I’m sure pouring gallons upon gallons of hydrogen peroxide in a body of water with active algae that has turned it Mountain Dew green may not have been the best idea.
Now, they said that the Obama Administration refused to clean up the filtration. Then why didn’t the President do it during his first term? I can understand why they could’ve used 2020 as an excuse not to, but they had the first three years, most of which he spent playing golf and making money by charging the Secret Service to have agents at his resorts.
And now like the scene from Jaws where Chief Brody and Matt Hooper, an experienced police officer and an experienced oceanographer respectively, tell the Mayor about the danger of a shark but he points to a public service billboard being vandalized to change the subject entirely.
And I can relate. I’ve dealt with elected officials, politicians, school board members and other bureaucrats acting like it’s best to ignore a problem because it’s going to bring to light a negative issue. And this is an issue they’re trying to hide.
But it’s harder to hide things especially with the Internet and social media.
It’s possible the company that won the no-bid contract didn’t do a good job. It could also be possible driving across the liner in a motorcade was not a good idea either.
But I don’t think someone took a knife or cutting tool sharp enough to cut up the liner as much as they’re saying. And there’s also 24/7 security cameras.
Now a fence has been erected around the pool which is usually what happens when government officials refuse to address a problem head on – ruin it for everyone else by making it look more hideous.
When I was in high school, one fight broke out between two teenage boys behind the bleachers at a football game. The school’s solution was to erect a chain link fence blocking that off even though I’m sure it created one hell of a fire code situation especially since the concession stand underneath left little room that young children would’ve been trampled to death.
Needless to say the area in which I grew up supports the current administration per capita.
But a lot of people aren’t buying the vandal story. Nor should they.
Homer Simpson once said, “It takes two people to lie – one to lie and one to listen.”
Thankfully not a lot people are listening this time. If only they hadn’t before, we wouldn’t be here.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 