Opinion

Following the national news on television on Wednesday evening, I sat a few silent minutes with the sound muted and pondered the enormity of the numbers being thrown around by politicians and television commentators in regard to the efforts being recommended to save our nation’s failing economy. I don’t mind admitting that I feel intimidated and fearful that it’s too much and won’t work anyway.

     Apathy, when it comes down to really doing something about an undesirable situation, guarantees that the situation will not only not change, but will get worse as that apathy and lack of action gives license for those undesirable activities to continue. Tyrants, bullies and self-serving politicians rely on public apathy to carry them forward on their quest for power, control and personal reward, as they assume various titles and perform various duties, not the least of which are those which provide personal satisfaction and gain.

We received copies of the “Qualifying Statement of Intent For a Candidate For Party Nomination For The Office of Alderman” and copies of the same named form for the office of Mayor. All candidates who filed out these forms are filing as Democrats and will vie for their party’s nomination at the Primary Election to be held on May 5, 2009.

A major stumbling block in the way of the passage of a federal “bail-out” plan for our country’s ailing economy are the partisan provisions for expenditures having little or nothing to do with restarting the economy. As with previous measures considered for similar purposes, greed and political ambition make up a lot of the motivation for their proposals and passage.

 As I attempt to review everything that happened during the year 2008, both personally and with the newspaper, I am almost overwhelmed. Lots of things have taken place, some good, some not so good, but all-in-all, when you put them together, they form a pretty dad-gummed good year.

     With no apologies to some certain folks (and they know who they are) I started writing this column during 2008. A couple of events caused me to start thinking about it, none of which many people would probably be interested in, but I’ll share them anyway.

At the end of one year and the start of another, many of us will renew our commitment to living with daily affirmations. We strive to know the power of affirming our truths, over and over, everyday!

     While these may not suit everyone’s taste, here are some “possible” affirmations to consider!

     1. As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I am in touch with my inner sociopath.

     2. I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.

  I failed to pay as much attention as I should have when a lot of the material about the history of Europe was being covered, so I have less than a working knowledge of the events of over there that ultimately influenced things over here. As a result of that inattention in school, as I research or try to make comparisons of today’s events with things that have happened before, I find myself covering some high school and college work I vaguely remember.

Only four days into the year 2009 and 16 days before a new president is sworn in with a monied plan to salvage our economy, the “Economic Development is everything” people of Northeast Mississippi have already devised a plan to squeeze more money out of the Federal bailout and position it where only they can access or use it. An example of planning that should not take place, but when it does, it demonstrates how little these people regard this state, this country and the people in it.

The cartoon to the right of this editorial clearly exemplifies the plight of local charities during these hard economic times. The wheels are literally off of the meals-on-wheels program.