July 13, 2010
There is a movement afoot in Harrisburg to impose term limits for lawmakers. We think this is a good thing and have been saying for some time now, that term limits should be developed on national level as well. We believe career politicians are what’s wrong in Washington AND Harrisburg. People become entrenched in their jobs and will do anything to protect their turf. If they came from a regular occupation or profession before going into “public service,” they quickly lose sight of what it means to work a regular job; buy their own clothes and groceries. Much of their time and money is spent on getting re-elected. Some would argue that veteran lawmakers have the power to bring valuable programs back to their home state or district. That’s true. But is it really a good thing? Wouldn’t it be better in the long run to have every state and congressional district on an equal footing for grants and programs? Isn’t that part of what’s wrong with the system now? Kind of the reverse of “Not in my Back Yard; eliminate pork except for us.
We believe that the Founders saw public service as PUBLIC SERVICE—part-time temporary work. Many of them came off their plantations, farms our out of their stores to help build this country and then went back home. George Washington reluctantly became our first president. He didn’t spend the equivalent of millions of dollars to win the office, but instead humbly accepted the burden of some more years of public service.
If term limits are good for the President and Pennsylvani’as governor, then they are good for Senators, Representatives and members of both houses of the General Assembly. We doubt the movement will take hold. After all, what lawmaker would vote to make his or her job obsolete? But it’s at least a little encouraging that the idea is being explored.
July 2, 2010
At the risk of giving a hint to my age, I will tell you I had a revelation this morning as I was struggling to obtain information from a Pennsylvania State website. To obtain the information, I am required to put in my user name and a password which I can never seem to remember even though I try to use similar passwords to make it easier and usually write them down on an old-fashioned 3 x 5 card. While on the website, I clicked on the “forgot password” option. In order to have the website people send me the password, I have to answer a security question. I darn well know the answer to the security question. There is no doubt in my mind. There is no room for even the slightest doubt. It is an undisputable fact. But the answer came back that my answer did not match what they have in their data base! The answer came as I was going to other websites for more information and found it took an eternity to get where I thought I wanted to go. Do you ever find that when you try to go on the internet and finally get your browser to show up, you forgot where you wanted to go? It takes me an eternity every morning to tell our audio program how to see new audio I have added such as the Penn State Forecast. I wait and wait for the little flashlight to finally settle on a file. After going through all of this in the first three hours of a Monday, it occurred to me what the frustration of “older” computer users is. WE KNOW (yes I am intentionally shouting) what it was like BEFORE computers. Many of us boomers and parents of boomers have become very adept at multiple computer programs (some of us even run internet radio stations) and surfing the net. But we know what it was like before the days of user names and passwords. We know what it was like to grab a 45 rpm record or a “cart” (8 track audio) and slap it onto a turntable or in a “cart deck.” We know what it was like to get a real person on the other end of a phone call instead of an impersonal menu with so many choices you forget which one you want by the time you get there. And, then settle for leaving a message on “voice mail” hoping you will hear from a real person sometime in the future. It is all a waiting game, a waiting game that takes an eternity. We think of the internet as “instant” communication but some of us can remember true “instant communication.” I submit the frustration many of us feel is that we are straddling two worlds—one before the internet, one in the internet. That is why younger people do not feel our frustration. They only know of the one world. They never experienced how it was in the not so “old” days so they do not have our frustration. I invite your comments. Just send them to gmiller@blackforestbroadcasting.com.
June 14, 2010 Flag Day:
We are hearing a lot of talk about the man who won the South Carolina Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, Alvin Green and how he may not even be mentally capable to hold the job. (We wonder why that's different from some who are already in office). But our point is, not whether he's qualified or if it was a political prank by some organization, it's about the voters. Green reportedly spent less than $11,000 to win the nomination. He didn't have radio or tv ads; no billboards, no robo calls; no newspaper ads, nothing other than filing fees. There's been no explanation about the process in that state to appear on a statewide ballot. (Here in Pennsylvania, a candidate must obtain a required number of signatures from registered voters in his or her political party in order to be included on a ballot.) Put all of that aside. The real question is: why did he win? Why did more voters choose him, an unknown with no advertising or marketing, over a former judge who would appear to have some name recognition and an advertising campaign? What prompted voters to choose Alvin Green? The South Carolina Democratic Primary is the most visible case of voter ignorance. Apparently a majority of the voters just picked a name; they did no research to find out who he is or his position on any of the issues. This is scary! While we have long advocated exercising our privilege to vote, we say it is better to not vote at all than to select a candidate we know absolutely nothing about. Voters owe it to themselves and the candidates as well, to find out who the candidates are and what they stand for before casting a ballot.
Gerri Miller
Response invited: blackforest@blackforestbroadcasting.com