The Runback: The Time To Act Was Then
It is a code that is yet to be cracked; how do we get people to buy into local politics?
Welcome to another week of The Runback. Have you been enjoying The Duckpin? Do you have comments or suggestions? Do you want to write for us? Let me know at theduckpin@gmail.com. And please be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Thanks in advance.
News and Politics
Kyle Sefcik on the Ballot....as a Write-in: Unaffiliated candidate failed to submit enough petition signatures to make the ballot. The perception he is trying to portray isn’t entirely accurate.
What Do Dan Cox and Church Militant Have in Common? Cox appeared at convention of conservative "Catholic" group collaborating with White Nationalists
Dan Cox and Church Militant: The Gift that Keeps On Giving: Group sent out fundraising solicitation for Cox after the candidate spoke at their conference.
Our Fractured Family: The Daddy Party Needs to Insist on Healthy Parenting of the Nation
Sign Caper Comes to Unusual End: Badillo folds like a cheap suit, drops charges against McDonough.
Dan Cox: Deleter of Words: Cox and his campaign are about to learn a hard lesson; the Internet is forever.
Sports
Adley Rutschman Might be the American League MVP: He may not be the having the best year in baseball, but has any player meant more to his team this year?
Food
Dreamworld? More Like Nightmare Fuel: The original Coca-Cola Creations flavor was bad. This is somehow far, far worse
The Monday Thought
Today is the first day of school here in Anne Arundel County. The big story the last few weeks, as we approached the start of school, was the change is school start times. In previous years, High Schools started early around 7 am followed by middle schools and then high schools. This year, the order of school times has been reversed. Elementary schools start earliest, and high schools the latest. It’s an issue I’m agnostic on, really.
All of this has to do with some sort of research about adolescent sleep cycles, sleep cycles in younger kids, and such. It’s a discussion that has been happening in this county for over twenty years. It was an issue that the Board of Education has been actively debating for years. It’s a decision the Board made back in February, six months before the start of school.
So imagine my surprise and frustration to see parents and activists on Facebook arguing that the time change can be reversed. This was five days before the start of the school year. The person in question was arguing that the decision can and should be appealed to the Maryland State Board of Education.
Five. Days. Before. The. Start. Of. The. School. Year.
Admittedly, this sudden barrage of eleventh-hour activism was aided and abetted by politicians on both sides, all of whom have actively told parents that the Board of Education should reverse the decision over the summer. Not that this was ever possible considering all of the logistical work that had to be put into place to make the change to the new start times well before the start of the school year.
Pandering politicians pandering. Film at eleven.
This being a Facebook conversation and me being, well, me, asked the individual why they had a sudden interest in reversing the decision considering it was made months ago and there had been discussion of the topic for twenty years. The answer I got was basically “I have a job and don’t have time to pay attention to these things.”
Whelp.
As the guy who preaches about the importance of local issues, you can imagine my despair at hearing that. And I reminded the gentlemen about the above quote attributed to Pericles: “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.” And I reminded him that the time to do something about it was years ago, not now.
It is those people, those who pay no attention, those who take no action until well past the time for action has passed, who make the most noise about the process. And ultimately, it is they who cause the modern political spectacle to become what it is. A political market driven not by ideas or ideologies but by sensationalism. It is one of the reasons why the major parties nominate candidates who are so far outside of the mainstream so often.
The question, for which I currently have no answer, is this: how do we get people to realize that if you have limited time for politics that local politics is s where you need to spend it? The answer has eluded me and others for years. But in order to restore some semblance of political sanity, it is the code that needs to be cracked.
As I have said time and time again; it is not the politicians in Washington or on CNN or Fox News that are most impactful in your day-to-day life. It’s your State Senator, or Delegate, or County Councilman, or Alderman or….Board of Education member as it is in this case. That is the level in which decisions are made and individual citizens can truly make a difference. But that difference can only be made when people pay attention. The question for us then is: how can we compel them to do so?