Mutterings, musings, and a multitude of machinations for a Monday, but delayed until Wednesday to protect the guilty!

Our favorite Alderman

Hello and welcome. It is Wednesday, October 6, 2010 and I do hope that you and yours are doing well. I am glad the little town where I grew up was smart enough to re-elect my dad as alderman. This term will make twenty years of service to that rural town. Out of the six candidates running he received the most votes. It is about time the folks there recognized his selfless efforts on their behalf. Dad can be very stubborn when it comes to looking after what he sees as being in the best interest of the people and the future. Congratulations Hornbeck, Louisiana, you got it right! Okay. So I might be a little prejudiced in my analysis but I feel very confident that anyone who wants to check this report out, they will find it to be just like I've written it. We are surrounded by unsung heroes that give of themselves for the greater good and often go unnoticed. While I know it was likely not a quote that originated with Ronald Reagan, it was very telling when he would often remark, "It's amazing what can be accomplished when folks are not worried about who will get the credit for it." A pastor recently shared with me the big time trouble that occurred when an individual's name was not mentioned regarding a special effort that had been put forth. While you and I might think this to be silly especially since it was doing service for the Lord, believe me, it's a huge part of our society where most folks crave public recognition and a pat on the back. It's one of those issues that zeroes in on our motivation for why we do what we do. Something we all could likely work on, beginning with you know who. I'll let you fill in the blank.

Speaking of silly, the mud is being slung far and wide as we get closer and closer to the upcoming election. I know this is nothing new but typically back in the day, you only heard about it in either in the major national races, or the local stuff in your own area. Now a days we get 24x7 coverage of every election in every place that occupies a spot on the map. If it's deemed to be ripe or juicy we will hear about it even if it is only the election for dog catcher in Frog Eye, Alabama. No. I've never been to Frog Eye but I did look it up. Just for the record, it's located in Tallapoosa County at latitude 33.033 and longitude -85.594. Let's face facts folks, dirt sells. We are living in a world where reading other people's dirty laundry drives the news, the media, and especially those magazines at the grocery check out counter. Often we end up living vicariously through the worse off news of other people's struggles and if we are not careful we can actually gloat or take pleasure in seeing other folks falter. We all know people who try to make themselves feel better by comparing their situation to the worse off conditions being experienced by others. Let me set the record straight. I've got plenty on my plate and it typically involves all I can handle because it pertains to my number one nemesis, namely, that old me, myself, and I. That old saying comes to mind, "I've got enough dealing with me to say grace over every single day."

This doesn't mean that we should not expect accountability from those elected to serve. One of the issues at hand today has to do with the improved methods of background investigations that can be done. While many of us may not know it, to a large extent much of our personal history is now a part of the electronic records world and given the right access can be viewed and reported on. This collection of personal information has implications far beyond our ability to run as a candidate for some office. Think about it. Every traffic violation. Every purchase made. All our medical records. Our financial information. Work histories and related archives. They are out there, somewhere. This could easily have a chilling effect on those contemplating public service. Can you imagine being called on an accident you had when you were a teenager and perhaps having your integrity challenged because of it? A few weeks ago we received notice that our bank information had been on some storage media that had been lost in Germany. Hello? I had to notify the three different credit monitoring agencies to put a watch on our records and go through other contacts to make sure we were protected. Why in the name of blue blazes was our bank account information on media that was lost in Germany? We will never know and you won't either but trust me, there are folks out there who have the resources and know how to find out just about anything they want to. This causes us all to do our best to stay under the radar detection but then again, you might just find yourself exposed because of a lost briefcase somewhere even maybe one lost in Frog Eye, Alabama. You know what I mean Vern? Have a great day and may God bless. Amen.            .....More later.