Once I reached an age sufficient to be called a certified geezer, I started giving a standard reply to one certain comment. When someone says, “Good to see you,” I usually reply, “Better to be seen than viewed.”
Someone recently made that same remark to me, and it suddenly popped into my mind to reply, “These days, I’m beginning to think that ‘viewed’ might be the better option.”
The reply was made facetiously, but when I think about the things that are happening today that caused that remark, I realize that I am truly glad that at most, I have just a few more years to live. I have no desire to still be around 20 years from now to see the eventual results of the political garbage emanating from Washington, other major cities and even locally.
Before you decide that this is just another right-wing missive intended to bash the Democrats, let’s get something straight: The Republicans today are just about as bad. I feel that the Republicans have the right ideas but often have no idea how to push their agenda and implement those ideas.
Even when they are in control, they lack either the guts or the brains to do what it takes to be true leaders, and repeatedly give in to their opposition on too many of the things that really matter. One of the few national exceptions to that in recent years has been Donald Trump, but he managed to alienate too much of the populace because he just never learned when to keep his mouth shut.
I grew up in the 1950s, a decade that most of us who were alive then consider to be possibly the best times in the history of this country. As a child of that era, there are just too many things happening today that are just beyond my understanding. For example, as a law enforcement officer for most of my life, I cannot understand how district attorneys (prosecutors), who head up one of the three parts of the law enforcement system, can arbitrarily decide not to prosecute certain crimes or to prosecute people who were obviously defending themselves.
The district attorneys of San Francisco and several other major cities, most of them aided in their election by major contributions from America hater George Soros, just simply decided to stop prosecutions for thefts of less than $1,000, completely disregarding the impact that such a decision makes on their community. Suddenly small businesses are closing in huge numbers because anyone can walk into their business and steal items less than $1,000 in value, without any fear of prosecution.
Many small businesses operate on a gross daily revenue of less than, or not much above, $1000. Those prosecutors are simply letting everyone know that anyone can steal up to a whole days’ sales revenue without even any fear of arrest. The math just doesn’t work, and those business people are being victimized and deprived of their livelihood by an elected official who is supposed to protect them.
The New York district attorney, elected with a $1 million bump from Soros, besides filing frivolous charges to influence the next election, has filed murder charges against two crime victims who defended themselves against deadly assaults. At least one of the charges was later dropped, but the fact that it was filed in the first place brings up serious questions about the agenda of the DA.
Closer to home, one thing beyond my comprehension is how my own elected local school board, which receives about 15% of my police pension in school taxes, can permit transgender students to use the restroom of their choice, and stonewall parents who are upset about it, claiming that the law requires them to do so. This is despite the fact that there currently is no such law in place, other county schools don’t do it, and a recent recommendation by the state board of education suggests that those students should be offered private accommodations.
Elected officials are failing us from Washington on down, and if it doesn’t stop, I’m just glad that a few years from now it will all be someone else’s problem, not mine.
Don Stratton is a retired inspector for the Lima Police Department. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
