The Scoop: Vote for me because I carry a handgun
If there’s one thing that’s been clearly reinforced this political season, it’s the vast difference between Democrats and Republicans.
A perfect example is Janice Bowling, a Republican who is seeking the seat of 4th District U.S. Representative. For those who aren’t familiar with Mrs. Bowling’s campaign, her slogan is she’s a “pistol packing mama.”
If you ask me, she needs to go back to the drawing board on that one. So the lady carries a handgun, big deal. How does that qualify her to run for Congress?
Using that same logic, I could make a run for Congress based on my ownership of deadly weapons. My slogan could be “Vote for James Clark. I have two baseball bats in the bedroom closet.”
How about this: “Vote for James Clark. There’s a 9mm in my car.” Or how about this: “Vote for Clark. I might just be carrying a switchblade.”
I bring up Bowling not because I don’t like her, but because she perfectly illustrates the differences because Republicans and Democrats. During the Standard’s debate series, which spanned the month of July, we brought a number of political candidates to town. When the Democrats were here, they emphasized health care and education. When the Republicans were in town, the talk shifted to guns, abortion and gay rights.
Personally, I agree with a large portion of the Republican agenda, but I can’t ever see myself warming to their philosophy of a gun for every man, woman and airplane pilot.
As for the Democrats, I hear what they’re saying, but don’t necessarily want to foot the bill. They say to improve education, we need to throw more money at teachers. They say to improve health care and battle the nursing shortage, we need to throw more money at nurses and training programs. I see both these great plans as taking more money from me and giving it to the tax man.
I’ve thought about the platforms for the Democrats and Republicans and have to say and I think they’re missing one main point. That point is what I believe is the overwhelming problem with these United States — we’re becoming one big ball of fat.
More than guns, gays and teacher salaries, the main problem this country faces is that most Americans are overweight. Even our kids are fat. And I speak from the heart when I say I’m tired of seeing 12-year-olds who outweigh me by 50 pounds.
The reason our children aren’t learning as much in school is because they’re sitting around watching TV, playing video games and stuffing their faces with potato chips. And because they’re eating such junk — and not getting proper exercise away from school — they can’t sit still in class.
What do we get as a result? Suddenly kids all across the nation are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). If you look back 15 years ago, there was no such thing as ADD. Where did this disorder suddenly come from?
ADD is a product of American culture. We let our kids drink soft drinks and eat sugar-coated cereal for breakfast then wonder why they’ve got a problem with class conduct. Then they eat a double cheeseburger and fries for lunch and we wonder why they’re overweight.
The saying I always heard growing up is, “You are what you eat.” Today, that would make most of us whatever we can stuff between a sesame seed bun.
The price of our health care is soaring and the latest studies indicate obese people have more health-related problems than even smokers. Overweight people are less likely to exercise, thus they don’t reap the stress-relieving benefits of such activity.
So while politicians are quick to push agendas involving guns and education, I think we would all be better served if our elected officials seriously start addressing obesity.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)