WHICH WAY DOES THE WIND BLOW?

At the Talent Camelot Theatre, “1776” the hit Broadway musical, saw a revival this past month. Prior to performance, artistic director  Livia Genise  told the audience she scheduled “1776’ because this is an election year and she wanted to remind people how important it was to vote.  She certainly chose the right material.

Not only does this play correct a lot of misinformation about our founding fathers, it also clearly examines the deep political divisions that beset that Continental Congress.  Observing those divisions unfold during the performance, I could not help but reflect upon our present situation in these United States… for we are not any more united now than then.  Worse, the divisions seem to be along party lines and not lines of conscience, something neither John Adams nor Thomas Jefferson would approve.

Frankly, I’m not sure when this idea of putting one’s party above one’s country developed.  Certainly there have always been elements of such behavior throughout our history,  just as there have always been elements of greed, corruption, and malfeasance in government.  This coming October, in view of the forthcoming election, and with an eye upon our past, the film at Old City Hall will be “THE DARK HORSE,” a satirical view of our political process and  a brilliant lampoon of how we nominate and elect our leaders.   If you are able to attend,  I guarantee you will enjoy it.  (That’s called a personal plug.)

Wherever one goes today, the citizens of this country complain that they are tired of the political bickering seen in the daily media.   Personally, I have heard more people than ever I can recall, tell me they refuse to watch the news.  Disgust with our leaders has reached epidemic proportions.  Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be true at the local level.  We who live in small town Jacksonville are part of perhaps 2800 people.  We still experience this charming, euphemistic setting where citizens genuinely desire what might be the greater good for all and not just for a handful.  I wrote an earlier column about the high percentage of citizens who volunteer their time because of their desire to help this community.  I would like to see more people become active politically… especially young people.  But, that’s for another column.

As many of you know, the Jacksonville I describe was not the same Jacksonville just 18 months ago.  City Council meetings at Old City Hall sounded more like the meetings in “1776”… filled with rancor and hostile  debate.  That’s in the past – today our meetings run smoothly and with honest civil debate.  This is how the business is supposed to work.  Is it harmonious?  The answer is that harmony is not dependent upon all parties hewing to the same viewpoint.  It is dependent upon a certain internal calm during the proceedings.  This is achieved when there is mutual trust and respect.   I believe we have that today.

In the past few weeks, a number of people have inquired whether I plan to run for re-election this fall.  The answer is yes!  And it is “yes” because I desire to see Jacksonville continue with this mutual trust and respect.  Let me know what you think.