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In My Humble Opinion
Jodi McDade
After reading the op-ed last week from Katherine Rodman I had several different reactions.
First I wondered if she was expressing the opinion of “The Coosa County News” itself since she is an “employee” of the paper. Next, I understood that everyone has an opinion and is free to express those opinions – as I do most every week.
Then, I started receiving phone calls and messages from some of my readers concerning my being called out by name. But I put my name on every piece I submit to the newspaper, and I stand by what I write.
Generally any of us contributing to the newspaper are called out by other readers who write “letters to the editor” to voice either their approval or disapproval of something that has been in the paper or something going on in the county. But when I think of “op-eds” I think of “The New York Times,” “Washington Post” and other large newspapers when they post the opinions of their editors. So I still don’t fully know the origin of Ms. Rodman’s column.
With all that said, I do choose my own narrative, but I have not chosen the title that it is given in the newspaper. That has been done by Christa or someone else. There have only been a few titles that I didn’t feel totally fit with what I was saying, but not enough to even mention it. The column Ms. Rodman is speaking of was, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, named very correctly about what I was saying.
Our government – federal, state, or local – has the responsibility to provide the necessary infrastructure to either prevent or deter massive destruction of life and/or property due to disasters that can be predicted. Most disasters – hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, landslides, floods – are the result of nature that repeats itself and cannot be stopped, but they can be expected and prepared for. Here in Alabama our state government supports the Alabama Forestry Commission to prepare us for potential danger.
In the case of the current California fires that are destroying homes, businesses, schools, churches, and taking human life, even a small fire started by nature or by human hands should be anticipated for the damage that will be done. The Santa Anna winds are annual events, droughts are annual events, and the undergrowth in the forests grows annually.
The only one of those that is preventable by man is the undergrowth that fuels the fires, but that can be removed on a continuing basis to cut down on the predictable damages. The elected officials (politicians) who the people of California choose are the people who are responsible to see that all available precautions are enacted.
These elected officials have been warned over and over for YEARS after every fire event that controlled, prescription burns are what will help cut down on the excessive damages. But they have ignored those warnings all this time because of a small fish and “climate control.” And many of them have been elected over and over again by the people who vote in California. If you are interested, look into reports from The Little Hoover Commission submitted in 2014 and 2018 – still ignored by California government agencies.
Unfortunately almost everything in our country today is based on politics. Politicians rule the land and make the decisions for us, the people of America. Instead of choosing our elected officials based on their experience, beliefs, values, and what they stand for, we now choose almost entirely based on the political party they belong to. And each political party has VERY DIFFERENT beliefs and platforms that they stand for. But so many of our citizens believe they were BORN into a political party just like they think they are BORN into a religion for life.
Unfortunately, both of our major political parties have changed their beliefs and platforms in the last 75-plus years and now appear to have swapped places – but the voters don’t realize it. The Democratic Party used to be recognized as the supporters of the working people while the Republicans were thought to be all about big business and wealth. Even labor unions didn’t support the Democratic Party in the last election – historic.
It is true that the victims of these fires were not all Democratic voters – people of all walks of life have been impacted. But for years many areas of California have voted religiously Democratic even though they have experienced – and for the SAME Democrats who have been elected for decades. There are bad politicians in both parties, but the purpose of elections is to give the people the opportunity to express their approval or disapproval of the results they are receiving. “Doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results” is referred to as the definition of insanity.
I stand by the title that was given to my column – “You Get What You Vote For.” The people we choose to run our government are the people who will determine what type of protections, preparations, investments in infrastructure, and should have the collective commitment to provide safety for our citizens. If they don’t provide these things they should be voted out.
We can do many things as individuals to protect ourselves from predictable disasters, but that is also where our tax dollars should be spent to do the bigger things that need to be done. So I guess another title could have been “You Don’t Always Get What You Pay For.”
My heart goes out to the people of California – and for those who have been ignored in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. But we need to remember just because we are told “we’re from the government, and we’re here to help,” it doesn’t always hold true. Choose your government carefully – and don’t be insane.
