Greeson: Election time shows us it's time for better

Jay Greeson
Jay Greeson

Man, it's good to be back. There's no place like home, and after some time in the mid-state and some time in the Sports section, we're glad to be back on A2.

(Side note: For those of you wondering, we have been everywhere from all-star baseball tournaments to SEC media days over the last couple of weeks. For those of you asking my bosses where I've been, thanks for reading. For those of you asking my bosses if I can stay wherever I was, well, thanks for reading.)

So, where were we? Oh yes, local politics, which look a lot like state politics, which all too often has mirrored the national political poison that has consumed our country.

And that's sad. It's also something I believe we can change.

To do that, we - all of us, Ds, Rs, Independents, dependents, people who wear pendants, you name it - must demand more from those seeking office.

Think of it this way: The erstwhile politically correct politician's answer right now is they work for the people. That is a true statement, but it has become a disingenuous one from downtown, Nashville and D.C. They know it makes us feel as American as eating a slice of apple pie as we drive a Chevy to a Lookouts baseball game.

Maybe it was that knowledge - in my GMC truck on my way to a baseball tournament - that made me realize the clarity of what needs to happen, friends.

When following a collection of 10-year-old All-Stars through three states, it dawned on me that the simplest and most direct advertising left in the political realm is the yard sign. The tried-and-true, poster-and-wooden-stick declaration of support.

Name. Political office. Slogan. In and out, short and sweet.

To be fair, we say God bless those public servants who actually believe they are serving the public.

But while we all smile at that nostalgic thought and high-five our same-thinking political cronies over a breakfast biscuit at Hardee's, the simple matter of our current state is that we want to believe that but we refuse to hire our public servants with those words in mind. And that's on us.

The election is a months-long, multimillion-dollar job interview, and that basic view should never be overlooked by those of us on the other side of the table.

If you were looking to hire a gardener or a nanny or an employee for your business, think of how you would approach that. Questions about the person you are looking to hire. Questions about how they are going to better serve us. Questions about their integrity and their plans for the future.

Instead, we are pummeled with TV, radio and direct mail messages filled with finger-pointing and negativity.

The only way it changes is with you and me. Require more. Demand more. Look beyond the mud-slinging, name-calling and blaming.

We have too often been seduced by the jazz hands of the better of the two bad choices in what should be viewed as our most important decisions.

We now must take responsibility to redirect that political path by showing all the string-pullers and puppet-masters that we want folks who can tell us why they will do a great job, not those who want to point fingers at how bad someone else would do.

It starts now - with you and me, not Twitter or easy excuses like #FakeNews.

Let's be involved. Let's vote, and let's vote with purpose.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6342.

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