TBG pointed out last month that it is impossible to tell who belongs to which party. Except for my friend, Randy Friese, everyone has his or her own take on red, white, and blue. There is an occasional elephant on the bottom line, barely visible unless you're stopped in front of the sign itself and looking for an identifier.
I suppose that the lack of labels is a good thing. We are trying to raise children who see beyond affiliation and into character. Unable to reflexively attach Mr. Orr to either party, I'm free to rail at him as an individual as I inch out of my neighborhood, gingerly placing myself in danger so that he can exercise his right to free speech.
St. Mark's United Methodist Church has an interesting electronic signboard. I'm at their corner just about every day; I'm always curious about what they have to say. There are pre-school registrations and holiday services and community lectures and then, over the weekend, there was this:
St. Mark's does not endorse. Campaign Signs are on county property.The car behind me had to honk; I was immobilized by the notion of voters lured into making an assumption about the church. As blurry as the line between the separation of church and state may seem these days, surely no one can believe that a congregation can endorse a candidate.
Apparently, St. Mark's was not as sanguine about the state of our electorate.
I love that they made the statement; I hate that it had to be made. I was mulling that over as I approached the intersection yesterday. Where there had been a forest of names screaming for attention, there was now but one, lonely, pitiful dead tree who had not respected the implicit request behind the signboard's civics lesson.... Please, Move Your Signs.
Of course. Ethan Orr.
I knew next to nothing about his politics; I just knew that I hated his signs. Adding a green swirl below his name didn't do much for me; he was where I didn't want him to be, blocking my view and annoying a church community I'd come to adopt as a totally one sided, wave-hello-as-I-drive-by-friend. Then, I went to his website. Still, nothing. Ethan for Arizona House doesn't tell me his party preference, let alone provide a specific example of what he thinks on anything. Then again, half the website is black background with pale ink and thus unreadable to me on my desktop monitor. Old people have issues like that, Ethan....... and I am calling you Ethan because you didn't use a more grown up form of address on your committee banner.
This particular old person didn't stop there, Ethan. No, sir. I was so incensed that you were hiding behind your wonderful children and your ingenuous smile that I plowed through VoteSmart and found that I also have issues with your willingness to allow gun owners with concealed carry permits to ignore No Guns Allowed signs, let alone your willingness to come between me and my physician.
And to think that the only reason I know all of this is because your signs upset me. Perhaps they are serving the purpose for which they are intended after all; I got involved.
*****
Were you wondering what colors my friend, Randy, is using?
That would be purple and yellow.
If you're in LD-9, you might consider casting one of your two votes for him.
Last time I was in Tucson before an election, I noticed the no party signs also. I felt it was sneaky. There is no way today to not take into account the party with whom someone has chosen to align themselves. Voters should be told on the signs unless it's a non-partisan post and these days even those seem partisan to me. I used to vote for the person but those days are gone. Now it's an agenda and the party tells us what that is. I can't vote in Arizona, as not a resident there, but it irked me anyway!
ReplyDeleteIf I'm pointing out something that irks you too, I know I'm on the right path!
Deletea/b
You know, churches are now doing the same thing, the no-label thing. They are dropping denomination names and calling themselves, The Way, The River, The Road, The Well, etc. Annoys the heck out of me.
ReplyDeleteOMG, this post made me chuckle at the end. Being a Web Developer/Designer, I just HAD to go to his Web site. I hate when sites use huge fonts to fill-in gaps. It's a tell-tale sign that there isn't much content on the site and they are trying to make up for it by making the font bigger.
ReplyDeleteAs for the signs, I hate them ALL. They are not green and they clutter up the road view and the aesthetics of a community. To me it's all trash or will be trash. Where I live, they are not allowed in the medians. The HOAs take them down daily--especially during election season. This is makes it that more important for a candidate to have a great social media/Web presence.
And you didn't even have to tell me what party that Orr guy belongs to. I knew right away when you said he favors gun rights and wants to make decisions for women that should be between she and her doctor.
Ugghh.
Sending hugs!
Megan xxx