A couple of things have been ruminating in this, admittedly, somewhat addled brain of mine. One is of a more recent vintage, and more locally concerning, and the other a bit older and more far reaching.
On the local front, the ongoing series of profiles on the candidates for the various offices which are up for election in the June primaries has been, to me, somewhat eye-opening. Some of the responses to the general questionnaire have shown some candidates to be parroting party line talking points while others show a more thoughtful approach to the questions posed. This has been pretty much true for all of the races profiled so far.
One example of what I consider to be muddled thinking comes from one candidate for the school board. She stated that she wanted to eliminate politics from the classroom. However, she then goes on to state that the way to achieve this goal is to make the school board election a partisan race. She also interjected her religious beliefs, which have no bearing on her qualifications for the post. Finally, she gave an opinion on firearms control, which is way out of her sphere of influence and job description.
I'm for making all county races non-partisan. That would make the electorate actually learn the positions of the candidates rather than, mostly in this county, just picking the one with the "R" behind his/her name.
In the races for county commissioner, there are actually — gasp — democrats running, although in District 2 the incumbent is running unopposed. Having gone over all of the profiles, albeit not with a fine tooth comb, I've discovered that there is a broad range of ideas presented. Many, without regard for political affiliation, seem focused on the questions surrounding education funding, public safety and economic development. Some have a problem with the recently enacted ethics law. Some others don't seem to understand that there are certain things that are not within the scope of the position.
I hope that readers of mine, or any of the columnists, will have checked out the positions of the candidates as stated in the profiles, and will carefully consider which candidate will get their vote in the primary.
Nationally, I'm left to wonder if our president is at war with the American people. I'm still unsure if he is totally clueless, or if his ego gets in the way of rational decision making. His intentions may be noble, but his actions could do more harm than good.
His proposal on increased tariffs on goods from China and others, which thankfully haven't yet kicked in, have the probability of negatively affecting the very industries he claims to wish to protect. Farmers in Carroll County could be directly affected if, in retaliation, the Chinese raise tariffs on soybeans, beef or other agricultural commodities, as they have promised.
On the environmental front, it was reported on Friday that the Department of the Interior has started the 60-day review period on the sale of gas and oil leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The ANWR is about the size of South Carolina and borders the Arctic Ocean and the Canadian Yukon Territories. By law, its population is restricted to fewer than 10 families, and those occupation permits expire with the death of the permit holder's youngest child. So in less than 100 years, no one will be allowed to reside there. It will become as it was thousands of years ago … unless the Trump administration allows the oil companies to destroy it.
The administration also wants to permit oil drilling off of the East Coast from New Jersey to the Carolinas, additional locations in the Gulf of Mexico, off of the California coast, and even in our national parks. Such activity in any of these places could, and probably would, damage fisheries, pristine wilderness areas, and tourist attractions and would wreak havoc on local economies.
More needs to be done to promote clean energy sources instead of propping up the industries that are destroying our atmosphere and adversely affecting the health of all of us.
Bill Kennedy writes every other Monday from Taneytown. Email him at wlkennedyiii@verizon.net.
