If you are taking the time to read this, thank you!
What began as a report on the Quorum Court's activities in 1994, has turned into a personal view of our political system and continues to be my attempt to help people stay aware of politics. Whether you agree with the views expressed here, or believe something to the contrary, we need to see how others observe our governing bodies at all levels of the political system. The personal aging process, my work experiences and my involvement in county government have combined to make for a mixed bag of emotions. When I read about the events in our state legislature and the potential corrupting effects money can have on this significant part of our lives, it is hard not to be cynical.
As mentioned previously, my time spent in the Air Force and exposure to various levels of supervision and management in industry allowed me a different perspective on the opportunities and challenges that even marginal success can help expose a naive Sugar Creek farm kid's education's limitations to the real world. Company credit cards and virtually unlimited travel expenses offer many opportunities for one to abuse the system that rewards those who "sacrifice time and family" for the corporation's benefit. The only complaint I ever received about my expense account was I didn't spend enough and it often made others look bad by comparison. But, these benefits are simply part of the opportunities for moral failure that go with the positions.
If you weigh that attitude against the recent newspapers' revelation about State Representative Micah Neal and State Senator Jon Woods and their involvement in a bribery scandal with Ecclesia College using tax payers' money, it is difficult not to be disgusted with those we elect to represent us. The amount of money involved is enough to get our attention, but the action of the legislature that set up a system that provides the opportunity for this abuse should be of concern to all of us as voters. The system they established to handle these funds has provided many civic activities with funds for various uses. Our local fire departments have frequently been the benefactors of State Senator Cecile Bledsoe's understanding of their availability and the benefits they provide . The guidelines were originally established under the expectation they would be used for the "good of the people." That trust was abused much the same as we saw with the change in term limits a few years ago. Remember how well that change was buried in legislation which had some desirable features ?
Granted, it is not easy to ignore the opportunities that come with access to someone else's money. However, as we seek out the best people to elect to positions of authority (read that as power), our choices seldom ever include a means of determining how strong their moral values really are, or how well they deal with opportunities for personal moral corruption. Whether it is at a local, city, county or federal level, the effect of money and the opportunity to benefit one's self through the position is always there. Finding those people who resist the chance to enhance their own financial interest through their decisions is difficult. And, our national political parties are too anxious to have their candidate "electable" to care whether he or she is strong enough to withstand the temptations that come with the title, its opportunities and power.
The newspapers do a really good job of making the information available but, too frequently, we, the voters, don't relate multiple warning signs together as potential problems and we allow advertising, bought with multiple-millions of dollars to cloud the truth. We currently have an issue about the effect of "dark money" affecting our State Supreme Court elections. The public issue is who supplies the dark money. Expose those culprits in Washington, who are currently unnamed, and we will have a purer Supreme Court. If we look past the frontal issue and ask who really wants the power to elect the Supreme Court members, it appears to be the lawyers who apparently are using the issue, and the results of the last election, to take away our right to elect members to the Court. Is not this the real issue? Only you and I can be swayed by the advertising, big money (dark and otherwise) and power issues that get clouded by special interests but we have to be diligent and honest about what we personally want. Would we be able to resist the opportunity to further our own interest if we were in the position to make the decision? Don't we all want someone who can keep their integrity and moral values intact and still provide legislation that benefits ALL of the people ?
No matter where we look, the moral values we personally exhibit do make a difference. Whether we realize it or not, the advertising our young people see on their smart phones and on the television set do influence their futures. If we choose to ignore the fact that they can be persuaded about something we feel is wrong, they can easily interpret the lack of response as condoning the action. Only by watching my grandchildren and observing how far from the values we saw in the Sugar Creek community 70 years ago, do I realize how far we have drifted in two generations. To many people, it is the signs of change, to others, it drives us to our knees in prayer for the future, the soul, of our nation.
America is only as morally pure as we allow it to be. When the newspaper tells us where the money to support a candidate comes from, are we too naive to question "why?" Or, are we interested in a big brother whose money and power will do the right thing for society because they say they will? Locally, we have to ask ourselves where we want our County's court building project to be located. Is it the will of the people that it be in downtown Bentonville or does it best serve Benton County on the southwest side of the city ? The outcome of this decision by the Quorum Court and the County Judge might be a test of our own interest in the "science of politics."
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch, an award-winning columnist, is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 03/15/2017