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Health & Fitness

Signs of the Times

Doesn't matter the affiliation these days, the special provision taken by politicians to plaster our neighborhoods with signs is way out-of-control.

In memory of Andy Rooney -- A Rooney-esque Commentary.

I hope you can hear him in these words.

I was going to sit on this column until next fall. But after passing thousands of political signs as I drove down Fairfax County Parkway and Route 123 this weekend, I had second thoughts. Even more of a motivator was the report on CBS’s 60 Minutes Sunday night concerning special elastic clauses in laws that allow congressmen to accumulate wealth from insider trading information. Please remember this sentence as you read the last sentence in the following column which I originally wrote over a month ago.

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It's that wonderful time of year called the political season. You know it instantly
because the streets change color. Oh it's not the fall foliage. The streets are
plastered from one curb to another with thousands signs of political
candidates. Doesn't matter the affiliation these days, or the particular area in the county, the ability to plaster our neighborhoods with political signs has gone way out-of-control.

Let's please dispense with the ridiculous idea that the signs are of a public service
and as some would have you believe they are to inform the electorate.

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To begin with, do the signs really make a difference? I've been told by political
folks that the signs really don't make a difference in the election one way or
another. But you would think by the thousands of signs on the roads that one
candidate would think they could out "sign" the other and win an
election.

On the other hand, I think it's really insulting to the voter when the candidate
must believe that you need hundreds of signs in a quarter of a mile to remember
their name.

Further, there must be intense combat to secure strategic land. The first quarter mile candidate “A” boldly posts 100 signs. The second quarter mile candidate “B” only has 75, so logically we should vote for whoever has the ability to post more signs? Really?

Do they really expect us to believe that posting more signs conveys to us that they're more intelligent, popular, and have the ability to lead the political district? Or that we're really stupid and can't remember the name?

Have you ever met anyone that thought, "hey this is a really good idea!" I
mean from the general public; the people who are not necessarily political
volunteers. If you put the road sign issue vote, do you really think that it
would pass?

It is illegal to post a sign on city streets for you and me. The law is posted on
the back of most ‘Stop’ signs. A couple of years ago I placed three signs on
the road for my baseball school. I was served with three $50 tickets as a result. I'm fairly certain that politicians do not get tickets. It's not illegal for politicians --- just citizens.

Part Two:
Political Pressure and Wasting Money

As I was driving last fall (2010) on a road in Reston this issue really hit a
critical mass for me. I witnessed a maintenance worker cutting the grass on the
median of the road, cluttered with political signs.  I so I stopped and watched as he cut 10 feet of grass with his mower, stopped the mower, got off the mower, picked up the sign moved it behind his lawnmower, remounted his mower and continued again for another 10 feet. He continued to stop at every sign for hundreds of yards and do the same thing.

I thought of what an irritating job that must be. In the middle of that thought,
it occurred to me how incredibly expensive that job became. It's reasonable to
assume that the cost of cutting the grass on the median that day was much more
expensive due to the time necessary to pick up the signs and put them back
down

So I called the responsible Fairfax County official, Supervisor Cathy Hudgins'   office. I was promptly informed that my complaint was just one of many, annual complaints and was told there was nothing they could or would do.

Silly me! Of course there's nothing they would want to do about it because sooner or later the supervisor will have to run for re-election. She would want to claim her special right to set the roadside ablaze with her signs as well. Authentic leadership would recognize, honor and act on the annual complaints, no matter the specific self interest; especially if there are many and annual.

My next call was to call Reston Association, the organization responsible for
maintaining the landscape along the streets of Reston. Yes, I was told, it is a
major nuisance (translation - expense) but the medians are the responsibility
(ownership) of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

The Reston Association (RA), holds a maintenance contract. They cannot make policy, relative to political signs, just citizen signs which they quickly and
routinely dispose.  They were instructed by VODT not to remove any political signs. The political assumptions of why the VODT would not want to offend politicians certainly do not leave too much for the imagination.

At any rate disregarding the economics of the situation and the apparent little
political value of the signage, what's really the issue here? Well the practice
just evolved. If one candidate does it the other is forced to out sign the
opponent regardless of their personal position? Convenient easy out!

The real problem, as I see it,  is the appearance of leadership. There are many
reasons why professional political figures have such an incredibly low public
approval rating. Special dispensation from laws is one of them. Young leaders
observe and remember the elastic clauses, favoritism and bending of laws by
public figures. 

Finally if politicians so blatantly bend the law in such an obvious public
manner, one must really contend with policies and special agreements that are
not so obvious to the public eye. Watch for news on IPO’s and Congress’ new
personal wealth.

Next Week... More on Penn State.

Read more by
John on Facebook or at PinkmanBaseball.com John@Pinkman.us

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