To have a good democracy, we need more candidates

To read Kentucky’s alcohol laws and regulations, click here.

Calling all candidates.

We need more of you; people who are willing to serve the people with honor and honesty. You are in short supply.
As of right now, there are barely enough people running for Board of Commissioners in Corbin to fill the four seats up for grabs.

That’s pathetic.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the ones who have thrown their name in the hat, but democracy doesn’t really mean very much if boils down to nothing more than an everybody-wins vanity contest to see who can get the most votes!
Wake me up when it’s over.

We have a lot of good attorney’s around here. Doesn’t anyone want to be Commonwealth’s Attorney besides the guy already in there? Is the job that bad?

What are we to make of the fact that only two people have filed to be State Representative? Both are Republicans. Democrats, where are you? It would be nice to have something to vote on in November.

It’s a tough thing running for office, I’m sure. You put yourself out there. Your past can be probed. Your reputation sullied. If you don’t win … well, it can be a huge blow to the ego. Nobody likes to lose. I’ve never met anyone that goes into anything and says,

"Boy, being a loser is just swell! I hope I get my brains beat in by the voters this election."

So I understand. I see how many would be skittish about filing for office. But I know in my gut there are many good candidates out there who could make a difference. People who, even if they didn’t win, would make things interesting and bring up issues that need to be addressed. Competition is a great thing.

If you are sitting on the fence, don’t think about it any longer. Listen to the marketing sages at Nike and "Just do it!"

SOME OTHER STUFF

• There seems to be confusion out there among many about what the laws are regarding alcohol sales. I’ve tried to sort everything out for people with stories in the newspaper, but others have sown more confusion. I will post this opinion column on our website, www.thenewsjournal.net, Wednesday with all the alcohol laws in Kentucky. This issue is going to heat up considerably in upcoming weeks. Arm yourself with the facts.

• Frustrating is the fact that I’ve been behind more than a few drunk or just plain terrible drivers on the road lately. I call police and, bless their hearts, they do everything they can to respond. But drunk/bad drivers seem to have an otherworldly sixth sense that alerts then when authorities are closing in and they manage to get off the road and into some residence or straighten up and drive right just in the nick of time. Go figure.

• I want to pay Mitt Romney’s tax rate this year. Fourteen and a half percent sounds much better than what I’ve been paying.

• Not a single person has been cited for illegal smoking in Corbin since the passage of a smoking ban late last year. To be sure, the law is still new. My crystal ball says, like many of the city’s ordinances, it will go unenforced, except in restaurants, and be just about completely forgotten in a few years time. Case in point, when’s the last time anyone has been tagged with a leash law violation in Corbin?