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WHO'S SERVING WHO?

Ahhh, the stench of May elections is in the air and I just couldn't resist pulling out my ol' political cartoon pens to take a stab at our "helpful" elected officials - with an obvious fire service twist, of course. This cartoon expresses two points; the first being that our elected public servants tend to steer the wagon they're sworn to empower (even when they're clueless to the desired direction), and secondly, this is nothing new.

My Department is fortunate that our city officials allow us to operate with minimal interference - a result of mutual respect, a solid history, and positive communication between both parties. This of course is contingent from one election to the next - but we've had a great run. Unfortunately, it does not take much research or talking with folks at events like FDIC before you realize that the situation is much, much, much worse in other areas.

I have always loved this quote by Groucho Marx, "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies". Regrettably, these are the horses trying to steer our steamers.

Your thoughts?

www.artstudioseven.com

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Comment by Mike France on May 10, 2010 at 7:45am: Yeah you could , no offense to my Board but they can really be eight balls now and then, when it comes to spending, thanks god 2 local corp. donated a total of $30000.00 to us for gear , seeing we were rejected on our grant.

Comment by Paul Combs on May 10, 2010 at 7:06am: Ha! I like that... You could probably add "Wait, why are you spending!?" at the end of that motto.

Comment by Mike France on May 10, 2010 at 5:46am: I Like it descibes my Board of Fire Commissioner to a t, except their motto " Don't spend , Now Spend''.

Comment by Robbie Cox on May 5, 2010 at 9:02pm: Never heard that saying about politics but I like it. Great job on the Cartoon

Comment by George H. Potter on May 5, 2010 at 4:54pm: Paul,
How lucky you and your department are with your relations with the elected "public servants". Far too often, these tend to get into politics in order to obtain as much as possible for themselves (and relatives, friends, etc.). Show me an honest and honorable politician who tries to serve the best interests of his constituants, and you'll usually find him or her serving only one legislature - he/she will most likely not get reelected. I have seen several cases involving LODD where politicians came out clean while the s*** got sprayed all over the victims, their companions and leaders.

Keep safe.

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