Reflections of Apthy on Sunday

Apathy: ap·a·thy Noun.
1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.
2. lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting. (source: dictionary.com)

The above word would describe the attitudes of voters in Lauderdale County when it comes to the recent behavior of Lauderdale County District 5 supervisor Ray Boswell.

If one surfs to the Letters To the Editor section of the Meridian Star's website (which you can by clicking here), you may notice that people are pretty fired up about parades supposidly not going well (lady, I am sorry that your kids did not get any candy from the floats but please do not waste the Star's ink by crying about it; by the way the floats are not even supposed to throw out candy according to the parade rules) or the high price of popcorn at Bonita Lakes Cinema 9 (I only wish I were kidding about that--another waste of ink by stating the obvious). There are also those who are fired up about people saying "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas", the possibility of parking fines in Meridian going up $10, renaming the Senior Citizens' Center and the return of lost pets. However, when it comes to issues that really matter one word mentioned in the opening of this entry can sum up the attitudes of Meridian/Lauderdale County voters.

Apathy.

Voters do not seem to care that the actions of one of their leaders have given them yet another black eye. They do not care that this man who was more worried about shutting down a bar than hurricane relief and who acted like a fool to a Philadelphia (MS) police officer represents them and their community. They do not care that this racist is a leader in their govornment.

But the price of popcorn sure can spur a healthy debate.

Apathy.

The fact that one letter to the editor was written about Boswell's behavior (and by someone who does not even live in Lauderdale county or even Mississippi) tells me that Lauderdale County voters are content to allow this foolishness in their county. In fact, click here to read how some reacted to Boswell's actions. "Ray is just being Ray." So, what you are saying is that since he's just naturally a hotheaded biggot and alcoholic then it's ok and we should just accept it.

I' am sorry but that is not good enough and I refuse to accept "Ray is just being Ray" as an acceptable excuse; there is no excuse for an elected official to behave in such a manner.

Apathy.

As I stated in my last posting, the only way to change the way things are is to change those who are making the decisions. I implore voters who are tired of excuses, biggotry in our city halls and other chambers of govornment and "good ole boy" politics to vote accordingly in the next election. To do otherwise shows that you have no desire to see things change for the better.

Ultimately, you decide the direction of how a city, county, state or country by your vote. If you do not vote than you have no right to complain. If you vote for these people and you are tired of their consistant record of idiocy then why do you keep voting for them? Remember, it is your decision and you can help things move in a different direction.

Forward sounds like a good direction to me.

--Jonathan