Mark’s Musings – August 15, 2012
Mark Fortune
It was not only a beautiful weekend on the weather side, but as usual, there were plenty of things going on. The annual Canal Festival parade, crowning of new royalty and the Mayor’s Promenade, which drew 37 contestants this year – were all great things to see. It is always a pleasure to listen to the past year’s royalty and learn about the various festivals and events they attended during their reign. It is quite enjoyable to hear these young women talk about their shared experiences, how they represented Coshocton County and perhaps most important, how they became good, even lifelong friends during their travels. For anyone considering whether or not to participate in the contest, I am confident that the young ladies (and the senior Queen) will tell you that it is a life lesson and a year that they will always remember.
On the other end of the county, Bakersville celebrated their homecoming with the traditional chicken barbecue (which is on Friday evening – NOT Saturday as I discovered to my disappointment) but the food on Saturday evening was delicious, the tractor pull was loud and some youngsters enjoyed the watermelon eating contest despite the rain. Perhaps the water will just wash the watermelon stains away so moms can actually get those clothes clean.
As predicted, the United States took home the most medals from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games; 104 overall with 46 gold medals, China was second with 87 total medals, 38 of those gold. Russia was third with 82 medals, and 24 gold. And the Brits had an outstandingly positive Olympics. The U. S. of A. had a bevy of gold medals in the last few days as many of the team oriented events went to Americans. I believe there is a lesson in that – Americans tend to do well in both singular and in team focused events, whereas other countries tend to do well in one or the other – not always both. As Americans we seem to rise to the top as individuals and also do exceedingly well in team sports. Except for this political thing, that holds true.
Unfortunately, I believe that this year’s Presidential election will have both sides digging up the dirt and piling it high to make their case. As in past columns I have written – I will make the point once again that I think each candidate receives a specific amount of money to spend on their campaign that is linked to the level of office they are seeking. For example, the President would receive 25 million bucks to spend however they see fit, a Senator 10 million, a Representative 5 million and so on and so forth. You get the idea. No additional funds can be received or spent from any groups, organizations, political parties, unions, non-unions, lobbyists, corporations seeking favor, etc., etc. You get the idea. The whole thing would be a lot neater, tidier and gosh, maybe even be untainted.
One thing is almost certain; this year’s election will be very interesting. No predictions from me yet. What do you think? Any thoughts on Mitt Romney’s running mate? Share them if you wish . . . email me: mark@coshoctoncountybeacon.com.
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Category: Mark's Musings
