| Virginia Decommissions the “Arts”
By Michael R.
Shannon
The
Lord God Almighty grants eternal life in the hereafter, but on earth it’s politicians
who control immortality. So when the Virginia House of Delegates passes a budget that
executes the Commission for the Arts, it’s big news.
Politicians
prefer to be more even–handed as in: you lay off ten percent of your state troopers
and then we can lay off ten percent of our mimes. Across–the–board cuts avoid
evaluating the worth and function of bureaucracies and instead delegate important
government decisions to Procrustes; and shifts the blame to him, too.
That’s
why total elimination sets a dangerous precedent. If delegates boot the ballet, there’s
no telling what’s next!
Government
feeders fear the zero like nothing else. Better to cut the budget 95 percent. Then, like
the German Army after WWI, it could survive with a skeleton staff, until the return of tax–and–spend
Democrats puts new taxpayer–funded flesh on those patiently waiting bones.
Zero
means get a haircut and get a real job.
Predictably,
every tutu and beret within a 50–mile radius of Richmond protested the closure of the
public arts trough.
Arguments
ranged from jobs to junior. Employees of “Kid Pan Alley” claimed to “inspire
creative thinking” by enabling 14,000 children to write songs performed in concerts
before over 200,000 people.
Inflated
numbers aside, that’s a chilling thought. I see generations of grim parents enduring
the agony of listening to other people’s brats saw through some abomination until
their little Mozart is able to seize the stage.
If
parents want their little Gershwin to make it in music, do what we did. My son took piano
lessons paid for without begging for a subsidy from Richmond. Admittedly it didn’t
last very long, because after a year or so the teacher fired him — which came as a
shock since he was only nine.
(The
teacher claimed she was retiring, but I think that was to spare our feelings. She still
sees students, just not Karl.)
A
teacher at The School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community, told reporters if
the commission is eliminated, "I and about 50 percent of my friends will be out of a
job."
A valid
point since commission money is not really funding the next
Michelangelo, it's more like the next Mr. Peepers — an anonymous paper–shuffler
who gets to hang around "artists" and "poets" so he's part of the
"creative community."
This $4.4 million in tax dollars spent to subsidize
the affectations of Virginia’s upper crust isn't a crop, and this is the year the
boll weevils hit, so there's less cotton.
It's my money and your money that the government
takes and spends as it pleases.
The House has recognized in a recession the vast
majority of taxpayers are not pleased their money is being spent to subsidize
"art" and "artists" they have no interest in seeing.
After the budget vote, Democrat House Minority Leader
Ward Armstrong pontificated he would “rather resign my seat than vote for this
budget.”
Don’t let the door hit you in the behind. And
while you’re at it, take Sen. Ralph Northam (D–Norfolk) with you.
Northam is the legislative giant that introduced a
bill establishing a council to provide guidelines regarding concussions and requires any
student-athlete who suffers a concussion be pulled from play and not allowed to return
until a doctor clears him.
Can’t you just see the awed and grateful
constituents back home? “Thank you, Sen. Northam! Last season when Bubba wasn't
comatose, he didn't know what day it was, but thanks to your bold leadership he won't have
to play football with a concussion again.”
Isn’t this what parents are for?
But guess what, Northam just happens to be a “pediatric
neurologist” and since his legislation requires “clearance from a licensed
health–care professional” I guarantee a visit to the CVS Minute Clinic won’t
qualify.
This bill will do nothing to reduce concussions and
not much to increase Northam’s income.
A simple rule change that outlaws the massive cage on
football helmets would do the trick. There is less grillwork on a ’58 Buick. I played
16 seasons of Rugby without a helmet and never suffered a concussion.
Why? A thick German skull for one; and the knowledge
that without bars over my nose, using my head as a weapon would get it broken. Going back
to a simple T–bar face guard would remove the sense of facial invulnerability that
encourages head–first tackles.
Politics is broken. Not because laws don’t get
passed, but because too many publicity–seeking, trivial, nanny–state laws do get
passed.
My advice to Richmond and Washington is govern better
by meddling less.
Michael R. Shannon is a public relations and
advertising consultant with corporate, government and political experience around the
globe. He is a dynamic and entertaining keynote speaker. He can be reached at michael-shannon@comcast.net.
--
Michael R. Shannon
MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations
703-583-6277
571-969-1995 Google Voice
http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrshannon
http://americaspeakon.org/blog/contributor/23
|
