In a Hole and Still Digging
September 22, 2024
Picture yourself, if you will, as the embattled mayor of a midsized city. Halfway through your first term, things aren’t going nearly as well as you had expected. You’ve presided over the largest tax increase in the city’s history, unemployment is rampant and homelessness is on the rise. Encampments are part of the city’s landscape now. And as you flounder, city staff and unaccountable bureaucrats walk all over you. The tail is now wagging the dog.
As Rome burns before your eyes, you have no idea what to do. You’re like a deer in headlights. You’ll never admit it to anyone, least of all your growing legion of critics, but you know you’re in way over your head. It’s written all over your face. Much as you try, you can’t hide it. The scowl on your face at public events suggests that if a magic genie appeared out of a lamp and granted you a wish, you’d ask him to turn back the clock and never have run for mayor.
When you signed up for this job, you thought this was all going to be a bed of roses. After serving on council, you thought this was the next logical step in your political career. Being the mayor sounded really cool. With that in mind, your predecessor groomed you for the job. The two of you even schemed to get you into a higher profile and higher paying position before the election, completely blowing off the spirit of conflict of interest guidelines.
So what do you do?
No, you don’t resign. Instead, if you’re like Mat Siscoe, you hold a diversity, equity and inclusion town hall meeting.
Why didn’t I think of that?
Don’t reach out to the masses. Don’t ask for input from taxpayers, the most equity-deserving and underrepresented group in the city. You pander to far-left radicals. Virtue signal. You show everyone how inclusive you are. You stand up and lecture others about bigotry while standing shoulder to shoulder with those who wanted to take away our right to work, travel, feed our families and receive medical care because we disagreed with the illegal decrees of an authoritarian government.
You try to flimflam voters into thinking you care and that you’re actually somewhat competent instead of making an effort to learn from your mistakes.
Which only serves to highlight just how over your head you really are.
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