Political withdrawl symptoms

I just was pondering my experiances getting into the local political scene. Before I bore you all to death here you are. Some fun pictures.



Last year while I was running for school board I had the great priviladge to learn quickly a bunch of valuable lessons. Every now and then I make a good decision or say something helpful that reminds me of how much I gained from getting involved. Most importantly I learned how easy it is to get involved.

Before running for office I had looked at local politics as being out of reach. I even thought the chartiable boards I often was at the mercy of (through my work for not for profits) were completely exempt for a person like myself. It was very disempowering to see my city and world this way. The incentive to build community was not there. A few short years ago I felt very annoyed at only being able to vote and see action. Then that to seemed to erode when the highest courts in the country got to choose my president. This was the breeding ground for cynisism. Having had the experiance of running for an office, I have to say I feel much less cynical about our local government.
Lately the newspapers have been making it their business to really sensationalize the local school board scandles and it really has me in a bind. On one hand I feel like the newspapers should print whatever the heck they want but on the other hand I know they do not in other cases. The Portland Press Herald is famous for the story untold. They love to really make a mockery of their responsibility as an alleged newspaper here in Maine. The ladies and I have many a laugh at their expense. They report on Miklejohn as if they knew the whole story and leave out vast parts of it. They just print the most sensational bits. It makes the newspaper look foolish and biased to me and may residents but not everyone watches access where B. Miklejohn can be seen live fighting for better schools in Portland. It is really quite a silly business the way it all plays out.