Throughout

history monsters have reared their ugly heads in many

different forms, but none have been as repulsive as local

government gone bad. We, the people, though, have created

this monster. And though we blame government, it is

because of our own apathy that this creature exists. Can

Frankenstein be blamed for his own freakishness?

If you have been keeping up

with our local battles lately, one would say we might

have a government gone awry in Peachtree City. Suddenly

our Mayor Bob Lenox is being painted as a Stalin-esque

sort of tyrant leader. I say, he has lived in a vacuum

too long. He has done an amazing job in Peachtree City,

where you will find more people on an average night go

through the doors of Y-Knot Sports Bar than will go

through city council meetings in a year.

Our world these days, local

or otherwise, is like one big Disney World and apathy is

Mickey Mouse. Indifference is Donald Duck. And Goofy?

Well, he is just some stupid dog. But it is obvious we

have some major problems with getting involved with the

inner machinations of the ruling body that governs us.

How is it everyone can be so ambitious about making money

yet so detached when it comes to how we are governed?

If I was a stand-up comic I

would be saying lines like, "Democracy? Let's try

DemocraZY!"

The problem we face today

is, we have created this Frankenstein and we can't get

him out of our kitchen. Sure, we are in the dining room

complaining about him. We go into the living room and

call our mom and complain. But that green jerk is eating

us out of house and home and we don't know what to do.

It's too late to fret over the fact we set the electrodes

to his neck and gave him life. We have to do something

about the son of gun.

Our frustrations today

arise from the fact that nothing gets done. Red tape in

government is about as long as a pro athlete's stretch

limo. They have meetings to discuss meetings, committees

to form subcommittees and generally move at a pace that

would make Andy Griffith grow impatient.

The recent squabbles we

have been having are nothing new in government, but I do

see a renewed interest for the common man to be heard. We

can almost thank Jesse Ventura for that one. He has been

one lone incident of people taking back government and

giving it to a commoner rather than a professional

politician.

There is a saying my coach

used to apply to team fights, "When you're winning,

it's called team spirit; when you're losing, it's called

dissension." Let's all get with the program and see

our recent battles as team spirit. Let's not be too quick

to divide our ranks and take to arms. We have a good

thing going here in Peachtree City and a lot of good

people taking us there, even if they are currently at

odds.

I would just hate to see

our local government become just some political cartoon

like that of the city of Atlanta. We need to see our

current situation like they say when the stock market

semi-crashes - as a "correction." And

whether personal or governmental, all of us need a little

correcting now and then.

[Visit Billy Murphy on

the Internet at https://billymurphy.homepage.com .]