AltTulsa generally avoids commentary on local politics. The Tulsa World, other local papers and various bloggers cover this territory and we are happy to let others huff and puff on Tulsa's sometimes disfunctional political scene.
That said, let us now violate our own rule and comment on the political musings of District 4 candidate Rocky Frisco.
Frisco is a local musical legend and he speaks his mind. Maybe this is a good thing—or maybe not.
Speaking at a candidate forum last month, Frisco went for the Big Issues. The biggest problem facing Tulsa, he said, is the "nature of government itself." He explained that the Bill of Rights says, in so many words, "Leave me alone and none of your damn business."
Whoa Nelly! How's that again?
More to the point, Rocky, how does that philosophy translate into good local government? Let's say, for example, that Rocky's neighbor wants to park 28 junk cars in his front yard, is that "none of your damn business"?
Or say Rocky's neighbor wants to keep all his household trash in a huge pile—just upwind of Rocky's front porch. Is this huge pile of stinking garbage "none of your damn business"?
"Leave me alone and none of your damn business" may play well with Tulsa's "crank" crowd, those voters who still have visions of the wide-open prairie, where a man's land is his land, dammit—end of story.
Like or not, that time has come and gone. Frisco may pine for the good ole days, but the rest of us live in a real city with real problems, a place where we need to get talk to each other and cooperate to get things done.
Frisco's colorful, homespun philosophy (if you can call it that) is all hot air. District 4 voters ought to look elsewhere.
4 comments:
"Tulsa's 'crank' crowd"...
A lot of good people left Tulsa during the oil bust in the Eighties. Since then, a full crop of Limbaugh-suckled cranks has blossomed. Though to be fair, the rest of the state is worse.
I enjoyed your brief article. I have a website at http://www.rocky4tulsa.com where I expand on the soundbite you chose to reference. Please understand that I don't want to serve on the Tulsa City Council. I have offered my services as a volunteer and I have made it plain that I think the micromanagement and meddling that too often characterize the Tulsa City government are deleterious to the lives and choices of the citizens. Blake Ewing and Liz Hunt are both excellent candidates and Maria Barnes is a really nice lady. I think District Four will end up in good hands, no matter how the race goes. I will serve if elected, But I would rather continue to party in my old age instead of doing politics. "Hot air" was a rather gratuitous and unnecessary derrogation, don't you think? A lot of thought goes into my comments.
Thanks for your comments, Mr. Frisco. We appreciate your explanation as well as your willingness to serve the citizens of Tulsa. We also agree that excessive meddling and/or micromanaging of private matters by officials high or low can be worrisome when it's not downright sinister. But we also believe that citizenship requires a certain amount of civility and cooperation, especially in urban areas where individual rights can (and do) collide in any number of ways.
Hello Rocky. This is Patty. I just discovered that you were running for a seat on the Tulsa City Council thirty minutes ago. I am praying for you and I really hope you win.
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