Soap Box: 102 columns ago

by Larry Schuster

October 3,2008

As I was reorganizing paper piles on my desk, I stumbled upon a folder containing some of my early columns. This is column number 102. I began this monthly exercise in fall 2000. Among the four columns written that year was the December column titled: Hope. Fall was full of campaigning. Bill Clinton’s era was drawing to a close. Incumbent Sen. Ken Jacobs and Commissioner Karen Miller faced serious challengers in Randy Asbury and Biff Barner respectively. The City of Columbia was asking for a half-cent sales tax increase for parks.

Fast forward eight years, and WOW!  The presidential campaign is one history will sear into our memories. Barak Obama has made history with his candidacy, as has John McCain with his choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. County and municipal finances are sound yet growth is stagnant. Missouri has recovered from the miserable fiscal management of the Carnahan/Holden governorships and now stands as a testimony of prudent fiscal management. Hot local state house races include the 24th District House seat and the 19th Senatorial District seat. Representative Ed Robb, a retired professor of economics and current vice chair of the house budget committee is being challenged by former county clerk, former state representative, former administrative law judge, former associate judge, Chris “Loophole” Kelley, while Senator Chuck “Refuse to Blow but not Lose Your License” Graham is being challenged by attorney Kurt Schaeffer, an environmental law specialist, former general counsel of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and assistant attorney general.

The presidential 24th district house seat and the 19th district senate seat are all highly charged with emotion and intensity of which each will only escalate. Obama, Graham and Kelley all claim to be the agents of hope for their respective constituencies. While Obama eloquently spends hours speaking of the need for change; he says nothing and has chosen one of the most bellicose, entrenched Washington elites available in Joe Biden.

Chris Kelley is obviously bored with retirement. With four public retirement packages under his belt why would he even consider disrupting the favor Columbia/Boone County enjoys within the capitol by trying to oust Ed Robb as he serves as the vice chair of the budget committee?  Kelley claims he is a “uniter not a divider.”  Yet early in his campaign he visited the capitol and declared to Republican leadership that “the devil” (himself) had arrived for introductions. He is one half of the Kelley/Jacobs tandem that so enraged the entire rest of the state that local legislators still spend time salving the angst of out state and urban Missourians. As a principled economist, Ed Robb is a steady hand that does not look for new taxes to strap Missourians with but prioritizes and chooses wisely with the resources available.

Finally, Chuck Graham simply needs to retire from public life. Although he is pleasant about town and engaging, his tenure as Senate Minority Leader has only rekindled the animosity fellow Missourians feel toward Columbia and Boone County. His obstructionist role in the MOHELA debate and the way he handled his automobile accident in 2007 further negate his ability to vigorously advocate for his district. Kurt Schaefer will be a common sense advocate for fair minded, progressive Columbians who push the envelope to build a better community and a better world.

In all of this we find juxtaposed hope clothed in the mantle of change versus fear borne out of uncertain futures. The truth, however, is that our leadership is a reflection of ourselves. We can pray for the leadership we are anointed with but we should not place our hope, our futures in them. Our futures rest in our own hands; in the depth of our intellect and study; in the fruit of our toil and labor; and in the faith that tomorrow brings a new day. Solomon stated many years ago “there is nothing new under the sun.” We may learn more and more about the processes of life but they have always been here. A man may chant the mantra of change and extend the hand of bipartisanship but his actions will reveal the nature of his heart. Let us observe closely in the coming weeks and cast our vote with informed reason devoid of the emotional narcotics that deny our human nature.

Larry Schuster is a former city councilman and political observer

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