Random subjects for a random column return

It’s been a good long time since I’ve had a chance to pick up the pen and share my thoughts with the good people of Polk County. Now more than ever seemed like a good time to get back to work on writing columns, what with a local and national election looming and all.

However, if you expected me to take a stance one way or another for either candidate in the major parties (and minor too,) I’m going to disappoint you. I have no stance on Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

I simply want all this nonsense to be over with, so that way we can move onto more important work in our national and state capitals.

I will add that I don’t believe either candidate will have any political will to accomplish any new legislation or programs when it comes time to work with Congress. If either Clinton or Trump are elected in November, the American people will get to watch another four years of arguing over small issues being blown to big proportions on 24hour cable news. Nothing changes, right? Here’s what’s likely to be the outcome of the 2016 campaign: Clinton or Trump gets elected, either party continues to block any progress put forth by the future president, and the American people suffer the consequences of this lack of action.

Doing something reasonable, like trying to work out a plan for getting our nation out of debt or tackling long term problems like climate change will continue to be left for future generations to handle.

Real action in Washington would require politicians from both sides of the aisle to get along for enough time to vote together on a bill, which if current conditions continue seems about as likely as the burning lake of fire suddenly freezing over in Satan’s domain.

In a perfect world, American voters would wake up from this year’s campaign nightmare and decide last minute to forsake both of the major parties candidates and select someone from the quiet fringes.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who is the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, has a political track record that isn’t yielding controversy, and hasn’t said anything that would send one head scratching in confusion.

This is as likely to happen as a pipe dream, but its worth putting out there into the universe.

After all, who would have thought this election season would have seen the Republican party turn the way it did, or voters in the United Kingdom voting on a referendum to leave the European Union.

(In fairness, the British always kept close to the door since they remained on their original curreny called a pound versus switching to the Euro.)

I don’t believe that doom and gloom will come about if either Clinton or Trump are elected. The world still keeps spinning one way or another.

Maybe four more years of political turmoil in Washington is just what the nation needs to break free from domination by a twoparty system. After all, change only comes once people reach the breaking point with their government based on United States’ own history.

It will be painful, but the United States will survive no matter what happens in this election cycle.

How our nation will look on the other side when the 2020 presidential election comes up is a different story for a different time.

*** I’m going to start this story out by saying it’s all my fault. No one else is to blame but the man I look back in the mirror at every day (well, not every day. I don’t like mirrors.)

Poor Tinfins, who was once the Standard Journal’s unofficial mascot, was found dead earlier this year at home in Rome one morning before heading to work.

I had set out a glass to place Tinfins in the night before, expecting before bed to spend a few minutes transferring him out of his dirty bowl and giving it a quick cleaning and refill before laying down for the night.

However, I got distracted by something at the time (I can’t remember what) and the glass of water was left by Tinfins bowl, close but not.

Apparently it was close enough for Tinfins to try and make a desperate escape, because come morning he was found inside of a sock drawer left partially open, lying dead from where he must have tried to jump from dirty bowl to clean glass.

Tinfins did receive a proper burial in the porcelain sea, with the briefest of apologies said as funeral rites for our dearly departed aquatic friend.

We’ll seek to replace Tinfins with a new goldfish this week at the Polk County Fair, so long as Lady Luck is on my side.

Christmas is coming, and in that spirit I’m deep in thought once again about what to do for the holiday season’s commentary pages.

At first I thought about simply running ‘A Christmas Carol’ and the wonderful drawings created by our own Todd Britt last year.

However I feel like that would be like a re-run of a bad sitcom, so instead I’m going in a different direction.

This year we’d like to work on getting our pages filled early if possible during the holiday season, so we’re asking local residents interested in participating to send a write-up about Christmas.

Using “What was the best present I ever got for Christmas,” we’d like local residents to submit 300 words or less on the topic and send them to 213 Main St., Cedartown, Ga., 30125 or e-mail them to kmyrick@ npco.com.

Fans of jolly ol’ Saint Nick of all ages can participate, but we ask that youngsters get help from their parents in submitting their stories.

Submissions are due by Friday, Nov. 4 for consideration in the Standard Journal’s holiday themes first week.

We’ll be announcing other themes coming up before the end of the month, so be on the lookout in the pages of the Standard Journal for more.

Note: These will not be published in the same way as our annual Letters to Santa, which will be due on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. We’ll have details about how to submit those letters this year, which will no longer take its previous form.