Special

 Coming to a city very near me in April: A Special Election!

Actually it is the city in which I live, Oakland, California. We are going to elect a new mayor because in our last election we voted to recall her. When I say "we" I suppose I am referencing all those who didn't vote as I did. I mean the ones who figured we had five million dollars sitting around in the city's coffers to pay for that special election. With Oakland facing a nearly one hundred million dollar deficit in this year's budget. 

The central reason that Sheng Thao, the woman who held the position until this past November when so much of the election outcomes were less than pleasing to people like me, was shown the door after being indicted on federal bribery charges. 

Not convicted.

Indicted. 

I understand that suggesting that the incredibly low bar set by the current Felon In Chief of the United States be observed in all political matters, it did set me to wondering who among the candidates for any public office would be able to cast a stone because they were so without sin. I also noted that it was a Democrat who was recently sentenced to eleven years in prison for his part in a corruption scheme that found him guilty on sixteen counts. Senator Bob Menendez was found guilty in a court of law and will now face the consequences of his actions. This should put an end to the suggestion that "everything's legal in New Jersey." Ex-Senator Bob resigned and was replaced by the Garden State's Governor Chief of Staff, George Helmy. Helmy was in turn replaced a couple months later when an Democrat Andy Kim was elected in November. 

Meanwhile, really stupid and corrupt individuals on the Republican side continue to be re-elected and offered cabinet positions by showing their fealty to the former game show host who seems to have it in his head that doing away with elections in general would make things easier. For him. 

It might be too soon, but I would like to look into some sort of special election that we could offer up to those of us who have recently or not-so-recently become dissatisfied by the "quality" of leadership being offered to our country. Estimates put the cost of such an endeavor at about twenty dollars per voter. As long as we're doing something, let's make it really special.