Patchogue Too Small for Divisive Politics

For some reason, John Giannotts' slogan makes me uneasy. "It's time to elect one of us" he has proclaimed often and loudly during his campaign against Rob Calarco to be our county Legislator. "It's time to elect one of us" He has exhorted his supporters. It makes me cringe. Who is he talking about?

The usual tea party spiel is that we citizens are not represented well and only an outsider can bring those good old family values of thrift and hardwork to the deliberations of government. This argument appeals to people who do not believe that expertise is required to do the job.

It is always used when an amateur thinks his ideology, if magically applied to all problems big and small, some of which he may not even know anything about, will transform them into lessons of how common sense triumphs over misguided bureaucracy.

That may be true in the movies but it seldom is in real life. In real life government is a job just like your job. It took a lot of time and perseverance for you to learn how to do it well. There are responsibilities that government is trusted with that have to be fulfilled. In the trying times ahead, experience is what will triumph over adversity.

If the Republican candidate is trying to insult Rob Calarco by admonishing him for not being "one of us" I think he is making a dangerous admission. He is proclaiming that he only intends to represent and advocate for his constituency. How do we even know who his constituency is? Who does he leave in? Who does he leave out? 

My part of Patchogue is a working class town but not every neighborhood in the district is. That's one of the reasons it's a great place to live. Rob Calarco knows every issue facing our entire community inside and out. He is inclusive rather than exclusive. He is not trying to divide and conquer. He is trying to hold it all together during an economic tempest.

Our country has suffered enough with this "us against them" mentality. It's a sentiment that never leads to anything good and should be suppressed whenever it rears its' ugly head