Notes From My Knapsack 7-20-17

Notes From My Knapsack 7-20-17

Jeff Gill

 

Results never get old

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Chris Stirewalt said recently on Fox News "Results never get old."

 

He was talking about Chris Christie, but he could have been talking about a great many other politicians.

 

There's a tone and a swagger, even, that's very compelling in an era of over-prepped, overly cautious, broadly promising politicians; the ol' "tell it like it is" even if it isn't can get you a crowd, a following, even win elections.

 

At some point, though, maybe not as soon as some might wish, the act gets old. The shtick gets shtuck. People start to tire.

 

"Results never get old."

 

Jimmy Carter was our president during a contentious time in our nation's history, and struggled to stay on top of rapidly developing events and some of his policy ideas I just plain disagree with even now, but he has earned a huge amount of respect and even a hearing for whatever he wants to argue for because, well, results. He's been bringing people together for decades AFTER his term ended, and built positive outcomes in many places, most of them small and easy to overlook. He had minimal approval when he left office, but he's rightfully a respected elder stateman today. Results age well.

 

George H.W. Bush is another president that had his ups and downs in office, and in post-incumbent memory. He famously did not go to Baghdad, and I honestly have no idea whether that would have been doable or prudent in 1991, but I can say that my friends in the military were grimly aware that our pilots were getting shot at for the next decade (even if never hit) maintaining no-fly zones in Iraq. Would he have saved his son a world of hurt by different choices before? Who knows, but I do know that the senior Bush brought honor to his country with his work out of office, especially when he began to work with the man who defeated him, Bill Clinton. After earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis, he would join hands with his former opponent and go to work. Results that have made a difference.

 

In office, it gets a little harder to offer a solid assessment. Especially on the local level, let alone the national. I would say that John Kasich early in his campaign for and initial year as governor went for a brash and colorful style, but he's made the pivot to substance rather well. Results that have aged well.

 

And truly, I have great sympathy for our school board and village council and county commissioner elected officials: they have significant responsibilities, but very little latitude within the law to work with. For their work, and the public services I am directly involved in like our mental health and recovery agencies, or children services for the county, we all have a high expectation for outcomes, and a tough funding environment within existing revenue streams. Meanwhile, there are plenty of ideas that sound good in isolation, but in legal fact run up against a network of protections and limitations that are not casually overcome.

 

But results age well. We can declaim and vent and posture in the public eye: voters rightly watch to see what our outcomes are. Not what we say, but what we get done. Not our attitudes or angst, but outcomes.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; tell him about the results you want to see in local and state government at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.