The NEXT Ten Words

For fans of "The West Wing", Josiah Bartlet accidentally buzzed on medications is still a better president than most of his 42 real life brethren. We can talk later on about comparisons between Josiah Bartlet and William Hellmann CPA.

Here's President Bartlet about to wipe the proverbial floor with his opponent, Florida Governor Robert Ritchie (played by Mr Barbra Streisand himself, James Brolin) in the final presidential debate.

Video or Script

MODERATOR
Governor Ritchie, many economists have stated that the tax cut, which is centerpiece of your economic agenda, could actually harm the economy. Is now really the time to cut taxes?

RITCHIE
You bet it is. We need to cut taxes for one reason-- the American people know how to spend their money better than the federal government does. [Ed Note: Didn't some president of the Morrisville Board of Education say pretty much the same thing?]

MODERATOR
Mr. President, your rebuttal.

BARTLET
There it is. That's the ten-word answer my staff's been looking for for two weeks. There it is. Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns. They're the tip of the sword. Here's my question: What are the next ten words of your answer? Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Give me the next ten words. How are we going to do it? Give me ten after that, I'll drop out of the race right now. Every once in a while... every once in a while, there's a day with an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but those days almost always include body counts. Other than that, there aren't very many un-nuanced moments in leading a country that's way too big for ten words. I'm the President of the United States, not the President of the people who agree with me.

So school board Stop the Schoolers: Give us the next ten words that come after these items and tell us how we're going to do it:

Stop the School [and then...? how?]
Lower the taxes [and then...? how?]
Refurbish a fifty year old building [and then...? how?]
Cut all the sports [and then...? how?]
Sell Grandview, Reiter, and the A-Field [and then...? how?]
Send the high school students to another district [and then...? how?]

Stop being the school board members that represent the people who agree with you. Become the school board members for Morrisville.

Dear William Hellmann CPA, Angry Al, Ducky, Captain Algebra, and the rest of the No-Sports League: This is a breaking newsbrief to get through your heads. You...ALL of you...work for me. You work for the QRSE people too. You work for the kindergarteners, the high school seniors, AND the senior citizens. You are public servants, and have donned the mantle of a servant of the people, not the imperial purple.

So far I am not impressed. Yes, you will defease the 30 million dollar bond issue; yes, you might even bring the budget down (although there were a lot of weasel words from William Hellmann CPA about the actual millage decrease, citing teacher pension contributions, and debt service); yes, you might even bully Beth Yonson and Reba Dunford out of office (after last night if either of them ever trust any one of you NSNs again, it would be foolish!) and arrange for less-talented sycophants to take their positions (but hardly replace them!): you will also probably succeed in re-engineering the Six Million Dollar Marshmallow Stuffed High School Shell, but once the dust settles, WHAT'S NEXT??

All of the NSNs have all consistently ducked this part of the question. So, my fellow Morrisvillians, I ask you now...step up to the microphone during the public sessions, ask your hard questions, and then before you walk away, make sure to say, "What are the next ten words of your answer? Give me the next ten words. Tell us how you are going to do it." Prediction: Silence or weasel words will prevail, because revealing the plan isn't their style.