my unsolicited opinion.

meerily down the tubes…

On my drive to work this morning, I was stopped at a red light behind a truck bearing a bumper sticker that read, “Restore Your Local Canals”.  Now, honestly, of all the causes in all the world I have personally walked into, gotten involved in, wished to get involved in, thrown money at, or at least listened to others pontificate on—this particular “Restore Your Local Canals” one has never before blipped onto my radar.

We went multiple times to local canals as children on field trips.  I always liked it.  But—big shock—I’m kinda into to old fashioned, out of use, nobody-else-cares-about-it sorts of things.  I think canals are neat.  I don’t think they are practical any longer.  What goods and services can be best supplied ferried on a barge down a canal, propelled but a few mules?  Canals are very limiting.  How is anybody in Kansas or Oklahoma supposed to get anything?  Nevermind how California is supposed to get shipments of Yuengling from Pennsylvania in a timely manner.  (I’m just assuming everywhere has as high of a demand for the lager as we—that is a joke.)

I don’t know why, but my head tells me canals might disrupt natural ecosystems.  Wouldn’t restoring a defunct transportation system that inhibits flora and fauna create a bigger problem?  Unless, wildlife has adapted after all these years?  In that case, restore but don’t build anymore?  Oh, I don’t know.

Part of me feels like I am going to spend way too much time at some point in the internet researching this cause and group.  I may report back at some future time with a remarkably well informed opinion.

For now, here’s my opinion: The Panama Canal seems like a good one to keep up to code.

Later at work, while starting up all the various computer programs I will need for the day and chomping on my pomegranate-cherry-coconut breakfast bar, I heard a commercial on the radio that again got the thought of strange causes spinning in my head.  If you follow my twitter (which, duh, you should), you aren’t a stranger to the strange things I hear on the radio station we play at my workplace.

Sometimes this is due to whomever is dj-ing around the programming.  Usually, it’s the commercials.  I remember the “make a radio spot” portion of mock ad campaigns I did in college always being the most challenging.  Sure.  How do you grab attention?  How do you be innovative in a medium dead-er than newspapers?  (Yes, that’s all debatable.)

Anyway…this morning I heard a spot begging us, the loyal viewers…err…listeners?, to save our local TV.  I don’t know why, but for some reason I initially thought this meant PBS.  And yes, PBS should be saved.  But, alas, no this was targeted at the saving of Public Access.  Well.  Umm.  OK.  Sure, the idea of Public Access is a good one.  I think diversified programming brought to us by folks in our locale is a wonderful free-speech-bred kinda institution.  However, this radio no-jingle rattled on about how our Congressmen are trying to take Public Access away.

Are they?  Honestly, I have no idea.  I heard a radio propoganda piece not too long ago screaming at me that Congress is about to pass a bill limiting the number of children I may birth.  So…yes…while in all precincts of this world this cannot be called ridiculous…let’s just say I’m less worried about “family planning” in this sense than in others.  Basically, I’m not quick to take up arms and defend my inherent civil liberties based on what’s mic-popping out the speakers.

But…honestly, while I hope nobody is trying to shut down Public Access—reform, possibly—a potential fight over it feels unbelievably ridiculous at this juncture in the Great American Experiment.

I can’t help but feel there are bigger fish to zap out of existence first.  You know: the debt, the debt ceiling, the job market, that whole we’re-gonna-need-to-elect-a-President thing.  Shaving cream pies aside, and even if it’s happening across the pond, before we go slashing and yanking away media, let’s just see how this Rupert Murdoch thing shakes out first.

And, hey, Public Access fiends and zealots—now is when you’re going to rock the boat?  It’s like chipping the paint off the stair rails on the Titanic in between iceberg hit and capsize—this is not what we need to be playing attention to right now, but it’s also very annoying.

Let’s just call a truce (if there is any legitimate battle at all).  Keep things as they are for the time being.  Let people have their Public Access, and the rest of us can go back to largely ignoring it.  We will have time (umm, I hope), to figure everything out later.

Besides, if Public Access doesn’t provide career opportunites and rent money, at least it keeps folks busy.  Oh and gives them a voice—you know, that pesky thing.  Also, I know exactly what my dad would say here, “Hey, hey!  Remember, Zippy, the first thing the Nazis did was take away people’s radios.”

In summation: Wayne’s World, party on.