"Our boy Martin is in a real pickle. This reminds me of old Lyndon Johnson's quote about how the quagmire of the Viet Nam war tore apart the nation and destroyed his presidency. Johnson said the Viet Nam war made him feel " like a hitchhiker in a Texas hailstorm. I can't run, I can't hide and I can't make it go away".
Why was that? Because LBJ did not want to cave in. He had one side pushing him to escalate the war and the other side pushing him to end it. Seeking to appeal to both sides, both sides ended up hating him.
The pig-headed Martin also refuses to back off of his no-longer-secret radical plan to disband the Villa Hills PD and "outsource" (LESS SAFE) protection to another department. While he's most likely too stupid to realize it, he's managed to get himself stuck in a vise.
A large, visible and vocal portion of Villa Hills is adamantly opposed to Martin's radical plan. This large group is energized and most likely won't forget Martin's treachery come November 4, 2014 (at least we hope so). Martin's shamockery of a public hearing designed to make him look somehow reasonable completely backfired. His opposition is more energized-and better funded-than ever before.
On Martin's other flank are a group of radicals and opportunists hell-bent on him seeing his plan to destroy the VHPD all the way through. No matter the cost.
The opportunists? The massively-unpopular bilious blowhard Kenton Kounty Judge Executive Steve Arlinghaus is clearly one. He wants to curry favor with Villa Hills residents by riding in on his white Kounty Kruiser to save the day. And maybe save his faltering political career.
The radicals? New council member Brian R. Wischer is clearly one of those. At the public hearing he claimed he got elected to run Villa Hills "like a business". Oh really? Is that a fact?
First of all, government is not "a business". Government is obligated to provide services that private businesses usually won't. And why is that? Mostly because they generally aren't profitable services. The "run government like a business" pap is just red meat for Tea Party goons and other government-haters. It's also mostly fantasy.
But for the sake of discussion, let's do something really crazy and say Wischer is on to something. Would a private business REDUCE ITS SECURITY while simultaneously expanding its costly clerical, maintenance and legal staff to unprecedented levels? Only if it was hoping to go out of business quickly.
If this was a serious attempt to reduce costs, why not look at Mary Koenig's public works department instead? Virtually all of the street repair work is already contracted out. Contract with a snow removal company, only paying them when you need them. Contract with someone to maintain the ballfields, only when the fields need maintaining. No, this police "outsourcing" effort is not an attempt to "run government like a business". It's a vendetta, pure, plain and simple.
Hey, we're all for putting Martin out of business. 11-4-14 can't get here soon enough.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: One quipster says there's even more to this Viet Nam war connection with Martin. He wagged, "Martin's 'Viet Nam war movie' would be similar to a Francis Ford Coppola Viet Nam war-era classic. It would be titled A PACK OF LIES NOW". Well played, quipster. Well played.]
"The horror. The horror."
