“The Fine Print”, by Michael Schrader

OPPORTUNISM IS OKAY, WHINING IS NOT

(Written 10 June 1998. Published in the Neighborhood Journal. Posted 30 June 2009.)

I am going to take the opportunity this week to give you my opinion about the governor's opportunism. Why? Well, quite frankly, because I can. As a columnist, I am provided with a weekly opportunity to disseminate my opinion through town and country. I guess you could say that I am being quite opportunistic, as I am using my position to my advantage. Some argue that to be truly moral and ethical, I should not take advantage of my position in this manner.

Let's face it, though. I try to milk every single possible advantage out of my column that I possibly can. (That really hasn't been very much, but, hey, at least I've tried.) After all, I have a forum that is not readily available to most, and I use it to the best of my ability. Call me opportunistic, if you will. You can say that I am using "fame" to my advantage. And of course, you would be right. Wouldn't any other sane person do the exact same thing? Of course they would.

This column itself is a direct result of my benefiting from the name recognition of running for political office. I've always wanted to write, but they generally don't give columns to any ordinary Average Joe. Average Joe's do not sell papers. Run for countywide office, however, and you are no longer an Average Joe. I know that if I had not run for County Commissioner back in Missouri four years ago, I would have never been invited to write a column. I was told as much.

Of course, my columnar opportunism did not end in Missouri. After moving to Arkansas, I wanted to continue my column, but, unfortunately, there are not many Arkansas papers who are willing to take a chance on a columnist from a newspaper in a small town in southeastern Missouri. I would have never started writing again if I had not used my connections with a respected journalist who was a good friend of the editors, and who, I believe, was influential in getting my column picked up in Issue Number Two. To many, my using connections could be seen as crass exploitation of a friendship for personal gain.

Because I have personally used my name recognition to my advantage, I cannot really fault the governor for using his to his advantage. If the governor, because he is governor, is given opportunities that he would not have been given were he not governor, such as a $25000 book deal, so be it. He would be stupid to pass up the opportunity. He may have always wanted to be a writer, but never have been given the opportunity. Why should the governor be criticized for making an outside income and not the legislators? You'd be hard pressed to tell me that for those legislators in business being a legislator did not help their business. No, I'm not talking about anything illegal. I'm talking about name recognition, which in the long run equates to dollars. I'd bet that if anyone else were in the governor's position, they would probably have done the same thing. Whether or not he took advantage of his position in the sum of $25000 will not change my vote.

Now, before you all say that I am some sort of Huckabee crony, let me say that he will not get my vote, because, quite frankly, I do not like whiners, which is what Huckabee has been since he became governor. I expect whiny behavior out of children, not a grown man. Every time someone criticizes the governor, he cries about how everyone is picking on him. I didn't care for the "Woe is me!" defense the first time I heard it, and I really don't care for it now. Our governor needs to grow up a bit before he is deserving of my vote.

When the governor was questioned about the $25000 book deal flap, he should have looked his opponent straight in the eye and asked, "Would you not have done the exact same thing given the opportunity?" I'd wager that if he had responded forcefully, the issue would have died a quick death. Instead, we received a whine, which induced a counter-whine, which has beget a counter-counter-whine. And the whining goes on.

I hear adults complain about the whininess of today's youth. Where do you think they learn this from, anyway? We only need to look in the mirror to answer that question.

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