By By Ed Williams
Have y'all noticed lately that there's a lot of stuff going on about recalls?
Out in California, there's a serious effort in progress to recall their governor. Even locally, over here in Milledgeville, there's been an effort to recall a City Counsel person.
Honestly, I don't get too much into stories like these, cause politicians will say and do anything, and more often than not for the stupidest of reasons.
Nonetheless, recalling any official is a big story, and it sets the stage for what I want to talk about this week.
Obviously I want to talk about recalls, but not in the typical sense. I mean, think about it.
I love the concept behind them, constituents get tired of how a politician is performing their job, so they get up a petition with enough valid signatures and hold another election. It's a great concept, one that has all the logic in the world behind it.
And, what I'm thinking is, is if recalling works in politics, then there are probably other areas of our lives that it could work in as well. At least we ought to think about it. Consider these possibilities:
1. Bosses – I'm pretty fortunate that my boss these days is a nice guy, but that hasn't always been the case. I've worked for a couple of real winners along the way.
One guy frosted his hair and dressed like an Ivy League preppie, and another was someone who would've had a hard time winning an IQ contest pitted against an Idaho potato.
He apparently got his job because the head guy wanted someone who'd do what he asked and not make waves, and this guy was the perfect choice.
I honestly think that if the head guy had asked him to climb up on the roof of the building and dance that he would've headed into town to purchase a tu-tu.
Given that all of us have worked for winners like these, what say we set up a law that says employees can recall their bosses?
Maybe a vote could be taken, and if the majority votes for removal, it happens. For even more fun, the rule could say that if 75 percent or greater vote the boss out that his employees can designate his next job for him/her. Wouldn't it be great to walk into Dairy Queen one day and have your old boss whip up a tasty banana split for you?
2. Relatives – Wouldn't it be super to have certain relatives recalled? Let's face it, some of the most amazing losers we know are family members, hopefully the more distant ones.
There's always either a drug addict, or someone who can't keep a job, or someone who grubs for money, or worse, out there in our families somewhere. It's as sure as Reverend Ike passing the collection plate.
Wouldn't it be great if there was a law where you could take a family vote and boot the offending relative out? It could even be set up to where they have to change their last name to make it legal and all.
I'll bet that if something like this was set up that states could generate all sorts of revenue off the recall fees that could be put into place for administration of this program. And, more revenue for the government is a good thing for all of us taxpayers, maybe with more money they'd not raise our property taxes or tax our stuff when we die.
3. Poor sports franchises – Wouldn't it be great if cities could call for recall votes on poor pro sports franchises?
Think about it -- the citizens of Cincinnati could tell the NFL, "look, the Bengals really stink, in fact, we think they stink so badly that we've cast our ballots and have decided to recall them. Now, y'all can do anything you want to do with them, but our advice would be to assign them to Paris, France. That way, they'll be playing in front of a population who will empathize with them each time they shy away from making an important block or tackle."
And there you have it – three good ways the recall procedure could be integrated into our society. It would be a great thing, and there are all kinds of other possible applications, but I sure hope it never gets extended to newspaper columnists.
After all, no matter what you write some people get mad at you, but I really don't think anyone would ever recall me, becau