First it was Teddy Burns in the twilight hours of Dr. Pellow's message board. Now it is Dr. Pellow himself, on his latest piece of literature. The same motto appears again: "Vote with your head, not with your heart." I am as puzzled now as I was before. Let's try to make sense of this last minute plea, shall we?
If I were to vote (this is purely hypothetical, as I have already voted) with my heart, I would not vote for Dr. Pellow. His approach and personality scare me, to be honest. My emotions tell me that he is too egocentric to work well with other people and that he is an incessant glory hound. I wish to protect my beloved town from such a person. That's what my heart tells me. I have trouble sleeping. Maybe that's why they want us to ignore our hearts and use our heads instead?
Surely rationality and logic will show that my fears are unfounded. If I vote with my head, as they beseech me to do, repeatedly, I will eventually see the light. Let's try. Using only my brain, here is what comes up. Ignoring his caustic and abrasive personality, Dr. Pellow has shown by his writings and social interactions during the campaign, that he is not a person that would work well with others. Not a team player. As an octagenarian, just getting into the world of municipal politics, his best years are behind him. This has nothing to do with the person. I would feel the same doubt with anyone starting at that age. Do the math! He has certain oratory skills, but he is too quick to debase others and jettison ideas that are not his own. His platform is vague in many areas and where he goes into specifics, he proposes items that are simply unrealistic and not cost-effective. We have been in receivership before. Some of you know what this feels like. A new library and olympic-sized covered swimming pool will surely bring us there again. Logically, I cannot vote for Dr. Pellow. Things just don't add up and my brain tells me he's just not the right man for the job. I'm sure Mr. Spock would agree.
I don't get it. I used my heart and my brain, but I still can't vote for him. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe I need a demonstration. Or maybe I need to suspend belief long enough to make a choice I will regret for the rest of my life. Sorry Dr. Pellow. The people of Chapleau that I know are too bright to fall for this. You have learned much in your esteemed career. Perhaps what you failed to learn is how real people cannot ignore their basest instict. Survival.
Dr. Pellow has many impressive qualities but I can't help but feel that he would be an unmitigated disaster as Mayor - not least because he truly seems to have no idea what a bad impression his campaign has made in town. My big worry at this point is that anti-French bigotry, of which there is lots in Chapleau, will prevent people from voting for Andre.
ReplyDeletePossibly. People really do have to use their heads after all. I've spoken with many non-francophones, and they all seem to like André. As for the bigots, I've heard some wild accusations. From André being a Quebec seperatist (um...we're in Ontario) to him changing all of the township signs to french (absolutely impossible). There's just no reasoning with this lack of clear thinking. I highly doubt that Pellow is responsible for this kind of propaganda. These people are their own worst enemies. I sure hope they are the minority in 2010. If not, our town is in big trouble.
ReplyDeleteMr X
ReplyDeleteI have also heard that if elected Andre will change all signs in town to french. How gullable some peolple are.
I am so fed up of the french-english, english-french thing. We live in a bi-lingual country where both official languages are spoken freely.
Dennis, I couldn't agree with you more. I guess some people either live in the past, or are unaware of the Canada that exists outside the four walls of their closed mind. Let's hope and pray that clear heads will prevail on October 25th.
ReplyDeleteAny possibility that Kimmo would make all the signs bilingual, English/Finnish? lol.
ReplyDeleteMODICUM according to Wiktionary
ReplyDelete1.A small, modest or trifling amount.
In a sentence:
Unable to garner even a modicum of support for his plan, he conceded to head back to London to pursue his career in Egocentrics.
Well, it has been an interesting campaign. Tomorrow, we'll have results. There is no doubt that Chapleau faces challenges, as do all small northern towns. It will be interesting to see how the new council will tackle these challenges. I hope this forum continues so that ideas, concerns and perhaps possible solutions are voiced in a public forum. Good job Mr. X! I hope you will keep this going.
ReplyDelete