Thanks, very much, Whitewater, for your entries in this Pop Quiz of the Week. It’s a first-time feature, and I’m happily surprised — very much so — at the number of entries I’ve received. I’ll offer the question, then the results, along with a few remarks on some of the more unusual guesses.
What possible electoral contest in Whitewater in 2009 would most resemble the local, political equivalent of the Iran-Iraq War?
First, a quick check with a prominent man, someone who aspired to be a statesman. Only one man — really only one — could provide the proper perspective on the Iran-Iraq War: Dr. Henry Kissinger.
When asked about the war between two, less than ideal nations, Kissinger remarked, that it was “a shame that both countries couldn’t lose” that war.
True enough.
So, what’s the local, political equivalent of that foreign conflict?
It would be a political contest for an at-large City Council seat between politician-dentist Dr. Roy Nosek and politician and Whitewater Register contributor Marilyn Kienbaum.
Whitewater just wouldn’t have its own unique students-within-a-tiny-cramped-corridor line and my-nostalgic-salt-of-the-earth-any-other-ideas-be-damned feel without such community treasures.
The first reader in with the target answer was Thomas Paine, right on the question, and right on a fine pseudonym, too.
Later in the week, but certainly coming in as an honorable mention, was the Phantom Stranger, with an entry that included a fine science fiction reference.
Thanks to others answering along this same line, but at other times during the week.
Now, for remarks on a few other kinds of guesses.
School Board/School District Politics. Interesting, I wasn’t thinking about the Whitewater Unified School District at all. Several people wrote in with rivalries, or potential rivalries, among administrators or board members within that group. I was not thinking of anything other than a conventional electoral contest, but I appreciate these entries. Note to Reader X: Wow. They don’t even talk when the pass each other in the hall? That’s pretty darn weird, actually.
Municipal Administration. Many wrote in with possible political conflicts between elected politicians and someone appointed to municipal office. These were all good guesses, although, in the end, this is an Administration that cannot take a decisive stand where it matters, and is thin-skinned. Hardly the stuff of a serious or protracted struggle over anything.
John Adams A few wrote in asking if I had an interest in running for office. The answer there is no, quite a few times over. Thanks for thinking of me, though. There’s more than one role for those in town, and I have this one, quite happily.
All the guesses were great fun, and I will likely bring back this Quiz of the Week feature, when interesting questions suggest themselves.