Some good people

Some good people have stepped up to turn Payson around. The younger people running for office in Payson have a view of the future anyone can embrace. Payson needs young vibrant people unafraid of the future. The old guard caters to the old ideas, and they fear the future. Progress does not come from standing still and clinging to the past. Why let those with a short future control the young with much more at stake. It is time to vote the old guard out, and bring in fresh ideas with fresh people. 

Why can't the Hooples see Trump is nuts

There is an obvious question many people avoid asking: how can a person display clear signs of instability in public, day after day, and still keep a loyal following? Imagine an anonymous man who rants constantly, cannot accept criticism, invents enemies, boasts endlessly, and shifts from grievance to praise to anger in the span of minutes. If you met such a man in ordinary life, most people would quietly conclude something was wrong.

Yet place that same man on a stage, give him power, wrap him in slogans, and suddenly behavior that would alarm people in private becomes “strength” in public. Cruelty becomes “telling it like it is.” Paranoia becomes “fighting the system.” Confusion becomes “genius.” Rage becomes “authenticity.”

Why do followers fail to see what seems obvious to others? Often because they are not really supporting the man himself. They are supporting what he represents to them. He becomes a vessel for resentment, fear, identity, and tribal belonging. Once that happens, evidence no longer matters. Every outburst is excused. Every contradiction is ignored. Every warning is called an attack.

There is also comfort in the crowd. If millions cheer, people assume millions cannot be wrong. But history shows crowds can be very wrong, especially when emotion replaces judgment.

The saddest part is that supporters may not be blind at all. Some likely see the instability clearly. They simply prefer it because it serves their anger. They mistake destruction for leadership.

A healthy society requires citizens willing to judge leaders by character, temperament, honesty, and fitness. When people excuse obvious dysfunction because the dysfunctional man flatters their grievances, they are not just fooling themselves. They are putting everyone at risk.

Sometimes the real mystery is not the troubled man on the stage. It is why so many people in the audience keep applauding.

Trump's dog in Payson

Jim Ferris wants to pose as a friend of young people, but his record tells a different story. Ferris, a member of the Payson Town Council, is a relic of old reactionary politics—one of the local trio carrying the faded banner of the Tea Party into town hall. When the library needed support, Ferris was there trying to slash funding, tossing around the tired right-wing claim that libraries somehow “promote pornography.” It was the same stale culture-war nonsense used whenever extremists want to attack education, books, and public spaces that help ordinary families.

Then came the opening of the new mountain bike course, built through the hard work of community members who actually care enough to create something positive for Payson’s young people. Volunteers came together, invested time and energy, and turned city land into something healthy, active, and exciting for the next generation. And there, front and center, was Ferris—trying to bask in the glow of a project built by people with the civic spirit he so often opposes.

If that hypocrisy was not enough, Laurie Miller was also there, doing political theater for Eli Crane. Miller handed out a certificate from Crane congratulating those who built the course. Crane, meanwhile, voted against resources that could have brought millions back to help communities in his own district. It is easy to hand out certificates after others do the work. It is harder to fight for real funding, infrastructure, and opportunity.

This is the modern political grift: oppose government when it helps people, then show up for the ribbon cutting when citizens succeed despite you. Attack libraries, starve services, block investment, then smile for the cameras when decent people build something worthwhile.

Payson deserves leaders who support youth year-round, not just on photo-op day. The people who volunteer, build trails, support schools, and defend libraries are the ones moving the town forward. The Tea Party leftovers and MAGA opportunists are simply trying to ride their coattails. Midterm elections cannot come soon enough.

Sitting in front of the people attending a town council meeting, there is Steve Otto praising the town library. Steve's buddy and fellow Tea Party stooge sits two seats away. Jim Ferris tried to cut off funding for the very library Otto is praising because Jim Ferris claimed the library promoted pornography. The same stooges railed against the one percent sales tax, now the stooges relish spending the tax they were going to repeal. Hypocrisy is their stock in trade. It is time to replace the Tea Party Stooges with caring people who want Payson to go forward. 

Why have a shit hole?

 The Hoopleheads love a little trash in the yard, maybe even a junked car. Do the Three Stooges care, Otto, Bell, and Ferris? The simple answer is no. The Stooges know the Hooples go to the Tea Party and vote for the Stooges. As a stooge the last thing you want to do is offend the Hoopleheads. Everything is in place to clean up the town, but it ain't happenin. Some people find comfort in squaller, and the Stooges are here to help. Trump has made a stooge mess of the Whitehouse, with his fake gold everywhere. The little Trumpers in Payson are of the same mindset. 

What would an idiots convention look like?

The curse of Payson has been the Tea Party. Imagine a group of people who get their news from Fox News. Imagine a group of people who gather to hear lies and conspiracy theories. Who would this group of busted flat losers want to represent them. Well here is there choice. 

If the normal people of Payson don't awaken, this is what they will have for representation. Mayor Otto is on the left. He is a liar, plain and simple. Next is Jim Ferris, a man who claimed the library should not be funded because it advocates pornography. The tow goofs on the right are duplicates of the two on the left. God help us if these guys get elected. 
 

You get what you pay for

 

Complaining about taxes has become something of a national pastime, and Payson is no exception. But before we work ourselves into a frenzy, it’s worth looking at the facts: by global standards, Americans are actually lightly taxed.

According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, total tax revenue in the United States amounts to about 26–27% of GDP. Compare that to countries often held up as models of quality of life—France (around 45%), Germany (about 38–40%), and Sweden (over 40%). Even middle-tier European nations routinely collect far more in taxes than we do.

And what do those higher taxes buy? On average, Europeans live longer, enjoy universal health care, face dramatically lower rates of gun violence, and report higher levels of life satisfaction. The United States, despite its wealth, ranks behind many of these countries in life expectancy, infant mortality, and overall happiness.

We like to think we’re getting a bargain—but in many ways, we’re getting what we pay for. Lower taxes may feel good in the short term, but they come with trade-offs: underfunded schools, uneven health care access, and social systems that leave too many people behind.

The truth is simple: societies that invest more in themselves tend to produce better outcomes for their citizens. If we want world-class results, we may have to accept that they come with a price tag.

You get what you pay for.

---