ACTIONS VS WORDS

ACTIONS VS WORDS
ALTON WHITLOCK
I remember on one of my visits to the UK when I was still living in the States I passed through a small town. I don’t remember its name, but I do remember that I had a couple of free days and I noticed there was a local election running. As I was still in the relative youth of my career, and as I wanted more knowledge about the politics around the world I thought I would stay a while and observe the tactics of the two candidates.

The first day I attended an event put on my the first candidate, Duncan Ratsworth. He was a bumbling man, to whom words did not come easy, but who had acquired a reputation for kicking down proverbial doors and throwing a grenade into the proverbial room. He was the kind of guy whose few words promised big actions, and who – generally – would meet those promises, in the short term. The issue with his methods were exactly that. They were short term plans, not equipped for a full term in office, and certainly not flexible or adaptable enough to cope with any emergencies that may arise.

On the second day, there was another event put on by the second candidate, Ian Sopp. I stopped to listen to his speech and found it to be more agreeable on the ear. He certainly knew his way with words, and was erudite and sesquipedalian, as he might call himself. And though he was much better with words than his opponent, he left a lot to be desired. It seemed like all of his promises were empty ones. He had built himself a reputation of promising the world but bearing little fruit with his actions.

And so it came to be that I stayed one more day for the election proper. I was so intrigued now, as to who would take the victory, opposite as they were. When I arrived at the local counting station the next day, where the candidates and volunteers amassed with great hope for their futures, there was a buzz around the building. I watched as sack after sack of votes arrived, were sorted into crates and then watched as those crates were taken back out of the room. Eventually the compere for the evening, the Mayor of the area, called attention from a podium at the front of the room.

He thanked everyone for attending and moved on to the numbers. To Duncan Ratsworth, the bombastic man of mostly nonsensical words, there had been 3,202 votes. To Ian Sopp, the learned man of little true substance and grit, 3,249 votes. Ian smiled, but before he could raises his hands in victory the Mayor spoke again. To Anton Whiplot, the independent candidate, 4,693 votes.

And forward stepped the happy median. A man who offered words of encouragement to those who sought to learn more about the future, and a man who delivered actions on the promises he made. A man who melded the best of both candidates into one slick package.

In the end, there is only one way forward. Imperium prevails. Vote Whitlock.