With the new year begun, it’s customary to make a few resolutions. Typically, the custom applies to resolutions for oneself, but we’ll make an exception here and recommend a few resolutions for others.
Resolved: Those running for office should stop making promises they can’t keep, which means they maybe should stop making promises altogether. Gov. Jay Inslee ran in 2012 on a pledge that he would veto any new taxes, then proposed a slate of new taxes for the 2015-17 budget, including a carbon tax and a capital gains tax. That’s not a pledge that anyone — and George H.W. Bush will back us up on this one — can responsibly make, because no one can predict the economic situation he or she will face once in office. And no voter believes it anyway.
Resolved: Online and mobile news sites should stop it with the advertisements that pop into view just as you’re a few seconds into reading an article. The ads, which often are made difficult to close, are annoying and most likely will be met with readers simply closing the page itself and moving on to a cat video on Facebook.
Resolved: The next time a movie causes an international incident and must be held up as an example of the importance of First Amendment rights, can it be something that doesn’t involve bathroom humor?
Resolved: Celebrities who want to send each other naked photos of themselves should switch to Polaroid cameras and send them through the mail, thereby avoiding the embarrassment of having the photos leaked on the Internet while supporting the film camera industry and the U.S. Postal Service.
Resolved: With the presidential election only 676 days away, presidential hopefuls, Republican and Democrat, should refrain from sitting down for kitchen table discussion with “real Americans,” unless they intend to invite those “regular folks” as their guests to the $5,000-a-plate fundraiser later than evening.
Resolved: Everyone needs to cut everyone else some slack. Don’t get us wrong, we’re all about holding people accountable, particularly those in public office. To be corrected, errors, misjudgments and poor decisions have to be brought out into the sunshine. There are exceptions, and not everyone is cut out for their work, but let’s start from the assumption that most of the time most people are trying to do a good job. Likewise, political differences don’t make your opponents evil. Uninformed, maybe. Mistaken, possibly. But they’re not out to destroy the county, the community or your favorite sports team.
Resolved: And to demonstrate that we’re not above self-improvement, we’ll make a resolution ourselves. Forthwith, we resolve not to use the following cliched words and phrases in editorials: Drop in the bucket, ducks in a row, ilk, iconic, level the playing field, at this point in time, low-hanging fruit, paradigm shift, in the final analysis, bandwidth (unless we’re talking about an actual broadcast signal), drink the Kool-Aid and, yes, forthwith.
Happy new year.
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