Yes, Virginia, there *are* people who think...

I've had a couple of very revealing, and very satisfying, days.

I undertook to walk the streets of Newport for the past several days in quest of nomination signatures.

( Might as well walk: I can't drive since all the streets are either torn up or blocked with tourists jaywalking or running red lights.... :-(
 
{What idiot came up with the idea to tear up the main approach to downtown Newport in JULY??? The main income month for the entirety of downtown merchants???

Gummint, that's who, but I digress.)

So I've been visiting every merchant I could engage in the Thames St / Spring St / Broadway complex (as far south as Mill St.)

Yes Virginia, there is also a difference between a taxpayer and "citizen". My focus is on the taxpayer.

In every instance I come in and introduce myself, and ask for the manager. Usually the manager appears, but often another rather assertive person other than the manager appears.

All cool. I just need to talk to someone who won't blow me off.

These people do not blow me off.

They look me over, we have a little body language and eye contact confirmation interval, and then they ask me to explain myself.

Cool.
 
"My name is Andy Lavarre. I am running for City Councilor at large. I need signatures from registered Newport voters to be able to participate in the November elections. Are you, or any of your staff, registered Newport voters? If so, would you please sign my nomination papers?"

Now the eye-narrowing: "Tell me what you stand for."

"Well, I'm not running against any one. I'm running for process.

"I'm running for people to define the process of government, publish it, have all the citizens understand it and have a voice in it.

"For example...."

And I launch into my printed list of ideas, starting with defining a mission statement for the Council and posting a top ten list of prioritized TO DOs that defines the city's priorities.

Very quickly in each and every case, they interrupt me and say, "I'm busy, where do I sign?"

They sign it, but then launch into a diatribe on all the problems that exist and how they have been abused and ripped off. 

By their own elected government.

And they all point out exactly the same things.

Each interaction seems to run about fifteen minutes. 

Precious minutes, because they have displayed trust in me to display such unconstrained emotion of their hatred of government. I dare not betray that trust.

But many others have so done.

Shame on them.

I'll provide more details in due course, but out of some 86 signatures obtained at eyeball length so far, there are a huge number of very angry people out there. I have had only three refusals out of that lot and one was a journalist who did not want to compromise their firm's impartiality.

I'm cool with that: Principles: we shall not compromise on principles.

These are facts, and I can prove them. City government and politicians in general need to listen up:

Statistically, for the numerically inclined, that is ninety-eight percent of the sample set that are seriously, emotionally, angry with government. They have been seriously betrayed and are on the cusp of not taking it any more.

And the law of large numbers (sample sets over twenty) suggests that this is indicative of the population at large.

Maybe we should pay attention. And listen.