Parsons Brings Out the Worst, and Most Dishonest, in Local Editors

"Most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.”-Michael Rivero

Jim Parsons of Bella Vista is known as a "gadfly", in the best sense of the word in my view.   He has a nose for finding corruption and a knack for asking the right questions.  This makes him very unpopular in some circles.  Among them appears to be the Editorial Board of the Benton County Daily Record.   And that's OK with him.   They don't have to love him, but they at least ought to tell the truth about him.   The editors fell far short of even that low standard when they issued endorsements for the Trustee Position for NWACC, for which Parsons is a candidate.

Among other nasty things, the editors claimed that Parsons "was not qualified for any elected office."   Look, if you don't like the guy, just lay out the facts editors.  They have the bully pulpit.   Why do they have to make outrageously false claims which can only further erode whatever shred of credibility their pages might retain in the minds of the more informed members of our community?  But then again, that might not have been their target audience.  Statements like that one can't be intended to fool critical thinkers, because the statement is an obvious lie.   Such verbage is much more fitted to herding the weak-minded to a desired destination.

Just to document how outrageously false this statement from the editors of the Benton County Daily Record was and is, consider that the legal requirements for the office are only that one be at least 18 years old, a citizen of the district for two years, and not have been found guilty of a felony.   In the most literal sense, it is obvious Parson's meets the technical qualifications of the office, but this hardly scratches the surface.   In fact, his resume showed him to be the most qualified candidate for the office by a country mile.

A former Green Beret and Lt. Colonel, Parsons taught Physiology and Anatomy at Texarkana College (a college much like NWACC) for over 20 years.  Prior to that he was a public school teacher and award-winning football coach.    He was the State Director of the Arkansas Christian Educators Association and a Sunday School Superintendent.   But those are not even among the qualifications that made Parsons the most  qualified candidate by a wide margin!   He was also.....wait for it.....wait for it........

The Division Chair at the Science and Math Departments at NWACC!  But there is more!  Also among his qualifications: He had previously held the office for which he was running!   That's right.  Parsons has already served a term as an NWACC Trustee!  

As of this writing, the vote totals are not in, which is an outrage and a story in itself.    But at last count Parsons was behind by something like a mere 23 votes.   I fear when the votes take this long to count, close races tend to turn out the way that The People Who are Running Things Now want them to turn out.   Those people don't want the meticulously honest Jim Parsons.

Once upon a time, newspapers were supposed to ask the hard questions of The People Who are Running Things Now.   Somewhere along the line, many newspaper editors have lost their way.   They have become the Defenders of The People Who are Running Things Now.    Not only will they not ask such people the hard questions, in other words not only will they not do their job, but quite the reverse.   They use their position to attack and sully the reputations of those who ask hard questions of The People Who are Running Things Now.   They won't do what traditionally has been their job and instead attack those who do the job they won't!  People like your humble blogger, and Jim Parsons.