It Is Well Past The Time To Stop Taking Shaun McClusky Seriously

By Tom Prezelski, cross-posted from Rum Romanism and Rebellion.

Contrary to what the Arizona Daily Star says, Shaun McClusky is not an “ex-mayoral hopeful.” Back in 2011, the failed former Ward 5 City Council candidate made some noise about running for Mayor on the Republican ticket, but failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot. In other words, he was never actually a candidate.

This points to the central problem with McClusky and the Tea-party vibe that he represents. Just as Sara Palin argued that a gig as a talking head on cable teevee was somehow more noble and useful than being a Governor, McClusky’s inflated reputation as a community leader has more to do with his willingness to say outrageous things rather than anything he has actually accomplished. To folks like McClusky, having strong opinions and a big mouth are considered more important than having a real constituency, so it goes to follow that grand gestures and stunts are far more important than the grunt work of governing.

The latest stunt, which has gotten some national attention, is his plan proposal ill conceived notion of handing out shotguns to folks in “high crime” neighborhoods, by which he means Midvale Park and Pueblo Gardens. Of course, he never consulted the neighborhoods in question. He knows better than they do about what they want and need. After all, they only deal with these problems every day, while McClusky has an ideology.

The one redeeming thing about the Star’s coverage of this story is that they include comments from Joseph Miller, the president of the Midvale Park Neighborhood Association. Naturally, Miller is offended by McClusky’s proposal (as is the leadership in Pueblo Gardens). I have worked with Miller in the past and know him to be a sincere and dedicated man who has devoted a lot of sweat to the improvement of his neighborhood. In other words, he is everything that a shallow blowhard like McClusky is not.

It is unfortunate that the Star chooses to be so cynical and clueless about this town that folks like Miller who do good work in this community cannot get front page ink except in the context of a meaningless stunt from a preening exhibitionist like McClusky.

Comments

[Pamela]

Is it well past time to be taking the Arizona Daily Star seriously also? If you read the Arizona blogs, you realize how many hundreds of stories are not told by the Star and other main stream media outlets-- yet they give media whores like McClusky and Antenori plenty of ink.