Life Never Gets Boaring for Loudoun's
Plus-Sized Public Advocate!
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| Tax Pig is not Gentile enough for the Loudoun Times Mirror. Oy Vey! |
A member of the Times-Mirror editorial staff has suggested that the trailer mounted Tax Pig (Tax, as his friends know him) should just go away and never return. What a sad thought that is. Sure, Tax is dimensionally challenged and has to be left outside meetings, but he can’t help that. He has a purpose and he is real.
Perhaps whoever is suggesting Tax retire early does not appreciate what Tax has put in motion in his short career rooting out waste in Loudoun government, or worse, they understand his success and, for the wrong reasons wish to curtail his future endeavors.
Yes, Tax is a mobile 3D billboard with a plus size derriere, but isn’t it more important to focus on his accomplishments rather than his appearance?
You see, when Tax came on the scene in Loudoun, little was known about Metro and it may well have stayed that way. But it did not. Tax with his cobalt blue cape, friendly eyes, and bold message became a visible part of a grassroots effort to bring the important questions surrounding Metro and its costs out into the sunlight.
For years Metro had been hyped as the cure to all the region’s transportation and economic needs. However, in the 20 some years that Tax’s arch rival, Scott York and company, has shepherded this project through its various channels, never was any movement made to put the cost onto the shoulders of the profiteers in the rail station areas. Tax pig played a role in shifting that imbalance 180 degrees to where now the promise is that those outside the special tax districts will not be shackled with the costs of Metro. Billions saved. Not bad for a first gig, aye?
It is a bit suspicious when the biggest messaging board in the county asks the competition to scram. Hopefully what Tax lacks in image and dignity, he more than makes up for with determination.
Unless the public, not the Times-Mirror, tells Tax to get lost, he will stay around. Tax will keep standing up for the little guy who is busy working to provide for his family. He’ll be on pork watch 24/7. Count on it.
Next time you see Tax on the road, hoink your horn to let him know he is loved, please.
PS: Bad guys be warned, kryptonite has no effect on Tax Pig.
David LaRock
Hamilton
LTM Editorial: Retire the pig
The Dulles Rail debate resulted in a lot of hard feelings and harsh rhetoric. Like the debate over the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance and Broadlands Regional Medical Center, the volume of the debate got so high that sometimes the details of the issues got lost.
Because who can concentrate on issues when there’s a giant pig with slogans painted on the side and a bumper sticker for their opposition positioned on the pig’s posterior?
Perhaps we’re overly optimistic, but it would be nice to see our future debates take a more respectful tone, reflecting the gentile manner of Virginia’s heritage. Another heated debate is coming – Loudoun has more every year. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the interested parties attacking the argument instead of trying to demonize its supporters?
There are many things that need to happen to get there. But perhaps the first should be an agreement to retire Loudoun’s Tax Pig. Everyone has seen the SUV-sized pig traveling around town or left outside public meetings. It’s immature and it’s childish and its appearance is less of a commentary on the issue at hand than the maturity level of whoever happens to be transporting the great beast around at that particular time.
This is particularly true given the fact that the Tax Pig has served as primary art for articles questioning Loudoun’s sanity in regards to politics. It’s just like your parents told you as a child: not all attention is good attention.
For us, any argument that requires this sort of gimmick has lost points before the discussion has even begun. Fight for lower taxes, but do it with a reasonable argument rather than gimmicks.
We won’t lie. The pig makes for a good story and a good picture, but it’s time to get to the meat of the argument. Send the Tax Pig to a pleasant retirement – maybe he can go live on a farm.
Or perhaps the Loudoun Museum could use a good exhibit.
Because who can concentrate on issues when there’s a giant pig with slogans painted on the side and a bumper sticker for their opposition positioned on the pig’s posterior?
Perhaps we’re overly optimistic, but it would be nice to see our future debates take a more respectful tone, reflecting the gentile manner of Virginia’s heritage. Another heated debate is coming – Loudoun has more every year. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the interested parties attacking the argument instead of trying to demonize its supporters?
There are many things that need to happen to get there. But perhaps the first should be an agreement to retire Loudoun’s Tax Pig. Everyone has seen the SUV-sized pig traveling around town or left outside public meetings. It’s immature and it’s childish and its appearance is less of a commentary on the issue at hand than the maturity level of whoever happens to be transporting the great beast around at that particular time.
This is particularly true given the fact that the Tax Pig has served as primary art for articles questioning Loudoun’s sanity in regards to politics. It’s just like your parents told you as a child: not all attention is good attention.
For us, any argument that requires this sort of gimmick has lost points before the discussion has even begun. Fight for lower taxes, but do it with a reasonable argument rather than gimmicks.
We won’t lie. The pig makes for a good story and a good picture, but it’s time to get to the meat of the argument. Send the Tax Pig to a pleasant retirement – maybe he can go live on a farm.
Or perhaps the Loudoun Museum could use a good exhibit.
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