Is Wicomico Councilman Bill McCain Just Acting Like He’s Shanie Shields?
I have to confess that I don’t know Wicomico County Councilman Bill McCain. I had assumed that he was a man of average to above average intelligence. However, recent comments by McCain can only lead to two conclusions:
- McCain is approximately as intelligent as Salisbury’s resident brain trust - Councilwoman Shanie “I ain’t never seen no wasteful gov’ment spending” Shields
OR
- McCain is putting on some kind of “stupid” act so that he can claim that he was “misquoted” or that he “didn’t mean what he said”.
As previously stated, I don’t know McCain, so we can only surmise that both are a possibility.
In this morning’s Daily Times, McCain is quoted:
Councilman William McCain, who voted in favor of the department, said it would be unfair to Baker to start his pension years at zero.
“The primary reason, without question, to creating the Department of Law is that it’s cheaper for the county,” he said. “No. 2, Mr. Baker is, by any measure, the obvious choice.”
As we outlined in a previous post, starting Baker’s pension “at zero” was never an option. There is no question that, under the Pollitt plan, Baker has the right to buy in to the county’s plan and receive a pension that will be paid for, not by contributions and investment earnings, but by the necessity of a direct taxpayer subsidy.
In addition, the Department of Law is not being created. It already existed. The Pollitt plan simply brings counsel and staff in-house. We would give McCain a mulligan for not knowing this EXCEPT Baker explained this very point to the County Council on Tuesday. Perhaps McCain suffers from a short term memory disorder?
As for Baker being the obvious choice of the job, there were other options available to the the council rather than saddle the taxpayer with an unknown, but unquestionably large, liability. I understand McCain, and his four cohorts who voted for this, wanting to forget those options. Nevertheless, those options were (and are) real.
Is it fair to compare McCain’s intelligence to that of Shields? Probably not. I’ve never heard McCain make claims as outrageous as Shields. Close, but not quite.
McCain may have complete disdain for the taxpayers who elected him, but he has never made statements like “Crime is not a problem in Salisbury” or that the recent run of murders within the city somehow don’t count because the victims were not randomly chosen (although one victim was a “mistake”). Of course, given McCain’s views on government and taxes, I wouldn’t be shocked to hear him mutter something equivalent to Shields’ now infamous statement:
“I ain’t never seen no wasteful gov’ment spending.”
McCain could be perfectly susceptible to making such a statement with regards to the Wicomico Board of Education. He seems to believe that every dollar spent there is justified.
Perhaps this is just an act put on by McCain so that he can defend decidedly left-wing policies and duck for cover at a later date. I’ve got news for you Bill. Just as ideas have consequences, WORDS HAVE MEANING. You cannot make patently false statements and then turn around later and say “I was misunderstood”.
I today’s world where your own words can be put up on the internet for the entire world to HEAR, as well as read, within minutes you need to choose your words more carefully.
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Comments
I apologize for not making myself clear. The comparison is actually quite simple.
Shields is quite possibly the least intelligent elected official that I have ever met. She may even be among the least intelligent individuals I have ever had the displeasure of knowing.
McCain may be trying to make that list thanks to recent comments that not only show animosity to the people who elected him, but his complete inability to make a decent argument for a discredited point of view.
I’m not sure what your point is here. Why the comparison?