I live in the woods right now, but technically part of a metropolitan area in Fl. People on the wealthy side have no idea this part exists with bears and panthers (a panther ate my goat 12 years ago – never get a buck, I learned – they’re useless and stink)
This is the birthplace of the anti-mask movement in FL which morphed into Moms of Liberty or Liberty moms or something like that, not sure. They have the governor’s ear, or did for a while.
But growing up I was in a tiny 1 sq ml town in suburban NJ. There were 5 commissioners for that 1 square mile town. 5.
So one year, my goodie-two-shoes pastor I had as a kid, a jolly overweight married with kids pastor in his 60s, truly believed in the inherent goodness of all people.
He decides to run for one of the commissioner spots and won.
He did his year while still serving as pastor but never talked about it while in it.
And when his term was done, he never ran again.
He only talked about his experiences very little but he was a changed man, broken.
He’d say things like, “There’s a darkness in man that I never imagined was possible” and some things about the dangers of power and what it can do to some men who were not of character.
I was maybe 11-13 years old and it struck me to see his demeanor change when he talked about it, the lilt in his voice gone in general. His soul scarred by participating in politics.
And I remember thinking that if it’s that bad in this tiny little town, how much worse it is at the county, state and federal levels.