On Parasites and Politicians: W.Va. Post-Primary Porch

On The Front Porch podcast, it’s our post-primary breakdown. Who won, who got beat…and who lost, because in West Virginia politics, you actually have to spell that out.

Also we discuss, am I a parasite? The attitude that holds West Virginia back.

Rick Wilson’s Bible verse this week is King Solomon splitting the baby – which political race do YOU think he’s talking about? Listen to find out.

And Laurie Lin explains why she is a proud cicada lover – and why cicadas come back in prime number years, like 13 or 17.

We discuss:

1. The Richard Ojeda incident, where Ojeda upset a powerful state senator after being severely beaten by a member of a rival political faction at a picnic.

Rick tells stories about the history of political shenanigans in the coalfields.

2. Am I a parasite? And, who gets to call themselves a true West Virginian? Scott responds to a critic on Twitter.

By the way, make sure to read Jedediah Purdy’s essay, “What West Virginians Are Saying at the Polls.”

3. Supreme Court election. Was it nonpartisan? What role did money play?

4. Was Cory Simpson “Akined”? Sen. Claire McCaskell famously attacked Todd Akin in the GOP primary, helping him win the primary…and her to win the general.

Rep. Alex Mooney may have done the same thing, sending out flyers attacking former state Del. Mark Hunt as “too liberal” – even though his views on flat tax and pro-coal made him the least liberal candidate.

Meanwhile, national Democrats are disappointed Hunt beat veteran Cory Simpson, who they believe had a better chance to win in November.

4.) Did Goodwin and Kessler divide the anti-Justice vote?

5.) Cicadas! What is this a metaphor for? Where were you 17 years ago?

Also, here is the poem about cicadas Rick and Laurie read in the podcast:

The Cricket to the Cicada

(From a poem by Meleager, Greece, circa 100 B.C.)

O resonant cicada, drunk on dewy droplets.

You sing your rustic song that sounds in lonely places.

Perched with your saw-like limbs, high up among the leaves

You shrill forth the lyre’s tune with your sun-darkened body.

But, dear friend, sound forth something new for the woodland nymphs,

A divertissement, chirping a tune for

Pan as the song which you sing in your turn,

So that I, escaping from Eros, can catch some noon-time sleep

While reclining there under the shady plane tree.

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An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available above.

Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail Scott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org

The Front Porch is underwritten by The Charleston Gazette Mail, providing both sides of the story on its two editorial pages. Check it out: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/