Mike should have known better

Ran into an old friend a few weeks back at Cattle Dog. Someone who knows Citrus County politics and follows the blog.

I told her I was thinking of a way to bring some of the national conversation to the blog. I didn’t get out the entire sentence before she interrupted.

“No! Don’t do that! Your blog is the place I go to escape all that nonsense.”

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This was advice from someone who knew her business. Of course, I ignored it.

In what will go down as the Just Wright Citrus blunder of all time, I decided to ease that topic into the blog with a simple Facebook photo from the “No Kings” rally last Saturday in Inverness. To say a few things went wrong would be the understatement of the year.

To recap: I posted a photo from the rally, said “thousands” of people participated (we’ll get to that in a minute), tossed in a line that the pro-Trump people were nowhere to be found, and then went on with my day.

For about 10 minutes.

Within a half hour, I was topping 300 comments. Nearly all of them were awful, ugly, the exact opposite of what I’d consider normal JWC banter. Several people called out my use of the word “thousands” and wondered why I’m pushing the “No Kings” agenda.

By the time we hit 700 comments, I decided to take it down. Gut call, nothing else. Of course, I posted THAT decision, and its response was a little more measured, but still quite critical that I brought it up in the first place.

Let’s discuss.

— First up, mae culpa. I know what I meant, but it wasn’t what I wrote. I meant a couple of thousands, as in about 2,000. It looked like 2,000 to me. I wrote “thousands.” Big difference in the minds of anyone that morning, but me. I was wrong.

I do tend to estimate high, and that comes from a Fourth of July Tea Party rally at the Old Courthouse many years ago. I forget what I wrote, but organizers were incensed that I low-balled the attendance. 

After this last incident, I’m going to be a lot more careful about estimating crowd sizes. Though, this was one of the bigger protest turnouts I’ve seen in Inverness. Just sayin’.

— Another error was thinking of the protest as a community event, like a home and outdoor show, when it was part of a much larger national debate. Simply, it's not Just Wright Citrus territory. We discuss issues of local significance that can be solved locally. 

Too bad it took a near trainwreck to figure that out. My Cattle Dog friend was spot on. Should have listened to her.

— This is what I love about Just Wright Citrus readers: You question my ethics when things don’t add up. They didn’t add up with this photo, and several readers openly wondered where my head was at.

Not making excuses, but reality…I’m on my own here, and gray is going to occasionally creep in. I should have left this one in the can, but I didn’t and that’s that. Lesson learned.

If you have a question, ask me. If you want to talk about it, let’s meet for a Cattle Dog chat. Maybe you’ll like the conversation, maybe you won’t. At least you’ll hear it from me.

I’m not going to get it right every time. But I’m still leaning on my five words for 2026: Unafraid, courage, tenacity, kindness, and community. That’s the conversation I want to foster here.

— I removed the “One for All” page off the Just Wright Citrus website. I doubt anyone will miss it. I want to thank the many community people who worked their tails off behind the scenes trying to create a sales tax referendum that citizens would embrace or at least discuss. To not even reach that point is deflating for those folks. I feel for ‘em. Their hearts were in the right place.

— Now. About the photo. I took Bunny on a long drive one day last month and, on the way back, was delighted to see this road sign. Don’t Google it, but want to guess where it is?

(“Just Wright Mikesville.” Hmmm.)

— Corporate is giving me a four-day Easter weekend. The blog returns Tuesday.

Have a beautiful Thursday, friends.

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