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And YOU thought “Buckwild” was buck awful.

As folks write on modern-day social networking, “OMG!”

Different people.will have various opinions about what is good, bad, awful and outrageous. In American society, particularly in politics, there is room for at least two legitimate points of view on any subject.

Thus, it is possible that I am over-reacting when I refer to some photographs of elected officials that appeared on social media last week.

Although I’ve written it before, let me reiterate here: I am a registered Republican but this column is neither Democrat nor Republican. It is non-partisan and simply expresses my views with tidbits of news and gossip on a weekly basis. In addition, my personal views do not always coincide with any political party.

For example, I am definitely not a believer that the United States constitution guarantees that every man, woman and child can own a machine gun to blow up the neighborhood. On the other hand, I do not think the government has the right to take every gun from every hunter in America. Somewhere, there should surely be some middle ground in this debate.

Be that as it may, I was appalled last week when Facebook and other social networking showed West Virginia legislators standing in the halls of the capitol with machine guns in their hands. One local legislator even had the nerve to write, “this is how we roll in West Virginia” as he aimed his bazooka.

It just so happens that the National Guard and others were set up in the halls last Friday with displays about their organizations. The huge guns were lying on tables, obviously to demonstrate some of the current weaponry used by our military. All of that makes some sense, I suppose, although I still don’t know why little girls and little boys need to be exposed to such equipment.

But consider this: the nearby legislator who posed with a war weapon and said “this is how we roll …” was only recently charged with domestic violence in his home county. That nothing did — or will — come of the charge is immaterial in my opinion. What message is this man, who for all intents and purposes appears to be a loving father and family man, sending his offspring and others?

We “roll” in West Virginia with a weapon of war on our hip? Let’s go down to the local dive and shoot the place up? As noted, “OMG” what’s the message here?

Sadly, I likely understand it better than I make it appear. I have decided not to name the legislators — and there are more than the one — here for only one reason: I don’t want to get MORE votes for them. Crazed voters in their respective districts would likely shout, “way to go” and be more devoted to their re-elections than ever under the circumstances.

But a bit more should be expected from “leaders” than the general public. I would ask what the delegate with the domestic violence charge was thinking when he posed with the gun but I doubt that he WAS thinking.

So, the television show “Buckwild” is awful, making all West Virginians look like drunken, red-neck hillbillies, huh? Tell me somehow, dear readers, how it does that any more than these legislators?

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As I said, normal people can disagree with each other on any issue. My wisest woman I know, who is also my closest friend, is a gun-toting advocate of the first degree, for example. She is absolutely convinced someone (I have no idea who) at the federal government level wants to comfiscate every gun so that at some point the feds can make us all government-fearing robots. She’s entitled to believe that, although I often shake my head at her declarations.

When I told her about the legislators’ photos, though, even she thought it was offensive. “If they did it just for fun, I guess it should be taken in that context,” she told me. “But I wouldn’t have done it.”

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While I am not naming the offending legislators here, if a reader is interested enough to call or email me and ask, I will tell you if one of those is your legislator. Remember the number to call with tips, questions and comments is 304-533-5185.

In fact, many of our readers have been calling me and I deeply appreciate the information and support you’ve given.

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The education bill proposed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin continued to be the subject of great debate last week at the capitol. Lawmakers were being bombarded with emails, letters, calls and personal contacts from thousands of constituents opposed to the bill. In fact, one prominent legislator had received more than 200 emails last week and none supported the governor’s plan.

But it is widely conceded that some form of the bill will pass the legislature since the governor has made it the cornerstone of his four-year term that just began in January.

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Speaking of Governor Tomblin, there are those “in the know” at the capitol who continue to insist that the governor and his staff have discovered a “loophole” in the law that would permit him to run for a third consecutive term in 2016. Most observers believe the constitutional limitation of two straight terms would prohibit a Tomblin run in 2016 although one of his two terms was a short one-year elective position.

Most of those close to Tomblin simply sigh when asked of the possibility, insisting that nobody at the governor’s side has ever discussed it.

The possibility reminds most of an attempt by former Republican Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr. to run for a third straight term which was rebuffed by the state supreme court. One might recall that “the supremes,” as Moore called them, were all Democrats at the time. The constitution can be read differently depending upon your political party persuasion.

My guess is that Tomblin will be happy to “retire” to his Chapmanville home when this term is concluded.

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Be that as it may, there is also a constant rumor that former Governor and now United States Senator Joe Manchin will run for governor in 2016. The Democrat was often the most popular governor in the nation during his eight years in Charleston and he is still widely popular throughout the Mountain State.

Those who expect Manchin to run cite his love of the governorship and the fact that he is “all powerful” as governor as opposed to being one of 100 senators. Anyone who understands politics, though, thinks it would be silly for Manchin — secure in his legacy and standing in Washington — to consider such a move.

But, as noted earlier, politicians sometimes do silly things. Ask the ones with the guns.

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One lobbyist looked at a social network picture of a Republican delegate aiming his bazooka in the capitol rotunda and said, “Good Lord, he’s aiming at Senator Byrd!”

There IS a statue of the late, revered Democrat Senator Robert C. Byrd in the rotunda but it was honestly difficult to tell where the legislator was aiming his machine gun.

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How hot is the education reform issue at the capitol, you ask? So hot that the governor’s press guru, Amy Shuler Goodwin, had to rewrite his “column” about it three times in three hours last week.

It is rare to receive a column from Tomblin and then receive a “corrected version; please disregard previous copy” once, let alone two times. But that’s what happened with the education column.

There were actually few major differences in the final version, although it appeared Tomblin might have wanted it to appear he was more in charge on the subject than the state board of education.

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Tongues wagged last week when the amount paid to various lawmakers were released. Of particular note was the fact that House Speaker Rick Thompson made $20,000 more than Senate President Jeff Kessler. Many wondered aloud whether Thompson had “charged for everything he could possibly charge for.”

According to the government info, Kessler received$45,200 while Thompson netted $62,600 in 2012. Not bad for “parttime, citizen legislators” who have only serving the public as their goal. Their pay in 2011 was $48,200 for Kessler and $52,100 for Thompson.

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Finally, working on another story I obtained figures last week from the West Virginia State Police regarding manpower. The police are budgeted for 698 positions, according to First Sergeant Michael Baylous, and had 665 filled as of March 4. That translates into 33 vacancies.

While Baylous said he couldn’t estimate how many vacancies are “normal” for the department, he guessed that 33 was close to the norm.