Storms and Politicians

As most of the world knows we are digging out of a powerful, unprecedented early snow storm that caused massive power outages.  While I am sure some things could have been done better, from my view the power companies have done a great job getting power back on to the more than 600,000 who were without power on Sunday.  The day after the storm there were reports of teams from as far away as Ohio and Canada already in state and assisting with the effort.  As I drove to work at 6am each day this week I passed huge convoys of electrical service trucks out to fix the problem.  Based on my experience, none of this happens without some prior planning and coordination.  However, this being the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, the politicians have jumped on the issue as an effort to make a name for themselves.  I heard a report today on the radio where Martha Coakley, the state attorney general and failed senate candidate, self-importantly state that she was going to investigate the electric companies and possibly fine them.  Thanks Martha, guess who the companies will pass on the fines to, their customers, us.  We’re not even a week after the storm and here we go trying to play the blame game and trying to get some political traction.  What should be a time to praise the truly herculean efforts of those teams out there in the cold doing their level best to get the power back on, we have politicians focusing on the negatives.  I’ve been in third world countries where this type disaster would require months to fix.  Martha, shut up or at least take time to recognize the true heroes out there 24/7 doing something positive, like actually getting the power back on.  I’m sure that some of those hard working teams heard the same thing I did this morning and were as equally disgusted.