Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Politics on Monday

Secretary Lahood Speaking Yesterday
View From My Seat
Monday we had some truly memorable thunderstorms blow through which may explain Buddy’s terrors.  I think he may just be a little psychotic which for some reason endears him to me even more.  A dog with issues.  I was sailing along at work when the Chairman of the Board came into my office and asked me if I was attending the event planned for the visiting US Secretary of Transportation, Ray Lahood.  I told him no that I hadn’t been invited and that I was fine with the omission.  I’ve spent time at the White House and with over ten years at the Pentagon and the DC environs I was not as excited as everybody else seemed to be with the opportunity to rub elbows with a cabinet secretary – I mean I had a blog entry I had to get out.  My jaded contentment was subsequently shattered when my boss came into the office and threw a set of keys at me telling me I was going and that I was also driving the Chairman of the Board.  I think the Chairman thought he was doing me a favor to insist I attend.  Thanks.  We all went down to Union Station and I was wandering up some narrow back stairs when a US Congressman, the Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, and the State Secretary of Transportation were coming down.  I’d met all of them before and they took time to stop and say hi (it’s an election year after all) before heading out to greet Secretary Lahood.  I actually enjoyed the speeches by both Lahood and the congressman.  They both made the point that Washington needs to learn how to get things done instead of constantly holding the party line.  It was extremely refreshing to hear that but again this is an election year.  They both hearkened back to earlier (Pre-Clinton) times when members of both parties could reach across the aisle to get the nation’s work done.  I’m hoping against hope that Washington has finally heard the resentment I think most Americans feel with the lack of cooperation that permeates our Federal civilian government.  The proof will be what they do when they return to work and fulfill the meaning of these welcome words.  On a separate front I heard that Jerry Sandusky’s fellow inmates serenaded him on his first night in prison when the lights went out.  They all sang “The Wall” by Pink Floyd – “Teacher leave those kids alone!”  Eloquently put.   I also finished the latest trilogy by Terry Brooks The Gypsy Morph yesterday.  It was the best book in the series of six that I’ve read over the last month.  There was constant action as the heroes fought desperate battles almost from the outset to the conclusion.  Findo Gask (Brooks comes up with the best names) was finally and assuredly dealt with – which was very satisfying.  I thought this would end my sojourn in the world of Shannara but apparently there is a duo of books that follow this so Pahlaniuk will have to wait a couple more weeks. 

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