Push the button or not?
If you are the governor of a state, there are constant decisions to be made about whether to accept this invitation or that invitation. You, or your staff, ponder what you can fit into your schedule, of course. but you also consider who you want to please and ultimately, how it’s going to make you look.
When Elton John comes to the fairgrounds, you go.
When the Rotary Club asks if you can make it, you go.
What do you do, though, when somebody asks you if you’ll push the buttons to blow up a bridge? Keep in mind that government has allowed this bridge to deteriorate so badly that it had to be closed without warning, creating arduously long drives for commuters, hospital patients and others, some of them in your own hometown. States will have to shuffle budgets, put other projects on hold and shell out extra money to pay for temporary ferry service. Does a politician want a photo opp like that?
Gov. Jim Douglas chose to go for it. Standing hatless in an open field with snow steadily falling, he pushed the two buttons that were said to ignite the implosion of the Lake Champlain Bridge on Monday morning.
More than one person expressed surprise over that Monday, but Douglas declined to characterize the implosion as an indication of how things went awry with a historic bridge once heralded for its cutting-edge design. He called it a step forward, a step toward construction of a new bridge.
“It’s the first step toward a new beginning,” he said.
Even those lives have been disrupted by the bridge’s closure and are angry at government officials who let it agreed Monday that they’re ready to move on.
And just in case not everybody’s ready to see it that way, Douglas is not running for re-election. This photo opp won’t show up in an opponent’s campaign ad. There has to be something freeing about that. Plus, plenty of people probably think it’d be cool to push the buttons that blow of a bridge.
- Terri Hallenbeck Republican grip
In an article this week, FoxNews.com looks at whether Republicans will lose their hold on all New England governor seats in 2010.
According to the article,
“Jennifer Duffy, an editor with The Cook Political Report, said Republicans could face a total wipe-out in New England, though they do have some chances to keep a foothold. ‘If these races had taken place in 2008, they'd all be gone, but it's still possible,’ Duffy said.”
You can read it here: www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/17/republicans-struggle-hold-new-england-governors-races/.
- Terri Hallenbeck Memorial services
A memorial service for
Rep. Ira Trombley, D-Grand Isle, who died Dec. 20, will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 2 at the South Hero Congregational Church, South Street in South Hero.
A memorial service for
Rep. Rick Hube, R-Londonderry, who died a day later, is expected to be held Jan. 31. Details are to be posted at www.rickhube.com.
- Terri HallenbeckLabels: Gov. Jim Douglas, Rep. Ira Trombley, Rep. Rick Hube, vermont politics
