When the nuance gets lost in the noise

Sometimes the things we do speak so loudly, I can't hear what we're saying. At the national political level, it seems that with as much and many differences as exist between the two presumptive candidates of the major parties we could find something more to talk about than the ethnic heritage of one or the age of the other. And yet, we persist.....

Here in Connecticut, during the special session of the Legislature being convened because the regular session didn't get everything accomplished it needed to (when you or I do this at our jobs we usually wind up having short, somewhat intense and vaguely unpleasant conversations with the people for whom we work--when we're lucky. Otherwise they just yell at us very loudly all the time we're cleaning out our desks and leaving. I have, as you can surely tell, experience in the performance expectations portion of the employment process.) and now these same folks will hold an abbreviated session to get done what they failed to do for the first five months (I think this session actually began in February). A new topic, I'm told, is an investigation into the price of gas in the Nutmeg State with the full intention to take action.

Perhaps I can save my representatives some steps...gasoline and diesel fuel are expensive because the oil from which they are made is expensive. We are, in little Connecticut, part of a nation's voracious appetite for fossil fuels, competing with a world of other nations, all of whom have appetites equalling or exceeding our own. Demand is driving supply and we have more money than common sense. Why else would we drive Hummers and other vehicles larger than the nation states of San Marino or Andorra, and be the sole occupant of such a vehicle--and then, wait for it, go to the filling station and whine about the cost of fuel? Class dismissed and good luck, if you're an incumbent, in persuading me to vote for you this November.

BTW, am I the only one who paused a moment at one of the hyperlinks when realizing that the CIA, of all people, has a fact book on The Holy See, Monaco and every other nation on earth, no matter how large or small? Aren't there better uses for the assets who research and develop all of that information? Perhaps instead (I don't know) finding the evil-doers or weapons of mass delusion or something? I must admit, I like their kids' page though, the secure server is a bit intimidating don't you think?

And here in Norwich, the Rose of New England (okay the bloom, in some areas, isn't so pronounced) where a few of the police officers recently have made news all of us would prefer they didn't, the concern seems to be what should we do and less about who should be doing it. So far, we seem to be cozying up to the idea of talking about a study commissioned, accomplished and paid for in 2007 that doesn't seem to have gotten the visibility it could or should have. Like most bipeds, we are pretty good, when cornered, at facing up to our responsibilities and maybe, this time, we won't get lost in thinking that if we talk about a problem we have solved it. Perhaps we'll find out tonight at the City Council meeting. But only perhaps.
-bill kenny