Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bob Stannard, a former lobbyist, who is still an author and musician. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
[I] learned a few things when I served in the Legislature; one of which was that people, all people, can comprehend the small things, the less important things in life. However, the bigger, more important things are sometimes a different matter.
For instance, one day a bill came to the floor that would allow anglers to keep a trout under six inches long. The idea was that probably a released small fish would die after being handled. Up until that point you could not keep a trout under six inches.
The issue was black and white; keep the fish or throw it back. The floor debate lasted just under three hours. Shortly thereafter the budget bill came to the floor. I had the privilege of serving on the Appropriations Committee. It took 11 weeks of testimony and committee debate before that bill went to the floor. It’s THE most important bill of the year. It took 90 minutes to report. Questions came once we were done reporting: all three of them. The debate on the budget lasted about 10 minutes.
The most important topic in today’s news is deflated footballs. No one has any idea what happened, but everyone has an opinion. While the nation waits in anticipation of whether or not the Patriots intentionally let the air of the ball, there’s a move afoot to let the air out of our nation. It’s a trade agreement known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Since I only have 625 words for this column I’d suggest you look it up. The short story is that our workforce will be competing with Vietnamese labor. Have you given any thought as to what that might mean for job creation in America? It’ll certainly be good for our multi-national corporations (who are, according to Mitt Romney, people, too).
The world is not lacking for strife these days. There’s a lot going on and much of it is not good.
People are beginning to wake up in Argentina as a result of a “mysterious death of a crusading prosecutor on the eve of his explosive testimony about presidential interference in a terrorism investigation has set the nation on edge, with protesters on the streets demanding the answers they have been denied for twenty years,” according to the National Post. The killing was portrayed as a suicide. Now they believe that it might be the handy work of Hezbollah with help from Iran, folks who are committed to killing Jews.
In this country we’re looking the other way while the very rich and powerful are staging a revolution. There are no demonstrations in the streets, no long-hair hippies crying out for peace. No, this revolution is well financed and not all that quiet. Those involved are slowly and steadily buying our leaders, discouraging people from voting and reducing government for those in need, while ensuring tax dollars support corporations, and of course, the military.
Thanks to our Supreme Court unlimited amounts of money can be spent to buy elected leaders, leaders who are then expected to do the bidding of their purchaser. It is anticipated that the 2016 presidential elections will cost $3 BILLION. Where is that money going to come from? You?
The world is not lacking for strife these days. There’s a lot going on and much of it is not good. We appear to be evolving into a world of unrest. Events are happening right under our collective noses yet we don’t appear to even notice; or if we do notice, don’t appear to care.
Maybe it’s because the issues are too great, or maybe it’s because we feel helpless to do anything about it. It’s a good thing John Adams and his friends didn’t think this way. I doubt he would have wasted much time on keeping or releasing a six-inch trout.
He had bigger fish to fry.
