This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on March 19, 2009.
Greasing the right squeaky wheels
It was recently reported that Latreasa Goodman got her money back from McDonald's.
Who is Goodman, you might ask? She recently placed an order for Chicken McNuggets at a Florida McDonald's, paid for her order, and was then informed that the restaurant was out of her particular culinary choice. Goodman wanted her money back; the manager offered a substitution. Goodman called 911 to report the manager's "transgression." Three times.
Goodman was arrested for her antics, but despite this, the McDonald's Corporation will be presenting Goodman with an Arch Card loaded with a refund for her purchase.
The point of this is to illustrate a classic idiom (with, in this case, an unintended pun): The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Had Goodman not been a squeaky wheel, to the point of misdemeanor, her story would have been a non-story.
Historically, we have our share of squeaky wheels. Thankfully, they are often not as trivial as Goodman.
Thomas Jefferson is one example. His tirade against the King of England became our Declaration of Independence which, along with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, are considered our Charters of Freedom. But before it was released to the American public, Jefferson's screed had to be toned down, by no less a figure than Benjamin Franklin.
More recently, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post wrote reports almost daily about a minor burglary at the Democratic National Committee's office in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. More and more information was leaked to them, leading to more and more stories. Each new story took a small chip out of the Nixon presidency, leading to Nixon's eventual resignation.
Sometimes the squeaky wheel has a noble goal, but because of the fervor generated by the squeaker, the means to the end can be tragic.
John Brown is a perfect historical example. Brown was an ardent abolitionist in antebellum America, anti-slavery before it was a national priority. Though his ultimate goal was laudable and noble, his methods were not.
He lead one attack on pro-slavery settlers in Kansas that left five settlers dead. His raid on an armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia left ten of his men and five defenders dead.
After the Harper's Ferry attack, Brown was captured, tried, and convicted of murder, conspiracy, and treason. He was hanged.
Though Brown became a rallying point for anti-slavery forces, and a song written in his honor would evolve into the well-known Battle Hymn of the Republic, his tactics cannot be defended.
Other squeaky wheels deserve no attention, and are easy to write-off. I'm thinking here of Holocaust deniers; the anti-Semitic publishing of industrialist Henry Ford in the Dearborn Independent; those still trying to prove that George W. Bush planned, or purposefully did not stop the 9/11 attacks. In this day of instant communication, it is easier than ever for those nuts to get their message out, but at the same time, thankfully, our skepticism has also increased.
More worrisome are the squeaky wheels who sound reasonable to a bigger audience, those who appeal to the pre-conceived notions of the public, or a bloc of the public.
One who keeps rising up like the proverbial cockroach that just cannot be squashed, is Ann Coulter. Coulter is an attention hound, especially after the publication of one of her books which, though waning in popularity, are released every couple of years.
Her good looks, quick and sharp wit, and inflammatory language maintain her as a media darling. But her rhetoric does not deserve the kind of air time she is able to extract from the mainstream media. The titles of her books alone illustrate her penchant for hyperbole: Slander; Treason; Godless; Guilty; and If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans.
Then there is the best example of all. Rush Limbaugh. He wraps his divisive rhetoric in catch phrases, appealing to the basest prejudices of the human character.
Whether calling women "femi-Nazis" or repeating the President's middle name ad nauseum, his broadcasts are masses of verbal bile -- squeaks that many conservatives are quick to pick up and run with.
The challenge for us, listening to all the rancor, is to discern what's worthy of our attention from what's not. Are the squeaks leading us to needed and desired change, or down an undesirable path that only a few truly wish to follow.
It's a conscious decision — make it wisely.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Stimulating Prospects
This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on March 5, 2009.
Stimulating Prospects
$44 million in 120 days. A lot of money, very little time.
That's part of the amount that Vermont will be receiving under the stimulus package passed by Congress two weeks ago, and in order to get projects underway quickly, Vermont must decide where that $44 million will go in just a few months: use it or lose it.
The term "shovel-ready" has become ubiquitous, so much so that it has already entered the popular vernacular. The Vermont Agency of Transportation already has an $85 million list of thirty shovel-ready projects, including the Richmond bridge and the Bennington bypass.
Luckily, Vermont is slated to get a total of about $125 million in transportation money in the long run, so all of the state's transportation priorities should get funding.
All together, our federal lawmakers have said that Vermont will be the beneficiary of about $1 billion in stimulus money. Aside from the $125 million for transportation projects, there will also be funds for Medicaid, for job creation programs, and for education spending.
Williston has its own shovel-ready project, and I don't mean the Williston portion of the Circ Highway. The construction of the Allen Brook school expansion could solve many of the town's problems with education.
The temporary classrooms would become an historical curiosity and not a point of contention with the Development Review Board; the Frameworks Committee would be able to heartily recommend the physical separation of grades 1-4 and 5-8; and the town would have plenty of room for future enrollment, when the economy bounces back and housing construction begins anew.
Of course, Williston will have to compete with the rest of the state for funds, but we do have Chittenden County on our side. With a project as large as a school expansion, and a labor base as large as the county's, a large infusion of cash seems logical. Logical, but far from certain. So, we should not count our infrastructure dollars before they're doled out.
The stimulus package will certainly not be a panacea, much as we would like it to be. It will be a stop-gap measure, hopefully a stepping stone on the way to recovery. And it does not help everyone - there is no money, for example, for dairy farmers hit hard by plummeting milk prices.
Some, of course, question the need for or the logic of having the stimulus package at all. It is a fair question - but those who ask it had no problem stimulating the economy of Halliburton and its ilk for six years, pouring billions in "temporary spending" into a permanent state of war.
I put no stock in the counter arguments - it is our time to bear the fruits of our labor.
Our congressional delegation will be holding meetings throughout Vermont to explain the details further. The first and biggest will be held by Senator Patrick Leahy and Governor Jim Douglas tomorrow at Champlain College. The list of workshops shows the staggering breadth of the stimulus package.
From small business loans, to first-time home buyer tax credits; from community block grants to unemployment assistance; from health care IT grants to infrastructure improvements. There is a workshop for everyone.
These sorts of workshops should be held across the nation as well, so that people can see that jobs are coming; that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it will be money well-spent, money that will restart our economic engine. A little confidence will spur buying; buying will spur investment; investment will spur lending; lending will spur building; building will spur job growth, which will spur confidence. And so on.
I do dearly hope that Williston is the beneficiary of some of the funds. But even if not, as projects throughout the state are approved and started, we will feel the ripples as the stimulus spreads throughout the area.
--
I note the passing of Paul Harvey this past weekend. I remember listening to his newscast years ago as I drove to meet my wife for occasional lunches. The tone, pace, and timbre of his voice were unmistakable. Though I had not heard him for a long while, his tag lines, like "And that's the rest of the story," "Page 2," and his distinctive "Good day!" not to mention his famous pregnant pauses, are etched in my memory. Harvey will be missed.
Stimulating Prospects
$44 million in 120 days. A lot of money, very little time.
That's part of the amount that Vermont will be receiving under the stimulus package passed by Congress two weeks ago, and in order to get projects underway quickly, Vermont must decide where that $44 million will go in just a few months: use it or lose it.
The term "shovel-ready" has become ubiquitous, so much so that it has already entered the popular vernacular. The Vermont Agency of Transportation already has an $85 million list of thirty shovel-ready projects, including the Richmond bridge and the Bennington bypass.
Luckily, Vermont is slated to get a total of about $125 million in transportation money in the long run, so all of the state's transportation priorities should get funding.
All together, our federal lawmakers have said that Vermont will be the beneficiary of about $1 billion in stimulus money. Aside from the $125 million for transportation projects, there will also be funds for Medicaid, for job creation programs, and for education spending.
Williston has its own shovel-ready project, and I don't mean the Williston portion of the Circ Highway. The construction of the Allen Brook school expansion could solve many of the town's problems with education.
The temporary classrooms would become an historical curiosity and not a point of contention with the Development Review Board; the Frameworks Committee would be able to heartily recommend the physical separation of grades 1-4 and 5-8; and the town would have plenty of room for future enrollment, when the economy bounces back and housing construction begins anew.
Of course, Williston will have to compete with the rest of the state for funds, but we do have Chittenden County on our side. With a project as large as a school expansion, and a labor base as large as the county's, a large infusion of cash seems logical. Logical, but far from certain. So, we should not count our infrastructure dollars before they're doled out.
The stimulus package will certainly not be a panacea, much as we would like it to be. It will be a stop-gap measure, hopefully a stepping stone on the way to recovery. And it does not help everyone - there is no money, for example, for dairy farmers hit hard by plummeting milk prices.
Some, of course, question the need for or the logic of having the stimulus package at all. It is a fair question - but those who ask it had no problem stimulating the economy of Halliburton and its ilk for six years, pouring billions in "temporary spending" into a permanent state of war.
I put no stock in the counter arguments - it is our time to bear the fruits of our labor.
Our congressional delegation will be holding meetings throughout Vermont to explain the details further. The first and biggest will be held by Senator Patrick Leahy and Governor Jim Douglas tomorrow at Champlain College. The list of workshops shows the staggering breadth of the stimulus package.
From small business loans, to first-time home buyer tax credits; from community block grants to unemployment assistance; from health care IT grants to infrastructure improvements. There is a workshop for everyone.
These sorts of workshops should be held across the nation as well, so that people can see that jobs are coming; that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it will be money well-spent, money that will restart our economic engine. A little confidence will spur buying; buying will spur investment; investment will spur lending; lending will spur building; building will spur job growth, which will spur confidence. And so on.
I do dearly hope that Williston is the beneficiary of some of the funds. But even if not, as projects throughout the state are approved and started, we will feel the ripples as the stimulus spreads throughout the area.
--
I note the passing of Paul Harvey this past weekend. I remember listening to his newscast years ago as I drove to meet my wife for occasional lunches. The tone, pace, and timbre of his voice were unmistakable. Though I had not heard him for a long while, his tag lines, like "And that's the rest of the story," "Page 2," and his distinctive "Good day!" not to mention his famous pregnant pauses, are etched in my memory. Harvey will be missed.
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