Homestead mailing list

[Roy Morgan <k1lky AT earthlink.net>]

On Apr 26, 2008, at 11:17 AM, paxamicus AT earthlink.net wrote:

> But it might matter, James, it might. ...
>
> On Apr 26, 2008, at 11:12 AM, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:...
> > So my input isn't that Obama is good, bad, or indifferent.  It's
> > that it really doesn't matter.


I, too, think it might.
And, the President is not the only force at work in Guvmint.
I offer two bits of personal experience:


At an MIT alumni event, a former senior member of the White House  
staff talked about what politics was like at that level.  He  
explained why folks there seem to dither and wait to the last moment  
to come to a decision or policy statement:  Issues that get that far  
are not simple.  There are many very strong forces acting both (or  
many) ways in any issue.  The process is operating at the 49/51 level  
most of the time, and it goes back and forth.  Easy to decide issues  
don't get to the white house, he claimed.  Policy makers don't decide  
early and then stick to the decision because at the last minute, some  
new factor may surface, or become a bit stronger than the opposing  
one, so the decision is delayed till the latest possible time.


Not too long after the election fiasco in Florida, as part of my  
Guvmint job, I was part of a group to visit the Senate office  
building to talk with some staffers on the issue.  (I think they were  
McCain folks, and had written the Help America Vote act.)  First, the  
halls of the Senate office building are in fact lined with marble.   
Second, and more importantly, the folks there impressed me as being  
very intelligent, very hardworking, and very dedicated to doing the  
right thing.  Certainly, there were a LOT of aspects to the issue,  
and they were serious about understanding the whole picture.  I  
believe that there are a lot of capable folks who are intent on  
forming the best recommendations and legislation for the folks who  
vote in the Senate and House.  They do work under very difficult  
circumstances, though.

I think that the beauty of the marble on the floors and walls doesn't  
matter very much.  A  little, but not much.

Roy

PS: On the voting topic, my colleagues at work have continued to  
study the issues and have developed guidelines to be applied to the  
problem (the document is about 3 inches thick).  The situation is  
ever further from being solved, by the way.  For lots more on the  
topic, see http://vote.nist.gov/

Roy Morgan
k1lky AT earthlink.net
Lovettsville, VA 20180