In Synk by Jim Szynkiewicz
In politics, things are never what they appear to be. We cannot accept them at the face value.
Even though we live in a constantly changing world, we must look at the events from historic perspective. Amazingly, there is very little that is truly new. The characters of people shaping our destinies have occurred repeatedly through the millenia of human history. Probably, this is why the Bible has remained a living document for so long.
Economy, vanishing jobs, growing debt, trade imbalance etc. have been the daily subjects of media and political rhetoric. The concerns are real. In truth, economically this nation is living on borrowed time, not unlike individuals who pay only the minimum on credit card debt. How did we get into this mess? How do we get out of it?
The complexity of the problems is enormous; I will limit my remarks to the aspect of manufacturing in Connecticut, having been directly involved in it during my working career.
The Aldermen by District issue is, once again, becoming a hot item on the Waterbury scene. I do not think that the Mayor is sincere in promoting a Charter revision for this issue. Rather, it may be floated as a vehicle to further strengthen the Mayor’s control of land use by combining the City Plan and Zoning Commissions. Aldermen by District is an anathema for the political control system carefully crafted through two previous Charter revisions.
This winter we should not be surprised at being bitten by the energy crunch. Over the past four decades we have had ample warnings that, "sooner or later" this will become a problem. The symptoms have come and gone in the past, but this time they will remain and only get worse. In this issue I would like to look at some aspects, usually glossed over by the mainstream press and media.
To an observer of Waterbury politics, the recent municipal elections were of special interest, to say the least. The process offered a rare glimpse behind the curtain shielding the true workings of the power system from the eyes of residents. The last time we had been given this opportunity was four years ago, when a call to arms was sounded by the cabal in power. The same occurred immediately after the Democrat primary this year.
Increasingly, Americans are asking why are we in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eventually, protests similar to those of Vietnam in late 1960s will develop. In holding back, the nation is showing a reluctance to undermine the morale of our military, not an approval of the policies of our government.
The toppling of Mike Jarjura by Karen Mulcahy in the Democrat primary has put the Waterbury political setup on its head. Former Governor John Rowland called Waterbury politics a "contact sport" and the KO came out of the blue in this bout.
As time moves on, we shall hear more and more the cry, "Let's get out of Iraq!" from the American public, press and the media commentators. Meanwhile, government spin-masters will extol the progress in Iraq, the new government taking control, the Iraqi army being successfully trained and taking over, etc... Billions of taxpayer dollars will be sunk into questionable projects enriching a select few, while our soldiers will be targeted day and night by an elusive enemy.
For ordinary citizens there are two kinds of issues in modern politics: those we can do something about and those beyond our ability. The latter kind are, unfortunately, the ones which attract most attention from both the citizens and the media. This is the realm of political leadership and its supporting structure of financiers and lobbyists. Between us and them there is an impenetrable wall of obfuscation and misinformation. Illegal Immigration is one of those issues beyond our ability to resolve.
With the municipal elections four months away and the Democrat primary almost a certainty, things will be heating up once again in Waterbury. It will be an interesting effort, since there will be a few touchy issues all of us will have to face. Both the incumbents and aspiring candidates for municipal positions should be mindful of the saying, "Make sure your brain is engaged before you put your mouth in motion".