Colds, Committeepeople, and Corruption

I’ve had a cold this week and stayed home from work for a day. While this isn’t exactly fun, for teetotalers like myself (no purist, I indulge in a couple of wine coolers a year) the delirium is a nice break from lucidity. I spent most of the day on the sofa watching court tv. There are some very strange and scary people out there. One new survival tip for my list – if you are so congested you can’t breath through your nose, don’t pop two whole wheat Ritz crackers in your mouth just because they are the last ones in the box. By the time you get the crackers chewed up enough to open your mouth you are gasping so much you nearly choke on the cracker bits. Small bites are definitely the way to go. It would make a great opening scene for “Six Feet Under.”

As for committeepeople, I continue to be amazed at the way party organizations alienate people. A year or so ago I signed off the email list for the local Democratic party. Nothing of substance ever came through, just lots of preaching to the choir and extraneous noise that had nothing to do with politics. In the last round of elections I signed up to be on a D candidate’s email list and he must have handed my email over to them, or else they kept it on file, because since the election I’ve received infrequent emails from them. (I signed up for the R candidate’s list also, but other than an acknowledgement of my request, they didn’t send me anything; however, a neighbor, who didn’t sign up, received a number of emails – go figure). The local group tends to contact me only when they want money or to advertise a success. Information is controlled and only goes one way. Since the email postmaster hasn’t figured out how to “bcc,” all the recipient’s email addresses are visible. Having heard a tidbit that I thought people would be interested in, I sent it around to everyone. Ooops! Got my hand slapped. Apparently only one person is allowed to send out email and a bigwig somewhere has to approve it beforehand. He did make a point of telling me he already knew what I had sent around. Since a few of those receiving my email followed up to ask questions, it must have been news to them. So, he has information, he just won’t share it, and isn’t happy about anyone else doing so either. Some people in the local political organization have invited me to attend their regular meetings but there does not seem to be a clear consensus as to whether the meetings are open to the public or limited to committeepeople. Never one to crash a party, I stay home. People tell me the Republican organization is very similar. This just strikes me as an excellent case study for a basic marketing course. Aren’t most organizations usually looking for new blood and to provide avenues for a variety of people to become active?

That leaves corruption. According to the papers the introduction of gambling to Pennsylvania has led a few politicos into shady and questionable land deals and business practices. Is anyone surprised by this? I maintain that gambling should require a statewide vote.