|
Lileks on the "State of the State"
The State of the State speech sounds tautological, but its not. Think of it as The Condition of the Entity speech. It occurs today at 11 PM, and I expect an upbeat oration with the usual qualifications: "My fellow Minnesotans, the state of the state is good. But we face challenges." Or "The State of the State is challenged, but good." They might as well pass out a box of candy stamped Good N Challenged and leave it at that.A speech reflecting our wild communal mood swings would be much more entertaining, wouldn't it? In fat years the governor bounds on stage with a big grin and shouts "BOOYA! The State of the State is KICKING MAJOR BUTT. Holy jumpin lunkers, folks - we have so much money were going to fix every bridges in the state and gild them. Then well gild the gusset plates. Then well gild the inspectors. For that matter I have just announced the mandatory gilding of all K-12 teachers, and thats just the start. Were talking trains all over the place. Were talking a train that has a small train inside it to take you from the dining car back to your seat." Or the governor shows up pale and shaking, drops his notes, mutters Game over, man, game over, and runs for the exits. According to this unscientific poll, half the respondents believe the state is in BAD shape. Im sure some believe its in bad shape because taxes are too low, and some believe its bad because taxes are too high. At least we can agree things are bad. Depends how you define that, I suppose; Id like to reserve the scary depressing words for breadlines and brokers leaping out of windows, falling on other brokers who are selling apples. Posted by: Mike 2008-02-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=226051 |