Happy New Year -- 2015 to all the Voice contributors and especially to all the voyeurs. I love meeting you out and about and learning that you read every thing on the Voice but you never comment. You love the regulars who shall go mostly unnamed on this New Year's night. You never tell me that you like the "think pieces" and few people comment on them, but....so what? I like doing them a couple times a year, so here goes:
The December 31st Wall Street Journal has a review of a book titled "National Security and Double Government". I won't bore you with the essence of the book, but the reviewer did cull out an interesting facet. The book describes the difference between the "Madisonians" who are cut from James Madison's cloth and "believed that the checks and balances of our republic rest ultimately on 'civic virtue"--an informed and engaged electorate" and the "Trumanites". When Russ and I and a dozen others founded the Voice, in print--delivered to doorsteps, we went with the tag line that still sits at the top of the site-- Dedicated to Informing and Empowering the Burlingame Community. We were not thinking of James Madison but perhaps he was influencing us from above.
The alternatives-- the "Trumanites"--is the author's term for the unelected portion of our ever-expanding government. No need to invoke his examples (suffice it to say Hollyroller has invoked them this week elsewhere on the blog), but I can think of numerous local examples. The windbags at ABAG come to mind immediately. The High-cost Rail Authority is a classic example. Caltrain is another, to the extent they are just the High-cost Rail Authorities shoeshine boys. I'm pretty certain the Cap and Trade ministers who are about to suck up the savings we have been enjoying on gas prices courtesy of the Saudis are another example. I could go on, but you get the point.
My resolution for 2015 is to keep shining the light on the Trumanites. They are a problem and need to be controlled. I have no illusion that just blogging about them will actually change things, but as I said at the top of the post--I like doing it. In some small way it makes me feel better. Happy New Year. Enjoy.
It's been a long time since I knew how to post a new thread, so big thank you, Joe, for keeping the conversation going and catching us up on most items. In the early days, my kids delivered the paper version of the BV on their scooters. Who would have believed that it would still be going this many years later (how long, now?) Just think, in those days there was no ABAG, GBI, HSR or the like, and I actually cannot remember anyone complaining about train horns...
Posted by: Jennifer | January 02, 2015 at 11:11 PM