Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The question at bat is: Was Lisa Moody, Governor Jodi Rell’s chief aide, the governor’s Svengalli? Svelgalli was a fictional character, an evil hypnotist in George du Maurier’s novel “Trilby.” Not even Moody’s most severe critics would assert that she manipulated the governor by hypnotizing her or casting spells over her. But did she influence the governor? It would be odd if she did not. One always hopes that chief aides are more influential than, say, the editorial board of the Hartford Courant. There is a temptation on the part of press people to over inflate the influence played by aides, perhaps because they are reluctant in their criticisms to mortally injure the king. During ex-president George Bush’s administration, Vice President Dick Cheney was portrayed pretty much as Bush’s brain. The president was thought to be a major duffer. Since Svengalli was a fictional character, it may be more helpful to inquire whether Moody was Rell’s Cheney. Was she? Yes and no. Chen...

Democracy, the ability of the people to throw the bums out, runs purest in Connecticut’s town governments, because US congressional districts in this and other states are gerrymandered in such a way as to frustrate the democratic instinct. British author Malcolm Muggeridge used regularly to vote against incumbents because, he reasoned, the challengers, whatever their political orientation, had not yet presumed to rob him of his assets, cluttered the legislative landscape with pointless laws and deprived him of his God given liberties. That impulse is as American as apple pie. Here in the good old USA, the presumption generally lies against incumbents, even as the ability to survive the storm of voter discontent lies in favor of incumbents. For reason other than gerrymandering, the carving up of districts so as to prevent the party out of power from gaining a foothold, some legislators in some districts will forever be secure in their sinecures. It is difficult to imagine what Democrat ...

Vernon, Connecticut is preparing for XMass – and other celebrations -- early this year. According to a report in The Journal Inquirer , Vernon’s mayor Ellen Marmer and Town Administrator Christopher Clark have “crafted a document” that will allow Vernon’s annual crèche display to be disported once again on the town green. The crèche display was yanked from the green two XMasses ago when village atheist Mr. Dennis Paul Himes, state director of the American Atheists, threatened legal action because the town had “violated the constitutional provision of separation of church and state by allowing the Christian crèche to be displayed on town property.” Last year the crèche was re-sited to St. Bernard Church because landscaping was being done on the green. This year, according to the JI, the issue “came to a head when the Republican Town Committee passed a unanimous resolution requesting the scene representing Jesus' birth be returned to its traditional spot in Center Park for 2007.” The...

Mayors and other keepers of the public purse have made an art of punishing presumptuous voters who deny them funds in referendums. Taking a page from then Governor Lowell Weicker, who threatened to close state parks if he did not get sufficient votes in the state legislature to pass his income tax proposal, Mayor Ellen Marmer of Vernon closed the iconic War Memorial Tower on Fox Hill, a structure built by the Works Projects administration during the depression, after the naughty citizens of her town pared back her budget in three referendums. On a fourth try, the town realized an increase of about 3% on its previous budget, a $2 million increase – enough, reasoned the Journal Inquirer , to maintain operations on the war memorial tower. Over in Tolland, where citizens persuaded the town fathers to reduce their proposed expenditures in a fourth referendum, a zero-increase budget finally was passed after the town poobahs somewhat arrogantly scheduled a second referendum without adjusting ...

Even after all these years, Dr. Stockman is still an enemy of the people. Henrick Ibsen’s infrequently produced play, “An Enemy Of The People,” revolves around a doctor who discovers that his town’s huge bathing complex is irretrievably contaminated. Having alerted the town, he is visited by his brother, the town’s mayor, who tells him he must retract his statements. First of all, his brother does not believe him. But even if the doctor’s views were correct, his brother still would oppose him, because the economy of the town is tied into the baths; and, in any case, the repair of the sewerage system causing the possibly deadly contamination would be too expensive a project. Convinced the people will back him, the doctor holds a town meeting and turns to the newspapers for support. When important people in the town attempt to prevent him from speaking, Dr. Stockman, losing all patience, lets loose a long tirade condemning both the founding of the town and the tyranny of the majority. Na...