Stevieslaw. May I Steal That?
As an aspiring writer and poet, I often seek to put words together, that through some mystical balance of sound and sight, transcend the sentence and come alive. It rarely happens. When a member of my poetry group succeeds, I always ask if I may steal it. They think I’m kidding.
So my hat is off to Associated Press writer, Mark Scolforo, for the pure poetry of the phrase he uses in his article on the Pennsylvania budget stalemate, which was picked up by the Centre Daily Times this morning. In describing the process, he writes “The Rotunda was thick with lobbyists…” Can you imagine any question about our government where that phrase would not be appropriate in starting an answer? How’s the budget process coming? Can the Congress and the White House agree on a sensible energy policy? You get the picture.
But the shear poetry of the phrase is breathtaking. Have you noticed the “t” sound that runs through it? Tap your tongue to make that hard, clicking sound two or three times and what you will find yourself trying not to say is “terror.” And then to end the phrase with “ists” is brilliant. Consciously or unconsciously Mr. Scolforo has manage to identify these lobbyists and the interests they represent as the domestic terrorists they are.
Here, at Stevieslaw, we are not naïve enough to assume that money from lobbyists to influence the government is a disease unique to our time. Of course not. But, the way big money seems to so thoroughly determine policy—from cradle to grave, may be.
So, why is it that the Pennsylvania House and Senate would rather see the entire state crumble than dare to raise taxes—even to the level used by all other gas producing states—on the Natural Gas Industry? Take it Mark.
