"Varmint rifle, youth guns,” the signs at Cabela's gun rack announced when I visited there in November 2008.

 

Does that mean we can shoot the kids?

 

As we approach the end of Governor Rell's taxpayer funded vacation, it is worthwhile to examine her legacy. Gov. Wiecker gave us the income tax, Gov. Rowland gave us UConn 2000 and campuses in downtown Waterbury and Hartford, and Gov. Rell, she gave $10 million in taxpayer money to Cabela's.

 

Riding in, I saw UTC "it's too expensive to do business in Connecticut so we're moving to Turkey and Poland where can abuse the labor more" fuel cells in front. This is greenwashing at its best. They say clean, but they run on natural gas, a fossil fuel which is the most hydrogen rich fuel source around. So there are few emissions, but what about mining the gas?

 

I read that they cost $860,000, but that Cabela’s will save $60,000 a year in electricity costs. Why do the perks of the green society go to private industry? Any city government in Connecticut would be thrilled to save $60,000 a year in electrical costs. Why do policy choices automatically, almost reflexively, go to creating incentives for business, and the public sphere?

 

So, suppose that the city of Hartford purchased a few of those fuel cells with state aid, and ran its electrical costs for itself, the Wadsworth, the Hartford Public Library and the MDC off of it. No, makes too much sense.

 

This is Governor Rell's Legacy in three parts.

 

Link - Cabela's: A good subsidy, or a waste of tax money?

 

If the President calls Connecticut in a state of emergency, Lisa Moody will answer the phone.

 

No, seriously.

 

On May 15, 2007, Connecticut state police commanding officer Colonel Thomas Davoren emailed Gov. M. Jodi Rell's chief of staff Lisa Moody: "We received an inquiry from the FEMA operations center requesting a number for 24/7 contact with the Governor in case the President needed to speak with the Governor's on short request."

 

The next afternoon, May 16, 2007, Moody wrote back: "We have always given out my cell phone as the primary contact 24/7."

 

I received this email interaction between Moody and Davoren today as part of an FOIA request I have with the Connecticut Department of Public Safety.

 

Consider, for a moment, that in the event of a Katrina-style disaster in Connecticut, the first person the President would talk is....Lisa Moody.

 

Perhaps this is an overstatement, and Davoren actually meant the Governor's office, instead of the Governor, and thus there would be a number of conversations between underlings before the President actually spoke with Governor Rell.

 

But then again, Davoren's e-mail sounds like he is describing the Bat phone. Or that classic 3 a.m. phone call that Hillary so scared us into thinking could happen. The government prepares for that 3 a.m. phone call, and in Governor Rell's administration, it looks like Lisa Moody is the person who gets it.

 

Permanent link...Lisa Moody is in Charge...

 

Gov. M. Jodi Rell is angry because an F-18 fighter jet flew too low last week, scaring some people who live near Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

 

One just wishes that Gov. Rell would get this angry that F-18s fly too low and drop munitions every day, killing people who live in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

This accidental F-18 fly-by inspired Rell to pen a nastygram to Navy Cmdr. J.J. Cummings at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, home of the offending fighter jet, according to an August 29, 2009 report in the Hartford Courant by Christine Dempsey and David Owens.

 

"Witnesses say the jet flew about 100 feet over treetops and performed twisting maneuvers," Rell wrote. "All of this occurred above densely-populated neighborhoods and below radar levels. This represents an incredibly perilous disregard for the safety of our citizens and is absolutely unacceptable."

 

While Governor Rell scolds and wags her finger like an angry, protective Grandma at the Navy, she enthusiastically supports and enjoys the support of the war machine in other quarters.

 

Her act is starting to wear thin. She welcomed the waste of taxpayer dollars that was the supersonic fighter jet flyover at her inaugural parade. I remember the A-10 Warthog that tipped its wing over the Hartford Police Station on its way to the parade route on January 3, 2007.

 

More importantly than the symbolic gesture of a fly-over for the Connecticut National Guard's Commander-in-Chief, Gov. Rell consistently allocates millions of dollars annually for the Connecticut Military Department.

 

In 2010 alone, Connecticut taxpayers will fork over up to $60 million to fund the Connecticut Military Department.

 

The Military Department's budget hides in the Regulation and Protection section of the Governor’s proposed operating budget. Right there on page 58, the Governor's budget defines the Military Department as the Connecticut Army National Guard, Air National Guard and the State Militia.

 

$70 Million for the CT Military Department...(continued)

To amuse myself on a snowy afternoon, I made this handy chart comparing the accomplishments and not-so-accomplishments of the two elected female Republican Party Governors: M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut and Sarah Palin of Alaska.

 

After spending some time thinking about them, the inescapable conclusion struck me: although separated by a continent thousands of miles wide, Rell and Palin aren't that different.

 

This comparison should've been done long ago, and it will only be valid for a short while, because very soon, a third GOP female governor will assume office.

 

Arizona's GOP secretary of the state Jan Brewer will accede to the governorship after Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano assumes her position in the Obama administration as head of the Department of Homeland Security.

 

Will Jan be like Sarah or Jodi? Already Jan's a syllable short, so read while the readin's good.

 

Veep:
Rell: Relatively obscure but popular governor who made McCain's short list.                                   
Palin: Relatively obscure but popular governor who sank McCain's chances.

 

Higher Ed:
Palin: Filed through six colleges, but eventually earned a bachelors' degree.
Rell: Dropped out of two schools, never graduated, but holds two honorary doctorate degrees.

 

Political start:
Palin: Three terms as city councilor in Wasilla.
Rell: Five-term state representative from CT's 107th District.

 

Maiden Name:
Palin: Heath.
Rell: Reavis.

 

A Figure in History the Guv Could Relate To:
Palin: Machiavelli - Backstabbed mentor to run for higher officer.
Rell: Colonel Klink – "I know nothing." Feigned ignorance and indignation after corruption scandal sank her mentor and predecessor.    

       

Western Zodiac:
Palin: Aquarius - Truthful, talented, original, freedom loving, aloof, opinionated, proud.
Rell: Gemini - Quick, entertaining, charming, youthful, capricious, unpredictable, flirts.

 

Chinese Zodiac:
Palin: 1964, Year of the Dragon - Magnanimous, stately, ambitious, loyal, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, prejudiced, dogmatic.
Rell: 1946, Year of the Dog - Honest, intelligent, attractive, loyal, cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, stubborn, dogged.

 

Electoral use of racism:
Palin: Political speeches and rallies about “The Real America” unleashed wave of hate speech.
Rell: Prevented first black candidate for Governor from appearing in televised debates.

 

Compassionate Conservativism:
Palin: After pardoning turkeys, interviewed with TV news in front of turkeys being slaughtered.
Rell: Couldn’t pardon Michael Ross, stood by as state prison-industrial complex slaughtered him.

 

Rell, Palin on Media, Mass Transit, Marijuana and More...