Don’t Confuse What Goes on in This Building with Democracy
Don’t Confuse What Goes on in This Building with Democracy: The disappearance of democracy in the Massachusetts State House At the Massachusetts State House, I stepped outside of a packed hearing on updating the state’s bottle bill to speak with a young reporter for a western Massachusetts weekly. I had been “holding court” with the press all morning – giving them the Sierra Club’s point of view on this proposed legislation. I enjoyed this type of work immensely, as reporters were generally sympathetic to environmental bills and asked interesting questions. But on this day, I was tired, frustrated, and not in a very good mood. “How will the vote go?” a young reporter asked me. “What vote? They’re not voting today” I replied. “When will the vote be? Next week?” he asked. “Probably never,” I shot back. “But isn’t the majority of the committee in favor of it? Won’t they call for a vote?” he queried That moment, I broke an unspoken but absolutely firm rule among l...