Two big Connecticut egos jockeying for recognition
Connecticut voters have every right to be proud about recent political events. Less than a week after Gov. Dannel Malloy received the prestigious “John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage” award, for “courageously defending” U.S. settlement of Syrian refugees, USA Today announced that our own junior senator, Chris Murphy, is being vetted by the Clinton campaign as a possible vice presidential candidate for the Clinton ticket. (The Democrat establishment and their liberal media sycophants must assume that Bernie Sanders and his supporters will simply give up the fight and return to their pre-political life as Phish groupies).
Hard to believe our luck: one small state and two YUUGE political egos battling for recognition by Hillary Clinton’s VP selection committee and the title of “Most Progressive” leader in the Nutmeg state.
If recent pronouncements are any guide, Malloy must be feeling the Bern of Murphy’s rising stock among fellow progressives.
As if to say “Look at me…Look at me,” Malloy has gone into overdrive in recent days hyping his own Progressive bona fides. Last week alone, he enthusiastically announced his support for bail bond reform (the Connecticut Second Chance Society initiative) and for the U.S. Department of Education’s transgender bathroom initiative. Malloy seemingly thinks criminals and cross dressers are the biggest problems facing our state.
In the spotlight of the award ceremony, Malloy apparently forgot about the poor Syrian refugees whose very support garnered him the award in the first place (that was yesterday’s progressive concern). Instead, Malloy simply recited the liberal elites manifesto du jour and touted his support for criminal justice reform, transgender bathroom privlidges, AND “fairer” wages. By any objective measure, it was a stroke of political expediency that even Hillary could admire.
If Malloy had real moral courage, he would have used the award ceremony as the opportunity to lobby his constituents, and the Homeland Security Dept., for a refugee camp in New Canaan’s Waveny Park or Sherwood Island State Park. Its easy to support popular causes that don’t effect you, your family, or your neighbors. It’s a whole different ballgame to risk your livelihood and fortune on an unpopular cause you passionately believe in. (Think of Rosa Parks.)
Like Sen. Murphy, the lifelong politician who measures success by how many tweets he’s sent, Malloy is content to latch onto the liberal cause of the moment and pontificate about matters that he has no control over (e.g., Federal immigration policy and the national minimum wage).
Connecticut citizens must demand that our leaders assess the serious risks confronting our state and vigorously attack the problems that threaten our future: eroding infrastructure, fiscal deficits, and the exodus of capital and people to more business friendly states. Even if it’s unpopular.
James Feeney is a writer living in Fairfield.