Trial Balloon: January 22, 2009 Archive

Goats!

Posted at 5:14 AM on January 22, 2009 by Dale Connelly (32 Comments)

Yesterday we got some great ideas for public service from listeners who host foreign exchange students, volunteer at schools, work in animal shelters ... and we even heard from the new mayor of Albert Lea. Congratulations, Mike!

Speaking of politics, the most thought provoking post of the day came from Barb in Blackhoof. If you didn't get a chance to read it, take a look:

As usual, I'll draw this down to goats. My little herd is a microcosm of our country and our world. The whole herd, boys and girls, are together in one big pen now, since breeding season is past. And they'll be together until kidding begins in about two months. It took me 45 minutes to feed five goats this morning because there are greedy goats who want to hog everything. It's not "survival of the fittest" out there; it's "survival of the greediest" which does not select for good, kind, gentle goats. My good, kind, gentle goats have to defer to the greedy, forceful goats. If the greedy goats get run of the pen, they will get fat, will become infertile and die of bloat, and the kind, gentle goats will starve. No more goats. So I, as president of this goat herd, have to take the greedy in hand and try to guide them into sharing. For a week or so, feeding time will be pretty rough. There will be strife and butting. But, with just a set of guidelines and following these gently but firmly, the greedy start to behave. And pretty soon everyone is doing better, eating quietly and waiting patiently until everyone has had their ration. The herd will prosper, the president will have no more bruises, and it will be summer. President Obama is right to encourage volunteering, but the greedy goats, who probably are not sharing much, need to be taken in hand - firmly - for the good of us all.

I thought this was such an interesting and useful observation, I forwarded it, with the word GOATS in the subject line, to Congressman Loomis Beechly of Minnesota's 9th district (representing all the water surface area in the state). Here's his surprisingly quick reply:

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for contacting my office with your concerns and ideas.

As you know, this is an exciting time in Washington DC. We're taking a fresh look at everything, and doing what we can to convince people that their voices are being heard. This e-mail is an important part of that effort, so I hope you'll treasure it, just as I treasure having had the chance to send it to you.

As I looked out on the mall on Inauguration Day, I felt humbled by the response of ordinary Americans like you who went to so much trouble to be present at this historic event, and in some cases to stand a half-mile away to see a very tiny dot on the horizon become the 44th President of the United States. But at the same time, I understood, as only a long-time public servant can, that many of those people made the trip, not because of celebrity or history or charisma, but because they would like to see some positive action on GOATS.

You are right to be concerned about GOATS. Rest assured that all policies related to GOATS are under review, and that your input is valuable and has been shared with all the people on my staff who are following the GOATS action in congress.

This issue is too important and too complicated for me to respond point-by-point to your comments regarding GOATS, but I know in the future I will benefit from your knowledge and passion whenever I am thinking about GOATS.

Please feel free to contact my office in the future whenever you feel so moved. It is my hope that by election day, 2010, you and I will be able to stand together, confident that all Americans are feeling better about GOATS because you cared enough to get involved.

Sincerely yours,

Loomis Beechly,
Congressman, 9th district.

I think we finally have Congressman Beechly's attention on this issue.
Getting Barb's goat-o-nomics into the national policy discussion is a worthy goal.
Now the challenge is to keep up the pressure!

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