15 Seconds of Fame

This morning when I exited the post office, I saw a news crew. I said to the reporter, Is something newsworthy going on? and she said, We are asking people the Question of the Day. Would you like us to ask you the Question?

Turns out the Question was, Is it right for an elected official to recommend people break the law? This, of course, in reference to State Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera's recent statement that the State Finance Control Board's recent vote (to levy a $90/year trash fee) was "taxation without representation" and that residents should refuse to pay it.

This is perhaps the only recent issue of local, national, or international significance on which I'm prepared to speak these days. And I'm trying hard from now on not to be too fluffy...so I agreed to face the camera.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism," I said. If a law is unjust, it's the duty of a politician--who is merely a servant of the people, as is the "government," which is just the sum total of all the politicians and their machine--to warn the citizens. And the duty of citizens to protest it. Otherwise, we're no better than the Nazis.

I had to plug in the TV and do some fiddling before I figured out where channel 40 was, and look up their program guide to figure out when the local news comes on. I did manage to catch it. The vote--surprise, surprise--was only 25% in favor of the Representative's action. And sure enough, there I was. My 15 seconds of fame.