Attending Hearings
For the 99.9999% of the populace who have never attended nor participated in a legistlative hearing, my congratulations. For all the comparisons of politics to sausage making, I have a slightly different comparison, spending a day waiting in a jury pool. Only you really can't read a book or listen to your iPod. You have to pay attention to the subject matter, just in the off chance, something actually happens.
More later.
I'm back : I'm not complaining so much as this is part of my job, but it can get boring. The hearing I was at was supposed to last only two hours. I left after five with no end in sight. I spoke with a bud who was the last to go. He told me the Dean of the University of Wisconsin College of Ag was there to testify on another subject and after waiting about six hours, the chair told him just to go home, as they would schedule his testimony another day. It just wasn't he, but also a couple or three other bigwigs from the University that were sent home. I can imagine the steam coming out of that car as it headed back to campus.
The real fun of attending hearing is to watch legistlators spar with one another for oneupsmanship and/or spring traps on the pompous paid spokesperson for an issue. Interestingly, I have never seen a genuine citizen, nervous as heck and fumbling, ever been given a tough time or the broom. They have always been treated with respect by the staff or panel and given all the time they wished or desired.
More later.
I'm back : I'm not complaining so much as this is part of my job, but it can get boring. The hearing I was at was supposed to last only two hours. I left after five with no end in sight. I spoke with a bud who was the last to go. He told me the Dean of the University of Wisconsin College of Ag was there to testify on another subject and after waiting about six hours, the chair told him just to go home, as they would schedule his testimony another day. It just wasn't he, but also a couple or three other bigwigs from the University that were sent home. I can imagine the steam coming out of that car as it headed back to campus.
The real fun of attending hearing is to watch legistlators spar with one another for oneupsmanship and/or spring traps on the pompous paid spokesperson for an issue. Interestingly, I have never seen a genuine citizen, nervous as heck and fumbling, ever been given a tough time or the broom. They have always been treated with respect by the staff or panel and given all the time they wished or desired.
<< Home