NHPoliticalCapital - Dean Spiliotes

Chaos Theory
05-06-2010

Many of you know that I occasionally can’t resist the temptation to point out when a member of either state party apparatus has jumped the shark with regard to the use of political hyperbole. You may remember this instant classic from the state Democratic Party. This time, however, it is the state Republican Party that is tickling my funny bone, courtesy of Communications Director Ryan Williams and his press release today on Governor Lynch and the Financial Resources Mortgage scandal.

For those of you who have already seen the press release, I hope you caught the awesome subtitle: State Government in Chaos as Lynch Backs Off Disclosure Order. As an aside, I also appreciated the Lynch Flinches alliteration in the main title, although I've heard that one before. I have actually driven by the Statehouse and several state office buildings today, and I can report that everything is still standing. These new poll numbers look pretty sturdy, too.

I am all for full disclosure on the FRM matter, and there are legitimate questions to be asked of both the Lynch Administration and former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte. But it is a bit of a bummer to see both sides become almost frantic in their attempts to score political points on the back of a scandal that has done irreparable financial harm to many individuals. I guess it's inevitable, but I still don’t like it. Anyway, I should at least thank Ryan Williams for this morning’s entertaining diversion into chaos theory.

Comments:

Posted On: 05-07-2010 06:48:23 by Jim Splaine
Good points, Dean. And as someone who has been involved in trying to bring full disclosure to this matter for months, often getting angry and bitter slaps in the face from people who should know better, it's another example that in politics and government, it's tough to keep secrets for long when a lot of people are affected by or know about those secrets. "Managing" a crisis is risky and is at best tough to do. The best course of action would have been to tell what had happened, admit to human error if that was the case, and work to make sure it didn't happen again. Even in today's age of skepticism, voters know that those in government are only human. If that had been done months ago, as some asked, today's "political problem" would have been yesterday's news. Instead, as you've aptly assigned the title, it gives "Chaos Theory" fodder for those who want to play with it. When will we ever learn that the attempt to cover up a crack in the wall with globs of paint is always only temporary, and can just make the wall look worse when it peels off?

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