Senator Chris Dodd’s decimalogic popularity in Iowa may have been
foreshadowed by his “Rally Monkey” video blog. You can find it at:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DQxLef0PA )
It may explain why the Corn Belt didn’t buy into his presidential
aspirations.
It’s Tuesday afternoon, January 8 in the Capitol and many veteran
state staffers are still reeling over the way that Republicans and
Democrats are shamelessly using the July 23 triple homicide of a
mother and her two daughters in Cheshire to posture politically, in a
legislative election year, over law and order.
On Monday afternoon, Gov. Jodi Rell announced a 10 a.m. Tuesday news
conference in which she would beat her own criminal justice task
force to the punch and announce recommendations for a special session
this month. She even released a letter to the “Big Six” legislative
leaders inviting them to the Tuesday newser.
Senate President Pro Tempore Don Williams had scheduled a 1:30
appearance Monday in the Capitol Press Room to endorse Barack Obama
for president, but after getting Rell’s invitation, everything was
put back a couple hours so majority House and Senate Ds could concoct
a two-page reaction of their own on what they want for the special
session.
Rell, flanked by nine legislative leaders, task force members and
Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane, was asked by a reporter whether
the six months since the July 23 Cheshire murders represented a “lost
opportunity” for lawmakers.
“I think it’s been a great opportunity, as Kevin said, for people to
come together, to share information and frankly to have what I
consider a real eye opener on how this system works or doesn’t work,”
Rell said. “And I think it has been beneficial. I said we needed a
comprehensive review and look at the criminal justice system. It
wasn’t just the parole system that concerned so many people. It was
the entire process. So to answer your question, I think it’s been a
valuable tool for us to make decisions that we can move on
immediately.”
Another reporter, hinting at the politics of scheduling news
conferences and releasing proposals, asked Rell why she had the news
conference on Tuesday instead of waiting for her task force to
actually meet and present final recommendations on Wednesday.
“Because I got a draft copy of their report ahead of time,” Rell
said, laughing. “And some of the things that I believe we can do are
what I’ve outlined today.”
Rell said that she spoke Monday to Dr. William Petit of Cheshire,
whose wife and two daughters were allegedly murdered by two career
burglars. The governor said she went over the broad-brush details to
assure him that she and the General Assembly were on the verge of
toughening laws on burglaries and career criminals.
Williams was even more politically overt.
“I was very pleased that the governor has embraced the fulltime
professional parole proposal that we made last September,” he said.
“The good news is we’re all on the same page,” said House Minority
Leader Larry Cafero , who unsuccessfully attempted to hammer through
enhanced criminal penalties during a December 5 meeting of the House
that put them into a special session on criminal-justice reforms.
“My hope is that we’re all going to come together on a package,”
added Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield. “There is a
commitment on the governor’s behalf and the majority’s behalf to have
a session in January to deal with very important issues and we’ll
have a debate and vote on those issues.”
