Tuesday, September 20, 2005
A Bridge Too Far
So, what does Don Young say about the fact that the $223 million Congress gave him for a bridge that connects an island with 50 inhabitants to a town with 8000 might possibly be better spent helping victims of Katrina?
"They can kiss my ear!" Young boomed when Sam Bishop, Washington correspondent for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, asked him about the many pleas to redirect the bridge money.
That's right, folks; he's so angry at the idea that he's almost swearing.
And, the congressman said, he helped the seafood industry donate more than $500,000 for hurricane victims. (That was at the "Seafood Invitational," a charity golf tournament Sept. 9 in Roslyn, Wash., Bishop reported Friday.)
"I raised enough money to give back to them voluntarily," he said, "and that's it!"
See, now, what we have here is an example of Dalton Syndrome. In Richard Wright's Native Son, the main character takes a job for a white millionaire named Mr. Dalton who keeps talking about how much he's given to the black community. His accomplishments? He bought ping-pong tables for a community rec center. Certainly, every little bit helps, but when you get $223 million for a bridge that will aid a grand total of 8500 people... well, there are better ways to spend it.
"They can kiss my ear!" Young boomed when Sam Bishop, Washington correspondent for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, asked him about the many pleas to redirect the bridge money.
That's right, folks; he's so angry at the idea that he's almost swearing.
And, the congressman said, he helped the seafood industry donate more than $500,000 for hurricane victims. (That was at the "Seafood Invitational," a charity golf tournament Sept. 9 in Roslyn, Wash., Bishop reported Friday.)
"I raised enough money to give back to them voluntarily," he said, "and that's it!"
See, now, what we have here is an example of Dalton Syndrome. In Richard Wright's Native Son, the main character takes a job for a white millionaire named Mr. Dalton who keeps talking about how much he's given to the black community. His accomplishments? He bought ping-pong tables for a community rec center. Certainly, every little bit helps, but when you get $223 million for a bridge that will aid a grand total of 8500 people... well, there are better ways to spend it.
