Forgetting what the story was about

The tragedy that was and still is the Minneapolis Bridge collapse is completely indisputable, and I don't think that anybody doubts that state, local, and federal officials are doing whatever they can in the recovery mission and in an effort to do what can be done to repair the damage to the people of Minnesota.

That being sad, every other government official needs to shut up about bridges for the moment.

Governor O'Malley ran out today and assured the people of Maryland that Maryland's bridges are safe. Now, nobody actually knows if the bridges are really safe. Nothing has changed in the past twenty-four hours that would make Maryland officials question the structural integrity of our bridges. But then again, nobody thought the bridge on I-35W had anything wrong with it either.

Something bad happened. Could it have been predicted and prevented? Who knows at this juncture. But I can assure you that Governor O'Malley taking this opportunity to jump in front of a television camera accomplished absolutely nothing. He forgot that the story was not about him...

One comment the Governor did make was that there was a $40 billion shortfall in the state of Maryland as it relates to highway infrastructure, in necessary repairs and improvements. Given the fact that highway transportation is one of the few areas that government has a legitimate business being in, would it not make more sense to divert some of the billions in new social spending proposed by the O'Malley administration towards repairing our dilapidating infrastructure to try as best we can to prevent such a catastrophe from happening here? Wouldn't that be a better use of the Governor's time than posturing in front of the camera?