MALLOY AGONISTES:  THE EXQUISITE PAIN 

OF THE WORST GOVERNOR IN AMERICA

by Cort Wrotnowski, Editor

DATELINE:  Oct. 28, 2017

SOURCE:  Freebeacon.com

Civility might suggest a kinder tone for Connecticut's current governor.  After all, he is the leader of Connecticut. Right?  Given the time in office, we should be able to expect some sense of how his time has been spent.  Comparison with his colleagues around the nation is perfectly reasonable and we should not be surprised to find his standing somewhat wanting.

Somebody has to be in last place among all 50 governors in America.  But why should it be him? Going on 8 years, I think we can say he earned it.

I offer a slightly different take on the idea of "Agonistes".  John Milton wrote a piece titled "Samson Agonistes".  It is a telling of Samson's struggles after his all powerful hair is cut off and he humbles himself before God.  Well, we are not quite there yet in the plot with Gov. Malloy.  Humility eludes him, as does any sense of responsibility for the crumbling temple falling all around him.

No, this Agonistes is in Hell, but he still doesn't know it.  That's pretty amazing.  I find it pretty hard to believe that he remains so unaffected by Connecticut's decline under his tenure.  Somewhere in his heart of hearts is the realization that he has done something very wrong.

Out of all the statistics one can cite about relative standing among the states, the budget numbers or anything else, the recent employment statistics should be the definitive statement.

Peter Gioia, who is the economist for CBIA (Connecticut Business and Industry Association), recently released his results for analyzing the job environment in Connecticut.  In the last three months alone, the state has lost an estimated 7,900 jobs.  National employment is up.  Labor participation rates in America are at recent highs.  The national GDP is hitting 3% which is good news.  But Connecticut? No, we are going in the opposite direction to the rest of the nation.

One needs to stop and reflect on this for a moment.  In 2016, CT lost some 3,000 jobs.  Just in three months, we lost nearly triple that number, and the year isn't over yet.  The 7,900 figure reportedly wipes out whatever gains there might have been between January and July.  Six months to struggle up to a point, and three months to crash down to the same level.  What is wrong here?

In a word, leadership.  The state is devoid of any real leadership to guide us out of this mess.  What we are left with is a suffering soul about to tear down the temple.  Lovely.  The temptation is to conclude that years of decline are the product of an angry, vindictive, governor who can't seem to get anything right.  He can call his job a thankless task due to an increasingly rancorous legislature.  But we have seen two budget cycles now where his own party was abandoning him.  That should tell you something.

Leaders like to use the cliche "I'm a uniter, not a divider".  Not only has Malloy Agonistes not even come close on that point, he seems to have studiously moved towards ever greater division.

Well, I offer a diagnosis.  Malloy Agonistes has always prided himself on being a deal maker.  Well, he has dealed himself into a hole on a series of bad decisions.  On this, there is no climbing out.  He's stuck.  He could use a little humility about now.  He needs to come to terms with the dark side of his deal making skills.  More than that, he needs to realize that good deal makers make for lousy strategists and even worse leaders.  Such people lose sight of the big picture that constitutes a "Sense of Governing".  He lack its totally.  Instead, all his decisions about turning this state around have been tactical in nature, and we see the results.

Maybe, in the fullness of time, some of his decisions will bear fruit for the future of Connecticut.  But they are sufficiently well hidden in a dark and foreboding climate for which there is no silver lining and no sense of an end.  His exquisite pain will have to be lived out in his remaining days in office.  We can only hope and pray to God that those who remain in this fight find the right people for the upcoming elections.  Pray and get active.