Cool Hand Luke

Most of you have never seen this movie. If you have, you are telling your age. Starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy, it describes the plight of a prisoner who refuses to submit to the system. There is one scene where the newly arrived Luke takes on the “Top Prison Dog” in an over matched fist fight. The clincher is that the audience, as well as the characters in the movie, after seeing the pounding being given, are themselves hoping the protagonist stays down.

Out of principal he doesn’t. Even though he cannot see straight, he doesn’t give up, and continues the fight again and again. Listening to know one, he is finally taken out with a mercy blow for his own good. Afterwards he is accepted by all for his tenacity of spirit……except of course, by the warden. It is from this movie the line “What we have here, is a failure to communicate” derives.

Watching Arnette McRae Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, being brutally pummeled by a hired hand of Wilmington’s Senator McDowell brought flashbacks of that movie. Except in this case there was no mercy.

Grilled for almost four hours, Arnette McRae, a hero of mine for her public transparent handling of the Bluewater/Delmarva RFP, even after being pounded in a disrespectful fashion, she got back up each time with spirit for the next blow.

Honestly it was hard to watch. I was truly disgusted by the lack of human tendencies that McDowell possessed. To treat anyone with such disrespect is unbecoming to the entire state. The first Senatorial district, does not deserve a thug like McDowell. There should be moral outrage. There should be vengeance. Were this the Old West, McDowell would be hanging from a tree by now.

Thank goodness the rule of law prevails.

But I write here not to condemn McDowell, but to praise Ms. McRae. She is truly a hero to all of Delawareans. We, are solidly behind her for how she brilliantly gave every party a chance at becoming Delaware’s next energy supplier, and how she published all findings, almost immediately, so all the evidence she had, was available to all. And based on that volume of evidence, she wisely made the only decision that had any real chance of saving Delawarean any money.

If one is unprepared, anyone can be at a loss for an answer…..I do it all the time. But give me two days to prepare, and you have a high chance of losing any argument you bring to bear.

For those who were not there, this hearing was scheduled as a friendly give and take on how the Bluewater deal was accomplished. Of course it was a Kangaroo court, since those holding it are publicly opposed to having Delawareans pay less for cheap energy. But is was in the General Assembly, by a long termed Senator, so one came prepared for the usual give and take of friendly Delawarean politics, as did the audience who came to witness it.

Since Tommywonk says it better than I ever could, allow me to quote him on the surprise that followed:

And why did Harris McDowell turn over the job of grilling the chair of the Public Service Commission to this Washington attorney? Senator McDowell held another of his hearings today, and sat PSC chair Arnetta McRae, along with executive director Bruce Burcat and the agency’s top counsel. But McDowell wasted little time in turning the questioning over to Randall Speck.………

We all know how that turned out. Mr. Speck questioned PSC Chair Arnetta McRae for nearly four hours, focusing on the way the Commission conducted the RFP process that led to the Power Purchase Agreement now on the table.

And just so you can comprehend this feeling of outrage was universal, Delaware Watch includes an observation from Senator Karen Petersen.

The witnesses I (Delaware Watch) talked to described “question” as “grilled,” “interrogated,” and the entire proceeding as an “inquisition.” Sen. Peterson reported that Mr. Speck’s questioning focused on how the PSC interpreted various phrases of relevant law. She said it was as if the witnesses for the committee hearing were being questioned in preparation for a lawsuit.

Why? Because those who still support Delmarva Power, Harris McDowell, Charlie Copeland, Thurman Adams, and Tony DeLuca, have no sensitivity to human feelings. Most of us in our own gut check would say “you just do not treat other people that way.” Apparently human traits do not apply to these four.

Especially when they pummeled the shining example of open government, which all four of those oppose, in order to intimidate others from following in her footsteps.

But brutality often backfires. After watching Arnette get pounded again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again……..and still keep her cool,……sends a strong signal that Wind Power will win in the end. Right makes might, and Harris McDowell’s mistreatment of a respected lady, was not right.

His cause is wrong, and now his judgment is also suspect. Although it is not the same as Atkins hitting his wife, it is as close as one can legally get.