Where were you when the sewers exploded?

[James A. Landau <JJJRLandau@netscape.com>]

We do things better in Kentucky.

In Louisville there was a mayor once who decided to go off to New Orleans with his girlfriend without telling anyone.

Unfortunately, while he was out of town, a flammable chemical got dumped into the sewer system and that night exploded.  It was apparently quite an experience---an airline pilot over Cincinnati, 150 km away, reported seeing it, and incredibly nobody was killed.  But where was the Mayor?  After all, a full-time Mayor (or Governor) is like a police officer:  never off duty.

I understand that Louisvillians were sensible and criticized the Mayor not for having an affair but for not telling anyone how to get hold of him.

This incident inspired two local sayings (I believe both became bumper stickers):
Where were you when the sewers exploded?
It's eleven o'clock and do you know where your Mayor is?

OT: something that hasn't entered the discussion yet about "hiking the Appalachian Trail":  South Carolina is one of the states where the Lieutenant Governor takes over as Acting Governor whenever the "real" Governor is outside the state.  Therefore the Governor, by not letting anyone know where he was, was guilty of nonfeasance of public office since the State of South Carolina was left in limbo as to who was acting as Governor.  Perhaps deliberate malfeasance, since some reports have stated that he doesn't get along with his Lieutenant Governor.

It is possible that "hiking the Appalachian Trail" was a deliberate invention on the part of some staffer to claim that the Governor was still in the State and therefore still acting as Governor, even though he was incommunicado.

OT: Headline in today's Atlantic City Press, about Iran:  "Protesters Crushed But Still Fighting".  How about that for an oxymoron?

   - Jim Landau

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