A piercing bullet, an esophagus-clogging onion ring or just a blink of an eye.
OK, so which one was it? As a diehard Sopranos fan, I think I am entitled to the fate of New Jersey mob boss leader Tony Soprano. In case you missed it, or simply did not know it existed, here’s what happened at the end of the series finale: Fresh off the whacking of the New York mob boss, Tony has a sit-down dinner with his family at a local establishment. The onion rings arrive and then, bam . . . or cough . . . or perhaps blink, everything cuts to black.
Some say Tony met his maker after receiving a fatal brain buster from a hit man. The other two scenarios came from my noggin, which is known to sometimes be on life support. He could have choked on the grease-dipped appetizer, lost consciousness and was later revived to a life of undercover work for the FBI. Or it could have been a simple split-second pause and a continued ride down a reckless path of corruption. Yeah, I’m leaning toward that one. I know Tony was facing some pretty hefty charges from the federal government, but, hey, all he had to say was, “I’m stupid and lazy.”
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) certainly thinks it is a tasty alibi. Facing years of whippings from the state’s Attorney General’s office and the Department of Environmental Services, NHDOT’s interim commissioner, Charles O’Leary, believes all was not done with the mindset of a lead-pipe-carrying mob boss. Supervisors just lacked intelligence and the motivation.
According to a long-standing investigation, here’s just the salty layer of decades of moral malnourishment in New Hampshire:
- Back in 1996, NHDOT traffic crews were spotted draining paint into a wetlands area behind a road maintenance building on Rte. 106. The dumping polluted a local pond and, according to former commissioner Carol Murray, coated several beavers in white and yellow filth. The workers behind the dumping were fired, but the misconduct continued to happen.
Other polluted events have followed, with commissioner after commissioner pledging to offer beavers everywhere a crystal environment to work, live and play in. The result, however, has been more chief resignations than DOT policy resurrection.
Waste disposal and other clean-up duties, which are the responsibility of NHDOT, are usually performed by outside contractors. In the case of the Franklin County dumps, disposal probably would have cost just a few hundred dollars.
What makes me want to yank someone by the collar and scream expletives down their throat is the soft-core pursuit of justice. The state’s Attorney General’s office has failed to really prosecute anyone, making itself comfortable with the fact that it’s just the culture of NHDOT. Officials even admit that the agency lacks the cohesiveness found in other departments across the country.
Well, I think it’s time for a culture shock. All supervisors behind this mess should be dismissed. Take a can of disinfectant to the whole operation. What has prevented past commissioners from using this broom of defense? Is there a Tony Soprano-type spitting threats from under the desk?
I would like to think that most state DOTs have a handle on staffs no matter who is involved. At any rate, let New Hampshire’s culture irregularities force all commissioners to take another look at who is calling the shots. Failure in complying could result in a dark ending nobody wants to see.
