RI Statehouse Rally. Protest or Bitchfest?

Allan Giberti

I personally hate writing and talking about the coronavirus but it has literally infected just about everything. All news, all politics now revolve around COVID-19.

​The nation appears to be past the peak and the President has issued guidelines for Opening Up America Again. It is a three phase approach to safely and thoughtfully open up the economy.
Some parts of the country are making preparations to open back up, some are just going for it, but not here in Rhode Island. We haven’t hit our coronavirus peak yet. Unfortunately, you have many Rhode Islanders who hit their coronavirus tolerance peak about a week and a half to two weeks ago.

There was a protest at the RI State House on Saturday. I didn’t attend because I wasn’t sure what the protest was about. For some it was about excessive quarantine rules, for others it was about government overreach, others were protesting the Governor and her tyrannical unconstitutional laws and so on.

That’s a lot of stuff. For me, participating in a protest without a clear message as to why I’m protesting is about as appealing as donating money to some earthy, crunch, granola save the something organization. Just like if you can’t tell me what my money is going to be spent on you’re not getting any; if you can’t tell me why I’m spending my time here you’re not getting any of that either.

Don’t get me wrong. I love a good protest but this is Rhode Island.  Look at how much crap Rhode Islanders will let the government get away with when there’s not a pandemic. We’re nowhere near protest level yet and a protest without one message turns into a bitchfest at the State House.

However, Governor Gina Raimondo has been calling the shots without any oversight which is odd because isn’t it the Democrats who are always screaming about the need for oversight?

On Thursday, April 23rd I asked the Governor, “The RI House GOP has called for critical reconvening of the RI House Oversight Committee to explore policies implemented during the State of Emergency for good governance &  transparency. What is your response?”

​“I think that’s happening.” Governor Raimondo replied, adding, “I saw an announcement the other day, so I expect that will happen and obviously we look forward to that.”

Apparently not because the following day Minority Leader Blake Filippi received a letter from RI House Oversight Committee Chairwoman, Rep Patricia A. Serpa thanking him for the effort. She writes,

“Thank you and the Minority Caucus requesting a reconvening of the House Oversight Committee.

I know that the committee will be continuing its work in the future but we have two higher priorities at this time. I was pleased to be one of the members appointed to the Joint Legislative

Task Force on COVID-19 Emergency Spending, and we will begin our work next week. Secondly, the House Finance Committee will soon begin meeting to craft the state budget, which is of paramount importance in the challenging fiscal times.

I appreciate your interest in the Oversight Committee and will update you of future plans.”

So, the question is how long will Governor Raimondo will reign supreme without oversight and how long will it take Rhode Islanders to care?

If you wanted a message to rally behind maybe we should start there because there is no one on the Hill representing anyone’s interests.

Allan Giberti is the host of RI Red Radio on 990WBOB.com. You can listen to Allan live on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7pm Eastern.

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