Get ready for some political theater

I learned yesterday that the WV legislature is having a public hearing on our water crisis this coming Monday at 5:30.

Public hearings, for those who aren't familiar, are a staple of WV legislative politics. They are an occasion for political theater. Sometimes, they are a consolation prize for bills that are going to die but still have some support. Sometimes they are kind of random.

Whenever they have one on a topic of interest, I try to be there and sometimes to speak. Generally, they divide the total time by the number of people who want to speak to arrive at the the speaking time. It's usually pretty short, a minute or two.

I'm not sure how much political impact they have, but I've come to look at these events as an interesting English class/ rhetorical assignment: how can you deliver as pithy and sticky a message as possible within the limits? It's kind of like writhing a political haiku.

I'm working on my English homework now.