MOTTO hasn't had a Weekend Coffee post in some time, so pour your self a cup and relax.  

Some of those in government and elected officials occasionally take ordinary folk for granted.  While not necessarily done intentionally (at least initially), it can certainly fester into a much bigger issue, ultimately causing many more problems than it was worth, as well as being downright impolite.  Take two of Montana's bloggers, for example.  Pogie at Intelligent Discontent and GeeGuy at Electric City Weblog.  One liberal, one conservative, each asking government for something and not satisfied with the response.  Pogie is asking for Congressman Rehbergs schedule, while GeeGuy is looking for public documents.  Each has run into a roadblock of some form or another, and the issue has grown to what MOTTO would characterize as fairly significant, if not very interesting and, to an extent, disturbing.

The purpose of the post is not to legitimize the issue for either blog, one can read the the various posts on the respective weblogs and determine the veracity themselves.  MOTTO is amazed, however, that neither of these issues needed to grow to the extent they did, and they only did so due to the apparent inaction, lack of action, or lack of respect by the government or individuals.    It appears that they were set aside as not important or that big of deal.

The emergence of blogs and ultimate viral ability for stories to gain traction and importance is evident, whether it be  Britney Spears or the Iraq war.  Issues important at a local level can spread just as quickly, and perhaps have a more fervent audience, as evidenced at ECB. 

What is all too clear in both of these examples, is that it more than likely wasn't necessary.  Simply responding with the information, or a more clear explanation of why something wasn't available, would have likely ended the issue before it started.