Henican: GOP rivalries hardly forgotten

Should we pretend to like people we don't?

They're coming around very slowly this bitter campaign year.

There on Friday were Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, locked in a room together for an hour and a half -- no cameras, no aides, not a whiff of actual affection in the air. This is what passes in politics for "quality time."

The two of them certainly seemed to be trying. But the disdainful quotes from the primaries were piled up outside, waiting to be snipped into Democratic attack ads.

"If Mitt Romney's an economic heavyweight, we're in trouble," said a zinger from March, picked more or less at random. On his way to the expected Republican nomination, Mitt said plenty back at Rick.

And when the two ex-combatants said their goodbyes, they didn't even linger for a grip-and-grin photo shoot. Any endorsement that is coming -- and one eventually will -- wasn't coming yet.

With friends like these, who needs former rivals?

1. Cops and firefighters

2. Hillary and Barack

3. Army and Navy

4. Mangano and Bellone

5. The girls on "Girls," the women on "The View"

In all, seven separate governmental entities -- local, state and federal -- are investigating the 1,100-acre brush fire that left such a scar on Manorville: The Suffolk County police, the state Forest Rangers, the fire marshals of Riverhead and Brookhaven, the Ridge and Manorville fire departments and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Forest Rangers, who are part of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, have now termed the blaze arson, though they aren't quite saying what they mean by that and not all the other agencies seem yet to have signed on. Multiagency probes often disintegrate into political turf battles. This one hasn't yet. But it's a huge case and a vital one. Here's hoping they all keep playing nicely -- and that we get some solid answers soon.

Email ellis@henican.com
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