Keller @ Large: Hurricane Sandy Showed Government, Media At Its Best

BOSTON (CBS) - Is everybody satisfied now that Hurricane Sandy was not the over-hyped figment of any politician's desire for headlines or the media's hunger for ratings?

Listen to Jon's commentary:

We escaped the worst of it around here, but we still had nearly 400,000 homes in the dark last night, and pretty much everyone can see the dangerous mess that was left behind. That's the bad news.

Photos: Sandy Hits Massachusetts

The good news is, this storm also showed us a positive side of life that's all too easy to forget about. I spent all day and most of the evening Monday at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker in Framingham, watching the first responder agencies and their executive branch bosses go through their paces, and it was an impressive sight.

It was professional, well-coordinated and reflected government at its best - a enterprise devoted to serving a clear public need as quickly and efficiently as possible with no grandstanding, ego trips or fakery.

And it was also impressive to watch two institutions that are usually at odds with each other, government and the news media, working as cooperatively as you'll ever see them work.

The folks from MEMA and the governor's office were unfailingly polite and helpful despite obvious stress and fatigue. And we animals in the press corps were also as well-behaved as we get.

During one press briefing, after the governor recited the growing number of power outages, I suggested he have the state fire marshal warn people about the safety hazards of makeshift heat sources. On his way out, the governor thanked me. I said, 'You're welcome.'

Believe me, it doesn't get more civil than that, and never will.

No one's asking for a medal here. It's just that, for once, everyone was working toward the same goal - helping our fellow citizens make it safely through the storm.

And it's a good feeling to know we're all capable of doing that - when necessary.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.