Archive: Opinions

Politicians will say just about anything if they think they can win an election or keep favor with the electorate.  With the mid-term elections just a few days off, politicians across the country have been giving speeches, engaging in debates and addressing important issues at the local and state level.

For this brief period of time, we, the people, are viewed by politicians as essential to their continued success.  So important is our vote, that some of them will say and do the darndest things.

In midst of scandal and accusations, President Richard Nixon went on national television, looked directly into the camera and spoke those memorable words, “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.” It was a defining moment of his career and, some historians believe, the moment when his presidency began to erode. Simply put, it was an unbelievable claim.

It was a remarkable downward spiral for a President who only a year before had been reelected in a landslide victory. Nixon won 520 electoral votes to his opponent’s 17. He carried 60 percent of the popular vote. Little wonder that he thought the public would believe him. Alas, they did not.  Nixon has and will continue to bother me.

President Bill Clinton redefined morality in the White House when he spoke a line that will endure for generations.  During a particularly low time in his life, President Clinton became involved with a young White House Aide named Monica Lewinsky.  News of the affair brought the country to a standstill as Congress began its investigation of the affair based on grounds that the President lied to Congress. 

Like most politicians, President Clinton answered the only way he knew.  He lied by saying “I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I've never had an affair with her.”  Later that same year in a nationally televised broadcast from the White House, President Clinton publicly confessed his wrong doing, “Indeed, I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part.”  Clinton’s actions and words simply bewilder me. 

More recently, Tea Party Candidate and political hopeful running for the open senate seat in Delaware, Christine O’Donnell contributed to the list of memorable moments.  In a recent campaign ad she attempted to fend off accusations that she had practiced witchcraft.  In her brief infomercial, she reassured the people of Delaware that, “I am not a witch.” 

The comment, “I am not a witch,” was in response to an interview with Bill Maher on the talk show Politically Incorrect. In an episode some ten years ago, O’Donnell stated: “I dabbled into witchcraft — I never joined a coven.  I hung around people who were doing these things. I’m not making this stuff up.”

What truly bothers, bewilders, and bewitches me about her words is that she went on television with the single purpose of reassuring the people of Delaware, and the United States, that she is not a witch.  In truth, the majority of Americans do not care whether she practices witchcraft.  They want to know how she will serve them and the state of Delaware.  I must confess that she could have been a real contender in that race if, at the end of her commercial, she twitched her nose and suddenly vanished from sight leaving an empty chair.  That might have won her the senate race. 

Of all the one liners this year, the winner has to be New York gubernatorial hopeful Jimmy McMillan of The Rent Is Too Damn High Party.  During last week’s debate, he stood out among the other candidates with his uniquely groomed beard and moustache.  He won the hearts and minds of New Yorkers, and all Americans, with his one issue slogan, “The Rent is too Dam High.” 

Following his brief explanation as to how lower rents will help New York State reduce its trillion dollar debt, the moderator at the debate smiled and thanked him.  The audience applauded with smirks on their faces.  And even Andrew Cuomo, who holds a 38 point lead in the polls over his closest rival agreed with Candidate McMillan and began his opening remarks, “First, I’m with Jimmy, the Rent is too Dam High.”  Go out and Tuesday, vote, and lower the dam rent.  And that is to the point. 

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