SoonerGirl06
1/23/2008, 08:13 PM
I received this e-mail from a friend of mine today and thought I'd share it with you guys. I think it's very poignant and pretty much sums up how I feel about the Presidential campaign.
Duplicity can be defined as deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive. We see a plethora of duplicitous prevarication in our political climate today. And yet, as candidates revise their core values and their individual histories to pander to specific audiences, they seem to do so with impunity. In this the information age, how do we NOT hold individual candidates to account for divergent opinions on like subjects in different venues? In this climate where it is considered a personal attack to ask a candidate’s view on driver licenses for illegal aliens, is there any chance whatever that someone will ask those who would be president why they are making statements 180 degrees out of phase with previous assertions simply because the audience has changed? Have we jettisoned integrity and veracity as integral to the character of our leaders in exchange for an admiration of a candidate’s ability to pander effectively?
Perhaps what we are experiencing is the Clintonification of American politics; the abdication of morality and decency in lieu of ideological agreement and the ability to play to an audience. Message acquiesces to marketing. Symbolism vanquishes substance. Magniloquence triumphs over meaning. The ability to lie smoothly becomes an admired characteristic rather than a disqualifying failure in character. Spurious and duplicitous statements are never judged in content, only in presentation. We have become a nation so enamored by packaging we have failed to examine the contents of the package.
Never before in the history of America has the Democratic Party fielded candidates who are so tremendously unqualified for public office. The rhetorical absurdity that spews from the mouths of the three most likely Democrat contenders would have made them all laughing stocks in another time. Now, rather than being the aberration, extremist lunacy has become the norm: victory through retreat; economic stimulus through increased regulation and taxation; fiscal responsibility through massive government expansion; and security through projected weakness not projected strength. Positively Orwellian, is it not?
I know how some Republicans must feel. There are no candidates to vote for, only those to vote against. I am not inspired that the next four years will be better than the last. I do not see a leader I can look up to or whom I would like to see my child emulate. We have ceded our leadership to floor models not role models. We have closed our eyes to duplicity and dishonor. Regardless of who wins in November, the ultimate loser will be the American people.
Duplicity can be defined as deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive. We see a plethora of duplicitous prevarication in our political climate today. And yet, as candidates revise their core values and their individual histories to pander to specific audiences, they seem to do so with impunity. In this the information age, how do we NOT hold individual candidates to account for divergent opinions on like subjects in different venues? In this climate where it is considered a personal attack to ask a candidate’s view on driver licenses for illegal aliens, is there any chance whatever that someone will ask those who would be president why they are making statements 180 degrees out of phase with previous assertions simply because the audience has changed? Have we jettisoned integrity and veracity as integral to the character of our leaders in exchange for an admiration of a candidate’s ability to pander effectively?
Perhaps what we are experiencing is the Clintonification of American politics; the abdication of morality and decency in lieu of ideological agreement and the ability to play to an audience. Message acquiesces to marketing. Symbolism vanquishes substance. Magniloquence triumphs over meaning. The ability to lie smoothly becomes an admired characteristic rather than a disqualifying failure in character. Spurious and duplicitous statements are never judged in content, only in presentation. We have become a nation so enamored by packaging we have failed to examine the contents of the package.
Never before in the history of America has the Democratic Party fielded candidates who are so tremendously unqualified for public office. The rhetorical absurdity that spews from the mouths of the three most likely Democrat contenders would have made them all laughing stocks in another time. Now, rather than being the aberration, extremist lunacy has become the norm: victory through retreat; economic stimulus through increased regulation and taxation; fiscal responsibility through massive government expansion; and security through projected weakness not projected strength. Positively Orwellian, is it not?
I know how some Republicans must feel. There are no candidates to vote for, only those to vote against. I am not inspired that the next four years will be better than the last. I do not see a leader I can look up to or whom I would like to see my child emulate. We have ceded our leadership to floor models not role models. We have closed our eyes to duplicity and dishonor. Regardless of who wins in November, the ultimate loser will be the American people.