Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Restoring Trust

Richard Cohen writes in an op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday,
…but let me suggest that Bush's "worst legacy" is what he has done to whatever trust Americans still had in their government. This administration's incessant lying, its secrecy -- its creepy Cheneyism with its petty justifications for torture and violation of privacy -- is its worst legacy, one that will endure long after Wal-Mart opens a branch in Sadr City. Only an idiot would trust this government.

And so it will be the job, the obligation, the solemn task of the next president to restore that trust.

He goes on to suggest that McCain or Obama can do that but that Clinton cannot, and I disagree with him. I have been listening to this campaign for, what, fifteen months now. Fifteen long, painful months.

Not one of these three can do it.

I am sick to death of this process and have all but reached the point that I don’t give a flying damn who the Democrats nominate, I don’t want to vote for any of them.

I don’t know how much of what McCain says is true, I don’t know how much of what Clinton says is true, I don’t know how much of what Obama says is true, I just know that for all the crap that all of them have been flinging enough of it has stuck that all of them stink like the sewers of Gomorrah.

They lie and they pander and they make promises that they cannot keep. They say they will cut taxes or alter taxes, but tax rates are the province of Congress; a President can suggest but not enact tax laws. That does not prevent them from making a promise that they know to be a lie.

They make one promise to one audience and a contrary promise to the next because the only thing that any of them ever say is whatever they think will make the current audience vote for them, or give them money, or both.

Whatever this is, democracy it is not.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2:31 PM

    okay I agree with Cohen on the Bush thing. But I agree only partially with the next part where it is the duty of the next president "to restore trust in the government.."

    It is not just the president (although that is a beginning), but the Congress as well. Start banning lobbyists. Start banning or STRICTLY IRONCLAD regulating the obscene amount of money that goes into all political campaigns. Start regulating or minimizing or streamlining the nomination process to make it less drawn out. Force the candidates to pay attention to their "regular" jobs, (which is usually Senator, Rep or Governor).

    And absolutely yes yes yes, pollyticians lie, cheat and steal to be elected and get re-elected. And the political parties aid and abet the process. And sorry to say, many (not all) voters buy into this crap. All the false promises are ludicrious on the face of it.

    The Founding Fathers did not imagine a politician having a political job for life. They would be horrified with the political process today.

    And of course, the voters have the (alleged) final say: we all collectively need to really take a look at who and what we're voting for. Not sound bites. Not the media bullshit. Not the happy smiling faces. We get who we vote for. Read this and weep - from CNN exit poll in PA: Forty-three percent of voters say Clinton isn't trustworthy. Twenty-one percent of those voters supported Clinton anyway.

    Go vote. Vote for whom YOU are comfortable with. If you don't like someone, vote for someone else.

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