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Mr. Smith, Where Are You?

Keeping with the mantra used with most addicts, I am unashamed to say the following. Hello, my name is Stan and I am a politicaholic.” As ugly as they sometimes get, I still can’t seem to get enough of it. One of my first and most important introductions into politics came from a very unlikely source. It was not anything that I read from the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. It was not one of those quotes from an old political speech that apparently every current politician has ready for just the right moment. It did not come from a history class and my interest was certainly not peeked based on anything that I heard in a political science class. It came as the result of sitting in front of a television and watching those old black and white movies that used to come on every Sunday morning.

It was the 1939 Frank Capra movie titled Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Jimmy Stewart played a much loved local leader who was thrust into the Senate based on the untimely death of the incumbent Senator. Mr. Smith went to Washington with good intentions but was immediately met with all of those corrupt things that attempted to destroy him. Fortunately, in the end, Mr. Smith prevails and beats back corruption for a triumphant conclusion. Even though the movie is nearly seventy years old, the original lesson should be a part of the acclimation process for anyone who seeks political office. And, that lesson would be that no matter how pure and genuine a political newcomer’s motives might be, they will find many traps along the way that will attempt to bring them to the dark side of politics. We have seen based on recent events, that the temptations of 1939 are still alive and well. Some things never change. Money, power, and sex can bring down those with even the purest of hearts. Admittedly, it is much easier to bring down some than others.

Along with this lesson, we should also include a secondary lesson to be learned. Even if you don’t fall to planted temptations, you can still be ruined. It is now possible to bring down a politician or a candidate based on perception alone. The political figure doesn’t actually have to do anything, as long as the public can be convinced that something occurred. You don’t need juicy pictures or “caught red handed evidence” to take a candidate down anymore. It is much simpler than that. Just a note on a political blog, or a political mailer, or an innuendo is just as good as the truth. And, the reason that these political destruction projects are so successful is that there are little ramifications to those who start them.

Not only do we see it with our candidates, but their families are absolutely fair game in today’s political world. In this year’s presidential elections, we have heard as much about the candidates families as we have heard about them. In fact, if it were not for the Hollywood gossip style stories about Obama’s and McCain’s wives, how boring would this election be? Or how much more do we need to know about Dick Cheney’s lesbian daughter or President Bush’s daughters and everything about them…from a visit to a bar to one of their weddings? I’m not saying that all of these things are not important events to these respective families. But, is it important that we know all of it as well? We hear of family escapades not because the reporting entity is really interested. We hear about them because the reporting entity usually has a slant whereby they are attempting to do harm to a particular candidate.

Now, we hear that McCain’s candidate for Vice President, Sarah Palin, has a pregnant and unwed daughter. Does anyone think that this news was released because there was concern for the daughter, or the unborn baby, or the father of the unwed baby?
All of us know that the story was released not for any of those reasons, but it was simply an attempt to do harm to the potential success of Mrs. Palin. I have no idea what kind of Vice President Mrs. Palin would make. She could be the best yet or she could be the worst we have ever seen. But, I doubt that the fact that her daughter became pregnant will have little to do with her success or failure.

The good news of this event is that many people on both sides of the aisle have cried foul on this one. In fact, this untimely leak of irrelevant news may have actually helped Palin out. Her and her daughter’s response, to this situation which is of no business to anyone but them, has been that the daughter will have the baby and will marry the father.
It sounds like a logical response to an unfortunate situation. It sounds like a response that is heaped in a responsible, conservative, and right to life manner. Even so, I doubt that that is the way that the Palins’ wanted their daughter’s life to unfold. More importantly, I doubt that this is the way that the releaser of this information wanted this story to unfold.

In the movie, Jimmy Stewart was able to hurdle one obstacle after another in his attempt to clean up Washington. Unfortunately for us, and for today’s candidates, today’s hurdles are much taller, the playing field is much larger, and the rules of the game have diminished to a new low. In fact, there are no rules today. It might serve well for a Hollywood script, but it sure makes us understand why some people who would make wonderful candidates, are no longer interested in those types of roles.

If you are interested in having Mr. Hall speak at your next club or group meeting, please email contact information to: stanhall@voice4victims.com

 

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