Now that election season is over and we’ve seen all of the dirty tricks, lies, mudslinging, and all of the fun stuff, let’s get real, if for all of five hundred words: “heartless” Republicans raised the deficit, attacked poor Mr. Golisano, unleashed assault weapons on an unsuspecting populous, gave tax cuts to the rich (by current US IRS tax standards, most full time SJU professors are “rich.” Think about it if you ever want a salary around or above $50k.), and, of course, sent the economy into the gutter.
First of all, for those of you who don’t watch “This Week” or read columnist George Will, the economy has been bouncing back for a good long while, since September 2001; today, people have more spending money than they did a year ago. The Bush tax cut gave more to those who paid more-God forbid-but everyone got more money! I don’t care if it’s enough cash to buy a BMW, a muffler, or an ice cream cone, it’s my money and I want it back!
Political commercials also managed to hit a new low, thanks to the John Gotti look-alike, Golisano; there were countless commercials about how Pataki slandered him, yet his were the only attack ads I’ve seen. He talked about Pataki catering to big businessmen-ignoring that he is a big businessman!
Unless Golisano wanted to pay for upgrades out of his own pocket (like Mayor Bloomberg paid for the new City Hall computers), this pot shouldn’t be calling the kettle anything at all.
Should we even talk about the attack from a certain Southern Democrat on Rudy Giuliani, saying he left his wife for two gay men and a shiatsu; the reprehensible “memorial” for recently deceased Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone that was turned into a giant Democratic campaign rally for Walter Mondale, or the New Jersey bait and switch, nullifying all the absentee ballots?
Some used the serial sniper of Maryland for a campaign issue, that ballistic fingerprinting could have caught the sniper. Give any “CSI” viewer steel wool and thirty seconds, he can change the fingerprint of any gun. Some talked about the horrific use of handguns, ignoring that five times more people defend themselves with guns than use guns in crimes (LA Times, March 30, 2001).
Elections are over, and I can’t ask you to change your vote. However, I can ask you to read this article once more and think back on who you’ve elected and on what grounds you elected them.
I can ask you, if you’ve been fooled, to not be fooled again, to think through what you are told in the future, and to always double-check what you are told.
I ask that, in the next election, as in everyday life, you acknowledge the intellect that separates you from your house pet, and utilize it.
