Another week of political lying
Could Stefanik have been the leak of the McCarthy tape?
The Front Page
Morning Update
Saturday, April 23, 2022
By Ken Tingley
Larry David does a commercial for cryptocurrency that always makes me smile.
Over a series of historical vignettes, he scoffs at the invention of the wheel, using eating utensils instead of fingers, using an indoor toilet rather than an outhouse and ells Edison the light bulb is a bad idea.
But the one I like the most shows David in Colonial period dress as a member of the the Continental Congress as it debates the Constitution.
“No king?” David screams. “Gentlemen, have you taken leave of your senses.”
“People shall have the right to vote,” another Founding Father exclaims.
“Even the stupid ones?” David asks.
“Yes,” the other members respond in unison.
“Stupid people vote?” David yells again, then dashes toward the document to rip it up before it can be signed.
I wonder if it explains our current schizophrenic voting habits as we collectively change political directions every two years. For some reason, we just can’t seem to make up our minds.
It’s not so much we are stupid. Maybe, we are just too trusting, too gullible to the constant barrage of lies we are told.
I used to believe this perpetual back and forth was good for the country. It kept us from being too liberal, or too conservative. The voting back and forth was a moderating force and forced compromise between elected officials with opposing viewpoints. But with both parties becoming more and more extreme, those compromises have become instinct. It is less and less likely that the people are served.
This week a judge ruled that New York’s state’s congressional map was gerrymandered to favor Democrats. You didn’t need a law degree to know that.
The reality is that gerrymandering has become the rule rather than the exception for any state controlled by one party.
Consider Tennessee where the Republican-controlled Legislature divided the city of Nashville, a Democratic stronghold, into three districts in an attempt to eliminate a Democratic seat.
In Florida, the new congressional map carved up districts with Black majorities to make Republicans more competitive.
Both states are being sued over the new congressional maps.
Nothing in politics seems above board anymore and everything ends up in court.
A new book this week quoted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticizing Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 riots.
McCarthy denied he said anything like that, then tapes appeared that same day showing McCarthy actually did say the things described in the book.
He still denied it.
It reminded me of the 2018 congressional election here where The Post-Star editorial board asked both candidates not to lie. Rep. Stefanik never took the pledge.
That’s because it is the one constant in our politics. Lie, lie and when you get caught lying, lie some more.
We’ve all been privy to constant stream of anti-Biden criticism from Republicans that blame the administration for everything from rising gas prices - sorry, presidents don’t have that kind of control - to the recent record inflation.
Economics is far more complicated than that and even the experts often disagree about the cause and effect of economic policy.
While inflation is reaching a 40-year-high, it was also revealed this week that corporate profits reached record highs and worker wages had increased significantly. And many of us still have the Covid checks the government cut for us during the pandemic.
Economists point out that the inflation trend start during the Trump administration because of the pandemic and has continued under the Biden administration.
Unemployment has also declined again, more jobs are being added each month and the supermarket shelves are mostly full again.
People vote their pocketbooks so the mid-term elections will favor the Republicans.
Until the next time as we continue to believe the latest lies.
Stefanik tape leak?
Rep. Elise Stefanik was again in the national news, although she rarely makes local news.
Rick Wilson, the former Republican strategist who was a Lincoln Project co-founder and a regular on MSNBC, suggested that Elise Stefanik might be behind the tape leak that embarrassed Kevin McCarthy.
“But today, the buzz in D.C. is all about Elise Stefanik that she's the one behind this and putting the knife into this guy,” Wilson said on the Joy Reid Show. “She's extremely ambitious. She's gotten very close to Trump, and she's gone full MAGA. So, I think if Kevin is thinking through his immediate future mayor donors, as he has been, unless they keep him he can't block the Trump people. Kevin should get a food taster at this point."
Tweet of the Day
So much to comment on…
The idea that both parties are becoming more extreme is simply wrong. Let’s rewind to the 60’s & 70’s. The big issues then: civil rights including voting rights, women's rights (the ERA and abortion), nascent LGBTQ rights movement (Stonewall), equal pay/living wage; the environment including pollution, extinction, climate change; and the economy including issues around fossil fuels, foreign trade. The Left has been consistent on those issues in demanding increased social justice across the board. The Right however has been inconsistent. Nixon created the 1st panel to investigate climate change. Roe v Wade was considered settled law by all but an extremist fringe. When Floridian Anita Bryant attacked gays a majority of Americans Left and Right stood against her - all but the most extreme Right fringe. Just this month FL Gov DeSantis signed anti-gay and anti-Disney legislation. Anti-Disney! And while a great majority likely believe that is ridiculous he is the elected governor of the 3rd largest state.
What are the “extremists” on the Left fighting for? The same things MLK fought for: civil rights, economic rights, voting rights. The Right is moving toward positions even George Wallace eventually rejected. The Supreme Court, given a chance, will likely outlaw abortion in nearly all cases. Is that not Right wing extremism?
But that gets me to my real point which I’ll add in a separate post if this site allows …
The election is fixed way before election day...challenging petitions and fixing primaries are just the start...keeping third parties that are actually not attached to the two parties off the ballot...why even Socrates hated democracy...he did not think common people should have a say in their future government...watching the shiny objects distracts from any meaningful understanding of the issues...