LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Pride is foremost, of course. What kind of too-big-for-your-britches swell-head grandstander has the sheer damn conceit to flash the brass and come right out and claim that he or she ought to be president of the United States? It’s a nearly impossible job, and anyone who doesn’t admit that is unqualified for the position. The only kind of people we should want to be president are the kind of people we’d have to drag, kicking and cursing, into the Oval Office. (Anybody know where Clint Eastwood hangs out?) Envy is pride’s inevitable twin. Even the most successful politician is always envious of someone whose britches are further split at the seams, whose head has a more pronounced case of mumps above the ears, whose bleachers are jammed with a larger crowd of jerkwad fans. Hillary Clinton’s green glow of envy still shines so brightly that you can use it at midnight to read newspaper stories about Donald Trump from across the street from her house in Chappaqua. Wrath is the defining emotion of politics today. All the presidential front-runners are furious... Trump’s angry... Warren’s angry... “ Hillary Clinton’s green glow of envy still shines so brightly that you can use it to read newspaper stories about Donald Trump at midnight from across the street from her house in Chappaqua.
Biden is angry – although we sometimes have to wait a moment for him to remember what he’s angry about. Greed, Gluttony, and Lust play vital roles in politics. And I’m not referring to money, food, and rolls in the hay. Although with corruption, $1,000-a-plate campaign fund- raising dinners, and #MeToo stalking the halls of power, those transgressions do abound. But the true mortal sin of politics is greed, gluttony, and lust for power. The avaricious, the voracious, and the horny may be forgiven, but people whose deepest desire is to bend others to their will and lord it over mankind go to hell. And let us not forget Sloth. Politics might seem to be a busy and active profession with laziness rare among politicians. But politicians sure can be indolent, idle do- nothings when it comes to answering the needs of the American people. To give just one sinful example: The 15th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1870. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Then came 95 years of Jim Crow state and local lawmaking until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. And lastly, let us give thanks that our bad politics provide our terrible politicians with
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November 2019
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