Monday, October 1, 2018

The Trussians Are Coming

Back when I was in my youth, some time ago, there was a comedian who ran for president. His name was Pat Paulsen. I believe he "waged" his campaigns not with the intention of winning, but rather to add levity to politics and increase the strength of his brand.

His quotes included:

"You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can only make a monkey out of the voters every four years."

"All the problems we face today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian."

Since the inception of the Tea Party, and their success at the polls, we have witnessed an surge in "politicians" of this nature. Only the humor has been replaced with hatred, vitriol and bigotry. Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis featured an ad teaching his children to emulate Trump complete with an explosion in his backyard. And the appearance of 'I'd rather be a Russian than a Democrat' tee shirts at Trump rallies, while we are in the mist of an investigation to determine to what extent the current administration conspired with the Russians to meddle in our democracy, is quite troublesome.

These non traditional candidates, shamelessly, are driving out traditional, more decent, moral and competent, candidates witnessed by the departures of Darrell Issa, Jeff Flake, Paul Ryan and 28 other Republican congressional candidates not seeking reelection.

Humor is a wonderful thing. But it is not a panacea for all things. As Trump and the Trussians continue to defile America, attack her traditions, institutions and the rule of law, it may be time for a quote from one of our country's founding fathers who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence because the Constitution did not yet have a Bill of Rights. Patrick Henry said:

"Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell and (Vladimir Putin)…..may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it."