Letters to the President #594: 'Losing her head'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: A weird thing about politicians is how hard it seems to be for them to admit they’ve made a mistake, no matter how obvious it is. I’m not accusing the president of that (at least not at the moment) but I’m wondering if he has any thoughts on the matter.
Dear Mr. President,
One of the rarer things to witness in these days of corporate-speak, "stay on message" and, "at all cost avoid spontaneity" campaigning is a full political meltdown. But boy, are they fun. Frankly I don't care if we're talking about a Republican, a Democrat, or a wandering leftover from the Whig party.
And this wacky dinner theater that passed for the Arizona governor's debate a few night's ago was a classic. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Gov. Jan Brewer.
Now, I'll admit that the evening started with an unfair advantage over a lot of other debates when it comes to sheer, raw potential for goofiness. I mean, how many times do you have a candidate...a sitting governor no less...suggest that headhunters are stalking her counties? Come on. With that on the table you, me, and Fred Flintstone all knew before the first question that some great television was being warmed up in the microwave.
Actually, what came about was a series of ridiculously squirmy moments courtesy of the Ghouls Gone Wild Governor. From that crushing, mind-blowing, Hindenburg of dead silence she served up right in the middle of her opening statement, to the stony refusal to answer anything from anyone about her assertion that someone is leaving decapitated bodies in the Arizona desert, to her hilarious Bad Houdini escape from reporters after the debate. It was all just priceless.
I didn't really have much interest in the Gov's race down there up until this event, but now I am fascinated. Who knows? Maybe Gov. Brewer will hang tough despite the disaster in the desert and win this race after all. She has been pretty much hammering her opponent in the polls. And she has finally said that she misspoke about the idea of headless bodies being strewn around the countryside. The debate, she says, was not her finest hour. Ha! Paging Captain Understatement.
Anyway, I’ll never understand what is buried in the DNA of you political types that makes it so, so, so difficult to just say something like, “Headless bodies? Oh yeah. Well, turns out I was mistaken on that. Jack rabbits. We have a lot of those.” That would have worked. Instead, apparently the governor lost her head.
That kind of mistake ought to be a warning to pols everywhere. But I’ll bet it won’t. Give me a buzz if you have any thoughts on this. Or anything else for that matter. I’m around. Phone is on. Operators are awaiting your call.
Regards,
Tom
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Filed under: Letters to the President • Opinion • President Barack Obama • Tom Foreman |
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Mr . President
If you truly want to bring jobs back to America, practice what other countries do and stop worrying about their cries of protectionism. Tax their goods like they do ours, ESPECIALLY CHINA. There is no way our markets are supposed to be permeated with substandard goods from China when we can manufacture everything we use in this country. Tax the companies that outsource the labor and close all their tax loopholes and make it cheaper for them to stay in this country. When they outsource, put double tariffs on their incoming goods. Repeal the free trade agreements until we export at the same proportion and rate we import, that in itself will create millions of jobs. Do whatever you can to overturn the Supreme Court ruling allowing big business to contribute unlimited funds to political campaigns, that is LEGAL BRIBERY, allowing a company or special interest to BUY our politicians. This country is supposed to be FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, and when we allow big business to BUY our elections, it's FOR BIG BUSINESS AND SCREW THE PEOPLE. The middle class in our country had taken enough of that beating. I will end with this, Please Mr.President, do your job and stop biting into Republican racist rhetoric, it's not even worth a response from you and don't be advised to do so and start fighting fire with fire. We all know the Republicans killed our economy, now it's time for you and the Democratic party to let it ring in the American people's ears again just as loudly as it did when you were running for President. 1 more thing you promised, you said you would abolish LOBBYING on the Congress floor, please keep that promise and also make LOBBYING illegal, that is LEGAL BRIBERY and it must stop if this country is to recover from Corporate greed and theft of the American dream.
Why can't politicians swear an oath, that if elected to office, they will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
In 2008, I wrote to the campaigning Senator Barack Obama to take this pledge, but he ignored it and many other of my ideas.
But I would like to suggest that the media is partially responsible for an ignorant and biased electorate willing to believe that a Muslim would attend Jeremiah Wright's church for twenty years. When Jefferson said that he would rather have a free press than government, he couldn't possibly imagined that the press in the 21st century America would be so enamored with polls and influenced more on ratings rather than educating the public with the electronic and printing skills at its disposal.
Could the media do a better job of explaining healthcare to the public?
Is it not sad that we have candidates such as Brewer and Angle running for important positions with a high probability of success in this election.