Democrats and Republicans betrayed the public trust

There are some times when a politician makes sense. What happens in those rare moments of lucid candor? The talk focuses on reality, not ideology. That's when politicians make sense. Real candor sometimes occurs these days because government does not have the money it needs to mask inept and corrupt politics as usual. Financial distress can force reality into the conversation.

Consider the following quotes from a recent political speech. Does this feel about right or not? The added emphasis is mine.

Confronted with a room full of angry firefighters facing salary and pension reductions, the politician, being booed by the crowd, tossed away his prepared speech and said this: "Here’s the deal: I understand you’re angry, and I understand you’re frustrated, and I understand you feel deceived and betrayed. And the reason you feel all the things is because you have been deceived and you have been betrayed. . . . . . Why are you booing the first guy who came in here and told you the truth? See, there is no political advantage to me coming into that room and telling the truth. The way we used to think about politics and unfortunately the way I fear they’re thinking about politics still in Washington DC. See, the old playbook says lie, deceive, obfuscate and make it to the next election. You know, there’s a study that says by 2020, . . . [our pension system] could be bankrupt. And when I told a friend of mine about that study, he said to me, well wait. By 2020, you won’t be [in office]. What the hell do you care? That’s the way politics has been practiced in our country for too long."


Commenting on President Obama's January 2011 state of the union speech, the politician said this: "He says the big things are high speed rail. The big things are high speed internet access for almost eighty percent of America or something by some date. One million electric cars on the road by some date. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the candy of American politics. Those are not the big things. Because let me guarantee you something, if we don’t fix the real big things, there are going to be no electric cars on the road. There is going to be no high speed internet access, or if there is you’re not going to be able to afford to get on it. . . . . . That’s not what we need to be talking about. No one is talking about it. And now what this has become . . . . is a political strategy. The President is not talking about it because he is waiting for the Republicans to talk about it. And our new bold Republicans that we just sent to the House of Representatives aren’t talking about it because they are waiting for him to talk about it. Let me suggest to you, that my children’s future and your children’s future is more important than some political strategy. Let me suggest to you that what game is being played down here is irresponsible and it’s dangerous."

Commenting on how legislators deal with serious problems, the politician said this: ". . . when a legislature - and I don’t care whether this is the Congress or whether this is [a] state legislature. When they say we need to study the executive’s proposal, you think because you speak English, that means they’re really going to take some time, consider it and then act. No, no. What that means [here in this state] and what I suspect it means in Washington also, is this: it means we are going to drag our feet for as long as we can until we hope it dies a natural death because God knows we don’t want our fingerprints on it for murdering it, but we also don’t have the guts to do it. That’s what ‘study’ means in government parlance."

Do those comments ring true? Sound about right?

The quotes are from a February 16, 2011 speech that republican New Jersey governor Chris Christie gave at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Republican think tank (C-Span video link;  transcript link). Gov. Christie's speech was aimed at both political parties. He did not say his remarks were directed only at Democrats. He gave his speech in a Republican stronghold but nonetheless criticized his own party as well. He was speaking truth to power.

A new political party

Some of the sentiments that Gov. Christie expressed have been expressed here as well (link 1, link 2, link 3). Does it make sense to vote for Democrats or Republicans when they have betrayed the public like this? Despite America's current difficulties, the Democratic and Republican parties still play their political games at our expense for their own benefit. Gov. Christie is another voice arguing that our two-party system failed. And, if that wasn't what he was saying, then what exactly was he saying? That they succeeded and served us well?