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Random
Thoughts
NECC Professor Mark Palermo
 This month’s column is about
hypocrisy and its adherents in public life. The French
writer, Andre Gide said, “ The true hypocrite is one
who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies
with sincerity.”
What else can be said about Rush Limbaugh? On April
15 Rush was arrested for allegedly doctor shopping-
getting prescription drugs for the same condition from
four doctors. With the Kennedy family’s attorney Roy
Black at his side, Rush pleaded innocent and paid a
$30,000 fine… Here’s Rushbo pontificating about
others who take drugs, “If people are violating the
law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they
ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.”
Do as I say, not as I do.
Honorable mention in the circle of hypocrisy goes to
Howie Carr for his comments on May 31 about
Elizabeth Taylor, whom he derided as “a hag”
and stated that she should “pray for a quick and
easy death.” At one time billed as the most
beautiful woman in the world, the 74-year-old Ms Taylor
was also one of the greatest actresses of the twentieth
century, but in Carr’s view, she’s old
and thus of not much value. Carr’s arrested
development makes him think it’s humorous to deride
elders.
He may actually think his cynicism makes him appear
younger to his listeners. But Carr is now in his
mid-fifties ( not old…for a cathedral) and has long
since received his first AARP mailing. Perhaps he should
stick to his forte of bashing immigrants. For
Carr-mudgeon to criticize anyone for being old is like
Ted Kennedy criticizing somebody for drunken driving,
which brings me to the next candidate.
In 1962, nobody had heard of the Beatles, Mickey Mantle
played centerfield for the Yankees, Marilyn Monroe was
alive, and Ted Kennedy became a senator. Gas cost 22
cents a gallon. Now people pay three bucks for gas, and
with surging demand from China and India, the price can
only increase. No problem if you are a Kennedy. But we
have wind technology to lessen dependence on petroleum
and put downward pressure on demand, but Kennedy is
concerned: the windmills might obstruct the view from his
sailboat.
Meanwhile, 170 400-foot turbines will be constructed off
the Gulf of Mexico by Superior Renewable Energy, a Texas
company. Together they will generate 500 megawatts,
enough energy to power 125,000 homes. So while Texas,
home of big oil, is doing the right thing for America and
building wind farms, Kennedy is blocking wind technology
in his own state. It is time for Kennedy to go. It
amazes me the number of people who vote this guy because
of name recognition.
Representative Martin Meehan is worthy of inclusion
within the circle. In the early 1990’s Meehan
campaigned against higher taxes and NAFTA. Shortly after
Meehan won his seat, he changed his mind on taxes and
voted for Clinton’s massive tax hike; then he
changed his mind on NAFTA and voted for it. Term limits
was a high profile issue and Meehan signed a pledge
that if he were elected, he would step down voluntarily
after four terms.
But after serving his four terms, he decided to ignore
his pledge. The Democrats are supposed to be for the
little people, right? But Representative Meehan voted to
block legislation to prohibit partial birth abortions. I
wonder how many Catholic votes he gets? They just keep
loving him in this state. At around 5 million dollars,
Meehan’s campaign chest is larger than any of the
other 434 members of the House.
Then there is our default governor, the globetrotting
Mitt Romney- he just drops by Massachusetts to pick up
his check. He thinks he has a mandate from the people.
But in reality, he was elected because the voters wanted
any Republican- even a guy off the street- to play goalie
against the Democratic state legislature, which under the
last Democratic governor, came close to bankrupting the
state.
Like John Kerry, Romney is a flip-flopper, reversing his
positions on abortion and gay marriage and anything else
for political expediency. Not surprising then, that he is
against wind farms on the Cape. He will no doubt present
himself to the country as a pro-education candidate, but
under his leadership Massachusetts is the only state
spending less on public higher education than it did ten
years ago, and ranks 49th in state spending on public
higher education per $1000 of income. Under Romney’s
lackluster and uninspiring leadership, the state has
floundered. Mitt has a good head of hair, but he is just
another indecisive, opportunistic politician without a
center.
The Bible tells us there’s nothing new under the
sun. Hypocrites have always been and always will be with
us. We are all hypocrites at times. I don’t think we
are going to change that, but we need not honor and
esteem hypocrisy in our public discourse.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The June, 2006 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
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All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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