Monday, March 12, 2007

Politician "apologies"

Why does AP put out--and the Asheville newspaper print without comment--short articles that say politicians with presidential hopes have "apologized" for having sexual affairs, without giving sources on where to find what a given politican acutally said? More importantly, why let this so-called news article imply that voters will receive such attention spots as a political act that okays their running for higher office?

As a voter, I am not voting for a politician because I have the audacidty to judge his or her personal life; I vote for a poltiican who will work to uphold policities that improve the public good--here and abroad.

Consequently, I am more interested in hearing what a politican has to say to defend or explain his views upon--and, if applicable, his part in--acts that seem to avoid basic governmental ethics; acts like those that (1) publicly embarrassed a sitting president for a minor sexual interlude, (2) publicly embarrassed his wife and daughter, (3) took up congressional time and spent public money over an impeachment charade, (4) strong-armed congressional representatives and/or senators to vote against their consciences in order to retain political power for a given political party, (5) voted for the invasion of a country on obviously shaky intelligence reports, and (6) refrained from using Congress's procedures to question an obviously questionable national election's results.

For any potential presidential candidate, I want to hear how he or she self-justifies such political acts, not how he self-jusifies his or her failures or successes in the bedroom. How can I access such information if the media neither asks such obviously pertinent questions nor gives sources for my hearing/reading what a given politician actually said?

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