No One Asked Me But…
by Dr. Larry Moses
Published June 24, 2009
No one asked me but…Senator Ensign should resign. He probably won’t but he should.
As far as conduct unbecoming to an American politician, his may seem fairly tame. He admittedly only had an affair with an employee who was the wife of his best friend and employee. Anymore, if you are in Washington as an elected official almost anything seems to go.
If you look at the scandals of Washington, they fall on both sides of the aisles and at least in this way Congress appears to be bi-partisan. Senator Ensign’s transgression was not soliciting sex in a restroom, or lewd exchanges with underage pages, nor encounters in the oval office. No, this was merely the betrayal of an old friend.
Senator Ensign called for the resignation of Bill Clinton and Larry Craig. Why would he not feel he should resign?
I was very vocal about the fact that Clinton should resign. Clinton’s actions were his own choice and those of his partners. They were adults who chose to act in a less than moral way. But the position he and Senator Ensign held was one of trust and leadership.
Senator Ensign further exacerbated his offense by being a champion of the Religious Right. Bill Clinton at least never paraded himself as a keeper of the nation’s morals. Where are the ethics of a man who would cheat on his wife with the wife of his best friend?
Senator Ensign should resign. This would allow a paragon of virtue, the governor of the State of Nevada, to make an appointment to replace him. Oops! Just an after thought. Has anyone else noticed that the national media has pretty well ignored this story. Senator Ensign was the fourth ranking Republican in the Senate and the liberal press has been uncharacteristically quiet about this scandal.
Senator Ensign should still resign.
No one asked me but…Is any one else on communication overload? I received a text message from my son the other day. Having never sent a text message, I thought I would text him back. Then I realized I did not know how to text.
The very process seems nuts. With the push of one button, I could talk to him. But when you think of the process involved in texting, it must give you some hope for the next generation. Young people, that everyone over fifty think are illiterate and will never be able to fend for themselves, can text as an after thought. These young people can hold a conversation, play a video game, eat dinner, drive a car and chew gum while texting at the same time. Now if they can only find a job that will pay for those skills.
No one asked me but…Fourth of July is quickly sneaking up on us. Thanks to the efforts of the Pray family, the Fourth of July celebration in this valley has been as good as it gets. There will be the flag raising ceremony, Rotary breakfast, the kid’s games and candy fly-by followed by the water games. The evening dinner is provided by the Chamber of Commerce. The fireworks are always as good as any I have ever seen. You will find donations jars throughout the valley to help pay for the cost of the event which is free for the community. Be sure to drop some change in the jars as you shop.
No one asked me but…Where in the Constitution is the right of an American citizen to have a TV guaranteed? Now I am aware of the fact that everyone in the valley pays a tax of $24.00 a year so all of the citizens in valley can see “Days of Our Lives” and that is okay. But we are now spending millions of the federal tax dollars to assure all Americans who need them have the converter boxes necessary to go from analogue to digital TV.
When I was growing up, the neighbors had TV years before we did. I asked my dad why we didn’t have a TV.
“Shut up!” he explained.
There was a time when some Americans had things others did not because they had more money and could afford them. We are now moving to a place where the government will insure that we all have not only basic needs but our wants.
When did TV become a basic need? In Massachusetts the state is now buying cars for welfare recipients. Why not provide everyone with a cell phone? How about a condo in the mountains?
No one asked me but…President Bush is acting a whole lot more presidential since his retirement than while President. He has given a number of low key speeches and in each he has refused to criticize President Obama personally. While he has voiced his opinion in oppositions to a number of decisions, he has done so without personal rancor and that is refreshing.
It is a lesson many people need to learn. You can disagree with an individual without hating that person. While he would not criticize President Obama, he did state, “I will just tell you that there are people at Gitmo who will kill Americans at the drop of a hat. Persuasion isn’t going to work. Therapy isn’t going to change their mind.”
When asked if he thought Obama’s plan would compromise security, he refused to attack the President personally. He could only reply, “I certainly hope not.”
President’s Bush’s refusal to attack a sitting President is within the tradition of American politics. A great example of that principle was when ex-President Truman was asked why there was picture of President Eisenhower, who he detested, in his house. He simply stated that he is the President of the United States.
No one asked me but…I have recently heard a lot of criticism of President Obama for being in the public so much. Now let me quickly reiterate that most of the policies of President Obama are diametrically opposed to much of my basic thoughts of what a government is for, but I am glad that we have a President who is in full view. One of my great disappointments with President Bush’s last years in office was his failure to be visible to the American people. I truly believe this lack of visibility was a major contributor to the fall of the Republican Party. The President belongs to the people and needs to be seen as a leader of the nation. It is important to see the President day to day as well as when a crisis hits.
Thought for the week…The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.
-John Foster Dulles.
