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American politics erases shame from agenda

By Daily Bruin Staff

Oct. 20, 1994 9:00 p.m.

American politics erases shame from agenda

J.C. Curelop

There is no longer any shame in American politics. The good old
days when politicians might actually feel remorse or at minimum
some embarrassment for their actions has long since
disappeared.

Today politicians not only ignore their moral and ethical
shortfalls, some actually revel in them. Politics has been
transformed from an art where honesty was valued to one in which
two-faced hypocrisy is openly and shamelessly flaunted. To see
this, one need only look at a few of the stellar politicians now
serving the American public.

For beginners, there’s Congressman Michael Huffington. Of empty
mind but hefty pocketbook, Huffington has shown absolutely no shame
at openly trying to buy a seat in the U.S. Senate. Having set a
record by spending millions of his own money to buy a Congressional
seat in 1992, he shows no signs of slowing his free wheeling ways
before election day. One would think that his complete lack of a
record on Capitol Hill might at least make him blush. But no, he
actually revels in the fact that he has absolutely nothing to show
for his tenure in office. Mike Huffington is shameless or stupid,
and quite possibly both. My only question is this: Why go through
the process of spending money on commercials? Why not just send me
a check?

Then there’s Oliver North, who’s running for Senate in Virginia.
Convicted as a felon for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, North
not only claims to be an honest man, he actually has the gall to
tramp around Virginia raving about corruption in Washington! I ask
you: What kind of a disgusting hypocrite breaks the law, purges
himself and then lectures others about ethics? Aside from Richard
Nixon, Ollie North is the epitome of corruption. And yet he wants
to lecture me about values? That’s like getting sensitivity
training from Attila the Hun.

Of course, I wouldn’t want you to think that only Republicans
are shameless. Right across the river from Virginia, Marion Barry,
a Democrat as well as a convicted felon, has unabashedly risen from
political oblivion (and prison) to recapture the Democratic
nomination for mayor of D.C. Best remembered for his crack problem,
Barry also left a legacy of financial corruption that would have
made Ivan Boesky proud.

But don’t be too hard on him. After all, how else is a guy
supposed to support his cocaine habit? While mayor, Barry could
often be found passed out at parties in a drunken stupor. He also
spent a great deal of time on "free" paid trips to the Caribbean.
But hey, everyone has their faults.

Moving right along, we come to Mel Reynolds, a freshman
Democratic Congressman from Chicago. Reynolds looked to be a true
hope for the Democratic party after he unseated one of its most
hateful members: Congressman Gus Savage, who combined the poorest
attendance record on Capitol Hill with some of the most vitriolic
race-baiting ever heard. Gus did have one thing going for him: most
of the women he slept with were over the age of 16, something
Reynolds wishes he could say. Having been indicted on 20 felony
counts ranging from statutory rape to obstruction of justice, all
in all, Reynolds is also starting to look just a little
disappointing. George Will once said that even a stick of celery
would be better than Gus Savage; instead, we got a lemon.

But, even Mel Reynolds is not as shameless as my personal
favorite, Bob Packwood. I actually admire the Republican senator
from Oregon … yes, admire him. You have to admire anyone who
actually has the gall to talk about family values after they’ve
been charged with sexual harassment by enough women to fill the
Yellow Pages. It seems as though Bobby Packwood has got a little
problem keeping his hands to himself.

But do you think he would have the decency to at least resign?
No. That would be too respectable. Instead Packwood and his lawyers
are busily engaged in every legal maneuver that could conceivably
delay a congressional committee from looking through his
diaries.That’s right, there are diaries. I can just imagine the
entries: "Tuesday, Nov. 12 groped Mrs. So-and-so and asked her to
…"

Each of these politicians has succeeded in taking tactlessness
to new heights. And this is understandable, given the fact that
they are all absolutely shameless. The social stigmas that go along
with unethical or hypocritical behavior do not deter them from
seeking office because they are the type of men who can’t be
embarrassed by anything. This in and of itself is not so
surprising.

What is surprising, however, is the fact that the American
people have come to tolerate this type of impudent, irresponsible
effrontery on the part of their elected officials. Let us not
forget that we chose these politicians. In a dictatorship, if a
leader is repellent there’s nothing you can do. But, in a
democracy, if your leaders are disasters, then you’re to blame.
These politicians don’t just bring shame upon themselves, they
become an embarrassment to us. Their positions of power essentially
prove that we, as Americans, place no value on honesty or ethics.
Or rather, when we do, it is about trivial matters such as once
smoking pot or hiring a maid without paying her social security
taxes (and by my rough calculations, only about 60 million
Americans fall into one or both of these categories). So on the one
hand, while we hold certain politicians up to Herculean standards,
on the other we elect wretches. Hooray for democracy.

Within a month’s time we will each have the opportunity to cast
our votes for a new Congress. Whatever our political leanings, we
should show our politicians that unlike some of them, we as people
can feel shame and therefore will no longer tolerate being
embarrassed.

Curelop is a senior history student.

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