A great deal of what we read in newspapers, magazines, and books, and what we see in the movies and on TV is written and produced in New York City or Los Angeles. Much of the "political wisdom" comes from the PR machines of the White House, the Congress, and from the Washington media corps.
In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington, DC, or Hollywood.
As I creep gingerly up on my 7th decade of life experience - which was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries, I decided to put down some ongoing thoughts in a series I call "The View From the Outback." That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 10 years. Each Monday I will attempt to post a new set of musings from the Outback.
The large numbers of blacks and Hispanics who voted for Al Gore is an indication that they want to
continue to be treated as second-class citizens, with only the Government being able to "help" them.
Read "help" as a continuing hold over their lives and freedom by government intervention in their
lives - and the lives of everybody else.
For the record: I voted for George Bush. But, I also voted for my Democratic Congressman because of his fair-minded and often bi-partisan views on votes over the years. I also voted for several Democrats in local elections. Once again, I wish there were no political parties, only Independents who would vote their conscience, instead of a party line. With a popular vote split 50/50, it is clear that there is no predominant "philosophy of governing" that prevails among the citizenry. Yet, whichever party controls the Congress, even by a narrow margin, "their" philosophy will generally prevail. The President is often irrelevant - except for his veto power. In the words of many old hands on the Hill, "Presidents come and go. But, we have been here forever." For heaven's sake, we have a Senator who will be 100-years old before his term expires. Ridiculous. Because of the slavish voting along party lines on most issues, the interest of half of the people will not be fairly represented. There has to be a better way. We don't need more third parties. We need no parties. Everyone accountable for his or her own vote on the merits. It is never going to happen, but it is time that America wakes up to the fact that the two-party system stinks. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we must have two parties. But then - who reads that old rag?
In 1983 I wrote a book called "Serpent on the Hill"(under my pen name Philip Eliot). It is now out
of print. The premise was that a Russian KGB illegal infiltrated our country, married an American
woman, and eventually got into politics. His rise culminated in a run for the presidency. For you
see, there is no background check on political candidates. Sen. Jesse Helms, Sen. Barry Goldwater,
and others, said that my plot was plausible. As one former Congressman put it on my dust jacket
"Shockingly plausible!"
Geogre Bush, or any other candidate for political office who would instead apply for a job with the
FBI, as a Treasury Agent, with the CIA, and so on, would not slip by without a thorough
investigation of his or her background. It is nearly inconceivable, for example, that a CIA
employment background check would miss a DWI arrest and subsequent guilty plea. As I recall, my
application was over 30 pages in length!
We hold our investigators and those entrusted with out national security to higher standards than
we do our politicians. With one notable exception - the Clinton Administration. People seem to
have forgotten the book by the former FBI man who detailed how security clearances in the White
House were delayed or simply not completed. ("Unlimited Access" by Gary Aldrich.) And there is
another book written by a respected reporter about the lax security et al., in the Clinton
Administration. ("Betrayal - How the Clinton Administration Undermined American Security" by
Bill Gertz of the Washington Times.) For those of you who were not paying attention, Al Gore was
as actively involved in governing as any Vice President in history. He was as much a part of
dismantling our national security, and our military, as was Clinton.
The missing tapes at the Los Alamos nuclear facility was just one case the public heard about. We
must assume that President Al Gore would continue the lax security policies of Bill Clinton. The
lapses were for political reasons or political gain, in one way or another. Why fix a system that works
so well on your behalf? Never mind that our country's security is gradually being weakened.
This is a woman who has lied about and covered up scandals during her entire adult life. There was
the investment thing, the missing billing records, Whitewater, the destruction of careers in the
White House Travel Office (which she orchestrated), the idiot security boob, Craig Livingstone
whom she apparently helped select. Mr. Livingstone presided over the massive stonewall of the FBI
clearance procedure of those who worked in the White House. Much of this was that many of them
used drugs and could not withstand the normal FBI and Secret Service vetting. And, as I recall, he
was involved with the massive collection of FBI files of Republicans at the White House. His
appointment as Director of Security at the White House was the equivalent of making a night
watchman head of the FBI. Seriously. Read the history. He was Hillary's boy. Makes you proud.
Her accomplishments? Zero. Nada. That is, unless you want to count her tenure as the director of
the Legal Services Corporation under Carter. The GAO determined that under Hillary's direction,
the LSC gave illegal grants and performed illegal acts to support political causes with taxpayer dollars
in violation of her oath.
There was the health-care fiasco. Her task force violated a score of regulations. For example, secret
meetings. Her Socialized Medicine plan was soundly rejected, by the public, and by both political
parties.
Now, you want her in the Senate to continue her fine work? If there was one shred of doubt
left in my mind about the venal nature of New Yorkers, and their robotic devotion to Democratic
candidates, regardless of their qualifications, it vanished on election night. Just what
demonstrable virtues and skills did you vote for? Hillary now joins Chuck Schumer, who in my
experience of 40 years of watching Congress, is the most obstinate and obnoxious person ever to
hold a Senate seat. And that takes some doing. What a team!
Did people in New York not read about Hillary in books such as: "Unlimited Access," "The First
Partner," by Joyce Milton, "Uncovering Clinton," by Michael Isikoff, and Peggy Noonan's book,
among others? If so, their electing of her casts an even greater doubt on their intelligence and
judgement. Or, were all of the well-documented books part of a "Vast right-wing conspiracy"? You
bet.
I am profoundly depressed that the people of New York elected Hillary Clinton, considering all that
she has stood for and all her lies and manipulations over the decades. If she runs for President, I
hope that I am either dead (you'd like that, New Yorkers, Hollywood, et al.,) or living in another
country. In fact, I have ordered a book about Retiring Overseas. The values I grew up with, and
fought for all my adult life, have been trashed by the election of Hillary Clinton. And by the large
vote for Al Gore, however that election turns out.
The networks are talking about honing their prediction machinery so that the fiasco in Florida
would not happen again, where a winner was declared prematurely. Have we not had enough of the
media meddling in our campaigns and election results? During the campaign, voters are unduly
influenced by selective and often dishonest reporting. The final insult is when they in essence tell
everyone not to bother to vote because it is all over! In Florida, once the race had been "called" for
Gore, people walked away from campaign phone lines and voting lines. And on and on, all over the
country. Florida put him over the 270, so let's go get a beer. We went through two years of
campaigning and the media can't shut up for one night?
Very simply, we should vote and be told of the result when ALL the votes have been counted, or
there are a sufficient number of votes for one candidate that the outstanding mail-in and absentee
ballots could not provide a different outcome.
Candidates for national office should undergo an FBI/CIA background check. It is ridiculous to
require a higher standard for a fingerprint clerk in the FBI than for a candidate for the President of
the United States!
All states should require photo I.D. to vote. Each state should vigorously check absentee and mail-in
ballots to ensure that "live voters" who are "eligible voters" cast the votes. Sincere thought ought to
be put into a more secure voting process, using biometric identification, smart cards with photos, et
al. The use of the Internet to vote must remain suspect as long as hackers can get into the Pentagon's
computers, and so on. Perhaps some combination of encryption and digital signatures (already
signed into law) can lead us toward an eventual use of the Internet for voting in national elections.
Here in the Outback, we voted by filling in the little ovals with a pencil, just like a multiple-choice
test in school. Surely, we can do better than that.
Campaign finance reform should remain a hot issue. Voters should not let the Congress push it into
the background, only to rise and fall once again during the next election cycle.
Hollywood personalities and entertainers ought to be required to pass an I.Q. test before they are
allowed to make a public statement about a candidate, an issue, or a campaign. What is wrong with
the media when they give banner headlines to Cher's profane pronouncements? Now, one can see
why she and Sonny did not get along. He had a brain. Or all this nonsense about how many people
Gov. Bush "killed" (by allowing lawful executions to go forward). Nothing during the campaign
was so disgusting to many as the drivel put forth by the Hollywood elite. The lies and exaggerations
of the candidates paled in comparison.
Other countries have celebrities, but in general they do not give out press releases on political issues.
For one thing, they know that people may not watch their TV shows, or movies, or buy their
records. But, America's obsession with celebrity is sick Entertainers feel that they can speak with
impunity, because the public "needs" them and idolizes them. Many of us have reduced our
entertainment "needs" as a result of some of the recent outlandish statements of the "stars." And we
have long memories.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Richard C. Rhodes
You are welcome to quote sections from this page - or the whole page, as long as the source URL is included. Of course, I would be flattered if anyone linked to this page. It is very hard to be the writer, editor, fact checker, copy editor, and publisher of anything. So, I welcome corrections of fact, notes of misspelled words, and so on.
Richard C. Rhodes
End
Monday, November 13, 2000
In the next U.S. national election we should solicit voting monitors from Yugoslavia, Bosnia,
Russia, Israel, South Africa, Haiti, Chile, and elsewhere. Obviously, our system is so flawed as to
need radical reform and oversight.
This election proved the hypothesis of many, myself included, that America is in a steep moral
decline, where the ends justify the means. How else can you explain such a large vote for Al Gore, a
man who lies as much as Clinton, who was involved in illegal fund raising, who spared no slur or
misstatement of fact to get elected? He promised something to every group in the country, except
the rich - who don't need anybody's help. How else can you explain the election of Hillary Clinton
to the Senate? Morals, ethics, and character don't matter - at least not to enough people.The Bush DWI Charge - Important far Beyond the Arrest Itself
The failure of George Bush to bring up his DWI arrest at the first public mention of his past history
of drinking was inexcusable. All he needed to have said during an early interview was: "Yes, I drank
too much when I was younger, and even got stopped for DWI once. But, I quit drinking ....." (You
know the rest that he did tell.) There would not have been even a slight ripple. Many, many people
drink too much and drive. They know how lucky they are if they have not been caught. How could
Gov. Bush think that a public arrest record would escape attention? Anybody who cared to look
could have found the court record. If he had been more forthright about his past alleged drug use,
he might have gotten more votes in California - and possibly elsewhere. Drugs are "in" man. They
are mainstream. New York, What Were You Thinking?
I have never been fond of New Yorkers. They think they are the only ones in the country who know
anything. They are in large part arrogant, loud, abrasive, and rude. If they are so smart, how in
God's name did they elect Hillary Clinton? It is another vindication of the claim of a loss of moral
focus in this country. Lessons Learned in Election 2000?
There ought to be a Federal law that no exit polls or projections of winners be divulged by any
media outlet, internet web page, person, or entity. The practice of "calling" an election based on
projections serves no public purpose. It distorts and corrupts the voting process. It only helps
the TV networks and others who want their childish egos massaged by being "first."
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