Once upon a time, back in ancient times, the early 1960s to be exact, hushed tones were used when speaking about the possibility of a political
candidate, or even an elected official having a mistress.
The nation sat quietly during the mid-1970s, mostly in awe, from my
perspective, as we slowly watched the fall of a presidency. That fall was to the credit of two reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, while they both worked at
The Washington (D.C.) Post. Woodward still works in the newsroom, but his former partner, Bernstein decided to move on.
A new era of mudslinging was introduced in the 1980s, as well as new depths of media mongering. Gary Hart decided to take an excursion in the Caribbean. Well, that was his major downfall. While on the excursion, you see, he was messing around with a nicely-shaped woman. That woman wasn't his wife. Photographs showed Hart and his gal-pal playing on a boat's deck. That did nothing to help his credibility. It wasn't long before the presidential contender tossed his towel into the ring. His gal-pal disappeared, as well.
Then the 1990s saw the rise of a new political contender on the national
scene, Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas. Soon after he began
campaigning, rumors about marital infidelity, phone sex -- and more -- began to surface. It was terrific fodder for the media. Then came the blast that the candidate smoked dope back in the 1960s. Wow! This was explosive. Well, Candidate Clinton dismissed the allegations, saying he didn't inhale. I still get a laugh from that comment.
As the 1990s wore on, Candidate Clinton became President Clinton. The media fodder changed as well. It was nurtured, fertilized, and cultivated during the first term as president. All kinds of scandals, allegations, and rumors came from within the sacred walls of the White House. Charges that would have caused former presidents to step down, to be impeached and removed from office, or worse, were laughed at by Clinton and dismissed. He never missed a beat.
The 1990s ended with perhaps a little too much information being shared with the public about the leader of their nation. Clinton's penis length,
circumference, and shape, including details about its shape and the
direction it pointed toward when erect became public. That came after
allegations that Clinton had an affair with a White House intern in the
Oral, um, Oval Office. The lurid details that were leaked, and later
confirmed during Clinton's impeachment, told about his semen causing a stain on a blue dress because someone moved or didn't move at the right time.
Further details made all other details bland. The state of political affairs will never be the same again.
Moving into current headlines, New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani is making headlines. Seems the guy decided several months ago, in 1999, to be exact, to make a bid for the New York Senate. Then earlier this year, reports that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer surfaced. A few weeks later it was being rumored, then confirmed by Guiliani himself, that he's splitting with his wife, Donna Hanover. That would have been enough of a barrage of bad news to cause candidates in the nation's past to drop out of a political race. But the big news still hadn't been broadcast or printed.
It seems Guiliani is seeking the separation himself. I guess he got tired of keeping Donna around after she publicly accused him of having had an affair with a former City Hall aide. That was another heavy barrage of political artillery fire, yet the mayor pressed on with his aspirations of winning a seat in the New York Senate.
After being accused of infidelity by his wife, what did Guiliani do? No, he didn't deny the allegation. In fact, he made a clarification. He told the people of New York, and the world, that he did, in fact, have an affair, but it was with another woman, namely one Judith Nathan.
Hello? Did I miss something here? Since when does a person go around denying an affair, and then confess, publicly, about another? When does that person, a candidate for political office, admit to something like that when they are trying to win the favor of voters? Have times changed that much? Did I sleep through the revolution that overthrew morality and wake up in a nation of pure immorality?
I remember allegations made against the late Frank Rizzo, former
Philadelphia mayor, being connected to the Mafia. In fact, locally he was
often labeled "Mafioso." Was he tied to the Italian mob? No one, at least
publicly, knows for sure. If anyone ever admitted to any such knowledge back then, they probably would have been killed. Who knows? Maybe if Frank were still among the living, he would again seek to be elected mayor of the City of Brotherly Love again, bragging about his mob ties going back to his early days in Philadelphia. He may have even used it as a campaign slogan: "A vote for Frank Rizzo is a vote for the Philadelphia mob!"
As far as Guiliani is concerned, his political future, at least to me, has been dim for some time. The New York Democratic Convention begins May 30. The May 19 announcement that he was dropping out of the race was long
overdue. He should have done the people of the state of New York a favor
long ago and dropped out of the race long before that day.
One really scary aspect of that Senate race, which had Guiliani pitted
against First Lady Hillary Rodham-Clinton, is that political polls conducted on May 14 showed he and Clinton as being tied in the race. Both candidates were taking about 42 percent of the voter support in those polls.
The scary aspect of that thought comes in with Guiliani's shocking honesty about his personal life. I mean, hey, at least the guy was being honest, but still, I wouldn't want some guy in political office, especially at that level of government, running around with every person willing to partake in sexual escapades. Do you?
Let's think ahead for a minute. Imagine Guiliani survives his bout with the prostate cancer. Imagine he was elected to the New York Senate. Image he then makes a bid for Congress, or Lord help us, the White House. Imagine the state of his political affairs at that level.
I want no part of having some joker, in this particular case, Guiliani,
being in political office, especially not one higher than he currently
serves in -- that being the mayor of New York City. He's done enough damage in the Big Apple as mayor.
Forward this column to him and let him know that you support his decision to resign. I'd give you his email address, but I'm not sure my editor would appreciate that kind gesture. It seems Matt Drudge already pulled that trick with Hillary Clinton's campaign.
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"The
Sad State of Political Affairs"
