Right in the centre - How far the flaky have fallen
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- Published on Thursday, October 13, 2016
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
Once upon a time, we looked to our politicians to be statesmen. I think that it鈥檚 safe to say statesmen and not offend any upstanding women who have been in positions of government leadership. At times, we had to be satisfied when our leaders at least pretended to be statesmen. That happened sometimes in history.
Today, we are desperate for even a pretence of statesmanship. The state of affairs in the United States is so bad that we get new levels of crudeness blasted at us every day. The public debate is so far from desired levels that one has to wonder, when will it end?
Certainly it won鈥檛 end with the U.S. election. Even if Donald Trump loses the election, the root causes of the terrifying discussions will still be there. Thirty-five per cent or more of U.S voters don鈥檛 seem to care how lewd Trump can be, they are still very discontented with establishment politics. Conversely, a similar sized group of voters don鈥檛 seem to care how dishonest Hillary Clinton is, or has been. They want the Clinton agenda in spite of what the Clintons have said or done.
If righteousness is the foundation of America, then the foundation needs severe repairs. We used to expect leaders to have at least a pretence of decorum, of modesty and moral standards. Apparently, not any more. In times gone by, it has been written that Franklin D. Roosevelt had a mistress and it has been reported that as he lay on his deathbed, it was not his wife who was present. Nixon had a foul mouth but reportedly (according to Red Skelton) a great sense of humour. John F. Kennedy was a serial womanizer. Eisenhower was said to have other love interests than his wife. The Bush presidents were supposedly clean living men. Bill Clinton was as morally depraved as they come. His wife, Hillary, has been covering for him for years. Obama is apparently a strong family man. Regardless of their personal life, all except the Clintons tried to maintain some sense of decorum and morality.
Now that the Clinton methodology of sex, money and power have come full force against the Trump methodology of sex, money and power, the American voters have a choice of depravity versus depravity. The most often repeated phrase in the U.S. media and around the millions of dinner tables has to be this, 鈥淗ow, after sifting through 300 million people, did we end up with two 70-year-old depraved individuals for President of the United States?鈥�
When you speak to Americans right now, they hang their heads in disbelief. But here鈥檚 the deal. American society, and Canada along with it, has ridden the slippery downward slope for so long that the bottom is a cesspool, not a solid rock. We are reaping what we sow. Everything we do and say is now peppered with sexual innuendo and with vile thoughts. If we ever doubted the expression, 鈥渄epravity of man鈥�, we should have no doubts now. As individuals, we have all slipped. As a society, we have lowered our standards of decency, decorum and behaviour at all levels. The media, the entertainment industry, the politicians, even the church leaders have all lowered their standards. Anyone who tries to go back to what is right, decent and upstanding is written off as out of touch, out of date and out to lunch. Morality is relative, each to their own, everything is OK. No, it鈥檚 not OK and our society is about to reap what has been sown. The U.S. will be fortunate to survive this cycle of depravity and they may well take the rest of us with them. Righteousness, or at least valiant attempts at righteousness, must return to our society at all levels and especially in our leadership.
