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Hot temper or just hot air?
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Nov. 8, 1999 |
The press coverage sounded less like political analysis and more like a nursery-school report card:
"Johnny is smart, honest and is good with scissors, but lacks self-control and doesn't play well with
others. Not sure he has the temperament to be bathroom monitor." "Do I insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that?" said McCain. "No, I don't." Now, I
have too much respect for the senator as a man of deeply and passionately held convictions to believe
that. Personally, I could never trust a man who does not occasionally see red. Unfortunately, by denying the charges instead of laughing at them, McCain legitimized this line of
questioning. Haven't we had enough of politicians falling into the trap of answering questions about
their private lives by issuing fake denials or splitting hairs? Are we now going to have to endure
finger-wagging declarations: "I did not get pissed at that woman!?" Thank goodness the media has put aside its silly obsession with finding out where the presidential
candidates stand on the issues of the day and are placing the focus squarely where it belongs: on the
candidates' personal peccadilloes. Wondering who to vote for? Ask Miss Manners. It takes a real lack of knowledge of history to claim that a temper is a disqualifier for high office.
Even the revered George Washington was known to blow a gasket now and then. One Washington biography
describes a time during the Battle of Monmouth when he lashed out at Gen. Charles Lee so furiously
that "the leaves shook on the trees." Just as we were getting used to the media's fixation on whether our politicians are adulterers, it now appears
they're out to uncover whether a candidate is the kind of guy you'd want to go on a date with. It's as
if they're trying less to educate us about the candidates than fix us up with them. | ||
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