John Blust and Trey Gowdy almost make me want to reconsider my opposition to term limits. Unbound by the need to get re-elected, they’re speaking truth power and in both cases the power is their own party. We need voices of reason and less of the tribe.
John Blust called out his Republican colleagues in the North Carolina House for their efforts to rig the judicial system. A bill being discussed would transfer the responsibility for filling vacant judicial terms from the governor to the legislature. It’s another power grab by the GOP who fear losing control of at least one house of the legislature this November. Blust asked his colleagues, “Why are we competent to make these decisions?” His clear implications is that they are not.
The whole attempt to rig the judiciary for political gain is disturbing. I hope Blust’s criticism is echoed by other Republicans. Republicans aren’t interested in making the courts more efficient, effective, or fair. They want to make them more partisan. That’s bad for justice and bad for North Carolina.
Trey Gowdy, the retiring Congressman for South Carolina, has told a lot of truth. He’s leaving because the partisanship in Washington is so out of control and he’s clearly no fan of Donald Trump. He implied that Trump is acting like a guilty man when he told Trump’s lawyer, “If you have an innocent client, Mr. Dowd, act like it.”
Gowdy also broke with his party on the Russia investigation. He believes Mueller should be allowed to carry out his task and believes that Russia intervened to harm the Clinton campaign. And this is the guy who ran the Benghazi investigation.
It’s refreshing to hear people criticize their own parties today. It used to be more common but tribalism has prevailed. It’s unfortunate that leaving office is what it takes for many politicians to speak truth to power. It’s also unfortunate that our parties’ bases are what drive the political conversation.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Isn’t the real question “why does any public official outright lie, or avoid direct, honest commentary on political issues or votes?” Diplomacy is acceptable when it comes to speaking about others personal lives or personalities, but issues should be addressed clearly and in a forthright manner. Period. From all of them.
I would suggest that one reason, however, is our (the voters) conduct, aided and abetted by the press for decades and now accelerated by social media. It is very, very difficult to briefly speak to many issues clearly. Sometimes the complexity requires more than 30 seconds, so we get simplistic comments or avoidance of the issue. It is also hard to always say everything clearly and avoid all even slightly awkward or easily misconstrued comments. A second failing for which elected officials often pay dearly. Finally, directness is often blunt, which we claim to want and appreciate. That is not what I see from most of us. Both the press and we as voters often take any of these three “failings” as evidence of serious flaws in the speaker. We jump on them, especially the press, and the slightest slip becomes the story regardless of what else has been said. Consequently, it is a lose/lose game far too often.
We simply have to let elected officials make an occasional minor slip, use awkward phrasing, or get fed up and speak bluntly without punishing them. That does not mean we should excuse racism, homophobia, sexist, anti-Muslim – or any other religion — comments in public life. I am also not suggesting that consistent stupidity is acceptable, no matter how well expressed.
If you know of a movement or plan to expose the political pandering of Mark Meadows to a corrupt President, tell me how to participate. Anyone whose child or spouse repeatedly lies about verifiable fact arouses suspicion & eventually retribution. Meadows does not rep NC honestly. I want him out
I concur and ask that more democrats do the same with the DNC and their corruption which led to Trump getting elected.
It’s not new. Around the country, over 1000 seats were lost during the Obama presidency, all of which can be attributed to the failures of the DNC.
Let’s have fair and open primaries, and only after a candidate has been chosen by the people, should either party get involved.