Letter to the Editor

     Dear Editor,

     In response to the column written by managing editor Chris Taylor titled Politicians’ Bad Habits Infecting Everyone, I am urged to respectfully dissent from the assertion that being a politician simply makes one a liar. This is an uninformed and inconsistent opinion stemming not only from youthful apathy but directly influenced by actions on the part of William Jefferson Clinton and Al Gore.

     Taylor is correct in stating that Al Gore is a liar. He will lie to cover up a lie and if that lie works ineffectively, lie again to cover up the original.

     He has lied repeatedly about nearly everything from lullaby songs sung to him as a child to the creation of the Internet, from accompanying an individual on a trip to surveying fire damage to his stance on abortion, from questioning the level of experience of a debate opponent to handling weapons while in Vietnam.

     To Al Gore, the truth is a choice, a choice made rarely and selectively, and dishonesty is safe and convenient. The same applies to Bill Clinton.

     However, the same cannot be said of Gore’s opponent, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

     As Colin Powell, a true war hero and an admirable role model, said of Bush at a campaign rally held a few days before the election, “Gov. Bush is a man of integrity and he is a man of      principle.”

     Enough said.

     Taylor’s method of guilt by association in announcing all politicians as liars is faulty beyond comprehension. Merely because our current president and vice president lie, mislead and exaggerate without a second thought does not mean a candidate for the same office assumes the same identity.

     This silly tactic can be compared to labeling all baseball players as crooks and drug-abusers just because Daryl Strawberry does those things and he’s a baseball player. Or the notion that all college students are binge drinkers just because of the relatively few college students who are drinkers of that sort.

     This is guilt by association, and it needs to stop.

     Clinton and Gore break the law and then have the audacity to lie about breaking the law. Not all politicians do. And not all politicians should be held at the same, low and pathetic level as the two currently heading the federal government.

     One more thing—I agree with Taylor when he wrote, “It is a rare occurrence when someone [in authority] takes responsibility for something he has done.”

     A rare occasion indeed.

     For the past eight years, under the watch of Clinton/Gore, this rare occasion has rarely shown through.

     But I would remind Mr. Taylor that it was Bush, not Gore or Clinton, in one of those rare occurrences who stepped up to the cameras, the nation and the American people with an allegation of a drunken driving arrest, which happened many years ago, and confirmed the report, accounted for the situation and assumed full responsibility for his actions.

     Clinton and Gore wouldn’t have acted in a similar fashion. In their case, we would have heard a misleading story denying the truth, an exaggeration perhaps suggesting that there was “no controlling legal authority” (which Al Gore once said) or a flat out lie.

     Bush showed that he had the dignity and the integrity to act like a man. He didn’t deny it. He confirmed it. He didn’t lie. He told the truth. Bush is a man whom I want to be our next President.

     Nick Tedford
     NW Campus Student