Posted: Friday, 04 September 2009 11:51AM
Ask Them No Questions They'll Tell You No Lies
Steve Corbett Reporting
Friday, September 04, 2009
First and foremost, leadership involves trust. If I don’t trust you, I won’t follow you. I won’t believe you. I won’t entrust anything of value to you.
That’s the main reason an increasing number of people are so frustrated with government. More and more of us everyday no longer have faith in the public officials sworn to uphold the public trust.
As another Sept. 11 anniversary approaches, we are as far from being united as I’ve ever seen. Remember the bumper stickers that started appearing on our gas guzzlers in the aftermath of the terrorist attack against the twin towers?
“We are united,” read the stickers
We weren’t united then and we’re not united now. More and more Americans despise each other each day. And it all boils down to trust. I trust Democrats as much as I trust Republicans. Those two political parties rule our lives. And the special interests rule the leaders of those parties.
Out elected officials from the top down are indebted to the check writers who supply the cash that drives the slick campaign machines that get our elected officials elected. Those special corporate interests control the lawmakers who decide what we can and cannot do.
And that includes breathing, thanks to the pharmaceutical manufacturers.
After preaching the need for good government and trying to convince listeners to “Corbett” that we must not lose faith in government, I’m more jaded than and cynical ever. With good reason I trust fewer and fewer government officials.
Do I trust President Barack Obama?
No.
I believe he was hustling me when I interviewed him live on the air during the presidential campaign. I believe he mislead me about his commitment to using union labor. And I believe he lied to me about his struggle with giving up cigarettes.
Do I trust Vice President Joe Biden?
No.
This so-called scrappy kid from Scranton has told more stories that fly in the face of truth than I can remember. But he crossed the line when he said he had relatives who worked in the coal mines of Northeastern Pennsylvania and then could not document that fact.
During the campaign I asked Obama/Biden spokesman Sean Smith for an explanation that never came. Now Smith is the press secretary for the office of Homeland Security.
Beautiful.
Do I trust U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr.?
No.
I wanted to trust Casey but probably have more reason for distrusting Casey than for all the rest. I’ve interviewed Casey several times and know how he spins his answers to fit the image he tries to portray. I can document his sad, self-absorbed political expediency that places his political interests above the people he serves.
I recently asked several very basic questions in writing about what Casey’s communications director Larry Smar calls the “charter” flights that Casey has used to get around the state. I do not know if Casey or his chief of staff has seen my questions, but Smar refuses to provide specific answers.
I have asked exactly how much federal money Casey has spent on those four flights this year in a plane owned by Lackawanna College board member Michael Murphy. I asked if Casey accepted those flights as gifts or favors.
I also asked if the senator or any member of his staff contacted Roman Catholic Church officials to complain in writing, in person or by telephone about former Bishop Joseph Martino.
In a written response this week, Smar refused to answer any of my questions.
I don’t trust him, either.
Do I trust U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter?
No.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski?
No.
I tried hard to trust my congressman but I just can’t. I want to trust them all. But I can’t. So I refuse to believe them or follow any of them.
Today is a sad day in America. “Don’t trust in me” has replaced “Don’t tread on me.”
Rather than liberty and justice, “deception for all” is our new national slogan.
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