Sad and Sorry State of Mind
Elected government officials represent a breed of public servants that often are held in high regard by the public by virtue of the office they hold, while at the very same time, the public may view politicians as a collective, askance, with a good deal of distrust. Not to be trusted to uphold the public trust that whatever they do on behalf of the public is for the greater good.
Sometimes that almost instinctive reaction to political manoeuvring is based in a solid foundation of mistrust owing to past political-ideological indiscretions that have outraged the public. And sometimes the public reaction represents a deliberately manufactured instance of other politicians seeking advantage for themselves and their political slant, by picturing in the public mind, an underhanded move.
Politicians at the highest echelons of government must be aware and extremely cautious in their public pronouncements. Lest they betray an "agenda" that lifts a red flag in the public mind. Even if that is not the intention; the very perception that a statement has issued from the mouth of a seasoned politician betraying a hint of an agenda is interpreted as a subliminal giveaway.
Another area of self-saving caution is to take care not to respond too aggressively to verbal challenges resulting from a plan to introduce new legislation which it is known beforehand there will be resistance to, from political adversaries. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews left himself open to ridicule and scorn when he responded in the heat of the moment equating a rejection of Bill C-30, with a sympathy for child molesters.
The ensuing pandemonium, artificial and triumphant, in catching a Minister of the Crown off guard and intemperate in his response, fuelled a public outcry that has its base in a fuzzy-headed belief that we are all immune to incursions into our personal lives, but for an intrusive government scheme to lay bare our innermost secrets.
When Vic Toews, in a moment of irritation, got down and dirty, it was the signal for others to indulge the nasty streaks lurking inside us all, and people wasted little time in using the occasion to jubilantly landslide him with petty little personal remarks of their own, mocking his legislation. But, like many other politicians claiming for themselves a high moral pedestal, he also, in the past, made statements that his personal life account didn't support.
Which made of him a bit of a hypocrite, to say the least. And aren't we all in one way or another, when we hide our own indiscretions and present a lofty attitude of rectitude to gloss over our loss of personal face at one time or another? The site targeting this man by scrutinizing and disseminating juicy bits about his private life in an attempt to defame and humiliate him exemplifies our own miserable failings, not his.
Whoever is responsible for that site illustrates the proclivity of moralizers to portray themselves as beyond a lack of ethics - yet in pursuing this nasty vendetta against a lawmaker whose obvious interest is the protection of the most vulnerable among us, while also targeting lawbreakers of every variety - in the process advertising their own sad and sorry state of mind.
Sometimes that almost instinctive reaction to political manoeuvring is based in a solid foundation of mistrust owing to past political-ideological indiscretions that have outraged the public. And sometimes the public reaction represents a deliberately manufactured instance of other politicians seeking advantage for themselves and their political slant, by picturing in the public mind, an underhanded move.
Politicians at the highest echelons of government must be aware and extremely cautious in their public pronouncements. Lest they betray an "agenda" that lifts a red flag in the public mind. Even if that is not the intention; the very perception that a statement has issued from the mouth of a seasoned politician betraying a hint of an agenda is interpreted as a subliminal giveaway.
Another area of self-saving caution is to take care not to respond too aggressively to verbal challenges resulting from a plan to introduce new legislation which it is known beforehand there will be resistance to, from political adversaries. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews left himself open to ridicule and scorn when he responded in the heat of the moment equating a rejection of Bill C-30, with a sympathy for child molesters.
The ensuing pandemonium, artificial and triumphant, in catching a Minister of the Crown off guard and intemperate in his response, fuelled a public outcry that has its base in a fuzzy-headed belief that we are all immune to incursions into our personal lives, but for an intrusive government scheme to lay bare our innermost secrets.
When Vic Toews, in a moment of irritation, got down and dirty, it was the signal for others to indulge the nasty streaks lurking inside us all, and people wasted little time in using the occasion to jubilantly landslide him with petty little personal remarks of their own, mocking his legislation. But, like many other politicians claiming for themselves a high moral pedestal, he also, in the past, made statements that his personal life account didn't support.
Which made of him a bit of a hypocrite, to say the least. And aren't we all in one way or another, when we hide our own indiscretions and present a lofty attitude of rectitude to gloss over our loss of personal face at one time or another? The site targeting this man by scrutinizing and disseminating juicy bits about his private life in an attempt to defame and humiliate him exemplifies our own miserable failings, not his.
Whoever is responsible for that site illustrates the proclivity of moralizers to portray themselves as beyond a lack of ethics - yet in pursuing this nasty vendetta against a lawmaker whose obvious interest is the protection of the most vulnerable among us, while also targeting lawbreakers of every variety - in the process advertising their own sad and sorry state of mind.
Labels: Government of Canada, Life's Like That, Society
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