Timing is Everything
Everyone knows the above title is one of sport's most profound cliches. Take Kenny Rogers. In the course of his 189-year major league career, the southpaw pitcher was utterly unable to record outs when facing the Yankees in one of his 74 prior uniforms. Then came last night, and those sorry stats went out the window.The same goes in life. To err is human is one of the grandest understatements of all time. What's human is to blunder, botch, and so screw up one's own affairs as to defy comprehension. We've all done it. most of us more than once. But WHEN one drops the old ball of being is what determines how much of a price we pay.
Your essayist has brutal personal evidence to support his theory. The primal fuck-up of his career occured during a slow news week, meaning the offense received nationwide notice out of my former trade's need to fill space. Six weeks later came Katrina. Had I committed the same damn fool mistake THEN, the sin would've remained intensely private.
Therefore, we must conclude Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deval Patrick lives under a lucky star thousands of times brighter than the sun. Perhaps confused by the surfeit of advice that comes to candidates who look like winners, Patrick made a complete hash of explaining his efforts on behalf of an imprisoned rapist some years ago.
Such sins are the stuff of campaign furors, or would be, were it not for timing. The very same day Patrick's misstatement was revealed, the public learned of the instant message habits of former congressman Mark Foley.
It's common knowledge American voters "don't have time" for politics. This is a polite euphemism for "America has the laziest, most ignorant voters of any democracy". The public's limited attention to public affairs applies as much to scandals as issues.
Class, let's compare and contrast. Which scandal would YOU find more interesting: A) A candidate's flawed effort to explain a potentially embarrassing professional decision; or B) a congressman who wrote laws against cyber-stalking engaged in the cyber pursuit of underage young males in the Congress' trust?
You picked B, dear reader. Anyone who isn't working for Patrick, Kerry Healey, or who gets paid to cover Massachusetts politics would. Patrick's screw-up drew a "Hmmn". The Foley affair is a bona fide "Holy Shit!" And alas for Healey, the miscreants have little Rs after their names, just as she does.
Napoleon said he promoted only lucky generals. Were he an early 19th century Frenchman, Patrick already would have his marshal's baton.
posted by Michael Gee @ 8:48 AM
1 Comments:
You insinuate that example A should be drawing more water with the electorate than it is. For starters, the fundamental issue is state v. national: one office is state, and the other is national. So the congressman should be reviled far more for flaunting his hypocritical position than Patrick should be for his poor choice. One appears to be mere bad luck, the other apppears to be child porn, and no less from the party that has been beating the "family values" drum for almost 12 years now. An unknown governmental candidate in a minor state will draw much less attention than a congressman from a state that has "voted" republican in the last two presidential elections. I resent your implication that american voters are shallow and dumb. Somehow, we've managed to muddle along for the last 206 years with an allegedly "bored and dumb" electorate. Not to mention becoming a world power in that time. I'd like to frame my remarks with the fact that I am an independent, dislike repuiblicans intensely, and think Patrick is probably the best candidate. The US has seen worse before, and will manage through yet again. Although I suppose a message of moderation doesn't draw readers. Thanks. And keep up the good work.
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