Some may remember the old radio program with Art Linkletter called “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” then the TV show by the same name featuring Linkletter and Bill Cosby.
I’m thinking there might be room for a current program - a real reality show - called “Politicians Say the Darndest Things,” drawing upon the sometimes wacky wisdom, overheated rhetoric and misstatements coming from politicians and activists.
Even former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with his reputation as a silver-tongued orator, wandered into a verbal thicket recently in a way that temporarily derailed his exploration of another run for the Republican presidential nomination. In the process of urging his party to broaden its appeal, Huckabee underlined the problems it has with many women voters with comments about women believing “they are hopeless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing them with their prescription each month for birthcontrol because they cannot control their libido … without the help of the government.”
And when a fl ap ensued, Huckabee followed the well-worn bipartisan path of blaming the media, saying his remarks “were immediately jumped on and blown sky high by hand-wringing, card-carrying liberals from coast to coast, some of them in the media.”
President Obama is hammered for his “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan” claim on health care, which proved to be incorrect. More recently, in a New Yorker interview, he likened marijuana to cigarettes and alcohol, leaving many to wonder why, with all the problems facing his administration, he volunteered, “I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very diff erent from the cigarettes that I smoked. … I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”
Those comments understandably drew fi re, but, regardless of what Obama says, he is subjected to a constant barrage from his more fevered critics - who don’t exactly exemplify civility.
Consider this tweet from Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) just before the State of the Union address: “On floor of house waitin on ‘Kommandant-in-Chef’… the Socialist dictator who’s been feeding US a line or is it ‘A-Lying?” Or, similarly, this from an Arkansas state legislator: “Though I have done my very best to accept his presidency, endure his consistent and ever increasing arrogance to behave as a dictator and think himself a king, denounce the value of Christianity and support the murder of innocent children through abortion, I am no longer going to enable his behavior bymaintaining any level of support of him as a leader.”
Much of the criticism of Obama centers on the health care act, the subject of misinformation all around, undoubtedly enhanced by some bumbling from his administration. However, exaggeration and hyperbole abound in the political “dialogue” on this subject.
An example: In the televised response to the State of the Union address, Rep.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) talked about “Bette in Spokane,” who faced a $700 monthly increase in her insurance premiums. But investigation by the Spokane newspaper, the Spokesman-Review, provided a different story. That figure was based on one of the pricier options, and although “Bette” (who didn’t know she would be referred to in the speech) could have found coverage for considerably less, she admitted she was unwilling to look for cheaper alternatives on the insurance exchange, declaring, “I wouldn’t go on that Obama website at all.”
Wendy Davis, seen as a shining hope for Democrats in Texas, has an impressive story of overcoming obstacles to become a prominent attorney and politician.
However, as the Dallas Morning News pointed out, there were discrepancies and exaggerations in the story promoted by her campaign as she tries to become the next governor.
There is the controversy surrounding the New Jersey bridge traft c closure and Gov. Chris Christie.
As of this writing, there’s no direct link between Christie, who insists he had no knowledge of the lane closing, and the events that began with the infamous message from a Christie staffer apparently intent on political retribution: “Time for some traft c problems in Fort Lee.”
Some have even suggested Christie will have to resign. That remains to be seen. That’s what Arkansas Lt. Gov.
Mark Darr did - eventually. When cited for major ethics violations, he said there was no public outcry, and said those calling for resignation were actingpolitically or “ignorant of the true facts.” Ultimately, however, he did resign.
Christie critics refer to his “bullying tactics,” but we saw and heard a real example of bullying tactics from Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and it was no fairy tale. He threatened to “break” a TV reporter and throw him off a balcony when the reporter asked a question Grimm didn’t like.
Make your own judgments about who brought on the government shutdown last year, Many would disagree, but Sen. Ted Cruz says it wasn’t him: “I didn’t threaten to shut down the government … I don’t think we should ever shut down the government.”
I’ve mentioned only a few of the “darndest things” we hear from political figures. With children’s comments on the radio and TV programs, it was funny and entertaining. But we need more adult and responsible behavior and accountability from our politicians.
HOYT PURVIS IS A JOURNALISM AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR.
Opinion, Pages 11 on 02/09/2014