Here’s a letter to the Washington Post:
In his fascinating discussion of the 1960 presidential campaign, Mark Feldstein details Richard Nixon’s trickery and cynicism, as well as Nixon’s greed for both power and cold cash (“A half-century of political dirty tricks” Jan. 14). Detailed also is Jack and Bobby Kennedy’s willingness to hire burglars and to otherwise play dirty for no purpose higher than to gratify the same lust for power that burned within them as hotly as it burned within Nixon.
So do tell: why are we supposed to honor such people simply because they are elected to the so-called “highest office in the land”? Why are we expected to look to such scoundrels to inspire us – to advise us – to comfort us – to govern us – to commit our sons, daughters, and resources to wars – to define us – to rule over us on thousands of matters that touch daily upon our pocketbooks as well as upon some of the most intimate aspects of our lives?
In no field of human endeavor other than politics is success at cupidity, duplicity, deception, double-dealing, and general depravity positively celebrated and rewarded – and so handsomely to boot.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
