Liar, Liar - Time to Fire!

By RoseAnn Salanitri

A deceased Nevada woman made the news as a result of an obituary her family wrote on her behalf. The woman, Charlotte McCourt, worked for Harry Reid’s campaign in the past and came to regret that effort after Senator Reid not only neglected to make good on his campaign promises but downright betrayed them. Unfortunately, while the obituary may be a unique story, lying politicians are not.

In New Jersey, Jim Florio won the campaign for governor after campaigning on the promise that he would not raise taxes. Barely one week into his administration, Florio boldly raised taxes – without even trying to mask or spin his defiance. The New Jersey voters were angry – angry enough to amend their state constitution to include recall laws. As a result, New Jersey has arguably the best recall laws in the entire country. Florio felt empowered by the well-known complacency of New Jersey voters and their willingness to accept politicians saying one thing on the campaign trail and doing something entirely different once in office. The one-term Florio sadly misjudged his constituency and his arrogance energized New Jersey to stand against hypocrisy – or to be more precise – liars! In 1993, New Jersey recall was added to the ballot as a referendum item, and it passed by a majority of 76.2%! The citizens of New Jersey laid the foundation for themselves and for the rest of the nation to be able to fire the liars.

Jim Florio wasn’t the first to lie about his intentions in order to garner votes. George Bush who won his 2004 presidential campaign by a thin margin was also guilty of campaign lies, which we politely term “rhetoric” now-a-days. If memory serves correctly, you will recall (pardon the pun) that George Bush won the state of Ohio – which sealed the outcome of the election in his favor. The deciding factor in Ohio was Bush’s commitment to defining marriage as between one man and one woman on a federal level. After the election, that commitment was retired to the cemetery of lost campaign promises, along with a myriad of others.

This country would be in a lot better shape if members of Congress crossed party lines as frequently as campaign promises do. Our last presidential election provides a plethora of examples from a man who managed to paint himself as a “centrist” while all the while holding to the most extreme leftist views. One of the most audacious was his pledge of “Transparency.” The voluminous healthcare bill not only was passed by a Congress that admittedly didn’t read it, but the American people, who were promised that all Bills would be posted for the public to read before being voted upon (termed “transparency”), were never given the chance. The Bill was rushed through Congress virtually overnight and history once again has another name to add to its list of disingenuous politicians. BO, aptly named, is perhaps the poster child for campaign “rhetoric” - or should we call it the “say-whatever-people-want-to-hear-to-get-elected-and-then-do-what-you-want-once-in-office” syndrome that we have been conditioned to accept. Well, a rose by any other name may still smell as sweet, but campaign rhetoric smells whether it bears the name McGreevy, Bush, or BO.

New Jersey may have well found the key to unlocking the door of political deception. It’s called recall. In essence recall really reinvents a childhood rant to: Liar, Liar, Time to Fire! This writer, for one, believes it’s time to start calling a spade a spade, to stop calling campaign lies “rhetoric,” and to stop calling self-serving opportunists “representatives.” Perhaps my vocabulary isn’t as flowery as our politicians would like, but a liar is a liar regardless of his or her party affiliation. It’s time we stop accepting the lies of opportunists and start holding them accountable. Join New Jersey in its new chant: Liar, Liar – Time to Fire, and help us get rid of the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Recall may be a new concept for you but it’s one that holds much promise for an electorate who wants to clean house and restore our Constitutional Republic.