Bernie Sanders: A President for the Ages?
Bernie Sanders, lifelong politician, self-described "democratic socialist," and now candidate for President of the United States found himself hovering over a boiling pot of conundrum stew over the weekend, with the press holding the harness in which he now helplessly sways.
What placed this aspiring president for the ages in said harness in the first place was an essay he wrote 43 years ago.
We might note that such are the sort of men attracted to the highest political office in the land, while wondering whether this was always the case. After all, despite their differences, most of the Founding Fathers expressed the view that power corrupts and therefore must be controlled in some fashion, their solution being the "checks and balances" built into the U.S. government by its Constitution. And that's why those who would attempt by their unilateral actions to negate such checks and balances ought to be opposed. It's an abuse of power meant to enhance their own power - exactly what the Founders feared.
Of course, such men of the 18th century who labored to provide a structured government that would minimize the attraction of national office by dissipating personal power also understood that, in the end, only a moral people can preserve their liberty. And one wonders what a moral person would be doing writing about the sordid subject Mr. Sanders chose, even it was 43 years ago, and even if it was poorly written.
Then again, most of us have abandoned any real sense of morality ourselves, and even if we still retain the vestiges of same, likely believe that it's in poor taste to comment on the free expression by others of even the vilest thoughts and fantasies. It's a matter of freedom, after all, isn't it?
What placed this aspiring president for the ages in said harness in the first place was an essay he wrote 43 years ago.
Published in an alternative newspaper called the Vermont Freeman, the essay caused a stir last week when Mother Jones unearthed it. It began with what was meant to be an attention-grabbing lede, in which Sanders described several sexual scenarios involving bondage and rape fantasies.Sanders first line of defense was to note the passage of decades since he first penned what he described as a piece of "fiction." His second line of defense:
"Very poorly written," Sanders said again on Meet the Press.One wonders how such a subject can be well-written, or even why one might write about it in the first place. Then again, having suffered through the dalliances of Bill Clinton for eight years, the White Bordello, er, I mean House, is likely not going to develop new cracks in the walls should Sanders become Chief Resident in 2017.
We might note that such are the sort of men attracted to the highest political office in the land, while wondering whether this was always the case. After all, despite their differences, most of the Founding Fathers expressed the view that power corrupts and therefore must be controlled in some fashion, their solution being the "checks and balances" built into the U.S. government by its Constitution. And that's why those who would attempt by their unilateral actions to negate such checks and balances ought to be opposed. It's an abuse of power meant to enhance their own power - exactly what the Founders feared.
Of course, such men of the 18th century who labored to provide a structured government that would minimize the attraction of national office by dissipating personal power also understood that, in the end, only a moral people can preserve their liberty. And one wonders what a moral person would be doing writing about the sordid subject Mr. Sanders chose, even it was 43 years ago, and even if it was poorly written.
Then again, most of us have abandoned any real sense of morality ourselves, and even if we still retain the vestiges of same, likely believe that it's in poor taste to comment on the free expression by others of even the vilest thoughts and fantasies. It's a matter of freedom, after all, isn't it?
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