Judgment a solid quality in politics

3/20/07

It was offensive when it was about the war, but now it’s just stupid.
In response to the minor scandal over state Speaker of the House James A. Amann, a Milford Democrat, a Republican leader made a poor choice of words. After Amann said he would no longer seek lobbyists donations during his day job as fundraiser for the Connecticut Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Chris Healy, chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, said Amann chose to “cut and run” from his political problems. The response is more offensive than the initial act.
The phrase in question, of course, became part of the national conversation in the run-up to last year’s nationwide congressional elections, when anyone of the apparently radical notion that maybe, possibly, the war in Iraq wasn’t going so well was labeled as seeking surrender, or looking to “cut and run.”
No one was spared the juvenile taunting: Decorated Vietnam veterans like Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha were accused of cowardice or worse for opposing the war, even as polls showed a majority of Americans had by that time turned against a strategy of “stay the course,” at that point the opposition’s chosen phrase connoting resolve.
Nothing in the Amann case comes remotely close to that. Questions were raised over the speaker’s fundraising practices; he maintained that no rules had been broken, but has since vowed to change anyway. That ought to be the end of the story, but Healy’s childish retort demands a response.
State politics can be bruising, and no one envisions a return to some long-lost “civility,” a notion that bears little resemblance to reality; the old days weren’t so civil, either.
But enough with the over-the-top insults. Pointing out questionable ethics is fair game, and is, in fact, expected of an opposition party and skeptical press corps. But here’s something else that’s expected — thinking before speaking.