On Friday 6/25, Jon Stewart made a telling point on the Larry King show, and whether or not he intended it as humor, it wasn't (no criticism intended, Jon, so no apology). About VP Cheney's imperative lapse into language "he generally doesn't use", when Mr. Cheney told Mr. Leahy to "F-himself," a Cheney spokesperson described the episode as the two men having 'exchanged views'.   In explanation, Stewart expressed the usually unspoken truth:  public figures/elected reps have two faces but stopped short of saying they were two-faced.  I see them as the two halves of a whole face: the public persona that asks us to trust (him/her) and the private person that we seldom see and if we did, we would rather not (see or trust).  They may be but are seldom in sync'.

That being accepted, why are we so appalled at Mr. Cheney's vulgarity?  Because he daringly albeit probably accidentally commingled the public and private Cheney half-faces.  (Parenthetically:   Language he does not usually use?  Well, he did use it in proper context, and apparently pronounced it sufficiently correctly that everyone knew what he meant.) When Mr. Leahy publicly forgave the VP, suggesting he had had a bad day, I wondered what he said privately- unless he is really the nice guy this tolerance suggests.)

As a lady who has seen the 60's and 70's come and go that triggered the use of the F-word as an adverb, an adjective, an exclamation of praise or damnation, an imperative, a declarative, object of a verb and even as a proper noun, I am not shocked to hear its use. 

What does surprise me are the reactions of horror from media and public.

Wouldn't it be better for us all if those seeking election or re-election would express frankly:  "I am a miserable s.o.b."  "I have a foul temper but ii my favor, I  usually limit its expression to wife-beating."  "I cheat on my wife and the IRS," "I am a closet (pick one) homophobe (Jew-ophobe, Islam- ophobe, African-American-ophobe, woman-ophobe (misogynist)  who is coming out."

"I believe in separation of church and state unless I am in the Bible Belt."  "I will fight to the death your right to speak out, and my right to ignore your opinions unless they are accompanied by a hefty check"  "I support public education and mandatory military service, except for my kids."

Wouldn't we find it endearing to hear a politician throw caution to the winds as he 'aw shucks-ingly admits he is not perfect?  (After election it is not fair to plead "I am after all only human".)
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I for one would like to know for whom I am voting and what I can expect post-election.  (In the case of the Veep, of course, he was not elected - just selected by the current President whom some say was also not elected, but I digress).  .

We would all have a better chance of our voices being heard if we can readily identify from their campaign speeches, and vote for, the publicly-announced bigot, racial separatist, KKK-er, money-grubber, ne-er-do-well, drunk, scoundrel, back-slapping opportunist, philanderer, thief-at-the-public-trough.war-mongerer," etc.," than we have now, when we are romanced by their public rhetoric of righteousness that fades into memory as they find it necessary or personally gratifying to make deals that belie their public platforms?

They say the devil you know is better than the devil you don't - but the problem seems to be - in one candidate or representative, we get both, when what is to be preferred might be:

"Some sense of duty, something of a faith,
Some reverence for the laws ourselves have made,
Some patient force to change them when we will,
Some civic manhood firm against the crowd."
(Tennyson, The Princess)

That is how the candidates describe themselves, and we the people never learn, we believe them all, because we want so much to believe, in them or in something, never suspecting that one day, when we challenge them, they may 'exchange views' with us, imperatively but unnecessarily because, in truth, in many cases and with their help, we probably already will have F'd-ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln thought you could not fool all of the people all of the time; sadly, though, fooling only half the people may be sufficient to put a half-face into office.

© Copyright 2004 by AxisofLogic.com

"Sulshe" is a reader of Axis of Logic and a regular correspondent and friend from Florida.