LOSS OF A STATESMAN
This past Friday, the United States Senate lost one of its most principled,
driven, effective and well-liked proponents for reform. Sen. Paul Wellstone
of Minnesota, along with his wife, daughter, three campaign aides and two
pilots, died as his plane went down in a light snow, just minutes from the
runway.
Recent reports highlight suspicions about icing on the engines or the wings, even citing a possible report of icing by another pilot. But pilots have expressed doubt, saying that any icing that day was minimal, normal and unlikely to cause a tragic malfunction of aerodynamic shape or propulsion equipment.
The popular democratic progressive, described by several colleagues as a 'happy warrior', has built a record of staunch advocacy for the most defenseless and needy among us, defending and promoting reforms that further democratize our system of government and return authority, and priority, to the people. By all accounts, the loss of Sen. Wellstone is a grave loss for the American People, for the state of Minnesota, and for the cause of liberalization of government.
The Senator, a former political science university professor, was a firm believer in the ongoing improvement of the American Experiment, this being the desire to bring current political reality closer to the elusive ideals that motivated the founding of the United States of America more than two centuries ago.
Sen. Wellstone was locked in a tight re-election campaign, and had begun to pull away in the polls. Reports are widespread that the replacement for his name on the ballot will be former Vice-President and Minn. Senator, Walter Mondale. Polls currently show the elder statesman, still a practicing attorney, leading by a narrow margin, even before his candidacy is official.
OLD GAMES
New media have not succeeded in phasing out old strategies. In many races,
wild, unsubstantiated claims about one's opponents, descriminatory innuendo,
and attacks against candidates' families, have risen to new prominence. In
some cases, all debate or mention of any real issues has been dispensed with
altogether, in exchange for an absurd cycle of rhetorical assault.
Anything is fair game in today's political environment, so the conventional wisdom goes. This is the same conventional wisdom which says that much of our political gridlock is the direct result of such cynical methods.
