With political tumult
sweeping our state
and the nation, one
of the many questions that
comes to my mind is the following:
Why does every member
of our political system and
government institutions fail to
give any real straight talk to the
people?
As much as straight talk
is lauded by power-hungry
demons, rarely do we the people
see any of this stuff. Mississippi
State’s last president, Robert H.
“Doc” Foglesong, bragged about
it all the time, but his online
rants did little to add to intelligent
discussion. John McCain
has used the phrase “straight
talk,” but his and Sarah Palin’s
attempt at this prized virtue fall
a little short.
As the present fiasco that is
MSU’s presidential search develops,
along with the added stress
of a scandal between IHL commissioner
Tom Meredith and
former MSU Interim President
Vance Watson, straight talk,
as defined as openly explaining
one’s own actions, has been
very limited. Much of what we
can go on is from general press
releases that provide little analysis
and perspective. Last week,
for example, Watson released
statements completely denying
accusations. Now, he is resigning.
And so it is with our special
election to fill the U.S. Senate
seat of the departed Trent Lott,
who has cast himself into the hell
of lobbying. The senatorial race
has been devoid of any straight
talk whatsoever. Two so-called
friends and past roommates,
Ronnie Musgrove and Roger
Wicker, have insulted each
other and, more importantly,
the intelligence of those they
subjugate to negative attack ads
that the press has widely shown
to be misleading.
The Clarion Ledger ran a story
Sunday debunking some of the
bold statements on the ad spots.
It included the Musgrove campaign’s
claim that Wicker voted
for a pay raise nine times and
Wicker’s claim that Musgrove
singlehandedy caused a budget
deficit.
The New York Times has also
covered the special election,
explaining the negative campaigns
in a racial light. Again,
Mississippi looks like a backward
state in the national eye.
Anyone who saw the Oct.
3 senatorial debate televised
from Mississippi College knows
just how devoid of real talking
points this race is. What we
heard was the same stuff we’ve
seen in advertisements, and the
candidates were so busy bashing
each other, they hardly talked
about themselves.
Oh my gosh: Musgrove is
in the same party as Barack
Obama. Wicker could not help
but point this out. Musgrove was
too scared to mention Obama’s
name. Wicker and especially
Musgrove, a Democrat, are so
concerned with protecting their
reputations, they appear more
like robots instead of public
servants. I congratulate anyone
who can stay awake while listening
to Musgrove speak.
I may sound cynical, but a
cynical campaign has caused me
to be like this. Why don’t our
candidates stop talking about
one another and start talking
about what they are going to
push for in the Senate? You
know, some straight talk.
Matt Watson is the opinion editor
of The Reflector. He can be contacted
at [email protected].