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Foley On Foley


Two appearances by Republican Party gubernatorial hopeful Tom Foley, one on WFSB’s “Face the State” and another on NPR’s “Where We Live” program, have produced a raft of hearty criticism from Connecticut’s left of center media.

The most interesting Foley response was a letter written to the Hartford CourantMr. Foley made two points in his letter: 1) Three of the four charges he made in his “Face The State” appearance were true, and the fourth has yet to be denied unequivocally by Governor Dannel Malloy; 2) The people of Connecticut rightfully expect their politicians to be free of even the appearance of corruption, a point repeated ad nauseam in thousands of political reports and editorials.


“What you are seeing,” Mr. Foley wrote, “is not a political strategy, but who I am.”

And who is that?

Some political commentators in the past were convinced that Mr. Foley was Connecticut’s version of former Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney, little more than an upper class robber baron. When such imputations were being leveled by some Connecticut Democrats and left of center political columnists, very few editorial board editors defended either Mr. Foley or Mr. Romney.

But then, that’s politics, isn’t it? If you don’t like the heat, it’s best to steer clear of the political kitchen.

In bare knuckle political campaigns, it’s nearly impossible to find the real Romney, the Real Foley or the real Malloy in a political theater crowded with political partisans, some of whom sit on the editorial boards of newspapers, buried as the sinners are beneath mounds of stones thrown by political opponents.

It’s pointless to be naive in the political arena, isn’t it?

“Maybe I am naive about how the government's business ‘really’ gets done,” Mr. Foley wrote in his letter to the Courant, “and romantic about the power of good leadership and good government. But if that's what I am, then so are most of the citizens of our state. You don't have to travel far from the Capitol or a newsroom to find that most citizens expect their public officials will be careful with their tax dollars, will choose policies based on what is in the public interest and will not have their hands in the cookie jar. It is important that they continue to expect and believe this.”

It will not be long before some world weary commentator instructs us that such political naiveté ought to be considered a disqualification for office in Connecticut. If you are not a viper, stay out of the viper pit.


WARNING: NOTHING IN THIS BLOG ENTREE IS TO BE CONSIDERED AS AN AFFIRMATION OF THE TRUTH OF ANY STATEMENT THUS FAR MADE BY MR. FOLEY.

Comments

dmoelling said…
Foley doesn't appear to be a fool to me. The uniform and high decibel response from the established press (including those not normally hyper partisan) seems to indicate something's there. This is a major are of neglect in todays press. The old gumshoes were basically private detectives with a flair for the pen. But today's reporters wait till it's safe. Look at the great story by the Detroit Free Press on the causes of Detroit's bankruptcy. All data driven, yet all after the fact when they took no risks. HOw about today's CT press?
Don Pesci said…
DM,

Perfect.

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