Something our esteemed Riley said about seeing candidates on television in sordid places like David Letterman’s chair and on the Saturday Night Live stage – best known of late for having been traipsed by George Carlin in the midst of an admitted cocaine-fueled, teeth-grinding session in his heyday- reminded me of what a very old professor once said to me. He said that he remembered a time when Presidents of the United States wouldn’t be seen holding so much as a paper cup in their hands for fear that it would cheapen the most powerful office in the world. He was disgusted by the likes of Oprah and Chris Mathews for the degree to which they had drawn the level of discourse down in politics in this country. This from a professor who, as a conservative Catholic was demeaned and regularly made to feel under seige in his office on campus because of his political views. The professor was an elder, but he was very sage and that had to make the lefties in his department nervous; including and especially the president of this NY college who had gotten his Ph.D, conveniently, in British Columbia circa 1972. You do the math.
Filed under: Virginia Politics
