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Monday, November 06, 2006

Commentary: When Bad Things Are Said About Good People

(Editor’s note: The following commentary by award-winning Westport-based writer Jessica Bram was broadcast on Fairfield County Public Radio WSHU-FM.)

By Jessica Bram
Special to WestportNow

My mother always said that there was nothing worse than hearing my brothers and me fight. I used to think it was the noise that bothered her; but only when I became a mother myself did I realize that the truly awful thing about it is hearing terrible things said about the people I most love and cherish–-my own children.

That it’s other people I love just as much who are saying those things only makes it worse-–because the meanness of their words tarnishes them as well.

All this has frequently come to mind during this particularly ugly election season. Some months ago my commentary here applauded the civil tenor of Connecticut political discourse compared to the national mudslinging. “The Battle of the Huggers” is how I labeled Connecticut’s 4th District Congressional race between two highly popular public servants.

Well, boy, do I ever take that back. Goaded and financed, no doubt, by both Republican and Democratic national machines, the most irresponsible, God-awful things are being said in just about every Connecticut race both by and about some of the most important people in my life: my public servants. 

Incumbent or challenger, Democrat or Republican, pro- or anti-Bush: for better or worse, these are the individuals standing up for me and my family in the public arena.

These people will be making decisions about countless critical issues that affect my life–-everything from whether my draft-age sons-–or my taxes-–will end up in Iraq, to how much I pay for gas for my car, to traffic on I-95. 

But what am I hearing today? That these individuals-–who feel compelled to public service simply to answer some inner, higher calling to serve the public good--are, in fact, not noble, but evil. Dishonest, Misguided.  Soft on terrorism, Villains.

It is profoundly depressing.  And the fact that these candidates (quote) “approve these (ugly) messages” makes me feel all the worse about them.

What’s also disturbing about the negative rhetoric is how little respect it shows for us, the electorate. Do they really think we’re that stupid? Stupid enough to believe that any of these candidates wants our country vulnerable to terrorists?  Enjoys risking our soldiers’ lives in Iraq?  Has coffee with the Taliban, as one outrageous flyer in my mailbox suggested? Cruelly laid off employees to keep company profits for himself, rather than for sound business reasons?

Here’s what I think about these candidates for public office, regardless of whether they’re incumbents or challengers, Republican or Democrats. These people are patriots-–every last one of them.

OK, call me naïve. But having witnessed political campaigns up close I have nothing--nothing-–but the greatest admiration for people who sacrifice their own personal lives, leisure, fortunes and family time, to serve me and serve the public--because they think they can do better. Even if it means having to hear the most awful things said about themselves in the public arena.

Long ago I let my sons know that speaking ill of one another would not be tolerated in our home. “You may have your differences and your squabbles now,” I told them. “But one day you’ll find that it’s a cold and unfriendly world out there, and a lot of people are going to be against you. But in the end it’s your brothers who will be there for you, on your side against the world, no matter what. Treasure that now--because you’re going to need it.”

As this painful election season finally comes to a most welcome end, I can only hope that Americans do the same--as together we face the challenges of a terrifying and very dangerous world.

Comments:     Comment Policy

BRAVO!!!

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