Word Play

Question: How dumb do politicians think voters are?
Answer: Very, says Pug Mahoney

   It's discouraging to hear supposedly intelligent government officials say things repeatedly that are false, provably false, and ludicrous to anyone who hears the words.
   But the more discouraging thing is that they keep talking longer, louder and with less sense every day. Moreover, many people continue to believe them.
   So maybe Pug Mahoney is right.
   The problem is that a politician will shoot off his mouth before his brain is loaded.

   The Washington Post, one of America's premier daily newspapers, "should be a registered lobbyist," said the president.
   Hello? Are there any adults in the Oval Office? Someone who went to high school and read the Constitution, where the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and of the press?
   The president also praised Kim Jong-un for taking charge of the North Korean government at the age of 26. He must have forgotten, if he ever knew, that Queen Elizabeth II has been chief of state of the United Kingdom, one of America's closest allies, since the age of 25.

   And when Kim speaks, the president noted, "his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same." That sort of demand for obsequiousness may work in real estate management, but not for citizens of a free nation.
   When challenged on that remark by reporters, the president insisted that he was being "sarcastic." But he is not known for that quality of speech. Nasty, vicious and demanding of total loyalty, yes. But sarcasm, no.
   Politicians are fond of defending themselves when challenged by using variations of "You didn't understand. What I really meant was ..."
   Citizens and voters have a right to expect government officials to be clear in what they say. We are not mind-readers. We only know what you say, and it remains the duty of journalists to record and report what a politician says, as well as how it may affect government policy and the public welfare.