Opinion: No matter what a politician may say or sign off on, no one truly knows their character or private actions until it is too late. Vote for and support those who will protect your rights. Do not glamorize their job.
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About two years ago, I was back in my home city of Beaverton hanging out with a few local friends. As we lapped familiar neighborhoods and made sure everything was still as we left it (the Nike campus was still building who knows what, and the John’s Incredible Pizza parking lot was still empty), we realized one thing had changed. Lacey Beaty had recently beaten then-incumbent Dennis Doyle in the Beaverton mayoral elections, as we saw on a flyer.
Then, for some reason, my friend said they missed when Doyle was mayor, and, for some reason, I agreed.
We were both too young to remember most of his term, which began in 2008. Neither of us really paid attention to his actions in office or what values or rights he stood for. I don’t recall either of us ever even mentioning his name in conversation before then.
I was young and remembered his face as the leader of my home city, and from that point, I simply accepted him as an upstanding person. I defaulted to the blissful naivety that the politician overseeing my neighborhood was morally sound; it was easier to do so.
Doyle was decently decorated in the Beaverton area. He was part of establishing the popular youth soccer program Westside Metros in 1993. As a city counselor, he was named the Citizen of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America in 2008. After winning the mayoral election that year, he served for three terms and was given an Oregon Mayors Leadership Award in 2014.
That same year he began downloading “hundreds” of images of child pornography. No, the Boy Scouts of America have not given him more Citizen of the Year honors since.
There’s no realistic way any average resident in the Beaverton area could’ve guessed that he is a depraved, fallacious freak. There’s no way anyone not immediately close to him or in familiar contact could’ve suspected his true character. I don’t blame anyone who may feel deluded for presuming him to be moral; he was a highly decorated and endorsed politician.
Then again, there’s that “fool me once” thing.
I remember being taught the story of Abraham Lincoln walking after customers who came to his shop as a boy after he realized he didn’t give them all their change back. Good old Honest Abe, apparently, that happened more than once. Maybe just learn how to count at some point; it saves all the walking.
Early schooling boiled Lincoln down to “The Great Emancipator,” who ended slavery because he was just such a good guy, you know. If you solely observe the changes in our country over his term, this is a fairly acceptable assumption.
This overlooks his speeches denying the social and intellectual equality between Black and white people and his admittance to abolishing slavery mainly for the sake of keeping the Union together.
Yes, give him his handouts: He was progressive for his time, whatever. No, I’m not diminishing the impact his presidency made despite his true ideals on racial equality. It is, though, regressive to paint him as the moral champion he was taught to many of us as. Not only does it diminish the work of true abolitionists at that time, but sets a precedent of idolization of one figurehead for a piece of legislation.
John F. Kennedy is one of the most revered presidents in our nation’s history. He’s credited with passing civil rights acts, putting guys on the moon, and is regarded as one of the most popular politicians in the history of the United States.
He also was an alleged adulterer. It’s hard to celebrate that.
With these examples, the pattern I advise considering is that the politicians’ personalities can be entirely disjointed from their legislature. Those in office or on campaigns run behind veils of public relations to romanticize their public pursuits and befog their private actions. While they may pass legislation that coincides with an ideal you agree with, they may not be so agreeable themselves. From a citizen’s perspective, all we know is that they scribbled a signature at the bottom of a bill.
Ultimately, their signature is all that is needed from them. Voters should still endorse those who they know will protect their rights. It doesn’t matter if a politician is apathetic or a pathetic person as long as their signature furthers societal and individual liberties and justice.
My caution is against idolizing and glamorizing politicians’ personalities based on their speeches and signatures. I see this happening with politicians today: Beto O’Rouke, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others. Though, I’ve seen too many with espoused personalities get exposed to trust the character of any lawmaker. It’s a slippery slope to praying for Donald Trump to save you from the local police.
Simply: We don’t know these people. Who knows who they could actually be or what they genuinely stand for? The same could be said about celebrities in general, but I’ll wait until another one gets in trouble to make that point.
