Every
time this happens I can’t help but think, well isn’t that cute! Governor
Corbett did the same thing when he won the election in 2010 and not Tom Wolf (in
sheep’s clothing) is doing the same thing during his transition. In summary, as
was reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer
on Wednesday, he “announced an ethics
policy for transition-team advisers that includes an absolute gift ban, and
said he would curb the practice of giving no-bid contracts to private law firms
when he takes office.”
Even
though this thought process and temporary stance is more prevalent the further
left the politician is on the political spectrum, this isn’t a naïve mentality solely
associated with one party over the other. Whether they truly believe this or
not it all comes down to what the public wants to hear and, more specifically,
what their base wants to hear. It is a moment during the political process when
they believe in their invincibility allowing their political IQ to take a
significant, albeit momentary, dip. I guess you could say that each politician
has their Thomas More moment and
this statement is just that for many political figures.
This
seemingly simple act is indicative of the kind of grandiose politics that is to
be expected in the current system and it is the reason why things are so
polarized. Too many people now view politicians as a means to escape their
current reality rather than changing their own station in life. Those
politicians see this and know that the kind of statements and stances that need
to be taken have to reflect a means of false hope. And that is all this really
is as there is no way that this stance will hold and is probably why the letter
released by the campaign specifies that that the ‘gift ban’ applies to the
transition team with no mention of the staff that he will have in place once he
takes office.
Whether
we like it or not, politics is a game of give and take. Gifts and privileges
are part of that game both of which are completely legal if they are declared. This
give and take is the means to accomplish the political goals. What this
distills down to is that every politician, no matter the words they speak or
letters they release to the press, plays this game. So those who claim to not
take these gifts are the ones that refuse to maintain any level of actual
transparency. But they tell the electorate what they want to hear so the façade
hold up.
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