The insanity and inanity of American politics

There are two stories that are in today's news that illustrate the true craziness of American politics. In the first story we hear that Republican Carl Paladino got angry at NY Post reporter Fred Dicker when Dicker brought up the subject of extramarital affairs. Last Sunday, the Post ran a story about Paladino's ten year old daughter who was fathered out of wedlock. Paladino's wife was interviewed and explained that she was fully aware of what had happened and had forgiven her husband for his infidelity. Reading Dicker's account of the confrontation it seems that Paladino went ballistic over the fact that the Post had sent a reporter to the daughter's home.

I have to say that Paladino's reaction seems quite real and acceptable to me. If the media want to focus on this story, it is their right, but there is no need to actually intrude on the life of a ten year old girl who has nothing relevant to say. Imagine, Paladino's wife gave an interview about this, but the Post still wanted to get to the daughter. I think that Paladino's response is pretty clearly that of a man who wants to protect his child. He is not doing a John Edwards and lying about the affair or even attempting to hide it from the public. He is only trying to protect his daughter. As far as I am concerned, if I lived in NY, this would make me more likely to vote for Paladino.

The second story is that California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman hired an illegal alien as a housekeeper. Not surprisingly, the housekeeper came forward with her attorney, Gloria Allred at her side. As soon as you see Gloria there, you know that this is something that the Brown campaign organized. Jerry Brown is losing the debate, so he is attempting to change the subject. Whitman came forward immediately with copies of the social security card the housekeeper showed as well as the forms she signed at the time indicating that she was in the country legally. Those forms are all that the law requires of an employer, so Whitman did nothing wrong. It seems really wrong to me that a race for governor would be focused on whether or not the housekeeper was an illegal alien even if she lied about her status to get the job. there are just too many important issues that need to be addressed.

By the way, will the housekeeper now be deported? I certainly hope so.