When I was much younger, I wrote a critical piece about Michelle Wu. Commenters used many accurate adjectives to describe me and my writing, but one that stood out as wrong was “manipulative.” If I thought I could write something that would improve the behavior of the mayor of Boston, the ethical response would be to write it! If only words had so much power.
Wu, much like Seth Moulton and Ed Markey, is not a friend of mine. I have no personal relationship with them, nor do most of the people who work or campaign for them. A politician is better thought of as a medium-sized organization with a figurehead to represent it. Politicians agree to have their actions and ideas criticized because of the power they wield.
This is also what makes being a politician difficult. It is hard to have to support things you don’t really believe in, and to be blamed when bad things happen. Politicians are real people who can cry and laugh and certainly try to do both. Like everyone who you know only via your phone, though, they’re crying and laughing for an audience of thousands. Feel free to be moved but remember that they have no idea you’re watching. Are you sharing a human moment with them, or are you being “manipulated”?
This is in my mind when I read letters in the paper about elections big and small. I find it interesting to see Moulton described as “fierce, energetic and visionary” when he reads to me as a liberal box-checker. Markey voted for the Iraq war. Did he have a change of heart years later, or did it just become cool to denounce the war? The most interesting thing about him is that viral Jimmy John’s meme. (Unscrew the caps of the cement trucks, Seth!)
It sucks to read letters comparing candidates’ “experience” to measure their worth. Certainly deal making, relationship building and passing legislation are skills. Yet Democrats think that you have to work for a bunch of nonprofits and serve as a county treasurer and win a lot of seats in succession to earn the right to higher office. The problem is that winning elections repeatedly teaches the elected person to not have any principles.
Despite this being the least productive Legislature in the history of ever, every district thinks that its hometown hero, seated for 20 years or more, is not part of that rot. Guess what? She is. Even if she’s a great person. There’s a reason everyone and their mothers endorsed her – they’re playing the game too.
So, yeah. Be mean to politicians, but don’t harass or threaten them. Accountability in politics isn’t a conversation between you and a friend – it’s David and Goliath. And lately, it seems like nobody wants to be David.
Nicholas Marchuk is a local author and engineer. His work is available at major retailers and on his website, nicholasmarchuk.com. Comments and questions can be directed to his contact form and may be responded to in this publication.
