Sincerity (#1,010)

October 14, 2024 / Kurt F. Stone

For those whose memories will permit them to remember back to last week’s essay (a mere 168 hours ago), you will, I pray, remember that my topic was the loss of truth in political campaigns . . . both on the part of the Democrats, but far, far more on the part of what used to be known as the G.O.P. In that piece, I posited that outright, clear-cut lies have so inundated our political campaigns that perhaps now is the time to pray for the resurrection of the truth. I regret to say that sometimes, the answer to an outright plea to the Master of the Universe is “no”; despite our heartfelt supplication, this past week has seen IT proclaim before a crowd of Maga Maniacs in Aurora, Colorado that that city was “overrun by Venezuelan gangs” . . . despite the city’s Republican Mayor, Mike Coffman proclaiming that the city was “absolutely, positively not a war zone overrun by Venezuelan thugs.” Moreover, Hizzoner the mayor said concerns about gang activity had been “grossly exaggerated” and that “incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents.” And just yesterday, out in Nevada, IT called Democrats and others who have opposed or investigated him "the enemy from within" describing them as more dangerous than major foreign adversaries of the United States, including Russia and China. Speaking in a state that borders California, he specifically singled out "lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff," who will likely move up to the Senate come November (he is current ahead of his Republican opponent, former Dodger Steve Garvey by more than 30 points).

OK. So much for what former Minnesota Senator Al Franken called Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them; lets move on to another human virtue of inestimable value which, like truthfulness, is in increasingly short supply . . . more so on one side of the political aisle than the other: SINCERITY. That wisest of all Americans, Ben Franklin, reminds us that sincerity is a virtue, or a character trait to strive for. “A genuine sincerity moves us in the direction of the Golden Rule - treating others the way we’d like to be treated.” (Or, in the Jewish version, “Do not treat others the way we would wish not to be treated.”) In his American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) lexicographer Noah Webster (1758-1843) defined sincerity as:

1. Honesty of mind or intention; freedom from simulation or hypocrisy. We may question a man's prudence, when we cannot question his sincerity

2. Freedom from hypocrisy, disguise or false pretense; as the sincerity of a declaration of love.

This past October 1, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz squared off against Ohio Senator JD (Vantz) Vance in the first and only - Vice Presidential debate for 2024. Who won? It all depends on your political affiliation and/or from whence you get your news and views. Predictably, Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post ran a piece beginning with the words Blundering Tim Walz dragging down Harris campaign - while brilliant JD Vance helps Trump surge. The New York Times, on the other hand, gave an honestly balanced assessment of the debate, congratulated the two candidates for their “largely civil tone and serious focus,” and declared that Governor Walz won . . . largely by speaking to the issues and being the same person on camera than he is in his private life. The Times did give Vantz Kudos for having the “bravest fashion choice . . . his patterned fuchsia tie . . . and took him to task for providing the “most blatant nonanswer; when asked by Governor Walz whether he accepted that his running mate lost the 2020 election, Vance replied ‘I am focused on the future.'“

While watching the debate in real time, I found the word sincerity bouncing around my brain. Governor Walz, whose political career I have closely followed ever since his first campaign back in 2007, when he defeated six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht capturing 53% of the vote in the decidedly Republican 1st congressional district. Over the years, he has always struck me as a sincere, feet-on-the-ground mentsch . . . the kind of fellow who would pull off the road to help change the tire of a stranded motorist. That was precisely the man who came to that debate. Vantz, on the other hand - neither sounded nor acted like the man best-known for referring to “childless cat ladies,” contending that even if Haitians were not stealing and eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio it nonetheless was fair game, and had in the past repeatedly referred to IT as “an American Hitler,” “a moral disaster,” and “cultural heroin.” Instead, he came off as the class valedictorian . . . and a cheerleader for a far more reasonable, far more moderate former POTUS. I found him to be a man trying his damnedest to come off being sincere.

Suddenly, I was reminded of one of the last episodes of M*A*S*H (“Foreign Affairs”) where the blue-blooded Major Charles Emerson Winchester falls in love with “Martine,” a French Red Cross nurse. Hawkeye, the eternal sheik also has his eye on her. When Martine invites Charles (David Ogden Stiers) to sit with her after rebuffing Hawkeye at the officer’s club, the disbelieving surgeon asks his buddy B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) "What did he try that I didn’t?” B.J. suggests "Maybe sincerity?” to which Hawkeye replies "Sincerity? I can fake that!”

Over the course of the next several days, two other quotes came to mind, the first from Roger Stone (no relation, thank G-d), the worst, most cynical of all Republican strategists of the past half-century, the other from the dean of all classic American playwrights, Eugene O’Neill. Stone, who rarely ever tells his clients or counsels any Republican to tell the truth once said “Unless you can fake sincerity, you’ll get nowhere in this business.” In his 1922 expressionist play The Hairy Ape, O’Neill has a woman known only as “the Aunt” matter-of-factly tell her niece, the haughty Mildred, “You seem to be going in for sincerity today. It isn’t become to you, really - except as an obvious pose. Be as artificial as you are, I advise. . . “

To tell you the truth, this pseudo sensitivity thing scares the living daylights out of me. As much of a moral albino and narcissistically-driven dictator-in-the-making as It is, I fear that Vantz, ITs mini-me, is far more dangerous. And considering how quickly the 78-year old IT is deteriorating before our very eyes, should he be elected in November, חס ושלום, (pronounced chas v’shalom - Hebrew for G-d forbid) chances are that his mini-me would likely serve out the majority of his term . . . and then run for a full four years in 2028 and again in 2032. Remember: “Project 2025” wasn’t really written with IT in mind; it was written for JD, the guy who wrote the forward to a book (Dawn’s Early Light) by Kevin Roberts, the man who oversaw Project 2025. In much the way that the Federalist Society finally got their kind of justices installed on the Supreme Court, so too would the Heritage Foundation have their kind of autocrat ensconced in the White House.

I really, SINCERELY hope this prospect terrifies you as much as it does me.

There are a mere 22 days until November 5. That’s not a heck of a lot of time to change the future. But it is enough time to make a final push, make a contribution, make some calls, donate some dollars, and above all, make sure you vote to keep progress, hope, sanity and SINCERITY in our midst.

3 Comments 0 Likes