< PREVIOUS ] [ 1999 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
Lately I've been reading about something called
Clinton Fatigue
as a political factor. It seems
that millions of Americans are tired of reading or hearing
about President Clinton. By extension, this public
exhaustion works against the political prospects of those
close to the president, such as Vice-President Al Gore in
his run for the presidency, or First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton in her quest for the U.S. Senate.
Neither seems to have affected me. Hillary always reminds me of an earnest Sunday School teacher, and so I tune out so quickly that I don't have a chance to get fatigued. Gore can get me yawning inside of a minute after he starts talking, but that's from boredom, not fatigue. I know because I don't feel tired after he talks -- indeed, I feel rested, though sometimes a bit groggy until I swill some coffee.
But even if Clinton Fatigue hasn't hit me yet, there are many days when I feel exhausted on account of similar factors. To name a few:
· Buchanan Fatigue. He seems to have figured out that Hillary has a better chance of getting the Republican nomination than he does. So he's switching to the Reform Party, since the American Fascist Party doesn't get any federal matching funds for the 2000 election.
The conventional wisdom has it that if Buchanan get the Reform nomination, it will siphon votes away from the GOP. But he'll take Democratic votes, too, because Buchanan does address issues that the two major parties avoid.
There was a time when presidential elections concerned things like trade, immigration, fiscal policy and isolationism. Many Americans still care about those issues.
But the two major parties avoid them, which leaves a niche for Pat Buchanan -- even though we're more than tired of his ranting.
· Subsidy Fatigue: This seems to afflict only taxpayers, not elected officials, who never tire of finding ways to give money to deserving subdividers, promoters and developers.
Unfortunately, they don't just write checks these days. Instead, they provide tax abatements and incentives, so that the fatigue intensifies -- not only can you get tired of giving money to various well-heeled moochers, you can totally drain yourself if you try to figure out just how much they're getting.
Some Golden residents are trying to minimize Subsidy Fatigue an amendment to their city charter. It would require a public vote on all tax abatements and the like.
Critics say it represents micro-management and it ties the hands of elected officials.
Well, maybe their hands should be tied to prevent them from reaching into the public till and doling out favors to developers.
Look what happens when you don't tie their hands. In 1995, the Golden City Council put a subsidy question on the ballot, and by a 3-1 margin, residents voted against subsidizing the Interplaza West shopping mall.
Despite that expression of taxpayer sentiment, in 1998 the Golden council agreed to a $3.7 million subsidy for the same development.
Little wonder that Golden residents want a real voice in how their money gets spent. Besides, this fits with the spirit of the Bruce Amendment -- if they have to get your consent to raise your taxes, why not require your permission before using your money to build another shopping mall?
This looks like an effective treatment for Subsidy Fatigue, an ailment which is spreading throughout Colorado, and perhaps Golden will lead the way in providing a cure.
· Sixties Blame Fatigue: The '60s launched Ronald Reagan's political career, and that might be reason enough to despise the decade.
But I am getting tired of politicians blaming '60s
values
for things that don't fit, as New York Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani did last week when he criticized a court
decision that would have allowed the Klansmen to wear their
masks while marching through Gotham.
Now, if the court had allowed a naked love-in at Central
Park, or a bongathon on the steps of City Hall, or a
widespread protest that closed all the stock exchanges,
then Giuliani might have had a point about those pernicious
'60s values.
But a Klan parade? Maybe Rudy was talking about the values of the 1860s, rather than the 1960s, and the Biased Liberal Media deliberately took his comments out of context, so that there would be some Giuliani Fatigue to match the Clinton Fatigue that's affecting Hillary, thereby attempting to level the playing field.
But I'm too exhausted to worry about that. At the moment, I've got Indoor Fatigue -- I'm tired of sitting at a desk when it's so nice outdoors, where none of these fatigues can reach me.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 1999 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >