Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Play Nice: I was surprised to learn that a good percentage of the attendees at Fenway Park booed Sen. Kerry as he threw the first pitch in the Red Sox-Yankees game on Monday. It was his hometown crowd, and people were booing him for having the gall to run for our nation's highest office.

Vice President Cheney got the same treatment last month at a Red Sox-Yankees game in New York. He was sitting in one of the owner's boxes watching the game with Gov. George Pataki and former mayor Rudy Giuliani. During the Seventh Inning Stretch, the music played God Bless America. Among the camera shots on the field's big screen was a flash of Cheney. Instant booing erupted from some rabble rousers.

I don't understand the visceral hatred people have toward politicians. Sure, they don't have the best reputations. But even lawyers and used car salesmen wouldn't incite booing.

Politicians have many faults, but most of the ones I've met have this country's best interest at heart and work hard to do what they think is best. There is the hunger for power and the backroom dealings that taint their image. But just because you disagree with somebody's political platform doesn't mean they don't deserve some respect.

You don't have to vote for them. A golf clap would be appropriate if you aren't enthusiastic about someone's policies. But extreme hatred adds nothing to the political discourse. And it wouldn't hurt to show a little consideration for the people who go to work in the thankless job that is our nation's government and political system. We might actually get better candidates in the process.