THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Keith Monroe
LENGTH: 70 lines
Like many of you, I can't wait to see who Bob Dole will choose as his vice-presidential running mate. Will it be Siskel or Ebert? Apparently Dole isn't running for the presidency but to be movie-critic-in-chief so either of the TV pair would be a reliable back-up.
For the second time, Dole has gone to Hollywood to give them a product critique. The first time he told the moguls that some of their movies (that he'd never actually seen) were too violent. This time he took his Secret Service detail to a screening of Independence Day and pronounced it morally uplifting even though most major cities on Earth and all their inhabitants are incinerated in the film.
Dole has fallen under the sway of that Svengali of moralists, William Bennett. The former Secretary of Education and Drug Czar, having solved the problems of the nations' schools and cured its drug problem, now makes millions extolling virtues and criticizing his fellow Americans for lacking them.
That's a good gig for an author and talking head, but a public scold or arbiter of taste isn't what I'm seeking in a president. I thought that kind of thing went out with Cotton Mather. I wasn't aware it was in the job description.
Not that Dole is alone in devoting far too much attention to touchy-feely topics. The Clintons are well-known for hobnobbing with human-potential gurus and management theorists. The president loves eulogies and rarely skips a funeral. Previous presidents have left that sort of thing to their vice presidents, but there's a substantial risk of Al Gore being mistaken for the loved one.
Admittedly there's a ceremonial aspect to the office of president, but Clinton's in danger of making it the centerpiece of his run for re-election. If he's not at a funeral or the Olympics he's hosting a talk show-like event where he empathizes. He appears to be running for the office of Oprah-in-chief.
Is this really what the race for president is going to come down to in an age of anxiety and mass media - a choice between Robert Schuller and Savonarola?
I may be wrong, but I think the hard-headed, enlightenment men who drafted the Constitution would be appalled at all this televangelizing. Whatever their private morality, the Constitution the drafters constructed sets out certain duties for public servants. Neither moral uplift nor nannyism is among them.
Presidents are supposed to serve as commander in chief of the armed forces. They've got the power to grant reprieves and pardons, to make treaties, appoint ambassadors, Supreme Court justices and executive personnel. Presidents are required to keep the executive offices of government running smoothly and to report to Congress periodically about it. And they've got the power of the veto. That's about it.
Of course, after a couple hundred years of practice, the role of president has expanded. In an uneasy collaboration with Congress, presidents now help decide what the government will spend money on and how it will raise the revenues needed to fund those activities.
You'd think that's what Dole and Clinton would be talking about, the proper scope and role of government and how to pay for its operations. I feel capable of handling my own morality and choosing my own entertainment, but I have no choice but to entrust the activities of the federal government to others.
Every four years I get to have some input in the form of a vote for the next president. Rather than hearing that Clinton feels my pain or that Dole believes Braveheart is boffo, I want to hear how they intend to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare.
And I want to hear how much it's going to cost. If I've got any money left after they get through with me, maybe I can attend the Olympics or take in a movie of my own choosing. MEMO: Mr. Monroe is editor of the editorial page of The Virginian-Pilot. by CNB