Tom Foley: Sociopathic Politician?

In my mind there are two types of politicians. The ones cut out to be public servants and the ones who enjoy the spotlight and act from a pseudo political pulpit enjoying the recognition whilst staying safely away from getting their hands dirty.

The former are usually thrust into politics at the behest of people who have been impressed with the future candidates verve, intelligence, and ability to lead. This normally occurs after a successful career that showed real tenants of leadership. Unfortunately, few politicians of this genre exist in government today.

The second type of politician is your basic sociopath of which we have in abundance in this country. (Just check out the White House, Congress, & the Senate)

The sociopathic candidate does whatever they can to get into office typically without actually knowing what the job really entails, because the job doesn’t matter. What matters to these whack-jobs is to feel accepted by a large number of people (usually duped by their glib charm) who by their votes give the candidate the feeling of self worth they so desperately clamor to attain.

To me, the perfect politician and public servant has done their time in a job or business that has flourished due to their leadership abilities and not just because they had a blank check from Daddy and Mommy. A person who has worked their way up through the primordial slime and are now able to give back to the public.

This year Connecticut has provided a perfect example of both types of politicians in a couple of races. The most prominent of which is the Connecticut Gubernatorial.

Connecticut is fortunate to have enjoyed the reign of M. Jodi Rell, in my book, the gold standard of public servant. Jodi is the type of person who never forgets who she just talked to 30 seconds ago whether they are a janitor or possible big campaign contributor. And, if the conversation called for some kind of action, you can bet she will get it done and tell you about it either with a card or a phone call.

Jodi got her job when she was Lieutenant Governor and Former Governor John G. Rowland got carted off to the pokey after a colossal witch-hunt, which really didn’t turn up anything significant. However, Jodi was faced with a mess of a public relations nightmare to deal with and had to regain the State’s trust, which she did so well, she got elected in her own right for a second full term. Unfortunately, for Connecticut, she is not running again.

Enter about a dozen candidates for Governor as would be expected, especially in this political climate of throw the bums out.

After some card shuffling and soul searching by potential candidates the deck has shaken out to two top runners for the Republican ticket, (I think there are actually 3 or 4 candidates from the R side, but these are the only two I care about) who will face off in a primary in August.

Mike Fedele is the current Lieutenant Governor of the State of Connecticut under Jodi Rell and he is of the good variety of politician I spoke of earlier. I would vote for him on the sole fact that Jodi picked him as her running mate. Her endorsement is enough for me, but I am biased, I know Jodi and I personally know how great she is.

For those who don’t know her and would require a more comprehensive bio of Fedele, here is a quick run down. Fedele is a first generation immigrant who is self made, spent time in the CT legislature and has never been a spot light seeking kind of guy. He is a family man who happened to adjust very well to public service and has done a top quality job wherever he goes. He is unburdened by any skeletons in his closet and has chosen, admirably, to run his campaign with public funds.

His opponent? Egads, if ever there was the perfect example of the sociopathic variety of politician this dude is it. I believe this to be one of those guys who probably talks to himself in the car, shower, hyperbolic chamber, whatever, just to enjoy his own rhetoric. (He is also probably the type most often found at 2am in a dark corner, naked in the fetal position, sucking his thumb, while shaking and crying.)

Tom Foley is one of those pieces of junk you can watch on TV, hear on the radio, see in the paper or a brochure and feel like you need to not just take a shower, but douse yourself with gasoline like a Buddhist Monk, in order to forever rid yourself of the ridiculous tripe that comes out of his mouth.

Foley has some impressive achievements under his belt; he has bankrupted a company, smacked his wife around, spent time in jail (let’s be fair though only a night) and is an impressive storyteller. The man is an amazing master of hyperbole and is able to manipulate the truth like a Kennedy or a Clinton. (Read that: liar)

His time spent in politics and Government consists of being Ambassador to Ireland, which allows him the title of diplomat, and some ambiguous gig in Iraq that has lead to great (albeit embellished) stories about his war service. I imagine he and Dickie Blumenthal must have great convos at Veteran cocktail parties.  

Check here for fun info on Dickie. http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/05/gi-dickie.html

Ambassador to Ireland? I’d like to be rich enough to buy that job too! Foley’s job in Iraq was some hare-brained thing where he was tasked by Bush to help develop plans for State owned businesses to re-establish and strengthen their economy. Uh…yeah…

Then there are his legal wranglings. When it came to light Foley may have had an er, uh, disagreement with his ex-wife that involved the local gendarmerie, he came forward and said he would allow full disclosure of the case to the public. Likewise, some vehicular malfeasance in which he “rammed” another vehicle completely freaking out the occupants, and resulting in an attempted assault charge.

Now, watch the shiny ball people… He never really fessed up the details and there were apparently some efforts to expunge the records or otherwise “lose the files” so to speak.

This is kind of a fun factoid. In 2002, Governor John Rowland appointed Foley as co-chair of some special committee on divorce and custody. Foley’s ex-wife wrote a letter against the appointment. That insolent cow! How dare she, you know, after the guy beat her and everything!

Now check THIS out. As I mentioned, Fedele has chosen to use public funding for his campaign. This disallows any special interest groups or any one contributor the ability to donate boatloads of money with the idea there may be some favors to repay. THAT my friends, is a sign of integrity.

Foley has challenged the Constitutionality of Connecticut’s Campaign Finance Rules not once, but three times all the way to the Supreme Court in an effort to keep Fedele from collecting the money he is entitled to in order to campaign for the primary. Luckily, this hat trick failed miserably. He has lost (thankfully) all three times. The guy isn’t even elected yet and he is spending tons of taxpayer money on frivolous lawsuits!

These are the forensics of the sociopathic politician. Someone who buys their way into political posts without the burden of having to serve at any quantifiable capacity, a person who uses their purchased, not earned, political capitol to satisfy their own need to be recognized. It is actually pretty sad, not just for Tom, but for the public as well.

So, I beg you CT GOPers to please vote for Fedele in the Primary on August 10^th. I would much rather be writing posts on those other two sociopathic politicians Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy.