Rocky! Rocky!

Rocky Anderson? ‘Who the hell is Rocky Anderson?!’ you might ask. I certainly did. Well, apparently he is one out of a seemingly handful of lefty politicians with a spine! He is the Democratic Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah (yes that’s right – Democrat of Utah – you read that correctly) and perhaps more importantly a voracious advocate for the impeachment of one George W. Bush.

"There’s a real resistance to change and an almost pathological devotion to leaders simply because they’re leaders… There’s a dangerous culture of obedience throughout much of this country that’s worse in Utah than anywhere."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22rocky.html?em&ex=1174708800&en=812a0a1f8c08a420&ei=5087%0A

It should be noted that he will not be running for reelection or any other public office in the near future, thus giving him a considerable amount more rope with considerably less to lose. Ironic then that a candidate running for considerably higher office than mayor is now doing his best to distance himself from the Rock. Everybody’s favorite Mormon Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, apparently was a fervent supporter of Anderson in his 2003 mayoral campaign after the two had worked together during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City:

"He was a mayor that worked well with me during the Olympics, and I supported his work as a mayor… I do not endorse or support his views on President Bush or almost any other issue, particularly that's unrelated to being a mayor."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201010.html

At this point in time, I give you full permission to gag on a spoon. I mean, Romney has always seemed like an über-phony baloney, but apparently Oscar Meyer’s truly got nothing on this guy. My bologna has a first name and it’s M-I-T-T.

I guess I haven’t really made a fluent point and maybe I don’t really have one. I guess it is just generally hard to take any politician at his or her word. A friend of mine once said, "If you are a purist, then you don’t get into politics," because one’s ethics are bound to be compromised at one point or another. Is it possible, though, for a purist politician to rise through the ranks of the heavyweights? While it seems highly doubtful, some credit should still be thrown Rocky’s way, for few politicians ever truly speak their mind, much less their conscience. And what do I know? Rocky may decide to throw his hat into the great race of ’08. Interesting to contemplate what a candidate might achieve by actually having clear-cut positions as opposed to being a jelly-spined panderer…