When I was ascending through elementary school, I was also climbing the ranks within Cub Scout Pack 292 (Aston, PA). We were a small Pack-- twenty or so scouts, and a handful of dedicated leaders-- and met weekly within our two or three 'dens,' and monthly, as a pack. With what looked like high formality to second and third graders, we would set up the flags-- the Pack flag and the American flag-- that were stored in a hall closet at the church that hosted us (Aston Presbyterian). That closet was loaded with decades of scouting history: the Pack's flag was there, but so was the flag for a (not long to be) defunct Troop bearing the same number. So were flags noting patrols and dens of Scouts long since moved on. When me and my peers became Cub Scouts, we grew accustomed to the ritual of setting up the flags-- and the heavy, brass-looking stands that held them up during our meetings.
Scouting played a big role in my life; it put me in touch with many people I would have otherwise not known. One of those people was Curt Weldon. My then-Congressman appeared at one of our monthly Pack meetings and presented us with a brand-new American flag-- that had actually been flown over the Capital of the United States! We were in awe of it, and in awe of this tall, dark-suited "politician." Later, during the height of my awkward high school years, Curt reached out and voiced his support for an event connected to my Eagle Scout project: an 'anti-gang rally' held in the school auditorium. On a break from my undergraduate years spent in Aston, I ended up on a bus tour with my mother and the Aston Republican Women's Committee, organized by Weldon's wife. I remember little from the trip, except shaking hands once again (for a third time?) with Curt Weldon-- and also the moment when the gaggle of us happened upon Sonny Bono as we were escorted through the halls of Congress.
Congressman Weldon's political career ended in controversy surrounding his daughter, wife, lobbying, and unethical ties to a Russian oil company, first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Some, including Weldon himself, allege the timing of the FBI's investigation in 2004-- which involved searching the contents of his office as well as his daughter's home-- was to influence his fast-approaching re-election day. Some conspiracists believe Weldon's uncovering of Mohammed Atta's connection to the 9/11 terrorists, as well as his uncovering of a secret military scheme titled "Able Danger" led to his unseating from Congress. Weldon lost badly that year, to a retired Vice Admiral running as a Democrat, and hadn't been from since-- until a letter a few months back, supporting the 'let's-clean-house' rhetoric of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. And this morning, lurking in my Facebook feed like fresh dogshit on an unmowed suburban lawn, sat a picture of a white-haired Weldon-- not the way I remembered him, from second grade, or high school-- and the headline, which was Curt's a full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump, hosted as a "guest columnist" by the Delaware County Daily Times. His clearest lines:
I am disgusted with both national political parties and their manipulation of the process and the people I served for 30 years. [...]
We now know that Bernie’s campaign was doomed from the start because he dared to challenge the “system” and the national machine of the Clintons. Donald Trump has many personal shortcomings – but at this point in our country we need a strong leader who will clean out the cesspool in both political parties in Washington, DC. This may be our only opportunity in our lifetimes to dramatically change the direction of our country!
Curt's op-ed descends into the rhetoric that has become commonplace during this election cycle: trade deals have killed this economy, law enforcement are being targeted in the streets, drugs are "pouring" over our borders and destroying society. I couldn't help but wonder what Curt thought he was going to accomplish in penning this op-ed: was his voice still a viable one? Did his endorsement matter? Did the people of Delco buy the official narrative regarding his unethical behavior, or did they think it was somehow a political smear? Did it matter, ten years later? Weldon seemed to think time heals all political wounds (though he mentions early in his op-ed that he voted for Carter over Ford, due to Ford's pardoning of Nixon?), and that his voice, the voice of Curt Weldon, once a respected politician and someone Cub Scouts looked up to, was important enough to raise in support of the GOP front runner. Trump is a man whose total lack of experience and destructive, childlike behavior continues to get a pass from so much conservative media-- but not, I had expected (or hoped?) from armchair conservatives like Weldon, with records of public service and time spent in DC. I don't know what, if anything, I had expected to hear from Curt Weldon, regarding the Presidential Campaign of 2016. I do know his op-ed was written to have been run in the Daily Times within a week of the election, as Weldon's sign-off pledges his (and his wife's) support for Trump 'this coming Tuesday':
Folks – believe me – it’s leadership in both political parties that cause the problems that we face every day. And, in this election only one candidate will take on the “system” and those who have benefitted for years.
On Tuesday, my wife, Mary, and I will vote for Donald Trump!
In comment boxes online and on Facebook, the public was not especially kind of Weldon, though some Trump supporters posted memes ("Drain the Swamp" was most memorable). While I don't blame Weldon for wanting to be vocal about his distrust for Hillary Clinton, seeing this former politician from my hometown make the case in print for a liar, a bigot, and a man willing to admit publicly to sexual assault to be the next President of the United States was difficult-- at one point, at a very young age, I looked up to Curt Weldon. I do not know about his daughter, her company, or any of their ties to Russia; I do know who he is supporting for President, and who he will refuse to support. I know too he believes his voice is important, and so does his county's daily newspaper-- important enough to print, as a guest columnist. I know he once handed my Cub Scout Pack an American flag, a symbol of freedom, and how, in this country, we're to treat each other. Those days are over now; perhaps they never actually began. Weldon will not be the only skeletal-closet/former Republican to come out and support the Presidential nominee over the next twelve days. Perhaps Curt really did crack open something he shouldn't have, and thus really has been shunned politically, to the extent necessary to believe Trump's 'outsider' status is actually going to get him anything. Any fool can make a pro-Trump argument featuring Hillary, which is what Weldon accomplished, but that does not necessarily make him a fool. The spelling error in Weldon's final paragraph was retained from the original, in the excerpt above, for accuracy, and to help (for yourselves) answer the "who's the fool?" question. Maybe it was Curt's own error, or maybe it counts as one of "newspaper racket" editor Phil Heron's mistakes, for not catching it. Regardless: they deserve each other.
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Later in the day, a WCAX poll emerges, from the Green Mountains: Hillary will handily beat Trump, but nearly one-third of those polled claimed to be voting for someone other than Clinton or Trump. A few points for Jill Stein, a few for Gary Johnson-- but ten percent for someone other than even those four. Ben? Jerry? The World's Most Interesting Man? Or are the Green Mountains still Feeling the Bern, despite all rational thought?
Martin, P. (23 Oct. 2006). "The Case of Curt Weldon: Republican Congressman targeted after criticizing 9/11 cover up." World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved from https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2006/10/weld-o23.html
Weldon, C. (26 Oct. 2016). "Guest Columnist: Curt Weldon in Trump's Corner." Delaware County Daily Times. Retrieved from http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20161026/guest-column-curt-weldon-in-trumps-corner
