To the Editor:

A political pet peeve is the Rhode Island Congressional delegation’s inability or unwillingness to show leadership on anything of substance.

Recently former President Jimmy Carter dropped a verbal nuclear bombshell with his shocking analysis of the state of the U.S. government when he said, “Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and congress members. So now we’ve just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the elections over ... The incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves.”

This shocking, brutally honest assessment of the state of affairs garnered predictably little media attention as mainstream media was focused on the diversionary issues of the day such as Cecil the Lion, the Kardashians, and Caitlyn Jenner. One might have thought that a media outlet worth its salt would do a follow-up interview, or even heaven forbid, an investigation to determine if the former president’s assessment was correct.

My concern is the silence that emanates from the R.I. congressional delegation; especially considering the former president also slapped Congress in the face. I guess the R.I. congressional delegation feels they deserve the slap, or they cannot defend themselves from such attacks, or they are just four empty suits afraid to take a stand on any major issue, even when they are attacked.

True leaders would have come out swinging, to either refute the accusation or to jump on the former president’s bandwagon and begin the fight to dramatically change the corrupt system – so much for true leadership within the R.I. congressional delegation. What does our congressional delegation say about the former president’s accusation?

Absolutely nothing. Instead, like political cowards they run for cover with their finger high in the air feeling for the direction of political winds, and find a hole large enough to bury their heads in. True profiles in courage? So, once again I fault Representatives Langevin and Cicilline and our two Senators, Reed and Whitehouse. Sadly it appears we have four “empty suits” representing Rhode Island in Congress, but then again they seem to fit in with the rest of the Congress remarkably well.

Are Warwick Beacon readers satisfied with the delegation’s silence on all major issues? Is being a “nice guy” your only voting criteria?

Joseph Clifford

Jamestown