I'm Confused About...Politicians
Published March 19, 2006
Part of it is the power. If you've never experienced it, you can't imagine how seductive it is — literally. I once worked for an elected official who'd have won every "ugly man" contest in every bar in America, but beautiful, astonishing women threw themselves at him. Even weirder, just because I worked for him, some of that power aura rubbed off on me, and beautiful women threw themselves at me. I, of course, turned them all down. But it's more than sex. Power + conviction + adulation + principles = mental illness.
Those who've followed my rantings know that Dubya's not my favorite president, but I was at a political dinner in his first term and sat next to Andrew Card, his chief of staff. He was one of the nicest, most interesting, decent people I've ever met.
I also didn't think much of Bill Clinton, but I was at a small dinner towards the end of his term and sat at his table. The man's absolutely brilliant and charming.
Why then, does administration after administration wreak havoc with their ham-handed attempts at policy making? Why does Congress act like a bunch of vultures fighting over dead carcasses?
Part of it's our fault. You, me, and the rest of the American people who tell pollster after pollster that we're sick and tired of negative ads and dirty campaigns, and then elect the person who's done the best job of smearing his or her opponent. Then we demand more than anyone can deliver, and we vote as if our brains had been fermented in bourbon. (Notice I don't say Irish whiskey.)
Sure, there are addled-brained pols just like there are nitwit corporate big wigs, but, individually, most pols aren't addled-brained or corrupt or sinister. So why do administrations and Congress continually screw everything up?
The pols don't like the system. More and more are retiring or complaining about how idiotic the process has become. It's not what they want. It's not what we want. So how come it's what we've got?
I'm confused.
In Jamesons Veritas
- I'm Confused About...Politicians
- Published: March 19, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Culture: Humor and Satire, Politics: Elections and Candidates, Politics: Government, Politics: Policy
- Writer: Mark Schannon
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- Mark Schannon's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
I can't disagree with your despair, but, with all due respect, you missed my point. Individually, these folks aren't bad people. It's only when they get together as Congress or The Administration that weird things happen.
Maybe it's something in the water or air.
Maybe the buildings have "sick building syndrome."
Maybe this is the real plot by al-Qida to destroy us.
That's why I'm confused...
In Jamesons Veritas
Nobody explains these things better than Walter E. Williams. Here is
a link.
Fascinating article, and I love the proposed legislation at the end. You should do an article just on that!
Thanks.
In Jamesons Veritas
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You hit the nail on the head when you said it's our fault. We the people allow it and we get what we deserve. Much of what they do is downright criminal and the people just scoff it off as politics as usual. Nobody wants to recognize that money crossing state and district lines for the purpose of influencing elections is election tampering. What part of "lobbying" doesn't involve the offering and taking of bribes? (The absolute best ROI of a "campaign contribution" is one that makes it illegal for anyone to choose not to purchase your product)
If every Democrat and every Republican lost every election for the next 12 years, the entire planet would be a better place to live. But that's not going to happen. Under the "lesser of" guise, everyone will line up and do everything they can to ensure that evil pervails. For some reason, the people insist on returning that lying pack of thieves to the halls of power every chance they get. Once there, the first thing they do is take an oath to uphold the Constitution. The second thing they do is toss the oath AND the Constitution out the nearest window.
It's only going to get worse. The tendency to micromanage the personal decisions of people in a "free" country has them running out of stuff to legislate. Next on the horizon, laws affecting citizens of other countries within their own boarders. If any of my friends read this they may not recognize the name, but they will know the phrase... poor us.