In a response to my article, Bush Drives Wedge Into Republican Ranks, Maurice made a comment that got me thinking: "Interesting point about the wedge. Do I see a pattern? As I recall many Dems did not want to be seen with Clinton when they were campaigning. Even Al Gore wanted to distance himself. Are all Presidents destined to sully themselves in office?"
That got me thinking. Wasn't it George Bush I who threw up all over the Japanese Prime Minister? Didn't Lyndon Johnson show some hideous scar to the entire D.C. press corps? Wasn't there some story about Bill Clinton, a cigar, and someone--I forget who? Didn't Gerald Ford kill more people with golf balls than all the bombs dropped in World War II? Didn't Jimmy Carter bore more people to death than were lost in Vietnam?
Maurice, I think the answer may be a resounding yes.
Now, you're no doubt asking: Mark, you're a pundit-in-training, a wannabe curmudegon, a man of little faith and wild aspirations — what the hell makes you think you can unravel this condundrum? What makes you think you even know what conundrum means?
How to resond to those cynics? Got it. Go suck an egg. This is my article. You write one of your own.
But seriously folks. I could be earning money writing a speech that hundreds of members of the Associated Association of Trade Associations will give, but, no, here I am writing on BlogCritics, and I haven't even gotten to the point yet.
To misquote Shakespeare in responding to Maurice's perceptive question, I reply, "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not with our presidents, but with ourselves."
Let us consider what the direct election of presidents has brought to the great and wonderful OZ, aka, the United States:
First, D.C. is a combination snake pit, lion's den, Black Widow spider's web where snakes, lions, and Black Widows are even afraid to tred. That's not to say there aren't good people here--I'm here for one, and I know lots of others, but the rules of this town are so complex, they make Cricket look like tiddly winks.
So what do we Americans do? We blame Washington for all our ills, and we listen rapt (or is that wrapped) to those outsiders running for the presidency who blame Washington for everything including the Fall of the House of Usher. Electing a governor to be president is like electing a school crossing guard to be chief of police. And I ain't kidding. They come here, filled with disdain and arrogance, convinced they can whip this town into shape, and they get their brains beat in.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Didn't Lyndon Johnson show some hideous scar to the entire D.C. press corps?
LBJ actually gave press interviews while he was in the toilet and the reporter was in the hall outside.
I don't think it's that presidents sully themselves in office, I think it's that being in the office draws enormous scrutiny to them which brings their shortcomings to the forefront.
Dave
2 - Mark Schannon
Come on, Dave, that was going to be in my next post. But it's more than just the intense scrutiny, which I agree is a very real problem.
It's...well, it's what I wrote. As citizens, we're morons. We elect people who can't manage Congress. And Congress has become unmanageable.
In Jamesons Veritas
3 - Nancy
As I see it, a major part of the problem is that the quality of those running for office has degenerated to a level lower than used car & snake oil salesmen. Even pimps & drug dealers have more credibility & honor than most of the scumbags in office, and the unspoken rule seems to be, the higher the office, the lower the quality of the occupant. Getting elected has become merely a barometer of how big a whore one is, and how well one has been able to sell oneself off to the highest bidders, and has absolutely NO connection with ability or intent to serve the public, but rather with ability to fleece the public & gorge at the public trough, enriching oneself & buddies at the public's expense.
4 - zingzing
i think the american people should try an experiment: instead of electing someone to which they can relate to do a job they can't relate to, why don't we stick someone really intelligent in there, someone who has a proven track record for leading people and being good with money, someone with a degree daddy didn't buy them, someone with a goddamn IQ higher than madonna's? ...hmm... how about madonna for president? i know she doesn't have a degree or an IQ higher than her own...