Ed, Harry, these are good comments about
the nature of politicians and the public’s often naïve expectations about them
and by extension, government.
There are still ‘politicians with
principles’ around, and Sen. Bobby Byrd comes quickly to mind, as irascible as
he can be. The trouble with
politics is that you do must sometimes compromise and do business with people
or issues that you would generally oppose or care not to be identified with.
Representative politics is a
process, a system, and requires a lot of flexibility to move forward, as most
know, but obviously, some do not.
It is much easier to think of bad examples
than good ones, especially because current politics is framed by the
neoconservative principle of Attack Gov’t and by the media’s propensity for
highlighting bad over good. Remember how public servants looked
good right after 9/11 when there was reason to honor their sacrifice and work?
Because the business of government is
mostly about dispensing money, therefore making priority decisions, there will
always be conflict and plenty of misunderstanding. We have made politics another kind of
religion, therefore increasing the likelihood of creating false gods and
celebrity impressions, whereas the majority of ‘believers’, participants in
the process, are hard-working and dedicated, if not spectacularly successful
or popular.
As amusing and sad as is Arnold’s
ascension, it is not that different than widows who finish the term of their
deceased spouse. He is just very
good with the camera and knows how to manipulate a crowd. He is playing the “hero comes to the
rescue” role. He has a lot to
prove, and no doubt will do his best, but this time the game is real, as in
money and lives through policies that are legislated by compromise to reach a
consensus.
It’s interesting that the two most powerful
men in the GOP right now both came from storied wealthy, political families,
both are fitness buffs and have/had more personality than experience in
politics and depend on a bevy of senior advisors with more brains than brawn
to guide them. If these men came
from the Democrat party, current political punditry would be spun much
differently. My grandfather would
be shaking his head that this can’t be the Republican party. I have no doubt that future history
books will continue to emphasize the significance of the Supreme Court’s
intervention in our tale of history, and it may never be known just how much
complicity was involved. No
doubt, it will not be just fiction writers who will speculate how the US
government would be had the outcome been different. -
KWC
Ed wrote: Harry, my problem is that I'm not very
sophisticated. I hold to a naive belief that politicians should operate
from a body of principles and not be elected simply because they project the
kind of image that appears right at the moment. When I was a kid in
rural Saskatchewan, there were politicians with principles around. But
that is a bygone era, as long ago as the stone age.
Harry wrote: Ed, Catching up after completely
changing my E-Mail set-up.
>
> After bringing me up-to-date on
Canadian politics, you said:
>
> ">I've snipped the rest of
your posting because I'm still hoping
> to wake
> >up to find
that the election of Ahnold Schwarzenegger was some
> kind of
>
>comic dream! If it isn't, all one can say is the people
deserve
> the
> >kind of government they elect."
>
> I think your remark about Schwarzenegger is an indication that
we
> have elevated politicians into a kind of nobility. The Lords
and
> Ladies knew they were born to the purple. That the commoners
were
> not only a class apart but also somewhat inferior. Certainly,
not
> material for the upperclass.
>
> I think that a
similar attitude has led to the sneering at Arnold
> even as Ronald was
sneered at in his time. They were not
> politicians, so how can they
aspire to the role of leading the
> country -- or even a State?
>
> A favorite painting of mine is hung somewhere in Capitol
building
> (I think). It is a picture of George Washington handing back
his
> letters of commission to Congress. He had completed the job
of
> throwing out the English, and was now going home.
>
>
I wish politicians would think in terms of going home. As it is,
> they
like to stay in power forever. Al Gore finished college, did
> a short
stint in Vietnam, spent a year in divinity school, and in
> his late
twenties went to Congress. That's where he spent his
> time until he was
defeated by Bush.
>
> He is without doubt the professional
politician. We don't really
> elect people to represent us. Rather, they
elect themselves and
> quite right for who could possibly do the
job better than they.
> People like Reagan and Schwarzenegger, not to
mention Jesse
> Ventura, are interlopers.
>
> They
shouldn't be allowed to into the Halls of the
Godly.
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