Note to professors: you taught me well. But this is from the heart and from years of experience in politics, plus age and wisdom you always knew I’d gain (thanks Fr. C).
Perhaps our founding fathers made a few missteps. Like having no founding mothers. In ye olden days teachers and carpenters and lawyers ran for office. Now it’s only lawyers.
The class clown needs attention because he’s bored with school, gets average grades but knows he can ace everything if he wanted to do so.
Sometimes the politician is class president, I believe a lot of those folks peter out in high school or college.
Today we have Anthony Wiener and Eliot Spitzer running for office in NYC. We have 70 year-old Mayor Bob Filner in San Diego groping women.
Who are we and why do we vote these people into office? My theory is that they are attention-seekers. It would be interesting to see how many are middle children.
When our country was formed it was an honor to run for office. Now it’s a stepping stone to a lucrative career as a lobbyist or attorney. We vote for and “hire” them so we don’t have to deal with legislation ourselves. If there’s a dead squirrel in the street, we may have the wherewithal to call the right department to do dead animal removal. Otherwise it’s someone else’s problem.
We vote for the name or party on the ticket, if we even take the time to vote at all. That’s where the founding fathers faltered. They thought we would be interested in our government and where we are going. In a representative democracy we have ceded all power to the government, and don’t get me started on the NSA and privacy issues.
We just don’t care anymore. A government of the people, by the people, for the people. It’s still summer. Take your kids to the state capitol, or to Washington. Read the Declaration of Independence. Know that we can each make a difference if we choose to do so.
Make the word “politician” a good one, and not one that rates below used car salesman. People who seek attention and get into scandals because of it are not worthy of our votes. Thinking ahead, author of legislation that affected 35 million people, and one that just got three new stop signs installed on our street, Dee
Cooking with Dee 