PROMISES *** PROMISES
I’ll wait for you guys to write the rest of this.
Have fun.
on 02/23/2008 at 09:04 AM
The proper logo for every garbage truck.
But to be perfectly frank, we face a situation that could have been avoided. Our current crop of so-called “candidates,” all busily promising us the dark side of the moon, would never have been possible without the society that made them possible.
This is what happens the best are sacrificed to the worst, when the distinguishing characteristics of a society are puniness, pettiness, corruption, immorality and insincerity, and when the forum of public discourse is monopolized by mediocrity, mendacity, and sheer unadulterated cynicism.
This is what happens when merit, genius and character are positive obstacles when it comes to getting ahead. This is what happens when the keys to success are flattery, intrigue, chicanery, deceit, fraud, bribery, and a certain talent (in some cases) for sleeping with the right people.
This is what happens when virtue is nonexistent, and when manliness, energy, greatness and enthusiasm are ridiculed and nipped in the bud.
But we allowed it. We called the process “tolerance.” We called it “open-mindedness.” And we called it other things. We were told it was all supposed to make us better, stronger ad nauseum.
But here we are, nonetheless.
As Pogo would say, we have met the enemy, and he is us.
The question is, what do we do about it? Rousseau’s answer? Robespierre’s? The answers we might expect from the Founding Fathers, were they to roll over in their graves vigorously enough to shake our cynical earth?
Napoleon’s answer? The Long Parliament’s answer? King Alfred the Great’s answer?
What do you think?
Not much more to write.
As far as it goes, I must agree with Tannenberg; we as a nation have brought it upon ourselves. Or at least didn’t do enough to stop it earlier.
I do not know when it was the United States started ‘settling’ for what now serves as politicians. Certainly, there have always been the crooked and self-serving in government. However I’d like to see the results of a study citing competence and ability against graft. As opposed to mediocrity and enforced blandness weighed against good intentions.
Competent people quit running for office sometime in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Perhaps it was then the liberals took over the ‘media’ enough to smear and discourage honest men from seeking public office. Senator Joe McCarthy’s treatment, for instance.
The difficulty is, how do we change it back? How do we get decent, honest and competent men (and women - didn’t mean to imply male dominance here) back into serious public service? I think part of that answer is what do we do about the New York Times and their blatantly political cheap shot at Senator McCain.
We must either demonstrate the blatant bias and malicious intent of the ‘story’ - enough to overcome the ‘freedom of the press’ defense - or convince enough people to stop buying their wares. Both options are formidable.
If I write anything more I’ll be rambling.
So far I have yet to hear anything better than Heinlein’s answer. If you can’t show willingness to put your life on the line for your government, you don’t get any say in how it runs.
Not that I think that will ever happen, mind you.I’d go along with a paraphrase of that, GOF: “If you can’t show willingness to put your life on the line for your country, you don’t get any say in how it runs.”
By the way, was that Heinlein line from “Starship Troopers?” I fear I’ve been out of touch with Heinlein for quite some time…
02/23/2008 at 12:25 PM
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