Tag: politician

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,441

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

You do not have to be particularly well versed in history to know that we have always had, shall we say, problematic politicians in this country.  This was driven home to me when I worked for the Arkansas Department of Health. Part of my job was, at times, working with local politicians,  many of whom seemed to have very personal axes to grind.

It does seem, though, that, on the whole, with the current crop of politicians in Washington and across the various states,  our political garden is, more than usual, chock full of obnoxious weeds.

Which got me to ruminating…

Perhaps the worst part of being a politician would be having to hang around and work with other politicians.

Just saying.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #5,119

yeah I know you did not ask!

In the middle of a global health crisis, in the middle of a pandemic, we are also having a crisis of leadership…no matter what Fox News and the MAGAs say.

For the most part the leadership in this country at all levels of government are politicians.  A few cities and counties will employ professional managers, but they always report up to a politician.

So  what are the qualifications to become a politician and by default a leader.  Very little.  You have to have an ability to run your mouth, act like you know what the solution is, and perhaps have a little charisma.  I can think of very few other fields of endeavor in our society that require so little of their practitioners.

Then on the other hand I think of the Winston Churchill quote:

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

But I do think we should be electing folks to lead us that can do more than talk, obfuscate, and line their own pockets.  I am not sure how you would implement some sort of basic screening but there must be a way.  High on my list would a sanity test and a test of empathy.

We deserve better.

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Political anti-Darwinism???

It’s the birthday (February 16th) of historian and philosopher Henry Adams, (books by this author) born in Boston, Massachusetts (1838). His grandfather was John Quincy Adams, and his great-grandfather was John Adams. He hated public speaking, he had no interest in becoming a politician himself, but he did like writing about politics – mostly about how pathetic he thought American politics had become. He said, “The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin.”

From Garrison’s Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac”