I tend to be a cynical person in general and more so when it comes to how I view most politicians. I don’t care if we are talking about Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama, there’s not a single politician who I look at with any genuine admiration. Personally I will have admiration for the professional accomplishments of people like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or can admire the life of someone like a Mother Theresa. To be frank I tend cringe at political rallies where people are cheering and going crazy over a politician. Logically speaking what is the probability that this politician is going to make a significant positive impact on your life?
The downside of strong and charismatic leaders like Kennedy, Reagan, Obama and Trump is segments of voters turned into devotees. Then criticism of the leader is received as a criticism of the devotee. A lot of unproductive debate results.
We always have treated the candidates rough. This is the first time in my lifetime that we have turned our rage on the voter. I’ve never seen this happen before to this degree.
Who fits that description? Has anyone not taken a salary during times like this? Has anyone ever pushed for term limits? Are any of them genuinely honest?
Personally I don’t consider politicians even presidents as leaders. All that they do in a practical sense is sit in meetings, debate, make policy decisions, and vote on legislation. They are not leading us throughout our lives, which is why I pointed out in the OP how someone being elected has little to no demonstrable positive impact on one’s life.
As a Republican Representative from Montana, she voted (rightly) against World War One.
As a Republican Representative from Montana, she was the sole vote against the Declaration of War against Japan.
I agree with her opposition to the United States entry into World War One.
I disagree with her vote against the Declaration of War against Japan.
And yet I admire her for sticking to her pacifist principles. She knew when she cast that vote that she might very well have forfeited her life for doing so as she was heavily threatened, both by her fellow Congressmen and by the public at large. And she knew her political career was toast.
But she voted courageously out of principle.
I disagree with her vote, but I have to respect and admire her courage and principle in doing so.
When a person makes a career out of politics, it then leads to corruption and personal benefits. Consider the net worth of a politician before and after they leave office, remembering their annual compensation during that time. The numbers do not add up.
I’d like politicians a lot more and believe they’d be the type of people our forefathers pictured…if…we had term limits?
