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BARRETT RAINEY Second Thoughts |
Sorry to see Bachman go? No. I’m just sorry about 40 more of the same ignorant ilk aren’t going with her.
That feeling is likely shared by a lot of others who follow the machinations of our national political system. Others who remember “statesmen†like Dole, Baker, Humphries, Dirksen, Roberts, Byrd, Brooke, O’Neill, Nunn, Hatfield, Church, Jackson, Mansfield, Jackson, Kennedy (2), Fulbright, McClure and many more. Talented people who made the system work. Sudents of government as well as politics. Whatever party affiliations – whatever their places on the political spectrum left to right – they were good at what they did. They loved what they did. They were – above all – effective in what they did.
Take the words “good,†“loved†and “effective.†Do those adjectives work for Bachman? Gingrigh? Gohmert? King? Issa? Ryan? Brown (2)? Paul (2)? Rubio? Cruz? Flake? Imhoff? Several dozen more?
Those people – and far too many others – came to the national spotlight unwilling to serve their expected apprenticeship – to learn the fine art of the deal – to understand the “big picture†of government and their elected role in it. To grow beyond themselves.
Those named – and many more – suffer from the “Palin Syndrome.†They have all the symptoms – the most deadly of which is the “I-know-what-I-know-and-I-don’t-need-to-know-any-more†fever. Each achieved – as did the principle practitioner of that illness – a modicum of success by running for – and being elected to – public office. And there the learning process stopped. Those who are successful in affairs political will tell you “that’s where the learning begins.â€
Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy, Bushes (2), Carter, Ford and many more who got to the Oval Office after lengthy successful political service agreed on one factual statement. Nothing – even years of national political experience – nothing can prepare you for the presidency. The same is true coming into your first months – years – in Congress. It ain’t the city council.
But Palin, Bachman et al got to the front door of their respective elected offices, sat down behind the desk and proceeded to talk and act as though all us other poor, frightened folk had just been waiting for their ascension to save us from the fires of bureaucratic Hell.
Bachman and her wingnut peers fit that description. In addition to the “I-know-all-I-need-to-know†fatal flaw, Bachman and a couple dozen fellow travelers have been serial liars. She’s been dishonest with her backers and many people around her who trusted her and looked up to her. She’s also the subject of two current government investigations into her campaign and business affairs. And ethics. If any. (more…)