| Don't mess with Tex. George W. Bush is a great loyalist, but he is not a statesman. If you could cash in on a wish, he would get my vote, but like Ronald Reagan, who made drugs a bigger problem when he declared war on drugs, Bush enlarged the circle of terrorists when he declared war on terrorism. Justice has to be cultivated. Uprooting what we call evil is a neverending challenge, it is not a goal, and this is why the indispensible qualification for political office is extraordinary intelligence and wisdom, not bravado. Statesmen should be as specifically and thoroughly trained as physicians. Those men and women who thirst for possessions endlessly multiplied are better suited for occupations that do not involve elected office. The electorate should be intelligent enough to vote for those who are properly trained and qualified and render those who are not, ineligible. Those who announce themselves as a candidate and are not properly trained and qualified deserve to be ridiculed because people deserve more than the quadrennial show and sham of tweedle dum and tweedle dee. We should elect people who show a certain standard of ability, to make a democracy worthy of the name. Man can image a better world through higher standards, it is total folly to elect somebody who does not have the ability to think clearly and to rule wisely. People should do work which is best adapted to their nature and aptitude, we know what that is and we should therefore engage a ruthless, weeding out to make certain that we elect those who possess the body, the mind and character that is necessary to govern well. Life is a gift of nature. Political leadership is the gift of wisdom. We all have the former but the later needs to be cultivated lest the power to destroy is placed in the wrong hands. The restraint of reason resides in the hands of synthetic thinkers who are philosophers at heart, and when "Camelot" is ultimately crowned by popular consent he should not be dethroned by violent passion. We owe to one another certain amenities and obligations, and we must all share this sanction of reason, to be able realize democratic ideals under the law. How does one control passion without reasonable restraint? Do we understand the vice of reflex? Virtue is knowledge and harmonious action. How can we possibly do the right thing when we do not even possess the faculty to know what that is?
POSTSCRIPT: In the face of analysis, Obama's Libyan engagement appears to be like JFK's 'Bay of Pigs' fiasco (albeit a far more sophisticated operation) but most people evidently lack the knowledge that is necessary to understand the parallels. This is not to suggest that Obama is going to pay a political price at the polls that count or are counted. JFK was in fact disturbed because the Bay of Pigs incident actually increased rather than hurt his popularity. NEXT: A history of the dirty politics that encourage conspiracy theories. |
