Politicians/Elected Officials

Watching Kwame Kilpatrick's circus this afternoon reminded me that most politicians and elected officials are arrogant and shameless. How can this guy do this to himself and, more important, to his family? Where is his shame? About the only thing I can figure is that holding on the the mayoralty is his last playing card, the last holding he has to make a deal.

Shame? As I've blogged before, there is none. Look at the professional athletes, the so-called "stars of entertainment," and, of course, the politicians. Check out John Edwards today, too. Hey, I'm sometimes very embarrassed to admit I'm the father of....at least in certain situations and/or company. Yet, these guys...?

Arrogance? They have as much of that as they have none of shame. They all know better than you--how to spend your money, what laws you ought to obey, where you can smoke cigarettes, how many fast food outlets can open up where, etc. I hope Chucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's know I don't buy some of their products now because of the change in taste thanks to no trans-fats in their frying. I know trans-fats are not healthy and I didn't eat KFC or McD's daily or even weekly. But it was my choice to buy and eat them and now, frankly, I don't because I don't like the taste as much.

All of these blowhards ought to be forced to take in studies of people who preceded them, those folks like Washington, Lincoln, and even the Roman emperor Augustus. Civic responsibility comes first. Once they are elected today, they think they've become Mensa members. Ha! Far from it.

I sent a letter to each of the local school board members in June. How many responses did I receive? Good guess--NONE! I guess these jokers think they know more about quality education than the rest of us. I guess, too, maybe they didn't like my suggestion that they think about getting rid of some of the people they hired to run the schools--because the people they hired are incompetent. But, since they are elected representatives, at least they should reply, if even to say, "Go jump in the lake!"

In this specific case, I remember the words of Mark Twain: "In the first place, God made idiots; that was for practice. Then he made school boards." I think that thought can be expanded.