Where Have All the Public Servants Gone?
Nobody wants to be a public servant when they know that it will instantly trigger a complete review of their personal lives, their religion, their prior business dealings, etc.
At some point, we have to start to realize that Presidential candidates are people, just like we are. They “make screwups,” just like we did and continue to do. They make mistakes and learn, just like we do. Why, then, is it that every new political candidate becomes the “character assassination target of the week?” And why is it that the people doing the character assassination are not held accountable? Just look at what happened with President Obama and his birth certificate, Newt Gingrich and his ex-wife, Mr. Cain and his mistress.
Why do we suddenly care about what is going on in their personal lives when history suggests that we have not, historically, cared about such things? Does that really influence the way they do their jobs? If Joe the Plummer has a girlfriend on the side, does that change his ability to fix a broken pipe? John F. Kennedy was apparently rather amorous with quite a few women other than his wife -- somehow he is considered a great President. Thomas Jefferson apparently seduced the wife of a close friend and neighbor (hell, he even fathered children by one of his own black slaves) – somehow he was considered a great President. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower also were thought to have carried on illicit relationships with mistresses – they were all revered. Suddenly, it's important. We seem to have become completely puritanical as a nation!
We’ve had lots of rich presidents -- and a lot of poor ones. When did financial success (or lack thereof) prior to public service become a detriment to a candidate? Our history is littered with both rich and poor Presidents, without IMO a significant correlation between a "good president" or a "good leader" and personal wealth. Why are we not spending our time and effort talking about what a candidate WILL do in the future to make things better around here?
IMHO, both Mr. Santorum and Mr. Romney should be punished for their roles in approving the respective negative advertising spots that I’ve seen pop up here in the Michigan market and which they, by their own account, approved. People need to be held accountable for potentially slanderous statements that they make; and the super PAC’s that seem to be subjected to virtually NO rules need to be outlawed completely.
I personally believe that every taxpayer in the USA should just pay $5 or $10 into a campaign fund that is evenly distributed among the candidates – that should be the only money national candidates can use to run a campaign. We should give each candidate a certain number of hours of free public media network access -- paid for by the taxpayers because it's in our best interest to understand the positions of the potential office-holders. Candidates should not be allowed to do fund raising on their own or through their representatives. Talk about forcing them to use their money wisely and only spend it on getting their message out to the general public – all these half- or non-truth-laced and probably slanderous negative campaigns would go away quickly.
And don’t even get me started on religion. When did we choose to ignore the doctrine of separation of church and state? Sometimes it seems that we’re becoming just like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, etc. – infusing religion into every political decision and discussion. Frankly, I don’t care what God you worship, if any at all. Tell me how you’re going to reduce our debt, create new jobs and get American manufacturing back on its feet. Tell me that you’re going to leave topics like abortion and legalization of marijuana and prostitution and smoking and all of the other moral and ethical issues up to the people, their God(s), their churches, their families and their local and state governments. That’s what I want to hear. Keep the Federal government (and the Supreme Court) out of such decisions.
If Michigan or Oakland County pass laws I don’t like, then I’ll move somewhere else that offers an environment that is more conducive to how I choose to live my life. If enough people do that, Oakland County or the State of Michigan will change its laws or lose its people / revenues and so will any other county and/or state across this nation.
This country is really messed up right now. And it's getting worse, not better.
/RANT