"There's a lot going on. This is a very important time. There's a lot to talk about."
Stirring words indeed from VP Cheney during his surprise visit to Iraq today, as quoted on Yahoo! News at least. I need help, as I have a terrible middle-aged memory. So for those of you with more retained perspective: is it me, or has the quality of folks who are attracted to the leadership of the United States of America (the most powerful sovereign nation on the planet) fallen off the cliff somewhere?
I have this fanciful notion that the nation once attracted people worthy of deep respect, in many dimensions. People who could incite a revolution, including by drafting an amazing declaration of independence - read it again some time when you have a few minutes. People who could lead resolution of a huge civil war. People who spoke with dignity and sincere emotion about times of world wars. People who had a clear plan for dragging a country out of deep economic depression. People who called upon citizens' innate desire to serve. People who were eloquent about the equal rights of all humans.
Then I think about people like Mr. Cheney, Messrs Bush, the Bush cabinet, Mr. Kerry, and the gaggle of candidates now campaigning for the Presidency. In the estimation of thinkers, who among these is even in the same universe as those who went before? Can we just stop and be candid for a minute - would you want any of these people teaching your children, or managing your business, or serving your legal needs? Would you trust their instincts and effectiveness?
I am hoping here that at least some of you are answering "yes, we would". But I am not. I have such (silly?) hopes for my kids and their future, that these people can't even make it to the testing table, much less pass. On the other hand, I meet people regularly in my daily life and affairs who I would gladly trust in this way. Elementary school teachers, economists, hedge fund managers, lawyers, heck even diplomats and bureaucrats. People who are passionate about their goals, who are persuasively articulate, and who exude competence. People whom you would want by your side if you were starting a business or lost in the desert.
What do we make of all this? Could it be that the rewards of leading the USA are so diminished that quality people just do other things? Could it be that the post-Nixon White House is so sullied that we should generally expect buffoons "to lead" us? Am I perhaps just unable to preserve perspective in the shadow of the current administration's shocking incompetence and lunacy? I really need some help. Because Cheney's dolt-like remarks remind me that I once thought the US Government could be a force for powerful benefits in this world. I suppose I still want to believe that, notwithstanding the general tone of this weblog. But thankfully Dick is constantly there to prod me to my senses.
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There are a vast number of reasons for the decay in quality of those we elect to leadership in the nation. Assessing those reasons is hardly objective work, but I'll offer one bias.
Voters elect what they're sold, and in America politicians and the press sell us stuff that appeals to our fears and self-centered interests. It's an incredibly complicated world, with problems in health care, environmental decay, global warming, economic interdependence, hunger, disease, genocide; the list is endless and fraught with danger.
Our leaders address these issues with sound-bites that convey no substance, and the press, obsessed with making money, spends precious little time on matters they're sure won't increase their audience ratings.
Leadership is, in part, about education of the electorate, about helping people understand not only their individual choices, but also about helping people understand choices important for the community. Freedom of the press should be about this obligation. too.
Doesn't work that way very often, so we have an electorate that believes incredible things, and is unaware of facts and issues that hobble their capacity to vote intelligently. It's a shame, and given the character of our culture, it's not easy to see how we can change the circumstance.
The leaders of the past that you revere, people like Lincoln, FDR, George Marshall, Churchill served when their nations confronted great danger, and could justify requests for great sacrifice. We live in dangerous times, but our leadership is without imagination, without courage, and blinded by ideology that relies upon arrogance to form policy.
We're in trouble. These are sobering times.
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