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Thursday, August 26, 2010
Politics And The Fifth Rule
A young lawyer who was expounding the law at great length before an appellate court was hauled up short by the senior judge, who told him, "Young man, you have broken the Fifth Rule: you have taken yourself too seriously."Chastened, the young barrister fell silent and returned to his seat. Before he sat, he turned back toward the bench and asked, "What are the other rules, Your Honor?"
The senior judge smiled benignly and said, "There are no other rules."
Your Curmudgeon cited the above vignette in a piece largely about legal humorlessness, but it clearly applies in many other venues, including politics.
One of the facets of the political character that most irritates private citizens is the unwillingness to admit to error. Sometimes a sitting politician will stoutly resist the suggestion that his subordinates might have made an error; the most recent example is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's salvoes at the federal Department of Education for a clerical error committed by a New Jersey bureaucrat.
If politicians are so smart, so knowledgeable, and so angelically perfect, popular thinking invariably goes, then why are things going to Hell in a handbasket? Indeed, judging from the evidence before us today, politicians are neither smarter, nor more knowledgeable, nor less prone to mistakes than the average American. The average American screws up frequently, and knows it; therefore, he reasons, the political class should be equally candid about its own failings. Which leads your Curmudgeon to ask: if politicians are supposedly so good at telling us what we want to hear, then why haven't they figured out that admitting to limitation and fallibility is a good thing?
The one Democrat for whom your Curmudgeon felt any admiration in recent years was the late Senator Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts. His 1992 bid for the Democrats' presidential nomination failed, but he charmed many Americans with his plainspoken, casually humorous, self-deprecating style. (A mock campaign ad, "TSONGAS: Not Just Another Greek Guy From Massachusetts," reportedly had him doubled over with laughter.) One of the great ironies of recent politics was that in 1984, when Tsongas surrendered his Senate seat to concentrate on fighting his lymphoma, it went to the supremely arrogant and utterly humorless John Kerry.
One and all, politicians take themselves too seriously. Pretty much on both sides of the aisle, at that. And the public, which has suffered their fumblings and intrusions with great and unwarranted patience, is getting pretty damned sick of them.
Election turnout is an excellent metric for our attitude toward the political class. It's been sinking since 1896, for reasons both obvious and indisputable. As a rule, politicians can't do much for us -- at least, not in comparison with what they do to us. All of them are infected by the libido dominandi; in that regard there's little to choose among them. As they campaign, they give continuous, unimpeachable testimony to low character. They display a nearly complete absence of seemly humility. So we vote, if we vote, for reasons largely detached from our personal interests or our admiration of their characters:
- Many vote defensively: to ward off the greater of the evils.
- Others vote to display solidarity: they use their vote to affirm their membership in some group, real or notional.
- Still others vote out of a sense of civic obligation, even if the well-being of the Republic would be better served by staying home.
Approximately no one votes because he sincerely believes that candidate Smith really has the answers. A lapel button from your Curmudgeon's vast collection is eloquent on the subject:
If there's an overriding reason to back Sarah Heath Palin, formerly the governor of Alaska, for any office she might henceforth pursue, it's that she displays more humility, and more willingness to own up to her mistakes, than any other politician currently on the scene. She knows she's not perfect, and she doesn't mind that others know it, too.
The politician who claims to be able to steer the Ship of State, or any of its support vessels, accurately and flawlessly regardless of developments or conditions has broken the Fifth Rule, as has anyone who backs his contentions. Our dialogue is as acrimonious as it is mainly because no one is willing to admit to error, or even to partial incomprehension of a complex issue. We could knock quite a few degrees off the rhetorical temperature just by fixing that attitude problem...and by automatically disqualifying any aspirant to power who carries himself as if human limitations and human fallibility don't apply to him.
Tomorrow, your Curmudgeon and the C.S.O. will be headed into the Berkshires for the weekend, once again to enjoy the scenery, test the middle fingers of Massachusetts drivers, revisit the Famous Hairpin Turn, and spend excessively on scented candles, homemade fudge, and cute little puzzle boxes made in Taiwan. Accordingly, blogging will be light. See you in the funny papers.
Comments
Have an enjoyable and restful weekend and please remember that we, your readers, need your words of clarity and encouragement. Ed
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/26/2010 at 11:43 AMVote out the incumbents. Nothing would please me more then to hear on election day that 100% of House Members were voted out. But vote in the opposition at least in one of the houses of congress. It will prevent more of the rape of our constitution, i.e. gridlock. But it will also allow committees to be chaired by the loyal opposition. This means investigations of crimes committed by this administration. It could also mean a special prosecutor. Personally I am looking forward to some perp walks…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/26/2010 at 04:03 PMHave a great time away from the hustle and bustle! (And keep the radio on “showtunes” vice talk radio. *grin*)
November 2nd is starting to shape up as a real interesting day. I may have to do some “right after the election polling place closes blogging”, as I will be election judging for our local precinct again.
Posted by Guy S. on 08/26/2010 at 08:45 PMIn keeping with the theme of your post, the red flag on Obama was when he was asked if he ever had any doubts, and his response was, “never.” That should have scared everybody. Then there was the amazing statement, “We are the ones that we have been waiting for.” Such hubris is breathtaking.
And now, I hold out little hope, since the Republican voters of Arizona have chosen McCain over Hayworth. This means that “the party of stupid” is an apt description.
Posted by Moshe Ben-David on 08/27/2010 at 06:40 AM
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