Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The NEXT 19 Presidents
Just for the heck of it, let's look at the last 19 presidents and then try to imagine what sort of people will become the NEXT 19 presidents (assuming America has that long of a future) -
26. Theodore Roosevelt 35. John F. Kennedy
27. William Howard Taft 36. Lyndon B. Johnson
28. Woodrow Wilson 37. Richard M. Nixon
29. Warren G. Harding 38. Gerald R. Ford
30. Calvin Coolidge 39. James Carter
31. Herbert Hoover 40. Ronald Reagan
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt 41. George H. W. Bush
33. Harry S. Truman 42. William J. Clinton
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
43. George W. Bush 44. Barack Obama
Do you imagine that one or two future presidents will be HEAD AND SHOULDERS above these past 19 president... sort of like a Galileo, Newton, Einstein of politics and policy? I rather imagine that the next 19 will be a batch similar to these last 19. There may be a few women in office. I seriously doubt that anyone will be dramatically superior to these past leaders. And let us say that our Galileo-Newton-Einstein president did get into office: what then? In eight short years would that president be able to fix everything that is wrong and make things better? I doubt that some genius president would even be able to stop things from getting a whole lot worse. And if a political genius of a candidate DID come along, would the Joe-six-pack-the-plumber majority of voters recognize that genius and even give said genius the nomination to run? I doubt that very much. Water seeks its own level and that is usually the lowest common denominator.
And yet so many people complain about those in office and seek to blame them for all that is wrong and speak as though "IF ONLY we could get the right candidate in office" then everything would be ok.
I listened to Ron Paul the other day and I am impressed. He is probably a sincere and capable leader type. But as I listened to several hours of interviews what most impressed me was how slick he is in answering all the questions and dodging all the bullets. Any good politician has to have the gifts of a great snake-oil peddler.
