It's Sad, Really. . .

It's sad, really, that Hillary Clinton might become our first woman president.  No, it's not sad because she is female.  Not sad because she used her own email server for her Federal communication.  No. . .
It's sad because she is good, but not great.  And that makes me think. . .

In the history of our country, we have probably never had a great person as president.  Never.  Washington was great because he refused to become king.  Lincoln was great because he led the country towards reunification and the liberation of slaves.  FDR was great because he helped the country cope with the Great Depression, sort of.  At least he worked at it.  Teddy Roosevelt was great because he came up with the national Park system.

But none of these people were really, really great.  Not really.  Not like Edison, or Rockefeller, or George Washington Carver.  Not even like Martin Luther King.  The president's job description might as well include, "No creativity needed.  Cleverness useful, but don't bring intelligence, either."

I suppose the ongoing popularity of Trump echoes that of Andrew Jackson in demonstrating that the people who aspire to this political office not only don't need to be great, they don't need to be good or desirable.  They just need to be ambitious, and have few scruples.

I don't agree with those who contend that Americans don't deserve a great person as president.  Rather, the presidency probably won't work very well for a truly great person.  It needs the mediocrity of a G.W. Bush and the dementia of a Ronald Reagan.  Above all, it needs horse-trading skills, tit-for-tat wiliness, and a limited vision of how to work around the advisors and power brokers in order to keep one's family safe.  I suspect being a good shot might be useful, too.

Greatness would be helpful for a Supreme Court justice.  Greatness might be useful for a Representative or Senator committed to helping govern the country.  It might not be necessary, as so many who have been elected have demonstrated.

Meanwhile we citizens reward mediocrity and entertainment value, the marketplace rewards greed and ruthlessness, and the few great people in our world might get a nice obituary some day.

I think it still behooves all of us to figure out what true greatness is, and try to be it.

What do you think?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Fear and Loathing in the USA

This will be short.  Read Seth Godin's blog at this address:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2016/04/apocalypse-soon.html

No one says it better, in my opinion.  Just remember: Adolf Hitler was elected to office.  Elected!

If the parallels today don't scare the bejesus out of you. . . well, please make an appointment with your psychiatrist as soon as possible.  Oh, and read Seth's blog.