Theory of Good (National) Politics

There’s nothing but lamentations coming out of Washington these days. No elected official seems happy with anything or anyone except themselves. That is because elected officials in Washington think that the world, no, the entire solar system, revolves around them. Nicalaus Copernicus is spinning in his grave.

I have a theory. One which may give us politicians that: 1) stifle their ego; 2) act on behalf of the majority of their constituents; 3) have a driver’s license.

“What?” You say. “Who are you kidding?” The first two are unlikely since today’s politics is all about ego and there is no known cure for a ‘Washington Ego.’ But what does ‘Have a driver’s license’ have to do with politics? The answer is simple.

Would you let someone drive a train, bus, airplane or car without a license? All of these things are vehicles that carry humans to and from their destinations. You place your trust in the operators of these vehicles because you know they have licenses. They are trained and tested. That being the case, why in hell would you let the drivers of our nation, our elected officials, drive the largest economic engine in the world without a license?

A driver’s license is a privilege, not a right, and that attitude needs to reassert itself back into Washington’s elected officials. They are there as a privilege, not a right.

Teenagers in many states have a learner’s permit and often a conditional use driver’s license, They are all connected to the age of the individual but it is premised upon the HOPE that with age comes experience, thus a better and safer driver. Until that experience is proven, they have restrictions placed on them. This is common sense in action. The same principle should apply to politics without regard to age other than what is a constitutional requirement. If nothing else that would have prevented an inexperienced one-term senator from assuming the most powerful position in the world and would prevent a repeat of that mistake going forward. Everyone has twenty-twenty hindsight and where politics is concerned, I believe that on-the-job experience is vital and voters should only judge an office seeker on what they have accomplished for the good of their constituents while in office and not the glibness of their spiels.
In addition I think that term limits coupled with no pension and same health coverage as all other citizens is absolutely the cure for runaway “big government.”

Today’s national politics is replete with egos that don’t know why they got elected. They know why they want to hold office; the pay, the perqs, the power but they don’t know why they are there.
Follow my logic. We don’t give a drunken sot a driver’s license because we know they make bad decisions due to impairment. They have proven that to us through their previous actions. Why would you elect, or worse, reelect someone who doesn’t understand that they are supposed to represent ALL the people in their district and do what is best for the MAJORITY of those people and not do just what will keep them getting elected so they can soak up the pay and benefits of the office?

Today’s media pundits talk about the hard left and the hard right, eviscerating both sides dependent on the pundit’s slant but almost never do they talk about the art of compromise. When they do it is slanted to indicate that “compromise” means do what I want you to do without my giving an inch.

Those pundits purporting to be “neutral” in their comments espouse “meeting in the middle of the road” and “straddling the fence”, both convenient catch phrases. To dispute this I again turn to “driving” as the perfect example. (I will ignore the “straddle” references since straddling is precarious at best, catastrophic at worst and always hard on a sensitive part of your body).

Meeting in the middle of the road is tantamount to driving down the center strip, a place where everyone can see you and follow your actions. This is sure to produce a crash unless you have excellent reflexes and even if an accident is avoided you scare the hell out of the approaching drivers. If you were one of those approaching drivers what would you think of the fool who was traveling down the center strip? Would you be inclined to cooperate with him? Given the incidents of road rage today I think not.

Someone who is a trained driver knows that the middle of the road is NOT a place to meet. Everything is still going fast in both directions and your focus needs to be on averting catastrophe. This makes for hasty decisions, inveterately bad ones. Instead, like texting and talking on the phone, meeting is best done at a rest stop on the side of the road. There are less distractions, less sense of imminence and more likely to produce sounder decisions. Ergo, if a politician wants to make progress they need to get out of the limelight instead of placing themselves in it.

To continue my theory of “driving politics”:

Driving in the extreme left has you in the opposing traffic lane with guaranteed bad results. The oncoming traffic feels they have the absolute right-of-way; you are an interloper and they may destroy you for entering their territory. They have never read the International and Inland Rules of the Road for vessels. In those Rules there are many specific situations where each party has to do this or that BUT under no circumstances does anyone have the right of way THROUGH someone else. It was called the General Prudential Rule back in my day and means you should use prudence to prevent a catastrophe. I continue to bemoan the lack of prudence in today’s political climate.

Driving in the extreme right has you off the road in the gully or off the cliff. While those people on the right side of the road may feel sorry for you those on the left won’t even notice you are gone. In either case those still on the road, both Left and Right will continue on their journey because they are all in a rush to get where they want to go with no real regard for your fate.

Conclusion: Extreme Left and extreme Right are catastrophes in the making and guaranteed to ensure there will be NO progress.

The last two politicians that demonstrated evidence of common sense and a willingness to put their country ahead of their egos were Ronald Reagan and Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill. It is irrelevant whether you agree with either one’s policies, the fact is, they worked together to solve problems the COUNTRY faced and put their egos and self-serving interests on a back burner. Today, politicians tend to self immolate because they fan the flames of self interest to the detriment of the national interest.

Two of Tip O’Neill’s quotes are even more relevant today than when he stated them.
“It’s easier to run for office than to run the office.”
“A good lesson in keeping your perspective is: take your job seriously but don’t take yourself seriously.”

My advice to current and future politicians; take Tip’s advice. You may also want to consider getting a driver’s license. Our country will be a better place if you do.

P. S. Just passing laws should NOT be the primary concern of a good legislator. Passing GOOD laws and repealing BAD laws is.

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