Politics and religion.

[Edwina's Secretary]

As someone pointed out to me when I was complaining about some politicians once...have you ever run for office?

So those who are carping...calling all or almost all politicians evil or morons or thieves...

Have you run for office? Have you worked on the campaign of someone you think would be better?

Or is it easier to curse the darkness than to light a candle?

I don't believe all are anything. Just as people who go into the military do it to make the world a safer place, I think most politicians run for office because they want to make the government better.

As we all know those Founding Fathers were also politicians!

Do some politicians go bad? Sure. Do some in the military go bad? Sure. Heck, so do some teachers, lawyers, doctors, business people, athletes, etc. etc, etc.

I just have never like labeling ALL of anything good or evil.

[Puckstop31]

As someone pointed out to me when I was complaining about some politicians once...have you ever run for office?

So those who are carping...calling all or almost all politicians evil or morons or thieves...

Have you run for office?

No.

Have you worked on the campaign of someone you think would be better?

Yes. And it was the first of a series of experiences that taught me what our modern politician is all about.

I might begin believing in the people who serve in government again.... When that "service" becomes a sacrifice again. The founders understood that SERVICE was a sacrifice, and a noble one. Today, it seems a way to live a fat life and spend OPM. (Other Peoples Money, to coin the 'fine' State Senator from PA, Vince Fumo, who is currently incarcerated.)

As we all know those Founding Fathers were also politicians!

Indeed. But those men had something that very, very few today do. A sense of honor and integrity. They understood that they served something MUCH bigger than themselves. That they were part of a necessary evil, not the solution to all our woes.

They pledged their LIVES, their FORTUNES and their SACRED HONOR. What does our modern version risk?

[Medusa]

When I was still a child, I learned that when I point a finger at someone else, there are 4 more fingers pointing back at me.

[pomtzu]

When I was still a child, I learned that when I point a finger at someone else, there are 4 more fingers pointing back at me.

To borrow someone else's quote I saw here today:

"Medusa is a wise woman".

[Medusa]

To borrow someone else's quote I saw here today:

"Medusa is a wise woman".

Uh oh. I'm at the age now when I'm called wise? This is not good.

[smokey the elder]

Lifetime political "service" may be part of the problem. The lifers realize how cushy of a job they have. They don't need to work for a living, so there is no incentive. IMO, there should be term limits all the way from dog catcher to POTUS. NYC imposed term limits, now Bloomberg wants to beat the system. Say what you want to about Giuliani; folks wanted him to run for a third term after 9/11 but he said it wasn't allowed by law and declined.

I didn't intend any slight to small acts of kindness by mentioning philanthropy; large scale philanthropy just has much more global reach. However, the man that got the Peace Prize for creating the concept of micro-loans also started small. (These have a repayment rate the envy of any big bank: well north of 90%.) There is another person who is arranging with Kenya, that if a village/town will plant 100 trees they will get a new laptop for their school. These types of activities are definitely quid pro quo; as they should be. No one should get something for nothing.

I think more emphasis is being put on "locals" who do good deeds, and that can be an incentive to others. This is also mandated in many faiths.

[RICHARD]

I didn't intend any slight to small acts of kindness by mentioning philanthropy; large scale philanthropy just has much more global reach. However, the man that got the Peace Prize for creating the concept of micro-loans also started small. (These have a repayment rate the envy of any big bank: well north of 90%.) There is another person who is arranging with Kenya, that if a village/town will plant 100 trees they will get a new laptop for their school. These types of activities are definitely quid pro quo; as they should be. No one should get something for nothing.

Gotcha,

One of the 'peeves' that DK has with his Stirling Engined purifiers and generators? It's great tech and he wants to make it available to the poorer areas of Africa. He wants the gov't. of countries to buy the units for their people, but, as in all AH backward 'governments' they want if for free. As with the monies that GWB pledged for the AIDs programs, isn't it easier to grab cash that's given away?

I don't know enough about B and M Gates philanthropy other that it's got a lot of zeroes behind a prime number? It's good to see money pledged to good causes.

I love to see the inventions/medicine and tech breakthroughs that help the masses. Having 'seen' the some of the advances in surgeries for years, it's exciting to know that someone is working on the problems in HC.

-------------------

Here's a tidbit that effing floored me when I heard it yesterday.

Howard Dean, when asked about the HCR bill did not include tort reform answered,

"We didn't want to take on the laywers."

That should answer the question we all have been asking about why are med care prices so high?

So,
The base root of why we are totally screwed with the costs of HC in the country will be left to their own devices....

And the Dems have the effing nerve to claim that the Repubs walked away from the table?

There was nothing being served that was worth waiting for. The pomposity and inability of everyone to get a grip on what is really happening in HC is downright scary.

Heaven forbid any politico's loved one gets ill and needs any treatment. Only then can we expect any kind of movement on that particular front.

I wonder if there is an outbreak of hemorrhoids in the congress and senate-seems like we are being forced to endure loads of BS from most of the people in those offices.

[Grace]

When I was still a child, I learned that when I point a finger at someone else, there are 4 more fingers pointing back at me.

Totally non sequiter, but the minute I read this post I figured you had watched Laura Ingraham on O'Reilly last night. She began the show by extending her arm and pointing one of her fingers straight into the camera. Very unflattering picture.

[Edwina's Secretary]

When I was a child I learned that what people most complain about others doing is something they do themselves!

[Medusa]

Totally non sequiter, but the minute I read this post I figured you had watched Laura Ingraham on O'Reilly last night. She began the show by extending her arm and pointing one of her fingers straight into the camera. Very unflattering picture.

Uh, no. You figured wrong.

I do know what you're referring to, however, and in that one particular instance, I find it no less flattering than the pic of Uncle Sam saying "Uncle Sam wants YOU!"