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Ain’t it the truth

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Susan Richards is a retired editor living in Thornton, Colo., near the family and mountains she loves. Her long-standing Pied Type blog contains some 3,800 posts dating back to 2002.

Categories Election 201617 Comments

17 thoughts on “Ain’t it the truth”

  2. I think the fix we are in politically captures the irony of self-governance. Everybody knows just how things ought to be. We elect politicians to go make them that way, and when they fail to do that to our liking, we get angry. Just yesterday I was conversing with a man, now retired, who had a long and respectable career as a high-level civil servant, and yet he was convinced that president Obama was guilty of just about every detail of what’s wrong with the world. Now I know that he knows presidents have very limited powers except in military matters, but he prefers to ignore that. When we elect presidents, we elect scapegoats.

    Cassius:
    “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
    But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

    Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

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    1. Self Government or self-governance is superior to a Dictatorship. No question about it. The problem I see with our present governmental leaders is that many of them have lost their moral compass. Without a strong moral foundation to build upon we are doomed to failure. Just as Rome fell, so will America.

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    2. Well, you know what they say about where the buck stops. It’s the CEO’s job in any organization to accept the responsibility for anything and everything that happens on his or her watch.

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  3. How enlightened do you have to be to realize that any of the Libertarian hopefuls would be better than the best Democrat or Republican running? Or how delusional do you have to be to think that Hillary won’t be the next president?

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    1. Last time I looked it was only Gary Johnson. Now there’s a whole crop of contenders. You can bet I’ll be considering the party’s nominee in November.

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        2. I used to be a Libertarian and I think they have a lot of good ideas. Refraining from trying to be the world’s policemen is one of their best. One of their worst, I submit, is the notion that “freedom” requires no regulation from the government other than the 2nd Amendment. That’s nutty. Another one, not so good, is that society owes nothing collectively to the individual. People are unequal in talent, luck, good looks, or family finances and I believe that government has a vital role in leveling the playing field. The basic question that needs asking is, what kind of society do you want to live in? I want to live in one where everyone matters, and in which there is tolerance for diversity. The latter is, I believe, another good Libertarian value.

          That Libertarians can have a sensible debate is admirable, but I think Bernie and Hillary have had several of those as well (the earlier ones). The GOP is hamstrung this year by way too many candidates and lack of moderate ones. I blame single-issue radicals for this, and particularly the religiously-motivated ones.

          Libertarians have no chance in this election, so a vote for one of them is a wasted vote, and, it just might get a nutcase elected.

        3. I don’t agree 100% with any party. That’s one reason I’m an independent. And they all have some good ideas that I do agree with. So it really all comes down to the candidates and what they have to say. This year I don’t like any of them. I suspect I’m going to have to vote “not Trump,” and that will mean Hillary and it will kill me to have to do it. But Trump (or Cruz) as president is unthinkable.

        4. Voting for a Libertarian candidate is NOT a wasted vote.

          Regardless of who you and I vote for, Hillary will be the next president. Voting for her or any Republican will be a wasted vote. Neither of us has ever voted in a national election that was decided by one (or two, or three, or etc.) vote, so voting for the best (in my opinion any Libertarian) will at least be a vote neither of the mainstream candidates can count in those that decided their victory.

        6. Agreed, any one vote is a drop in the ocean and will not affect the outcome. I have sometimes pondered the futility of it, and yet, I always vote. Why? I guess, for one, I want to be able to discuss it honestly in the hope of influencing other people. There seem to be millions who do not vote just because they know a single vote is feckless. Even in a presidential year, half don’t. Vote to show unhappiness with the status quo? I have no problem with that. Probably good for the system.

... and that's my two cents