Something occurred to me today, I won’t drag you through the
thought process that got me there though.
I was thinking about politicians.
This time of year, especially during a presidential election year, tends
to bring the political activist out in all of us. Well, either that, or at least gets us to
thinking about politics and our part of the process. OK, at least that’s what happens to me.
So, let’s get back on topic, shall we? I have a professor who has apposing political
ideas to my own. Class gets to be great
fun at times as the banter gets going.
Neither of us is mean about it, and mostly it is in good fun. I find my ideologies regularly challenged
which makes some of my convictions stronger and causes me to think on
others. This is a thinking class, and
the professor’s goal is not to get everyone to follow his ideologies, but for
the members of the class to critically examine their own and be confident in
what they believe. That’s been my
experience with all my professors at Schreiner University.
Here is what I realized.
Bill Clinton wasn’t all that bad of a president. He was notably “wishy washy” which was
considered a fault. I have to question
if that is truly a fault. Was he “wishy
washy” or was he open-minded. That is
something to think about. I don’t recall
the knock down drag out bi-partisan politics of today. You could be a moderate of either party, and
not be a traitor for not following strict party lines. If a politician truly believed in something,
they would often stand up for it.
I questioned, where had that ended? In my lifetime, in my adulthood, I’ve seen a
disturbing trend of intolerance in politics and political beliefs. Then it occurred to me. Let’s go back to the Reagan Bush era. Reagan was a great orator. The man could move a nation, he could move a
world. He was a logical thinker, and I
remember a certain amount of give and take.
George H.W. Bush was not a great orator.
He had good qualities, but he made a grave mistake. George H.W. Bush made the mistake of making a
promise.
We know all politicians lie.
If you can find a politician who doesn’t, I’ll be expecting him to walk
on water. So, a broken promise should come as no great surprise. Yet, somehow it did.
George H.W. Bush promised to
be close minded. He promised that no
matter what the circumstance, he would remain close minded and refuse to take
anything into account. His promise is
famous, and oft quoted, “Read my lips, no new taxes!” No doubt it sounded good at the time.
The problem was however; he made a promise that if he had kept, could have had far graver consequences than breaking that promise. George H.W. Bush was up against a Democratic
congress that could over-throw his veto.
He looked at the facts and realized he was going to have to
negotiate. Yes, that’s right; George
H.W. Bush lied to us when he promised he would close his mind for good, and
then broke that promise when he took the time to open his mind. So, in a nutshell, George H.W. Bush threw away
his re-election campaign when he promised to be closed minded, and later opened
his mind to differing ideas and negotiated.
Today, coming up for re-election is a president who promised
with all his heart, raised the hopes of the American people, and was elected
because of his promise. Barrack Hussein
Obama was elected president of the United States because he promised that he
would be open minded. Just like George
H.W. Bush broke his promise to be close minded, Barrack Hussein Obama broke his
promise to be open minded.
George H.W. Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton because he was
open minded, and somehow we act surprised when our
politicians have closed their minds and are walking lock step side by side with
their party affiliates. We sent the
message loud and clear. Open your mind
and kiss your re-election goodbye. What
message are we going to send this election? Think about it.
