Not so with elected officials: They all had to actively want the job, and from dog catcher to senator they are driven by a lust for position and power, and filled with an overweening sense that they deserve it. Monsters of narcissism, they are the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral, no more conscious of the wants or needs (or even the existence, really) of others than an infant with an empty stomach and a full diaper.
Exhibit A:
Friend staghounds related a tale in comments:
When King Edward VII died in 1910. former President Roosevelt happened to be in England and was invited to attend the funeral. It was a huge pageant and procession, which was governed by ancient medieval rules.Indeed.
The various presidents of republics, having no titles of nobility, were assigned to march behind the Emperors, Kings, Dukes, and Barons.
The President of France found it unreasonable that he had to follow a bunch of titled nobodies, and told Roosevelt so.
T. R. said,
"For God's sake, keep quiet. This is a funeral."
We'd be better off with names picked from the phone book than being cajoled by these dwarfs.
.
That may be the greatest quote in history. TR made it hard to dislike him despite the inevitable consequences of his progressive policies.
ReplyDeleteWere that it were "unglaublich" - but it's all too credible. As someone wrote recently, wanting the position should be the first criterion for rejecting a candidate.
ReplyDeleteThe Founders writings indicate that a term in the Senate or Congress should be viewed as a service or a duty, to be done in addition to one one's vocation; in the expectation that one would return to that vocation after "serving". Pretty sure they'd view the current crop with the same disdain as the overwhelming majority do - but they'd be right to view "the overwhelming majority" with that same disdain, since we are putting up with those parasites.
Not just a lust for power, but the belief they know better than you how to run your own life.
ReplyDeleteThe political spectrum should be revised, to reflect the lengths to which one would go to enact one's beliefs on others. Fascism was and is a leftist/statist concept. "Liberal" certainly is no longer associated with liberty. "Right wing" being an oppressive political philosophy is simply projection by the statists. Organized religion, and its imposition of moral conduct, is the area where statist and libertarian collide. The Tea Party is heavily populated with fiscal and corporate libertarians that seem to occasionally forget about "free will" and our Constitution's fundamental tenet of non-theocracy.
By their very nature, true libertarians would have less and less power, statists always more. Republicans lost their libertarian leanings when they eagerly jumped into the void left by Democrats embracing socialism when it became apparent Americans were either too dumb or apathetic to notice.
No class
ReplyDeleteBram,
ReplyDeleteI share TR's belief that shared resources need set aside and protected. His other "progressive" ideas, not so much.
His protocol officer just slit her wrist.
ReplyDeleteGerry
This sequence actually gets better. I don't know what Michelle said to Helle but in one shot she is pulled back with an expression that says "well I never" and then Michelle makes the O switch seats.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, but I am getting the impression Michelle is a B word.
Paul,
ReplyDelete"I dunno, but I am getting the impression Michelle is a B word."
Is that what we're calling people who get offended by boorish behavior now?
In that case, put me in the "B word" column, too.
If Michelle took out her limp-wristed excuse of a husband, it would certainly reduce the level of his deification.
ReplyDeleteI like her more than before.
Appropriate response from a wife, IMNSHO.
I hope there was also a comment from her about showing class and dignity at such an event... to all three of them.
I actually have a bit more respect for FLOTUS now. For once that look of righteous indignation seemed totally appropriate.
ReplyDeleteIt actually hurts to type this but .. Well done Michelle !
ReplyDeleteMan .. glad thats over and that I'll likely never have to do it again !
If Michelle didn't have a high tolerance for boorish behavior (and engage in it regularly herself), she wouldn't be sitting next to Barry.
ReplyDeleteI wish he'd do stupid shit like this more often. That way there was less time for him to truly screw the country up even more. In fact, since the rest of the world seems to love him so much, I say we keep Airforce One flying near constantly around the globe to let them all have a good long look at this chump.
ReplyDelete" New Jovian Thunderbolt said...
ReplyDeleteNo class"
My first thought on seeing the picture was a quote from the old Colonel years ago, to the effect that socialists had pursued the dream of a classless society, but the Clintons had achieved a classless White House.
"Is that what we're calling people who get offended by boorish behavior now?"
ReplyDeleteI did not get that vibe from the picture. yes, he was engaged in boorish behavior, but I thought they we setting up a tryst rather than the more mundane crass behavior I have begun to expect from our current rulers.
Although your definition fits the events better.
Well, at least he wasn't taking a selfie with the remains of Mr. Mandela.
ReplyDeleteI thought the peeved look on his wife was probably from her not being included in the selfie.
That does sound like something TR would say, but according to Wikipedia it wasn't the French President, but the French Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphen Pinchon.
ReplyDeleteThis is the sound (and pictures) of civilization collapsing.
ReplyDeleteDamn I wish I had said both these things !
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that this is the first time I have been proud of my First Lady.
ReplyDeleteNot that I expect to have the same feeling ever again for this one, mind you.
Look well upon the donkeys who will lead this generation of lions into the abyss, if Iran is dumb enough to set off its test shot before Obama leaves office in 2017.
ReplyDeleteSurely none of you want to hold the kwisach haderach to the same standards of lesser mortals?
ReplyDeleteNever give a dwarf a cattle-prod, they become Bureaucrats.
ReplyDeleteAnd at lest it wasn't Anthony Weiner making his usual selfie.
And the Endarkenment continues apace.
ReplyDeleteAt least I can agree with MO once in my lifetime that BO is a dumbass.
Gmac
"that midgets cast long shadows only shows how late in the day it has become"
ReplyDeletecourtesy of some talented writer at American Spectator, many years ago. Don't recall whether it was Wlady or R Emmett. But it stuck with me, and Tam's post called it up to front and center.
Obama's whole life is a selfie.
ReplyDeleteI finally saw the "Post-Selfie" pictures...
ReplyDeleteI laughed so hard I wept.
Obama later ordered a hot dog from one of those vendors who walk up and down the stairs of sports stadiums. Two ambassadors and a relative of Mandela had to pass it along the row to him.
ReplyDelete"Is that what we're calling people who get offended by boorish behavior now?
ReplyDeleteIn that case, put me in the "B word" column, too."
I don't think it was the boorish behavior that caused her reaction. It was the "talking to someone better looking than me and having a good time doing it" behavior.
The desire for political office should considered a disqualifying defect.
ReplyDeleteAnyone that wants to "rule" is the last person on Earth that we actually want ruling.
Problem is, you're faced with the sticky situation where now you're forced to "make" people serve in office, and I'm very wary of any government "making" anyone do anything, more than is absolutely necessary.
But seriously, what a lack of class to be taking playful selfies at a funeral. For pete's sake...
T.R. had more class in the cuticle of his little finger than this entire assemblage combined. It's sad that this is what we've devolved into.
ReplyDeleteThings like this make me want to apologize to my grandchildren.