Politics and Presidents

 

PoBoy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Gone Correct

Or

Precise Absent

“It’s useless to hold a person to anything he says while he’s in love, drunk or running for office”: Shirley MacLaine

        “Whistle while you work, MacArthur is a jerk, Eisenhower has the power, Taft will never work”: was a childhood street chant from my wasted, lost and ill spent youth; and that should give you a glimpse of how long ago that politics have been invading my confused and flummoxed aura. It’s scary. In my quiet reflective moments, somehow I see a parade, a procession, a pageant (in costume) of past elected officials  dancing toward the center ring under the Big Top; complete with short statured clowns on little fire engines, elephants with shimmering turbans and tall blond ladies in pink tights.  I can site you a plethora of them; however, it’s the presidents that bring on my cold sweat goose bumpy angst.

        I was a little late for Franklin D. who muscled his way into 12 years of office; it’s rumored that he allowed Pearl Harbor so that he could spring us from isolation into a full scale world war for personal reasons. He was also responsible for forced internment of Japanese citizens; nothing new, previous presidents did it to Native Americans and African abductees.

        Followed by “Give ‘em Hell” Harry S. Truman (the ‘S’ doesn’t stand for anything) He got the tail end and took over from FDR when FDR died in the second month of his fourth term; inheriting WWII and stepping up as Vice President and went on to win a term of his own.

        Ike came back and gave us interstate roads and warned of the takeover of America by the Military Industrial Complex; incidentally, Joe MacCarthy, the Senator and ring leader of the Red Scare that blackballed suspected Commies was squeezed in there, to their discredit (he never did catch a single spy and was censured by the Senate).

        Then comes JFK; shot during the assassination period (RFK, MLK); followed by LBJ who stepped down: ‘Tricky Dick’ Nixon who quit; Gerald Ford who only served 3 years; peanut farmer Jimmy Carter (best of the bunch if you ask me); Daddy George Bush (one term); Bill Clinton, who was almost impeached because of some in-the-closet activity. George junior came next (who seems really harmless about now); Barack; Donald and now Joe. Whew.

        All these guys, in my lifetime, that stood at the fan as the feces were being distributed; some were catching and some throwing the stuff. All the while they were being subjected to the downward command chain replete with constituents and fellow elected officials vying for an ear to express their views and concerns; some telling truth which was not listened to and some telling lies that were.

        It appears to me that you’d have to be certifiably insane to want to be Commander in Chief of this nation of certifiable wing nuts that call themselves citizens and are really spoiled children guarding their corner of the sandbox being watched after and spoiled by people that swindle them out of their hard earned money and laugh all the way to the bank at their expense.

        With the president is his vice president, advisors, councilors, Chief of Staff, Press Prevaricators, his cabinet members, spouse, chef, barber, interns, personal physicians and the person who shines their shoes. The president is the most powerful politician in the free world (so they say).

        Except, the president must please 100 members of congress, 435 in the House of Representatives; and the rest of the legislative, executive and judicial branch talking heads. Just imagining that gives me a headache.

        Then consider governors, mayors, city council members, law enforcement, the IRS, court systems (from Supreme on down to Traffic), lawyers (prosecutors and defenders) and the person who can tell you ‘where you got your shoes’. And everyone wants a piece of the action.

        “Politics is very much like taxes—everybody is against them, or everybody is for them as long as they don’t apply to them”-- Fiorello LaGuardia who was mayor of New York City from 1934-1946

        Now we come to how laws are made and how any of those elected yayhoos are influenced: money. Period. Yes, I’m here to tell you that from city inspectors to bill collectors and all the way to the highest offices, somebody gets/wants greased. Oh, it may be a plum appointment, a campaign contribution, trip to the Bahamas, a betrayal or retribution. If you want to know how things are getting done… follow the money.

        However, that’s not completely true. Some people go into politics for honest altruistic reasons. “Because of one plain simple rule. Love thy neighbor, and in this world today of great hatred a man that knows that rule has a great trust.”-- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939

        I have empathy and compassion for those selfless individuals, the ones who brave the tide of mendacity, corruption and deceit; the ones who won’t take a bribe or a dive. They’re the real contenders for an honest, open and caring society. The ones who take a beating for not bowing down, the ones who stand up for the little guy and that advocate for social justice and equality. They’re the ones that want the best for you even though you might not behave like you’re worth it.

        Those are the people to vote for. The softies not the bullies and it’s all about that; it really is. Mean people suck and I personally don’t want any having the power over you or me. There’s enough “hate goin’ round tryin’ to break our hearts; we’ve got to, I’ve got to stop it before it goes too far”, Stevie Wonder—“Love’s in Need of Love Today”