Bernard Chapin: "Submissives for Hillary"

She's been done for at least a month now. The only reason she keeps getting put up on screen is that it's good for ratings: People love to watch other people lose. It makes them feel better.

This election is over. Whether you like him or not, want him in office or not, or want the GOP still running the White House, McCain is the next president. Neither Barack nor Hillary can win, given all the skeletons coming out of their closets.

I thought three weeks ago Barack still had a chance but after the clips of his reverend's tirades and his reluctance to firmly distance himself from him, it's over for him too. And, it's too late for both of them. Nothing they can do now will get them back in play and they will spend the rest of the primary season at one another's throats and being laughed at on Youtube. Meanwhile, McCain will just continue to go from country to country, place to place, shaking hands and articulating policy, all with GW's blessing. Any skeletons he has have either been utterly buried by now or he doesn't have any worth mentioning. He would have to have a serious health failing at this point to not win.

The only reason the Demo Twins get air time is because it is selling ads for the networks. It's done.

And if you must know where I lean, it's here: All three of them scare the hell out of me, but each for different reasons. I wouldn't want any of them in the White House at 3:00 AM when the spit hits the spam. Worse yet, I wouldn't want them there during ordinary policy meetings where arguably the most extraordinary foolishness is concocted. More than anything, it's the decisions they would make in the cold clear light of day with coffee in hand that most scare me, as a citizen. The ones they make in crisis would probably not be as bad (as bad as they would probably be) compared with those ones made with a cool head.

Three candidates. Three people who have no business in the White House. No one around them passes any sniff tests or is qualified, either. Really, is there anyone now who can 1. get elected, and 2. do the job of POTUS at this time in America's history that results in a truly satisfactory outcome? I don't think so. I think the US and most other First World countries are up to their ears in Leadership Crisis Doo-Doo. And I am not sure when we will get anyone qualified who is electable to run for the office.

I'd consider moving to some other place but it's worse elsewhere; it's just those other countries don't have "Arsenal of Democracy" responsibilities, so it's less apparent and/or urgent. France having problems with immigrants rioting and worker strikes? So what, it's not like anyone is counting on them to do anything, nor does the world's peace hang in the balance based on what decsions they make. But the U.S.? That's different.

Too bad there isn't a Presidential Training Institute. You know, that's not a bad idea. It's a little like the "ghulam" idea from the old Ottoman Empire, only leave out the beatings and sexual abuse, thank you very much. Here's what we do: Pick a whole mess of really bright, Alpha type kids in their youth, and get their parents to OK it (no state kidnapping, either), then take them away and educate and train them in all manner of things, most importantly, statecraft. They would be free to leave any time they want and go back to their 'ordinary lives' (though why they'd want to, I dunno), with parents free to visit them any time they don't have class or other such responsibilities. We start with 10,000 such kids and by the time they are 18, we'll graduate maybe 2,000. Then they will go into politics and policy and via various means and decisions they personally make, by the time they are 35, we'll be left with, say 500 solid potential candidates for president. Maybe 50 of them will want the job.

Can you imagine us having 50 solid, electable presidential candidates on tap, with no skeletons (at least none to speak of), all passing the many sniff tests with their school and career lives all well-known? Can you imagine such a thing? The rest of these folks though would still do quite well, be in high demand for sure-- they would get jobs elsewhere, with such training and education, they would be a boon to gov't and industry alike, most likely assuming all manner of leadership positions. And instead of connections and ancestry deciding qualifications, the kids would have to excel entirely based on their performance. Would any process be more carefully watched for signs of nepotism than this?

This is an idea whose time has come.

Hey mcc99 --

That movie was already made, way back in the 1960's.

It was called "Children of the Damned."

Go rent it on DVD, because it is very scary.
It pretty closely describes the institutional schooling you propose to create a generation of uber-leaders.

I don't recall who said it initially, but the quote was - "a country gets only the leadership it deserves...."

I'll be leaving America soon. Heading south, where petty tyrants still are easily identified and avoided.

Unlike America's elected thieves and their ubiquitous corporate pimps....

So you think we have no cure to this problem?

I'll have to see about that DVD. See you in Belize. :)

Belize is too much of a swamp for me.

I need mountains and several climate zones.

And two ocean coasts.

Nicaragua.....

Check it out!

Prostitution is not a victimless crime. A female prostitute is exploiting a man, by taking advantage of his inborn desire to have a never-ending variety of sex partners and experiences.

Also, prostitutes are criminals. If you break the law, you should be punished appropriately (one's viewpoint on prostitution's legalization not withstanding).

-ax