After a brief (?) pause, I hope I am back for some more blogging. While I have been off, I've had the misfortune of having to watch a lot of commercials for the various candidates for governor and US Senator. This year there was no fooling around. They jumped right in with the negative ads and just kept getting more negative. What disturbs me the most is the use of the phrase "career politician" as a pejorative, suggesting that politicians that have devoted their lives to public service are somehow dishonest or, at least, tainted in some way. I know that may sometimes be true, but I believe that, in general, public service is an honorable pursuit. By the same token, I do not believe that an "outsider" is by definition more qualified or more honest than a career politician to participate in government.
We have a fellow running for governor who readily confesses that while he was collecting multi-millions of dollars from the company he was CEO of, the company received record sized fines from the the US Government for defrauding Medicare. Now he says he has learned his lesson and that is probably true, but should he be disparaging politicians just because they have spent their careers as a part of government?
We have another fellow who also makes his claim to fame as a successful businessman with lots and lots of money. Turns out his wealth was made bigger by his use of credit swaps (what ever they are) to bet against the economy when the recent recession was getting started. The more the economy suffered, the more money he made. And this guy also makes the career politician his whipping boy. No thanks. He'll not get my vote.
