14 October 2005

if honesty is a prereq, will anyone take the class?

Bush's staged talk with soldiers makes me sick. Public office holders (and candidates) should be... well... candid. We don't always have to agree with them, but we should know what they are thinking and doing; democratic competition simply doesn't work if we don't know what we're voting for or what positions our candidates actually hold. In short, if politicians are not honest with us about their positions and political posturing activities, then democracy itself is undermined. Frank discussion and debate over an issue is what democracy is about. Moreover, such honesty embodies a respect for the people one represents, the nation one governs, and the office one holds. A lack of honesty, however, is just "playing the people," and is both disrespectful and ignoble.

Is anybody surprised that Americans don't vote these days?

I hope we are not seeing the beginning of the end of a short-lived experiment in idealized political forms. Sometimes it just seems like true democracy, while theoretically superior to other forms of government, is practically untenable.

posted by Skay @ 8:54 PM