Is our political system no longer capable of producing competent leaders?

Look at our choices for president in 2020. It's hard to tell whether Joe Biden has spent the last 50 years being more idiot or crook. And his opponent has 40% of the country thinking he's Jesus and 60% thinking he's the devil reincarnate.

And it is looking ever more and more like those are going to be the same choices in 2024.

Then look a level down at the congressional leadership. Mitch McConnell is useless and has been for years. Kevin McCarthy (still so innocuous that this is the first time I didn't have to look his name up before typing) has exceeded expectations, but that is more because those expectations were pretty much in the outhouse than because he has performed well. Nancy Pelosi comes across as a bitchy version of Foster Brooks. And Chuck Schumer is living proof that all the nasty stereotypes about New Yorkers are true. The one useful trait that Pelosi and Schumer have is the ability to lead their troops and get them in line, whereas McConnell and McCarthy couldn't lead a sex addict to a whorehouse.

I remember getting drunk with some former Royal Navy running mates (from NATO base in Sigonella during the 1970s) during a visit in 2000 and lamenting that they had Tony Blair while we were having to choose between Shrub and Gore. I'm considered a conservative on here, but I actually like a lot about Blair's and Bill Clinton's Third Way approach.

Since then we've had Shrub versus traitor (and still traitor) Kerry, then commie Obama versus first John McCain (who was such a jerk that he did not get invited to reunions of his former fighter squadron) and the milquetoast Mitch Romney, and then The Donald versus first The Hillary and second The Vegetable.

If I asked you to name the top 25 Americans, how many of those names would be on the list? I'd put none of them.

So what's wrong with our system? And how to fix it? I've got some ideas, but first I'm interested in how many others think things are as dire at the top as I do.

We still have a lot going for us as a country. It is going to be hard for anyone to screw it up totally. But the more power we give to incompetent idiots, the greater the chance we take that they will.

Glad you didn’t get into the Affirmative Action hire, VP Kamala. I agree, more or less with most of your characterizations. I disagree, somewhat, with many of them.

I don’t know where competent leadership will come from. I know where it will not come from.

(06-18-2023 11:48 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Glad you didn’t get into the Affirmative Action hire, VP Kamala.

The only person I can think of that I would vote for Joe Biden against.

(06-18-2023 11:51 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-18-2023 11:48 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Glad you didn’t get into the Affirmative Action hire, VP Kamala.

The only person I can think of that I would vote for Joe Biden against.

The reason I pray for his health and safety - and the reason I will vote for whoever wins the GOP nomination.

(06-18-2023 12:24 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(06-18-2023 11:51 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-18-2023 11:48 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Glad you didn’t get into the Affirmative Action hire, VP Kamala.

The only person I can think of that I would vote for Joe Biden against.

The reason I pray for his health and safety - and the reason I will vote for whoever wins the GOP nomination.

I probably will too, but I wish I could do it out of enthusiasm rather than out of fear.

(06-18-2023 05:38 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-18-2023 12:24 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(06-18-2023 11:51 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-18-2023 11:48 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Glad you didn’t get into the Affirmative Action hire, VP Kamala.

The only person I can think of that I would vote for Joe Biden against.

The reason I pray for his health and safety - and the reason I will vote for whoever wins the GOP nomination.

I probably will too, but I wish I could do it out of enthusiasm rather than out of fear.

Me, too. A vote for Biden in 2024 is a vote for K. Harris in 2025.

would y'all vote for Glenn? Is he competent IYO?

(06-20-2023 08:19 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  would y'all vote for Glenn?

If by "Glenn" you mean Youngkin, I would be thrilled to see him as the nominee of the GOP. If you mean as a third party candidate, probably not.

If by "Glenn", you mean John Glenn, he is a dead Democrat, and therefore slightly better than the live ones, but no. No idea who would be pulling his strings. He might get a lot of support from the dead voter wing of the Democrats, though.

(06-18-2023 11:20 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Is our political system no longer capable of producing competent leaders?

Look at our choices for president in 2020. It's hard to tell whether Joe Biden has spent the last 50 years being more idiot or crook. And his opponent has 40% of the country thinking he's Jesus and 60% thinking he's the devil reincarnate.

And it is looking ever more and more like those are going to be the same choices in 2024.

Then look a level down at the congressional leadership. Mitch McConnell is useless and has been for years. Kevin McCarthy (still so innocuous that this is the first time I didn't have to look his name up before typing) has exceeded expectations, but that is more because those expectations were pretty much in the outhouse than because he has performed well. Nancy Pelosi comes across as a bitchy version of Foster Brooks. And Chuck Schumer is living proof that all the nasty stereotypes about New Yorkers are true. The one useful trait that Pelosi and Schumer have is the ability to lead their troops and get them in line, whereas McConnell and McCarthy couldn't lead a sex addict to a whorehouse.

I remember getting drunk with some former Royal Navy running mates (from NATO base in Sigonella during the 1970s) during a visit in 2000 and lamenting that they had Tony Blair while we were having to choose between Shrub and Gore. I'm considered a conservative on here, but I actually like a lot about Blair's and Bill Clinton's Third Way approach.

Since then we've had Shrub versus traitor (and still traitor) Kerry, then commie Obama versus first John McCain (who was such a jerk that he did not get invited to reunions of his former fighter squadron) and the milquetoast Mitch Romney, and then The Donald versus first The Hillary and second The Vegetable.

If I asked you to name the top 25 Americans, how many of those names would be on the list? I'd put none of them.

So what's wrong with our system? And how to fix it? I've got some ideas, but firs I'm interested in how many others think things are as dire at the top as I do.

We still have a lot going for us as a country. It is going to be hard for anyone to screw it up totally. But the more power we give to incompetent idiots, the greater the chance we take that they will.

Terms limits for Congress, a return to the Federal Government only having the powers enumerated in the Constitution, and stripping power from unelected bureaucrats would be a good start.

Edit: Should also have included a return to the limitations placed on the Federal Government by the Bill of Rights, i.e., "...shall not infringe...", "...shall make no law...", etc.

The willingness and ability for people to have their 90 seconds of fame on TikTok for a gotcha moment has created an environment where it is vastly better to quietly lead from within the pack than to be the figurehead at the top of the pyramid.

(06-22-2023 04:16 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Terms limits for Congress, a return to the Federal Government only having the powers enumerated in the Constitution, and stripping power from unelected bureaucrats would be a good start.

Edit: Should also have included a return to the limitations placed on the Federal Government by the Bill of Rights, i.e., "...shall not infringe...", "...shall make no law...", etc.

It would help if the person who contemptuously sneered at those documents as "that little book you carry" were not now Vice President of the United States.

I always worried termlimits would make us jettison somebody good. However the plusses inherent of jettisoning the Maxine Waterses and AOCs of the House off set that by a bunch. Half the house is dead weight.

(06-27-2023 02:12 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(06-22-2023 04:16 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Terms limits for Congress, a return to the Federal Government only having the powers enumerated in the Constitution, and stripping power from unelected bureaucrats would be a good start.
Edit: Should also have included a return to the limitations placed on the Federal Government by the Bill of Rights, i.e., "...shall not infringe...", "...shall make no law...", etc.

It would help if the person who contemptuously sneered at those documents as "that little book you carry" were not now Vice President of the United States.

Agree, with some reservations regarding term limits. The problem I have is that in Washington tenure has power.

Take Chuckie Schumer, a person I find to be a despicable human being. Or the almost equally despicable Mitch McConnell. Their power is derived largely from their time in DC. But what if they were gone. Where would that power go? After all, power abhors a vacuum. The danger I see is that power would naturally flow toward the folks who do have the time in the system to accumulate power--specifically, those unelected bureaucrats. A Schumer or McConnell at least has the power to stand up to some bureaucratic lackey with 30 or 40 years in the system. Does a second-term senator have that leverage? Likely not.

Of course there is a viable counter-argument. One big reason for the transfer of power to unaccountable administrative agencies is that congress critters know that one way to stay in office is to avoid controversial votes on issues that could eat into their voter support at hame. Consider Obamacare. One argument used to overcome congressional opposition was, "if you like you doctor, you can keep your doctor, if you like your health care, you can keep your health care." And there is nothing in the bill that said otherwise. Except--and it's a huge except--HHS was directed to write regulations to implement the law, and those regulations clearly meant that no, you cannot keep your health care plan, because it no longer exists, and you probably cannot keep your doctor either. That's how Washington makes changes that voters would not approve. We have become a nation ruled to far too great an extent by elite experts who have no clue how ordinary people live.

SQUIRREL!

(07-26-2023 08:16 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  SQUIRREL!

Im tempted to watch this on C-Span --- mainly along the same reasons I find I watch the Libertarian Party national nomination conventions.

I think the system is perfectly capable of creating competent leaders. The issue is, why would a competent leader EVER want to participate in this system?

(07-26-2023 08:39 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(07-26-2023 08:16 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  SQUIRREL!

Im tempted to watch this on C-Span --- mainly along the same reasons I find I watch the Libertarian Party national nomination conventions.

They’re out there!!!