In defense of..........

[solo1]

politicians EXCEPT those on the National level. National politics don't work and neither do the pols at that level.

I was a councilman in my city for 14 years.  Since it is a city of only 14,000, people could and can still talk to their councilman by a simple phone call with no 'hold please' or 'leave a message after your name. address, zip, email addy, facebook, etc.  There even are council meetings where the taxpayer can speak for or against, imagine that !!!

In 2002, in New Haven, my town,  there was a serious problem which the council was trying to resolve, concerning a hazardous waste landfill. Now let me say this.  The average Joe citizen doesn't come to meetings where he can express his opinion.  Instead he will read (maybe) about the problem and bitch about "those politicians'.

That was what was happening in this case. The council had finally agreed to settle the many costly lawsuits that we filed against this BIG corporation.  We agreed to find a compromise WITHOUT any input from absent citizens.  Not unusual since 'civic duty' means nothing to most.

Now the public meeting was called and we, on the council, were called just about any name in the book by citizens WHO WEREN"T EVEN IN THE CITY and therefore didn't pay the taxes that footed the bill for our legal expenses.  What they wanted was a free ride paid for by the citizens of New Haven.

A week before this contentious meeting, my wife had died. In the middle of grief, I'm being called names like traitor, arsehole, MF, etc  by these 'free ride' people!

I went home after the meeting just about as down as I could get.  The next day, as I was getting groceries out of my car,  Mrs Holmes, a lady on the next street, stopped and told me how much she appreciated the sidewalk that I had gotten approved next to a busy street.  Since she was a widow and didn't drive, she had to walk on that busy street over to Krogers to get her groceries.  That SAME day, another lady stopped and told me the same.  This lady had a Down Syndrome child that she walked to a special needs bus in the Kroger parking lot. She also had to walk on that busy street.  For her, the sidewalk was also a blessing.

Those two  'Attaboys'  more than made up for the 'dumb craps' that I got from ill informed  smucks..

I stayed on the council.

Before you paint everyone with the same brush, just keep in mind that small government works best and that towns and small city politicians don't necessarily fit in with those in Washington.

I have walked in the politician's moccasins. I know.

Wayne

[Black Dog]

Wayne,

So very true...  I live in a small village (less than 3800 population), and our school board members, village president, and most other positions, are folks just like me.  Our kids went to school together, we (adults) coached the little league baseball teams and the youth football teams together, and walking down the street or shopping often turns in to conversation time (village issues, kids, all the way to the local HS football team), because everyone (mostly) knows everyone...

You are one of the good guys...  You have lived a long, interesting life.  Thanks again for your service, both to your country and your community    It could be said that you have made this community (the VRCC) a better place, due to your wisdom and your life's experiences 

Black Dog

[Willow]

Well said, Wayne, but maybe a little shame on you for separating local from national politicians.  They are certainly cut from the same cloth but simply represent, or are elected by, differing sizes of voter groups.

It's easy for us to say all politicians are ... or express how dissatisfied we are by elected officials at the state or national level.  It's easy for us to forget that they are people who would fit in very well with the characteristics of the good and bad in the general population.  The significant difference between elected politicians and the general public is that they got enough people to vote for them to get where they are.  If the people we are electing are dishonest or are crooks, and a good number of them certainly are, then the problem is not so much the crooks and liars that are being elected.  It is the electorate, ourselves, that is the biggest problem.  We do live in a democracy or at least a democratic republic.