Ruled by the most successful fools.

Just imagine the games one must play to get at or near the top of the political hierarchies. Seems to me one would have to sell his soul. Make so very many compromises. Just to persuade powerbrokers to support you. And then to be able to corral enough public support to win office. That requires capturing the public imagination. Gaining the confidence of strangers. Willing to take a chance on you. Albeit, what choice have the people got? Chances are, there's only two choices on the ballot. Might be it comes down to picking dumb or dumber. Bad or worse. That's why I don't even bother to vote. All too often. Anyway, in all likelihood the politicians that survive have huge egos. That's the driving force. Keeps 'em going. It must be a euphoric high to have public adulation. To be able to fool the people. If not all the time. Enough to get elected. A good and successful politician has mastered the craft of hood-winking the voters. They all do it. Even my hero. Barack Obama. He's convinced me that he's by far the best of a bad lot. Almost seems like he came out of nowhere. His rise was meteoric . Maybe a fluke. But give him credit. A black man who captured the public imagination. That took some daring and doing. Especially in racist America. Not as bad as it used to be. But still inherently racist. Now Obama is discovering the perils of being on the top. One's power is limited by the other mammonth egos around you. You still have to play games. Manipulate. Yes, it'd be nice to be king. Dictator. And rule by divine right. But even kings found that difficult. Many of 'em got their heads lopped off. And eventually monarchies fell into disrepute. Now we have presidents. And prime ministers. And congresses. And parliaments. But some things never change. We are still ruled by the most successful fools. --Jim Broede