I am too direct to be a successful politician. I have too many enemies: academic, professional, political, and others. I won't go into specifics for obvious reasons here, but let me point out that Jesus Christ was executed by the Romans only three years into His ministry.
(Before going further, no, I'm not comparing myself to Jesus: I would probably have been executed by the second day of my ministry.) Jesus Christ resisted any political agenda and did not encourage insurrection against the Roman occupiers. But you see progressive revisionists engaging in presentist spin: they choose to gloss over His disciples complaining that Jesus' words asked too much of people; you hear of the complaints of others: "He's a glutton and a drunkard; He associates with the wrong sort of people--rich people, Roman tax collectors, ..." He has connections in Jerusalem to get room and board during the busiest time of the year, Passover, at the same time He's talking about the difficulty of a rich man to go to heaven. There's a description of a crowd agitated enough to want to stone Him, and He manages to escape. Judas indirectly accuses Him of hypocrisy, for letting a woman anoint Him with expensive ointments, instead of giving the equivalent money to the poor. Others are concerned that Jesus has lost His mind and send His mother and other relatives to have a quiet intervention with Him. There is discussion about disciplines deserting Him; He makes it difficult for prospective disciples to join Him ("go give away all that you have"). He tweaks orthodox rules for the Sabbath, creates a public disturbance at the Temple (the money changers), and makes audacious claims of authority, over and beyond the typical rabbi. Now, for all the Biblical criticism in terms of the orthodox Christians whitewashing the Gospels, we see enough of a picture emerging to understand how Jesus managed to make enemies: this was no mere benevolent, meek-mannered man Whom went about kissing babies, petting lambs and preaching love and spreading the wealth around.
I think one of the benefits of never having had a decent mentor, job security (including tenure) or line authority (except on one occasion) is that I learned to stand on my own two feet in the free market of ideas. I can't rely on organizational authority to compel the actions of others; I have to rely on my power of persuasion. I realize that I've said enough in nearly 1200 published posts to irritate almost everybody (including my own mother, whom probably won't be happy with my description of Jesus). My daily readership has widely varied over the past month (but be honest, I will continue to publish even with zero readers).
Many people are probably confused by things like why I would support Mitt Romney when my ideas are much closer to Ron Paul's, and why do I have little use for the likes of Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, or Newt Gingrich? (I loathe populism in any form; I hate political spin and finger-pointing.) I have seen 16 months (at least) of nonstop Romney bashing by pretentious populist conservatives, whom seemed more focused on gimmicky predictable political messaging. My own preference is for politicians whom are willing to step up and engage in straight talk; there is no way to finesse a $1T deficit, a $15.6T national debt and another $50T in unfunded entitlement liabilities. I'm not suggesting that a Presidential candidate serve up a fast ball like spending cuts down the middle of the plate for Obama to knock out of the ballpark; we already know that Obama has failed to demonstrate the kind of political courage I'm describing here. I want to hear everything is on the table, that any likely compromise will require a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes. I want to hear politicians talking about eliminating redundancy in government operations and privatizing assets and nonessential government functions.
But what of Romney? I have been in situations where I've had to face political realities and have had to implement decisions I've disagreed with. The idea that Mitt Romney could ram a conservative agenda through a Massachusetts state legislature up to 90% Democrat, a frivolous rallying call for populist conservatives trying to manufacture an issue over tepid state growth rates, is patently absurd--and Santorum and Gingrich know it. I also think it's pathetic that the populists are trying to blame Romney for a piece of legislation that not a single Republican in either Congressional chamber voted for; in fact, Sen. Scott Brown, who voted for RomneyCare, ran as the 41st Senator against ObamaCare.
If someone asked me, granted, Ron: suppose it was politically feasible for you to be elected President: would you, and what would you do? Well, for one thing, if I ever did get elected President, it wouldn't be some power trip to hear "Hail to the Chief", ride in Air Force One, hobnob with other world leaders, etc. It wouldn't be with the idea of seeing my name in the history books, to have buildings, ships or infrastructure named after me.
No, I'm not interested in adding more laws to the books, but in liberating individuals and business from statist serfdom. I want to reform laws that send a disproportionate number of people to prison for victimless crimes. I don't want our nation's children dying in foreign lands because of our undue meddling in international affairs. I want to see us stop throwing good money after bad on morally hazardous, ineffective social and entitlement programs. We need to live within our fiscal means and pay off the debts of spendthrift Congresses and Presidents. I see a restoration of individual liberty and traditional values and institutions, a sound currency rescued from the clutches of megalomaniac central bankers.
Yes, when I dream of what it would be like to be President, I don't think of grand state dinners or giving the State of the Union Address, of saluting the troops, sitting in the Oval Office or boarding Air Force One. I think of something different, a Fourth of July on Ellis Island, of meeting and greeting the people I work for, newly minted American citizens of every race, religion and tongue. I would assure them that the promise of America sometimes is difficult to see, but it never has left. It is still there for those of us whom want it and believe. Yes, dreams still do come true in America, and her beacon of liberty has never dimmed (we just don't look high enough): it's still the best place on earth, and we have been the lucky ones to inherit her promise. Yes, I love the America we see: her land, her people, her flag and tradition. But I love even more the America we don't see: her enduring ideas and promise.
I even have the first line of my speech on that day:
"I believe in America,
as beautiful as her children,
as limitless as their dreams and ambitions,
as worthy as her founding ideals,
as good as the hearts of her people."
