Wednesday, July 20, 2016

"...the heart of the political sickness—the need to tell others how to live."

Ignoring Politicians - Reason.com: "...after years of reporting, I've concluded that most politicians have little to say that's interesting, and many are craven opportunists, desperate to rule over others. 

A few stand out, like former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY). Like many politicians, he's never held a real job. He's run for office or worked for politicians all his life. Weiner married one of Hillary Clinton's closest advisers, passionately pushed leftists' bad ideas and was a member of Congress. Then a photo of an anonymous man's bulging underwear was tweeted from his account. He ended up having to resign from Congress. That embarrassment alone would send most mortals into hiding, but not Weiner. 

He decided to campaign for mayor of New York City, and New York's Democrats even forgave him. Polls showed he was the front-runner. Then came more sleazy stuff. He sent out naked pictures under the name "Carlos Danger." A new documentary, Weiner, chronicles these events. 

"This really is a great movie," says Reason.com's Anthony Fisher. It illustrates "how sick this drive for elective office can be." In the movie, NBC's Lawrence O'Donnell asks Weiner, "What's wrong with you?" Weiner doesn't even understand the question. O'Donnell elaborates, "you cannot seem to imagine a life without elective office?" Weiner still doesn't get it. 

 Maybe one needs to be sick to run for office. Weiner is a disciple of New York senator Chuck Schumer. Schumer famously said, "I was born to legislate." This goes to the heart of the political sickness—the need to tell others how to live. As economist Walter Williams puts it, "I respect ordinary thieves more than I respect politicians. Ordinary thieves take my money without pretense. (They don't) insult my intelligence by proclaiming that they'll use the money that they steal from me to make my life better.""


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