We give politicians power by our votes | News, Sports, Jobs – The Inter-Mountain

The next time you hear a politician say something crazy, remember that all it takes to be an elected official is your vote.

The next time you hear some crazy rant from a socialist media commentator, remember he is there because you turned on that channel.

Both commentators and politicians mistake their success as intelligence, but it is more likely a result of random factors that made them the lucky winners of the lottery.

Their success usually is due to the failures of the competition, which are not within their realm of choice or control.

In politics, you may be raised a Democrat (not your choice) lucky enough to be born and raised in a district or State where only a Democrat can win (not your choice), born an attractive person (not your choice) with a melodious voice (not your choice) and a charismatic speaker (not entirely your choice).

You may choose to run for office (that is your choice) and be fortunate to have an opponent that is not likable and gets themselves mired in scandal (not your choice).You may think you are a genius for scoring a six-figure job as a congressman or senator, when all you were was the lucky recipient of elements that put you in office, through no choice of your own.

Being lucky is not being smart.

Most politicians and commentators have a deficit in visual processing. They can walk repeatedly up and down the pharmacy aisle looking for dental floss and simply not see it. Or canceling a credit card that was later found lying in plain sight on the office desk. Both have difficulty getting any wordless cartoon strip that depends on noticing details that change from cell to cell.

Politicians think they are geniuses because they think all politicians they hang out with are geniuses.

Just like so many people think they are beautiful because the people they hang out with are beautiful.

The mindset of the political class, regardless of party affiliation, is that they think they are smart enough to plan the future for American citizens on critical issues ranging from energy to health care. This attitude seems to get progressively worse the longer elected officials are in office. Perhaps this is a reason voters should support term limits despite the continual ranting from politicians that such limits destroy their ability to make government work.

When confronted with the outcome of their actions fraught with broken promises and unintended consequences. The common response is, just trust me, I will get it right next time. The cure for this dilemma is abstinence.  

The first step in the road to recovery is to adopt the principle of doing no more harm. Whether the issue is spending taxpayer money on risky alternative energy projects, or dictating the type of health care American citizens must have, further intervention into the operation of free markets will only inflict more damage to the economy and continual loss of personal freedoms.

When voters choose candidates, or political commentators, they should look for ones who do not think they are smarter than the rest of us.

Smart people do enjoy success more often than dumb people, because smart people tend to make fewer mistakes.

Good day!

Robert Ware

French Creek