No more 'ordinary' people in top job

Well said, I agree 100%.

The "just like me" syndrome is something that Karl Rove used. We had a New England fratboy cheerleader who never achieved much of anything in life that didn't result from his family's influence or money. He avoided combat in Viet Nam with special consideration given, and ran several businesses into the ground. Not many people could say "He's just like me."

But when Karl Rove finished with him, he was a pickup drivin' drawlin' brush clearin' guy with a stage prop ranch who the public liked (according to the pollsters) because he was "Just like me."

Maybe we'll eventually learn that there's something to substance over image. Maybe not.

I would be embarrassed to say Cheney or any of his ilk is like me or any other politician for that matter Robert.

These neocons do not care who holds power as long as its a family member from one generation to the next.
The Bush family made their fortune by buying business and stealing all the assets, cooking the books and bailing out every time. Plus they made a fortune supporting Hitler just like Jr. Bush is doing now with his terrorist dealings.

I do not want to be like someone else or them like me I just want to be my own individual self.

Pamela I think we all need to practice being our own individual self its what makes up our diverse world, lol most people could not stand another person that was like them.

Bear in mind that the mighty masters do not allow anyone that they do not pre-approve to rise to the level of legitimate candidacy. Why do you think populists like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are never given credence and focus in the corporate media? The master's grand ponzi scheme would be exposed and destroyed the moment someone like that was given equal access to the airwaves.

There's a very good reason why, for many years, people have been muttering under their breath "It really doesn't matter who is elected, because nothing changes." Nothing changes because the corporate masters will not allow it. The entire system is a fraud, and, because of that, it will destroy itself from within, as we are beginning to witness before our very eyes.

Rest assured, the puppets will continue to try to rescue the dying, corrupt system as hard as they can, but in the end, they will ultimately fail, because the system was built entirely on fraud to begin with. Prepare for a new age. The time is nearly upon us.

Your right Clark, America is about to take its place in the community of the third world. I always said that the only way a neocon can walk is backwards.

The public does not realise that all these big figures of billions, trillions, and so on are just figures on paper and their never has been this huge amount of money they talk like its the real thing.

America has been a country of pawns since the Kennedy family was taken out and if America ever does recover it will not be in our lifetime.

Jack E.,
How do you tell if someone should be part of the elite to run this country? Is based on where they live, where they went to school, how much money they have, is there some test they take?

In my limited travels I have met a few of those who are working in the government, local, state and federal. Truth be told I have yet to meet one that was any smarter than the everyday people I meet in my everyday life.
I have met politicians, not met a US President, but I have met those that filled all the other levels of elected office. I have yet to meet one that was clearly any smarter than the everyday people I meet.

As far as I can tell, the vast majority of those that have attained the top jobs in any facet of our society came from everyday people. They weren’t picked out in the elementary schools like many of our athletes are, they more or less struggled for an education, got work and pursue a career. In the case of politicians, their success is based more on how they interacted with people rather than any brilliance in social or economic issues that cause them to rise. True some were identified by patrons (neighbors, community contacts, party activists) and helped along. But still none were really labeled as brilliance, smarter than anyone else in their state or even city.

If I have missed something in the process telling how the potential elite are identified and put on a separate track from those people “just like me,” can you help me find out how I can identify the next member of the political elite so I can learn how they became so much smarter? What has Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Judd Gregg (just to name a few I have seen on TV lately) done or said that was so brilliant?

What were they telltales that told you Joe Biden is such an intellectual elite and Sarah Palin is such a dunce “just like me”?

Elite is not American Duane. The richest person in the country holds no special status over the poorest according to the constitution I live by.

Does money make a person eligible over all others to be president? Why does money have such a big influence on the public that has none? Maybe we all need to examine our priorities for choosing a president.

The two candidates have already signed onto socialism by voting for the socialist supply side economics of Reagan.

Do you think Bush cares about you if you support him? Are his loyal voters living any better that the people that vote against him? Does McCain sound like he wants to change the corrupt system while carrying on Bush failed policy of robbing the poor to give to the rich?

Biden also signed onto socialism with his vote, Palin had no say and no vote but if she had a vote I would guess from her blather that she would have voted for the pork scam as well.

Jack E.,
“Our president and vice president should not be average citizens, they should be “outstanding citizens.”
I am trying to figure out how the “outstanding citizens” different so much better than a person “just like me.”
When you want the President and VP to be “outstanding citizens” that suggests you recognize some special traits and skills in them can solve our problems or mitigated them so no one has to suffer the consequences. I would surely appreciate a description of the traits and skills that the “outstanding citizens” possess that are so superior the average person.
Can you help me understand what makes the “outstanding citizens” so superior to the people “just like me”?

Duane;

The only real qualification for the president or any other top job is HONESTY to the people they serve, something that has been lost if it ever existed. You should never forget that "government is in place to serve the people" the people do not serve government.

The president oversees his cabinet members at all levels and makes decisions based on their observations and unlike Bush takes the good with the bad but the top man take the blame or credit for the decision.

How do you define "outstanding citizen?" Webster dictionary describes it as: standing out : projecting a: standing out from a group : conspicuous b: marked by eminence and distinction, noticeable , remarkable , prominent , outstanding , conspicuous , salient , striking.

Is it possible to find such a person? Maybe we expect to much from our chosen leaders but one thing stands out if any person would lead and that is honesty. Presidents are servants not masters, congress is a servant not a master, the Supreme Court is a servant not a master and the one thing that is outstanding about our three part government is that none of our elected officials see themselves as servants of the people they see the people as servants to the government they are forming to destroy the constitution.

The most important job a president has is diplomacy, something that has been lacking since Reagan. Our constitution give the president total control of our diplomatic relations with other countries and only the president or his designated emissaries can negotiate with another country. Our modern times presidents have almost all had the idea that they can just dictate to other sovereign states with "my way or the highway" policy and it does not work.

An outstanding person could be a school teacher that has a gift to be a better than average teacher that makes it much easier for children to learn. It could also be a person of high moral value that does not do anything special but never wavers from their moral beliefs. Every person born has some outstanding feature about them but in most cases it is suppressed by dictators and those that seek personal gain. A janitor that sweeps a floor can be an outstanding person when they do a good job instead of the janitor that sweeps the floor and then another janitor has to come behind and sweep it over because they did a poor job. People are gifted in different ways maybe its from the environment they grow up in but an outstanding person is just someone that does a certain thing better than the average person. You can be an average person on the job and be an outstanding father or mother at home, something that is very desirable. Money defines our modern politics today but it is very wrong and a person does not have to be wealthy to be outstanding, wealth does not automatically make a person outstanding and all a leader has to do to be outstanding to the people they serve is be honest with them.

You should never allow another person to look down on you its hypocrisy nothing more. If you lose a job and home and end up on the street an outstanding person would say"can I help you?" But an average person would say "take a hike."

Jack E.,
“Our president and vice president should not be average citizens, they should be “outstanding citizens.””
I am trying to figure out how those “outstanding citizens” are different from the average person.
You say they just do it better. I am trying figure out how you tell that Sarah Palin is just an average person and how Biden, Obama, McCain are “outstanding citizens.”

You say honesty is the top criteria, I am skeptical of that. Clinton proved to be publicly dishonest, from before he was elected, and yet I would guess that the vast majority of the whole Democratic Party still feels he was and could still be a great President.

As far as I can tell neither Obama nor McCain has such an incisive mind that they could understand, let alone explain to the public this latest financial problem (it can’t be a real crisis since the “outstanding’ politicians have delay and corrupted the so called bailout by so many unrelated side issues) so the average people can understand it, let alone have figured out how to address it.

You suggest that Palin isn’t up to the task because she is “just like me” and yet you haven’t given me any examples of how the other three candidates are “outstanding citizens” aside from their notoriety.

I look for the character of the individual, the Rudyard Kipling poem “IF” probably describes it best for me.

As far as these candidates I have seen Obama as the slang goes “through his Grandmother under the bus” so he wouldn’t have to repudiate his minister, Biden use the sleaziest means in Supreme Court confirmation hearing to get his political ends, McCain go wishy washy as not to offend anyone (and then being to offend some). It is true, Palin is to new to have had the opportunity to do these things so I have no reason to doubt at a minimum she could be like the other candidates, but as of now she still has the upside potential the others lack.

What have I missed?