Ron opines on the presidency with a few comments interposed by yours truly.

Ron on.

Several years ago I was asked two questions: (1) what would you do as PotUS and (2) what would you say when meeting President (it is to laugh) Obama?

My answer to the first one was that I wouldn’t have the job under any circumstances except absolute power. No WAY would I put up with the frustration and BS the job entails with a fatal debt, suffocating entitlements, balky Congress, special-interest begging groups, and the irreconcilable differences between our two major political parties.

To the second one, I said that if coming face to face with DingleBarry, I would make deliberate eye contact and then turn and walk away without a sound. I most certainly wouldn’t shake his paw.

Anyone who’s had power knows the temptations, the offers, the false smiles, the Monday-morning quarterbacking, the nobody-wins situations, the paranoia, the sharp-elbow jockeying for position that constantly surround you.

And we’ve all heard the old saw that power corrupts . . .but the better point is that to those susceptible to being corrupted, it’s like a magnet, AND an addiction. The guys who set up our system knew that, so they built in the tripartite separation of powers to preclude would-be tyrants and dictators.

The Founders also knew that the success and greatness of the nation would be proportionately inverse to the power of central government. Their concept of the presidency was not as the focus of control over people’s daily lives but more like a third opinion where defense, international affairs, interstate commerce, national policies, treaties, and federal laws were concerned.

Washington, the only president who got 100% of the electoral college vote, twice, didn’t even want the job. He reluctantly agreed to take it for a second term, but said no way to a third.

Ron off.

Thus setting a precedent that was honored until FDR, one of the worst presidents in American history. He prolonged the Great Depression. It wasn’t his policies, but WWII which ended the Great Depression. Then he let Stalin roll him at Yalta. He saddled us with Social Security, a giant Ponzi scheme, which will eventually run out of money. He increased the size and scope of the Federal Gummint. He also introduced tax withholding which helps hide how much in taxes we actually pay. Ask someone today how much money he paid in taxes and he’ll prolly reply, “I didn’t pay anything, I got money back.” Bah! He and Woodrow Wilson did irreparable harm to our great Republic.

Ron on.

So why would anybody ever actually WANT the job of US President? I’ve heard and read all the proposed reasons – patriotism, challenge, lust for power, urge to pursue an issue or agenda, have a place in history books, egotism, hubris . . . .

Ron off.

For BJ Clinton it was the babes, the helicopter, and the airplane. He didn’t really have any ideology, unlike his “wife” Felonia von Pantsuit.

Ron on.

But summing it all up, in virtually ALL cases, desire to win and hold the office should be automatic disqualification for eligibility. Those who actually want the job for the money, power, fame, legacy, whatever, scare me. I’d much rather have a person who’s talented and qualified for the job but doesn’t want it.

Ron off.

I don’t think Trump really wanted the job. He gave up a lot of money to take it. He just thought the country was fucked up and he hoped he could fix it.

Ron on.

The US PotUSy is a thankless chore, kinda like the labors of Herakles. It makes its holder a target, a virtual prisoner, a walking soundbyte, for the rest of his life.

To campaign for the job is like auditioning to be manager for that team who used to travel with the Harlem Globetrotters, or even the Keystone Kops.

Ron off.

The Washington Generals, in other words, the GOP.

Ron on.

A politician running for that job isn’t like an entertainer who’s skilled or talented enough to do one thing and get rich at it – he has to go through an obscenely expensive, completely exhausting, and often humiliating campaign to get the job.

And then once he has it, the pressure is extremely unhealthy, speeding up the normal aging process at least 3 times, depending upon how good it was when he first announced his candidacy.

You can’t tell who’s being honest with you and who just wants something from you* – a new law, a program, a grant, a pardon, a bombing raid. Man, forced to deal with the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Chuck Schumer . . . somebody would hafta die.

People have unreasonable expectations about how quickly or even IF he can get things done. Voters and backers are very fickle and can be quick to turn against the PotUS who fails to accomplish or ignores what they think he was elected to do.

No, it just seems to me that an intelligent, reasonable, talented, experienced individual qualified in all respects to do the job of US President wouldn’t for a moment consider actually running for it.

And what that means is that we tend to get people such as the hapless Jimmah, the inept George W., the libidinous Slick Willy, and the un-American halfrican DingleBarry. The best people avoid it like the unmitigated goat rope it truly is.

*

Ron off.