Every now and then, a comment made in passing strikes a nerve. Or perhaps I'm pretending that's the case because I'm overdue for a confessional at the Church of the Blog. Either way, here goes.
Some of my best friends are Democrats. Fully sincere, willing to pay high taxes, whatever. And I'm inclined to think that perhaps my personal preference for maximum liberty really does cost some poor child his medical care. Fair enough. I used to say that I would be a Democrat if their programs actually solved the problems that they were intended to solve, rather than provide superficial assurances that the demonstration of compassion demonstrates one's inherent humane-ness.
And then one actually watches the political process (Canada's? Tom DeLay's? Hillary Clinton's? Bill Frist?), and one realizes that all we've done is create a market where people blessed with enough height and charm can exchange the charisma that they radiate for power. One is elected, after all, not by being the best leader, but by being the best at convincing the masses that one is the best leader.
The problem is, of course, that unless one develops more confidence in the ability of a group of people that are self-selected at least in part by their desire for power to restrain this power, once attained, than seems warranted by history, then the fact that this power could be used for good will no longer be confused with the expectation that it will.
It's not really my place to comment on the Pope's passing, for fairly obvious reasons. (When I was younger and supremely confident in the omniscience of tenth-grade theological musings, I used to imagine the responses of folks like Don King when, after their passings, they discovered that "the Jews were right!" There was always a bit of a question when it came to Chinese peasants who had never heard of the tribe, but I digress.)
I hope that, regardless of the accuracy of this particular image, there is an appropriate resting place for Pope John Paul II, who used his pulpit unceasingly in the pursuit of encouraging man's humanity toward man.
- Moishe Potemkin