This is a post from a while back, but I push it a bit to the forefront because it’s about something that remains with us, and is rather important.
Some presidents have been more successful at positively influencing The Village than other presidents. By way of example, let me mention Washington, who got everything off to a pretty good start, and Lincoln, who not only put a firm boot on the Confederacy’s neck, he also ended American slavery. Of course there’s FDR ,who gave us the New Deal that made life significantly more secure for the wide swath of Americans of middling (or lower) income, and JFK, who got us to the moon. (And back!)
There have been others, of course, whose contributions to the plus side of their presidential ledger outweighed and outnumbered the negative entries. (I’m sure you could add to my abbreviated list.)
And then there are the other presidents. The “Also Ran” variety. These were the men who left a trail of tears in their wake; men who forced The Village to work very hard for a very long time, just to repair the damage.
We had one of those presidents quite recently. If they’re lucky, our grandchildren might finally pay off all the debt he created. If they’re really lucky, they might finally fix all the things he broke. And if they’re really, REALLY lucky?
They might discover a way to keep The Village from electing someone like that ever again.
But really, who has that kind of luck?
Anyway …
According to a handy thesaurus:
prognosticate
verb
forecast, predict, prophesy, foretell, foresee, forewarn of.
Imagine you’re a plumber, and over half of the pipes you repair burst not long after you drive away. Imagine you’re a carpenter, and over half of the houses you build collapse after a couple of years. Imagine you’re a pilot, and over half of the aircraft you command crash.
And nobody ever gets fired for incompetence, and everybody gets to keep coming back to work.
Hard to imagine?
Now imagine you write stuff about politicians and policy. Oh, and you’re an ideologue, which means that whatever you write about, your perspective must first and foremost support and reflect your ideology.
Now imagine that most of what you write is nothing but ideological bullshit … stuff.
In July, 2007, William Kristol wrote an article for The Washington Post. It was titled, Why Bush Will Be A Winner.
Yes, Virginia, THAT Bush. Dubya.
There is so very much wrong with Kristol’s erroneous assertions, it’s hard to know where to begin. It makes me think of some poor soul standing on the deck of the Titanic. He sees his fellow passengers climbing into the lifeboats and cries out, “This ship isn’t sinking! Come back! Look at me, I’m perfectly dry! Don’t panic! Our captain has everything under control!”
The poor slob is so captivated by his captain, and infatuated with the idea of an unsinkable ship, he takes absolutely no interest in the reality of the monstrous gash that has disemboweled the vessel.
I’m not going to dive into all that I think is wrong with things that William Kristol says, writes or prophesies. Let me simply quote two, short paragraphs from this particular article that congeal the Kristol trope.
Let’s step back from the unnecessary mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the Bush administration. Let’s look at the broad forest rather than the often unlovely trees. What do we see? First, no second terrorist attack on U.S. soil — not something we could have taken for granted. Second, a strong economy — also something that wasn’t inevitable.
And third, and most important, a war in Iraq that has been very difficult, but where — despite some confusion engendered by an almost meaningless “benchmark” report last week — we now seem to be on course to a successful outcome.
Unbelievable. Even at the time they were written, those words were gobsmackingly inconceivable. Today, in June of 2013, their propagandistic essence is like gall rising up the throat.
If you’re in the mood to roll your eyes and shake your head back and forth in disbelief, I encourage you to read the article.
My point?
Look, if you choose to predict stuff, and think you should get paid for your predictions, that’s fine. Really, it is. But, when the bulk of what you predict turns out to be laughingly, unimaginably wrong, stop predicting!
Just stop.
What you’re doing is immoral and unethical. Stop cashing your paychecks — you’re stealing the money — and go find another line of work.
Oh . . . and for god’s sake, make sure your new work doesn’t involve fixing pipes, building houses or flying airplanes.
