Man, I really wish that I too could be so pretty that there was no level of irresponsibility too crazy, no problem so dire that a one liner and smile couldn’t convince others to make the world work…
I would of course become a supervillain.
I would also wear striped pants.
I agree. I frickin love Oprah but president Oprah no…
The problem is not with Kings, simply that we have yet to find the right one…
Zero is also plenty.
Technically speaking, Zaphod (@zaphodbblx?) was just the dramatic figurehead to draw attention away from the person(s) making the real decisions.
Oh God, Trump is Zaphod.
This. I look back at The Two Income Trap and can’t help but think, “This is the kind of mind that might actually be able to look at a failing system, find the flaws, and design (or choose among) alternative policies that can build better systems.” But apparently most Americans either don’t want that, or don’t realize that that is even a thing.
If I could get that I would happily take it, but 1) it will never happen, and 2) it isn’t my ideal outcome anyway. What I actually want is someone who is smarter than me in the relevant ways for management and policy system design, and therefore able to come up with better policies than I’ve ever even considered. That, too, will never (or only very rarely) happen in our current political system, though.
I’m 30 years old and there has never, in my lifetime, been any president with policy proposals that I found the least bit inspiring. Obama’s greatest achievements (I’m thinking of the ACA), though big and necessary (however far from optimal), were also old and overdue and should have been obvious. Before that…crickets. The last 30 year period in which I can’t immediately think of more impressive national policy driven advances in the US was the Antebellum era.
Yeah, but Obama was black and I liked him, so obviously Oprah would be good too.
Wrong
I don’t think we should measure all billionaires by Trump’s standard.
Bad ideas don’t just come from influence peddling.
I’m a big Bernie supporter, but I would love to see Warren lead the ticket.
Some experience in government. I think it’s a good idea for the holder of the highest post in the machinery of our government to have spent some time in the cogs.
I know my fellow Bernie supporters* will hate me for saying this but the age issue is a very real and valid concern. Assuming he would seek two terms in office Sanders will be 87 years old in January 2029. That’s a full decade older than Ronald Reagan was when he left office, and Reagan was showing clear signs of dementia by then.
The current septuagenarian is showing clear signs of mental decline as well, though it’s less clear how much of that is age related.
(*I consider myself a Bernie supporter in the sense that I supported him when he was actually running for the office, not in the “all or nothing let’s burn this all to the ground if our favorite guy doesn’t get the nomination” sense)
My working hypothesis is the latter is the bigger problem. Robert Kegan’s work on social maturity is pretty interesting here (“The Evolving Self” & “In Over Our Heads”). The short answer is I suspect many voters never make it to his level 4 or “modernism” state, and end up building coalitions intent on tearing down institutions they simply don’t understand.
Edit to add: and it’s particularly bad right now thanks to the long reign of neo-liberalism, which is Kegan-4 at its worst.
I don’t think it necessarily has to do with how rich she is that people are suddenly in love with the idea of President Oprah Winfrey. Dumb-asses voted for Trump because of his image, not any qualifications, and I think that’s what Oprah fans are running on here.
But if you’re gonna elect people based on personality and image, but not whether they are at all capable, then just vote Camacho.
Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho for President: because he knows shit is bad and shit!
There is one person who genuinely wants Oprah to run:
OTOH, Anne Rice isn’t exactly known as a paragon of wisdom and stability.
If Trump has taught (or at least made undeniable by glaring example) us anything, it’s that billionaires being “independently wealthy” heading into an election might in a limited sense mean they won’t owe - have the potential to avoid owing - anyone for campaign contributions, however, in becoming billionaires, they’ve already leveraged themselves to many, many people to get there. there’s always a piper to pay.
Edited based on ryu’s reality check below.
That attitude was merely a reflection of the reality. As vastly preferable as Clinton was, she represented business as usual, which - guess what - is in the habit of burning shit to the ground. That it happens too gradually for most people to notice makes it no less true.
While we’re all being critical, though:
Warren is the left-facing representative of the centre-right establishment Democrats. She isn’t a real leftist.
I’m not sure how Trump has demonstrated anything in that regard. He loaned his campaign $10m. Insisted on immediate repayment. Funded the campaign through the usual fundraising sources and special interests. Then paid his own companies and facilities excessively with those funds.
All the candidates are flawed. All of them. Refusing to support the vastly preferable candidate in the general election because you liked one of the other primary candidates better is childish, especially when the person you supported in the primary is passionately begging you to do it.
There’s “unsatisfied with business as usual” and then there’s “allowing a fascist to take office out of spite.” The Bernie-or-nothing crowd falls into the latter category.
