Is That The Best The GOP Can Do?

I don’t often write about politics on this blog, but the other night I watched the first 2011 GOP debate to get a feel for the Republican field, and I was sorely unimpressed.

Not that I would vote Republican no matter who they nominate, that will never happen again. After George W., Dick Cheney and the Republican party bent this country over and screwed us from behind with the rough end of a pineapple for eight long years, they have lost my vote forever.

But I must admit I was hoping that they would present one or two candidates that would say something more than the same, unenlightened sound bites geared to the rightwing bigots. I kept thinking: is this the best the GOP can offer up?

I am reminded that in The Republic, Plato makes a sound argument that democracy is not the best form of government for the simple reason that people tend to vote for people like themselves. And that is a huge problem that we are seeing played out on our national stage. The vast majority of Americans get by with a minimum level of intelligence. Most seldom read, many don’t read another book after they bail out of high school. So these intellectually handicapped individuals end up supporting intellectually handicapped politicians. In this last decade alone, millions of Americans supported George W. and Dick C. twice! TWICE! And 25% still support Sara Palin. I rest my case.

The point is, we need a system that promotes the most intelligent people in our society to step up and guide the rest of us, rather than the mediocre masses electing mediocre candidates. I’m a simple man without an answer to this issue, but I am bright enough to know we can produce better leaders than what I witnessed the other night. The question is, will we before it is too late to turn this country around?