A DECLINE IN TRUST I began in 1933 so I’ll begin with FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. A patrician of the Hudson valley though rooted in the Dutch of New Amsterdam. He gave us Social Security and the Congress made it the greatest Ponzi scheme in history. We rallied behind him to conquer the Fascists, Nazis and Samurai. He did not bring us out of a Great Depression though some insist he did. HST is next. Harry S Truman, a fine man and true heart. He did not add to distrust of government even when he tried to break the United Mine Workers strike. Then comes DDE, Dwight David Eisenhower. The only big lie he was caught in was one that he took for the country when the U2 and Gary Powers was shot down over Russia. Otherwise, what history will judge to be one of our great presidents. JFK, John Fitzgerald Kennedy is next. The disastrous Cuban invasion is his greatest failure and that because he didn’t think it out and he was green to the job. LBJ, Lyndon Baines Johnson that is, lied to us and got Congress to pass the Tonkin Bay Resolution which ended with billions spent, thousands dead and injured and a disillusioned citizenry. A serious downward step on the road of trust. RMN, Richard Milhouse Nixon, brought to manhood in the Quaker tradition, he broke from that and became our most despised politician because he allowed his mind to be overcome by his ego. This was a serious blow to the citizens trust in government and governors elected by us. How could we be so mistaken and fooled? Another big downward step on the road of trust. GRF, Gerald Rudolf Ford, a man of great political and ethical acumen. He did his best but was overcome by the weight of the negative legacy from Nixon’s perfidy. James Earl Carter, Jimmy, yes Jimmy Carter. All I remember is he couldn’t properly pronounce the word, nuclear , new-clee-ur, but said , new-key-ur. That for four years and of course 19% interest rates. The only thing good was that he was honest. RWR, Ronald Wilson Reagan, a star in the pantheon of Presidents. He honed his thoughts and policies for many years and when called to serve he was able to put them in place. His great failing was the Iran-Contra affair. He let his underlings fail him but took responsibility in the end. GHWB, George Herbert Walker Bush. Probably our most qualified for the job President. Nothing but kind words for him. No serious reasons to distrust his presidency. That “No new taxes” thing was all political. WJC, William Jefferson Clinton. A brilliant orator and politician, but deeply flawed human. He took us again into places that deepened our distrust of our governing choices. How can a man with such character flaws be trusted to make great choices for the country. GWB, George Walker Bush. He tried but he was not his father. He lead us, as Johnson did, into war for no valid reason. Iraq was and is a disaster. We cannot export our societal norms into other cultures. More steps downward. BHO, Barack Hussein Obama. He does want to change our society. He has said so. It is becoming a bureaucratic, unlawful nightmare. We have not seen the worst. The descent is accelerating. It’s been 80 years of descent from the dream of our 18th century thinkers to todays relative ethics. Well, what to do? All elections are a crap-shoot. The politician says this and does that. We can only try to see through the fog of rhetoric to the kernel of truth. May we be given that insight. Good luck. I’ll probably be gone. August 2, 2013
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:20:43 +0000
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