Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Into The Void with John Miller

Selling The Presidency Again

Once again American voters will be asked to go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 7, to cast their ballot for who they want to be president.

Unfortunately, none of the candidates on the ballot is worth the effort, especially the two from the major parties.

Let's face it George W. is a world class loser, who has managed to make it this far riding the coattails of Daddy. Al Gore at least is a touch better having been a U.S. Senator and Vice President. Otherwise, there isn't enough difference in the two to spit at.

The two best candidates for the office, John McCain, R-Ariz., and Bill Bradley, D-New Jersey, never made it to the dance at all. Either of them would be preferable to Bush and Gore.

So, how did the nation get such sorry candidates to vote for? How is it the voters will be required to decide which of these two will be the lesser of two evils? Simple: money. The almighty dollar. Moolah. Dinero. Cash. Mucho bucks.

We have sold the highest office in our nation to the candidate who can raise the most money for campaigning, instead of picking the best person for the job based on qualifications. And it's sickening.

The United States of America, home of the brave, land of the free, has been reduced to selling the presidency to the highest bidder  in effect.

Bush's past for some reason has been ignored by the national media, but so has Gore's, assuming he has one and wasn't cloned from a hickory tree.

Let's take a brief look at Dubbya. First, he is the son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush. The man who gave us the Gulf War, but did nothing to secure American interests for petroleum while there.

Dubbya is the governor of Texas. Nothing to brag about there. After all, Texas also gave us Lyndon B. Johnson. Under Dubbya's leadership the teen pregnancy rate in Texas has risen, as have the instances of teen drug and alcohol abuse. The educational level, based on standardized testing, has dropped significantly.

However, in his favor, Dubbya has executed more death row inmates than all other governors in the nation combined. This is a good thing. Unfortunately, it's also the only good thing to say about him.

When a company he had stock in was preparing to close, through inside information Bush allegedly dumped all his stock and made a killing it. If any average citizen were to do such a thing they'd be arrested for insider trading. Bush did something similar in his dealings with the Texas Rangers baseball team, making a financial killing while risking almost nothing.

When hunting with members of the media once, he killed a bird on the endangered species list. His response was, "Oops."

Gore's biggest problem is perspective. He doesn't seem to understand when telling a lie it should be at least 80 percent truth. Claiming to be the inventor of the Internet is but one of many examples.

Next on the list of problems for Gore is his apparent lack of flexibility, physical flexibility that is. The man stands like a concrete pillar and moves like a glacier.

He is also guilty of seeking campaign contributions while at the White House, a major no-no, but apparently this, too, has been overlooked.

However, Gore does have the experience at being at the White House the past eight years and working closely with Pres. Bill Clinton on many important issues.

These two were able to make it this far, because they raised more money than anyone else. If this isn't a frightening concept, then what is?

The American public needs to rouse itself from its deep slumber and make a stink, requiring all candidates to be equally funded. Campaign spending is a big issue and should be properly addressed.

Perhaps, as fewer and fewer people can be bothered to vote as has been shown in the past few presidential elections, the presidency should be approached like a corporate job.

Congress could draw up a job description for the position, advertise it nationally and take applications. As Congress has yet to prove itself fit to pick anything other than its nose, the actual hiring of the president should be done by the electoral college, or, better yet, by a computer-based comparison of all applicants.

Granted, this would take the major parties, all parties in fact, out of the process, but they're the ones guilty of selling the presidency anyway, so who cares?

This would also mean the president wouldn't have to pledge loyalty to any one party or system of beliefs, but would be hired to do the job because he, or she, is qualified to do it. Then we wouldn't be getting the drek we're forced to choose this time.

Sound like a good idea?