Government BY the People or FOR the People

In his famed Gettysburg Address, America's consistently most-popular and revered President (yes, even more than that beloved Reagan, natch), Lincoln, uttered what have become sixteen of the most famous words ever spoken by a leader of the free world: "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." What Lincoln did not say, and perhaps could not predict, was that the American government's shelf-life would become dependent upon the conflict at the root of his very own idea: a government BY the people is not necessarily a government FOR the people. At least not when people vote against their interests in the interest of voting for themselves.

Eight years ago, it became de rigeur for members of the news media to discuss the beer affect of politics. The candidate voters most wanted to "have a beer with" was most often the candidate who won over the working-class hearts and minds of the American voter. The not-so-subtle psychology of this is multipronged: voters want to connect with, and feel as if they understand, their leaders, meaning said leaders must be more like the voter than not; voters want someone like themselves, someone they could envision as their friend, in charge. Certainly nothing else could explain the original, if now mercifully fading, popularity of George W. Bush. And, it would appear, little else can explain the overwhelming appeal of Sarah Palin, the least prepared candidate on a Presidential ticket in a century.

The most harmful aspect of our governmental structure - what Lincoln called "government BY the people" - is at full play in the quick advancement of these two neophytes (and, arguably, many like them) and the costs have been, and would continue to be, enormous. While it is of great importance that our elected representatives be capable of representing our interests, and first-hand knowledge of American life certainly helps, that capability doesn't come simply by osmosis. Legislation and leadership require a skill set that running a ranch and frying a mooseburger don't provide.

I for one, prefer government leadership that's smarter than I. I'm a proponent of government FOR the people, wherein elected representatives behave, act, vote and lobby on behalf of their constituents, with an eye perpetually gazing over what will improve American lives. Government isn't working currently, because it isn't working FOR us. It's working for special interests, big business and the constant reelection machine - even the least cynical among us knows that. But, it's also not working because it's too OF us. Nowhere else in our lives do we suffer mediocrity, much less self-select it, as deeply as we do in national politics. Would one want a surgeon who was a "C" student? How about one who attended five different schools in six years? No one would want that, not when one's own life is in their hands. In the doctor's office, we want the elite egghead who is not OF us. Why is it different in the oval office?

If the American people cannot suss out the subtle, but vital, differences between a goverment by the people and one for the people, Lincoln will be proven wrong and those pesky Christian fundamentalists will be proven right: We most certainly will perish from the earth. Save for those who rapturously leave only their clothing behind.

- Mr. Polk