Poop Shute

There was a comment on a post a few weeks ago regarding the selection of the Democratic party candidate for president. Here is an excerpt.

"...ultimately the presidential election is rarely set by policy--there's not a lot of substantial difference there between any mainstream candidate. The president is a figurehead. I want a charismatic well-spoken leader at the helm. He can sell his ideas to the public and get people to support his policies."

I was disturbed by this comment, but I wanted to chew on it more before replying. It took me a while, but now I'd like to say a few things.

The President of The United States of America is in no way, shape or form anything resembling a figurehead. You might accuse me of being semantic, but let's really take a look at the metaphor of "figurehead" for a moment.

A figurehead was the carved wooden figure affixed to the prow of a ship. Generally, it was something pleasing, such as a mermaid. It was the "face" of the ship, if you will. It is the first thing people can clearly make out, besides the ship's colors. It is inanimate, and serves no other purpose but asthetic.

That is the farthest thing I can imagine from the U.S. President. Yes, he is the face of the country, but there is so much more to it.

For example, the next president will be appointing some new supreme court justices, that have the power to change the face of legal prececent. Roe v Wade, for example, will likely see a great deal of scrutiny if McCain takes office.

Then there is the military to consider. The President is "Commander in Chief." The current president has exercised the power to take us into all out war, and undertake a land invasion of another country without any approval from Congress, or even public opinion for that matter. Bush is not the first president to make such a decision.

Lastly, and possibly most importantly, the President ALSO serves in a figurehead-like role. He serves as our face in the national community. His words are taken as our words on the worlds stage, and his diplomacy (or lack thereof) is also ours. His face is our face to the millions who will never know us as individuals. That face is the face that all the world associates with me and you and you and you, and it is currently the face that will likely get you a sneer abroad when people hear that word "American" fall from your lips.

This is already getting a little long-winded, so I won't hammer each point of this, but there ARE, in fact, a great deal of substantive differences between these two candidates. They differ on healthcare, abortion, economics, war, energy, climate change etc etc. And incidentally, you said you want a charasmatic leader? If McCain becomes the new "face" of America, things will only get worse. In every interview and debate I've seen he's demonstrated time and again that he has no patience with people, he's irritable and heavily favors sarcasm. That, to me, is a substantive difference between the two men. That is not the diplomat I want representing me and mine.

Yes, I know that a lot of what a President wants doesn't necessarily get done the way he'd like because of our wonderful checks and balances, but he is not just a powerless diplomat. There is a reason that the office is often referred to as "the leader of the free world."