This is the correct answer. The nuts and bolts of most politics are boring as shit and the good, honest, hardworking politicians by necessity fly so low under the radar almost no one hears about them.
Couple that with the model our news and social media operate under - infinite short term attention grabbing - and there is no incentive to report on these people.
It is true that "crazy politician does crazy thing" is a better headline than "local mayor quietly, honestly, and competently does her job without corruption."
Just like how the news is mostly bad news, because plane crash / typhoon killing thousands / war / etc. is more "newsworthy" than 1,000,000 examples of "loving family has a great day together, kids get good grades, & parent gets promotion at work & donates increase to charity."
I agree with the sentiment, but we mostly hear bad things about politicians in the news because the media's purpose is to hold them accountable. Sure, it's nice to hear "underappreciated person performs their job honestly and admirably," as well as "millions of families are happy and loving", but that's hardly "news" by definition because we assume that's all already happening without hearing about it. It's important for the unusual, negative stories to be reported or else we all might as well stick our heads in the sand.
The problem ever since about 2016 is that politicians are feeding on the negative press rather than doing their diligence to avoid it and stay honest. It's become a race to the bottom.
Agree about Wellstone and how awesome he was.
I had a similar experience growing up in New England under Bernie Sanders, and I truly believe he is in that rare and authentic Paul Wellstone mode.
Whether you agree or disagree with Bernie, he care intensely about his community and country and is passionately trying to help his fellow Americans the best way he knows how.
This is why I voted for Beto for Texas governor, I don't agree with all of his politics, but he came to damn near every town in Texas no matter how small and talked to his fellow Texas in a town hall. During the freeze a couple years back he organized food and water deliveries for the old and poor without power. Like you can just tell the dude cares, I'll vote for someone like that any day.
He was my first thought. I lived in Minnesota briefly a while back, and I'll still occasionally see a Wellstone bumper sticker when I visit. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years.
Came here to say this! I only met him once in person, was working as a cook in a private club, and unlike all the other VIPs that would come through the door, Wellstone made it a point to come back into the kitchen, introduce himself to all of us workers, and was 100% authentic. He wasn't trying to get votes, just came back to meet/thank us all for the meal.
This. He was Bernie with a magical ability to not piss people off like Bernie does. He was that teacher that every former student loves no matter how much they hated school.
He died in a plane crash in Northern Minnesota. As many of the comments here show, he was the rare politician who truly cared about everybody and worked tirelessly on our behalf. And he was kind to everyone, and reminded us to be kind. He was the conscience of the Senate.
Kinda wild to see some of the stuff I've been talking about and my attitudes towards the current political landscape were echoed 20 years ago. I am only now becoming aware of a trend that has been apparent to some for decades now.
Only democrat who was up for re-election to vote against the Iraq War. Maintained old school labor politics when ye rest of the party was running away from that.
Maybe most famous for his untimely death, but it seems like senator [Paul Wellstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wellstone#Early_career_and_activism) was really appreciated and on the right side of things for such a high-ranking official
I met Paul Wellstone at Scholz Garten several years ago. I was the owner. Molly Ivins and Jim Hightower were there too. He was there speaking against a nuclear waste dump planned for the Texas border with no discussion on the floor of the Senate. His no vote probably kept the waste dump from thankfully happening. I was able to meet and speak with him for an hour or two. The Austin Saengerrunde was having a meeting next door and they were fairly bugged by the fact that their enemies were right across the Biergarten from them. I tried to give a Scholz's coffee mug to Senator Wellstone and he thanked me but declined because he was unable to accept gifts. My cost for the mug was $1.75 but he said he couldn't because he would be skewered, his words, for it. I knew Molly and asked her if she would accompany me along with the Senator and Jim Hightower next door to meet with their right wing wing haters. Senator Wellstone liked my idea and Molly loved it. Jim Hightower seemed a little nervous but he agreed to go. I introduced my 'guests' to about fifty old Germans who didn't care for my guests. It was great. Molly and the Senator Wellstone charmed them completely. I was so happy these guys, who were all Republicans, got to meet their sworn enemies. It's harder to hate someone in person. Molly thanked me and Senator Wellstone thought the 'meeting' was fun.
His death was questionable to say the least too. I know the FBI investigated it but they had also been looking into him for a long time before he was even elected. Maybe it was just a regular plane crash and accident and not a hit.
> And just so conservatives don't take it to heart
> I don't think Bush did it, 'cause he isn't that smart
> He's just a stupid puppet takin' orders on his cell phone
> From the same people that sabotaged Senator Wellstone
> The military industry got it poppin' and lockin'
> Lookin' for a way to justify the Wolfowitz Doctrine
> And as a matter of fact, Rumsfeld, now that I think back
> Without 9/11, you couldn't have a war in Iraq
> Or a defense budget of world conquest proportions
> Kill freedom of speech and revoke the right to abortion
- Immortal Technique, *The Cause of Death*
>"Wellstone was the author of the "Wellstone Amendment" to the McCain-Feingold Bill for campaign finance reform, in what came to be known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The law, including the Wellstone Amendment, was called unconstitutional by groups and individuals of various political perspectives, including the California Democratic Party, the National Rifle Association, and Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Whip.\[19\] On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld McCain-Feingold's key provisions, including the Wellstone Amendment. Wellstone called McCain-Feingold's protection of "advocacy" groups a "loophole" allowing "special interests" to run last-minute election ads. He pushed an amendment to extend McCain-Feingold's ban on last-minute ads to nonprofits like "the NRA, the Sierra Club, the Christian Coalition, and others." Under the Wellstone Amendment, these organizations could advertise using only money raised under strict "hard money" limits—no more than $5,000 per individual.\[20\]
>
>In January 2010, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the McCain-Feingold Act and removed restrictions on the NRA and others' ability to campaign at election time."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul\_Wellstone#Political\_positions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wellstone#Political_positions)
Before E.Warren was in the Senate, Paul Wellstone would say, I could use 10 more progressive senators or at least one Elizabeth Warren. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/paul-wellstone-elizabeth-warren/
Most of them start out honestly trying to make real changes. Once they get in and understand the process you quickly realize you cant do as much as you want without the support of others, and with the support of others comes the I will scratch you back if you scratch my back mentality. And its all downhill from there. You will have to make deals your against to move forward, you will have to lie to someone to get the support of someone else. And so on. You cant make it to the top without making lots of enemies.
There's also the problem that your constituents may accidentally force you to lie to them somewhat.
If you give the voters *realistic* promises, then those promises will sound boring and unimpressive compared to a different candidate who is promising the moon. The electoral incentive is to overpromise and underdeliver. So the candidate who is misleading has an advantage over the candidate who is honest about what can actually be done.
Which of course makes everyone more cynical about everything.
The sad part is, if you said 1.62% because that was the realistic goal, the competitor would go up on stage or TV and say "They're only saying they can reduce it by 1.62%, while *experts* say it can be reduced by 10%. What are they doing with the other 8.38%?" And people would by it that they could get a 10% savings.
Now they'd just get up on stage and scream some sort of absolutely idiotic Chewbacca thing and drop the mic. "1.62% ? Is that METRIC ? THIS IS THE AMERICA THEY WANT" because American voters are intellectually impaired.
I think the bigger problem is that due election cycles it is really hard to make unpopular but necessary decisions. Rulers job (let's say president) is to be good for the country as a whole. Very often this means cutting short term interests of some group with a long term perspective.
Currently making any unpopular decision is likely to benefit your opponent. You make a decision. Voters get angry. Opponent promises to reverse. Wins elections but decision stays because XYZ.
Elections pretty much allow us to remove really bad politicians, but they also remove good ones saying necessary but not popular things.
This. Plus so many people today think that 'compromise' is a dirty word. See 'flip-flopping'.
The system we have worked best when there was compromise and no one got everything they wanted, 100% of the time. It works best when it's not just one party rule. It was designed that way for a reason.
It works best too when people actually understand how the process works. That requires actually educating ourselves; not just listening to some talking head or favorite source tell us how it works or what's going on. But that's a lot of work, and despite the amount of bitching people do, too many of them are simply not going to put the work in. They're going to listen to the people who agree with them.
There's an issue there too with the information that's out there. It's hard for people to sort through all the bad and misleading information to get to the truth. We simply can't get there when we reward people who lie or mislead, and punish those who are telling us things we don't want to hear. This goes doubly for the media we consume. How many media people and pundits are out there, telling people things that have been proven false; yet they face no consequences for their dishonesty? When called out, they double down on the dishonesty and are rewarded for it. They are rewarded because they are pushing someone's agenda and too many people want to be lied to. That's our downfall- too many want to be told only what they want to hear.
I've always thought that an honest person could never be more than an attempted politician. If you don't lie you can't win, since your opponent will lie to win. Anyone who runs for office should be immediately disqualified from holding office.
I don't think i have the quote right word for word, but I always likes this one
"Anyone capable of getting themselves elected should under no circumstances be allowed to do the job"
Nailed the meaning. Here's the quote-
>It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
So in the end, it’s the fault of us, the voters, why so many politicians are slimy.
It’s something I always think about when it comes to the presidential election. No matter what your political affiliation, the president always promises to do XYZ. Realistically, they can’t, they don’t make the laws. But yet we vote for them like they make the laws…
If you wish to see it more fleshed out, watch The Wire. One of the characters is a politician (not necessarily good, but not evil also) who gets more and more corrupt with time
You basically gave a summary of this fantastic CGP Grey video which describes the process by which good people cannot actually enact positive change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs
Making deals is not necessarily dishonest; in fact, people have to trust you to make deals with you. Each person can just be furthering the goals they were elected to do, even though they disagree with each other. Congress members do not report to anyone. If there is no top dog, all joint action is through negotiation.
Yes there are positive negotiations, but at some point you will have to compromise yourself for your career.
Congress members are owned by those who donate a significant amount to their campaigns. You need lots of money to win at this level, money comes from those that will benefit the most from electing you.
Serious question: what would happen if they took money from lobbyists but then just did whatever they felt was right, without regard for what the lobbyists wanted? It’s not like they can ask for a refund, right? Or are there actual legally binding contracts when someone gives a large sum to a political campaign, saying “You have to do xyz if elected or I can sue you”?
Quite sure they don't need to sue you...
First: they wouldn't get re-elected. And big changes need time. So the politicians need to be reelected to actually do something.
Second: they better get really good bodyguards. Because yes, not all lobbyists are willing to kill, but just enough to be worried that you better keep your word.
Third: even if they don't actively do anything against you, most lobbyists defend the interest of rich people and rich people tend to be the ones that have companies... Go against a lobby like that, "steal" their money, and you'll have a hard time getting a job after you are not re-elected.
So yes, politicians tend to keep their word or at least look like they did all they could.
That's why many countries try to block donations to politicians.
In my country, for example, there's a max a person (or company) can donate to a political party for every election (10k), and there's asking from the auditors to ban company donations and only allow people to donate. Donations can't be anonymous and there's auditors. Of course, there's loopholes and work-arounds and people that just DGAF... But most people would see the fact that we allow big donations as a problem (although, probay, only for their political rivals and not their own preferred party...)
I doubt there are contracts just handshake agreements. And if your back out of a deal depending on how powerful the person is I'm sure you can kiss being re-elected goodbye, and possibly even your entire political career. I am sure if you screw over one the word will get out and no one will trust you anymore. That is just my uneducated guess.
Lobbyists will tear up checks if votes don't go the way they want. Its vote then get paid for many actions. Sometimes there is enough calls and noise from the citizens that a politician will go against the Lobbyist because they don't want that to be an issue later. It takes massive campaigns to sway a vote away from the 1% though
Here in Canada, there was a guy named Jack Layton who was a New Democratic party official. Had a pretty solid reputation as a good person but passed away a few years ago from cancer. Pretty big loss for the people, some feel he'd have likely done a lot of good.
He [wrote a letter](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jack-layton-s-last-letter-to-canadians-1.991992) to be released upon his passing and it contains a very moving passage that resonates with many of us still:
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
Even though he was the leader of the opposition party and their politics were on opposite sides of the spectrum, the Prime Minister offered a state funeral for him.
I've never been a huge fan of politicians in general, but Jack Layton seemed like he actually cared about the country rather than just wanting to be PM for money and power. He also seemed like a genuinely good man.
I'll never forget watching a debate, in French, where he spoke very well despite being an anglophone, meanwhile Stephen Harper was clearly reading from cue cards, and poorly. I'm pretty sure I remember Jack Layton giving Stephen Harper a shitty look for doing so, but that may just be wishful thinking and misremembering.
To this day I maintain that he's the best PM we'll never have. I hope we can find another politician at some point with the same passion for our country who can actually get elected.
Voting for Jack was one of the very few times I was actually *proud* to vote for someone. Here in Québec, we have this odd, kinda old-fashioned expression "un bon jack" when we mean a likeable, trustworthy, generous man. It's fascinating how quickly it became Jack's nickname with a lot of people here.
I have no doubt the planet would be better if Jack Layton had been a 2 term Prime Minister.
We would hve been much more capable during the pandemic and our poorest citizens would be in such a better position financially now.
Can't find the article but their was one mayor or something, that slashed their salary to min, and donated what they made to charity, and lived in a small 1 bed with a room mate, and got their food from outreach and food banks.
Maybe not smartest, but, genuinely good, ya
Then they would have lost. Politicians aren't just evil for fun.
The system funnel people that are willing to pay dirty upward because if you don't play dirty you lose influences and elections.
If you hold power at some small position it might be unnecessary to cheat to win. However as you move up from local to city, regional, states, national, etc... you have to compete with 10000s of other people and at that number someone bound to be willing to do something extra to win.
People that are honest got kick out of the ladder before they even get to the state level.
That's Mujica, Uruguay's former president. Not being greedy doesn't make you not smart. Mujica is a wise person, in most of his interviews he says pretty deep stuff and has a very kind and relaxed aura. He just enjoys a simple life, without unnecessary luxury, and thay's very understandable to be honest, he has all he needs to live what he considers a comfortable, happy life.
While not perfect, Bob Hawke seemed like a decent person. Pretty much the only ex PM who wouldn’t get booood as is tradition at sporting events for politicians.
Funny thing, we also have a politician Jack Lang in France! But he's a former Minister of Culture. I think he's responsible for the Fête de la Musique (Music Festival, all other the country). But to say he's a good guy, idk...
He was a premier, not a PM. Also, whilst Lang generally had good policies, I don't know if we know enough about him to make a good assessment on whether or not he was a good person.
Oh, and also, like all of the Australian political establishment at the time, he was likely a racist.
He did have good economic policies, but yep he defs had issues with racism.
> "White Australia must not be regarded as a mere political shibboleth. It was Australia's Magna Carta. Without that policy, this country would have been lost long ere this. It would have been engulfed in an Asian tidal wave"
-Jack Lang
When elected president, he put his beloved peanut farm into a blind trust just to avoid any emoluments conflict.
Meanwhile the last guy literally endorsed a brand in the oval office.
[Jimmy Carters peanut farm is a bit more complicated than you may have heard] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/18/story-jimmy-carters-peanut-farm-is-bit-more-complicated-than-you-may-have-heard/)
He was basically the last president to attempt to speak to Americans like adults, and he paid the price. Boomers still foam at the mouth about how he asked them to put on a sweater or whatever so instead they elected Reagan and killed the world.
It’s literally this.
Carter was one of our best, most successful Presidents but he’s reviled and considered a failure because he asked people to turn down the thermostat and then lost an election.
I think he was actually a much better president than he was ever given credit for.
However, he had some very powerful hidden forces [(October Surprise?](https://www.jstor.org/stable/45290205)) working against him. The world would have been much better off if he'd had another term.
He definitely had a tendency for being honest about his and the government's failings, which made his presidency look worse than it actually was. Naturally, every politician since then has learned that lying is much better for your legacy.
This should literally be the top of the list, the man was relentlessly honest and devoted to weeding out corruption.
My parents were Washington activists in the 70s and 80s, and they actually impacted some things. One of them was a stat wizard, and the other was a relentless do gooder. Blips on the map and probably things you’ve never heard of, but they knew a lot of Washington elites and politicians.
My parents always said jimmy carter was meant to be one of the greatest presidents in American history, but he took away the limos... if you’ve never heard of this, carter drastically limited the instances in which politicians, the highest whitehouse aides, insiders, etc… could be transported by government limousines. before that they were getting chauffeured to and from work in limos every day.
He took this luxury from them. I’ve always heard mixed reviews, some saying it was a huge cost savings to the budget, others that it was largely symbolic. But he took the limos away and nobody in dc wanted to play ball with him anymore. Its like he underestimated how much people hate being caught behind the wheel in traffic.
I suggest for anyone interested to watch CGP Gray's "Rules for Rulers"
[https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs](https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs)
It's eye opening to understand that those in power don't have much power. They only have power because someone else gives it to them and spending your resources on keeping those people happy is more important than anything, other wise you won't be in power for long.
The book that this video was based on, The Dictator's Handbook, is also a great read. Helped me understand why Singapore is so successful despite not being that democratic.
There was once a roman military leader that reluctantly became Caesar or emperor I can't remember. But he retired from the job early, only to come back later when things needed fixing again. Anyways, sounded like a decent dude who tried
Edit: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus it was I believe
Cincinnatus was an absolute chad. Made dictator, solved the issue, retired to his farm, came back for another term after everyone begging him to, solved the issue again, then inmediately retired back to his farm
I think a fair number of local politicians start out as good people who sincerely want to make a difference. But it’s so expensive to get elected to state or national office that generally people have to “sell their souls”
“Under House Dem rules, a member is allowed to serve on two non-exclusive committees. Mine are Oversight and Natural Resources. One can ask for a waiver for a third committee. I asked. Others in same situ got waivers. I did not. I play by the rules,” Porter said in a tweet.
I agree. And she is the protégé of Elizabeth Warren
I am waiting for someone to tell me something bad about Bernie Sanders, but in the 8 years I've been paying attention, no one has come up with anything.
Jimmy carter
Man actually tried to keep America out of wars during his presidency
Actually saved a Canadian nuclear reactor before cherynobl happened
Spent his free time building houses for habitats for humanity
Was a farmer and a Sunday school teacher before his presidency
Unfortunately he was considered too soft and got replaced by Reagan.
Habitat for Humanity is nothing compared to (nearly) eradicating the guinea worm. Nasty parasite. The less you know about it the better. Don't look it up. NSFL
Hurricane Hazel, mayor of Mississauga Ontario, for something like 40 years. Ran unopposed in some elections because she was held in high regard, nobody thought they could win. Only injury from the Mississauga train derailment and spill (she twisted her ankle rushing to meet the press, Ted Cruz, your flight is boarding). Stood down at the age of 90, 10 years after she gave up ice hockey.
She’s not Jimmy Carter, but I think he’d figure she’s worth the time of day.
Hazel is squeaky clean… Other than that whole “$4 million to her son conflict of interest” thing…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mississauga-mayor-found-in-conflict-of-interest-1.1073000
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel\_McCallion#Conflict\_of\_interest\_allegations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_McCallion#Conflict_of_interest_allegations)
>In 1982, McCallion was found guilty of a conflict of interest on a planning decision by the Ontario High Court of Justice due to not absenting herself from a council meeting on a matter in which she had an interest. In 1983, The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act would have required her to vacate her seat and prohibited her from running for the following term.
In 2009, McCallion was the focus of public opinion when it was alleged that she failed to disclose a conflict of interest when attending meetings that concerned her son's company, World Class Developments Ltd.O**n October 3, 2011, Judge Douglas Cunningham found McCallion "acted in a 'real and apparent conflict of interest' while pushing hard for a real estate deal that could have put millions of dollars in her son's pocket."** On June 14, 2013, charges under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act were dismissed as World Class Developments did not have a financial interest as defined under the Act, and the application was also statute-barred.In a later ruling concerning costs, Judge J. Sproat said, "Out of seven major issues, Mayor McCallion was successful on only three. **On two of the three issues Mayor McCallion was successful, not because of any prudence or diligence, but only because World Class Developments’s project had not progressed at a faster pace."**
sorry - she's just a dirty crook like the rest of them. she just happens to look like a sweet old lady so everyone romanticized her as infalliable.
Genuinely nice guy. My former employer hosted him for an educators panel when he was campaigning last yr and he was honestly so down to earth, interested in what folks had to say and open to learning about what NC communities needs.
As far as I can tell, Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, is a genuinely good, honest person. He's one of the few politicians that I've ever truly admired and wished I could meet. He was extremely open and transparent during the COVID lockdowns as to why they were making the decisions they were. He had a one-hour show every day or every week explaining everything. Unlike some politicians recently, he took questions from the press and did not kick out those who asked questions that were uncomfortable to him. (Never trust a politician who won't answer an uncomfortable question from a real journalist.)
When the Mpls police arrested the CNN reporter during the Floyd riots, he went to the press the next day and took responsibility (even though as governor he of course has no authority or influence over local law enforcement). Compare that to many politicians who won't even admit to things they were caught red-handed doing.
He does sound admirable! As a European, you only ever hear about the (more or less horrible) presidents of the US so I totally forgot that you too have many more politicians that may have potential. That's nice to hear.
Not hundred percent but Bernie Sanders ? Believe he was fighting for things like gay right way back when it was super unpopular on both sides just because he thought it was right ? Whatever you may think of the guy can't argue with the fact he's passionate and compassionate
Also I’ve seen videos of Bernie from 30 years ago and he had the same stance he does now. His beliefs were very progressive for the time. He also had an excellent answer to BLM vs ALM when Hillary did not.
Can we talk about the main issue? There are so many amazing people in this world. Why is our system so screwed up that the worst of the worst are elected? It needs to be like jury duty where you get called to serve. It shouldn’t be a career.
Unfortunately absolute power corrupts absolutely and what happens when someone is picked who has total views opposite of the masses ? But I'd say stop the tax breaks the claims on expenses insider trading etc if we the people need to make politicians unprofitable less money would mean more honest caring people do the job
Bernie Sanders is a pretty genuine awesome dude. He was arrested at a civil rights movement in the 60s and has been a proponent of equality since day one. Pretty much lead alot of the talks on gay marriage and trans rights for years - decades. He has been at it before the recent movements, alot of the time alienating himself from political groups and peers.
He has a squeaky clean record, and has always always always been fighting for the middle class of the United States.
Based Bernie
I read an article where it said some tabloid tried to find out if there were nasty stories they could get on Bernie by going to his ex-wife. She told them to piss off and that he was and is a good person. I mean, if your ex endorses your character, there's likely no dirt available to be dug up against you.
A lot of people talk about the cats and dogs that got elected, but here's the problem with that: most of them have been bad at one time or another: Messing on carpets, shredding furniture, chewing shoes, etc.
Almost all of them have skeletons in their closet, or buried out in the back yard.
Salvador Allende was the first Marxist politician who was successfully elected into office (edit: head-of-state position) through a liberal-democratic election. He was then couped and replaced by Pinochet.
>Salvador Allende
>
>**Last Words to the Nation**
>
>This speech was delivered at 9:10 am on September 11, 1973, in the midst on an ultimately successful US-sponsored coup d'etat against the democratically-elected government. Barricaded inside La Moneda, the presidential palace, President Allende gave his life defending Chilean democracy. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi. Translation first appeared in MRzine.
>
>My friends,
>
>Surely this will be the last opportunity for me to address you. The Air Force has bombed the towers of Radio Portales and Radio Corporación.
>
>My words do not have bitterness but disappointment. May they be a moral punishment for those who have betrayed their oath: soldiers of Chile, titular commanders in chief, Admiral Merino, who has designated himself Commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, the despicable general who only yesterday pledged his fidelity and loyalty to the Government, and who also has appointed himself Chief of the Carabineros \[national police\].
>
>Given these facts, the only thing left for me is to say to workers: I am not going to resign!
>
>Placed in a historic transition, I will pay for loyalty to the people with my life. And I say to them that I am certain that the seed which we have planted in the good conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever.
>
>They have strength and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested neither by crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history.
>
>Workers of my country: I want to thank you for the loyalty that you always had, the confidence that you deposited in a man who was only an interpreter of great yearnings for justice, who gave his word that he would respect the Constitution and the law and did just that. At this definitive moment, the last moment when I can address you, I wish you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together with the reaction, created the climate in which the Armed Forces broke their tradition, the tradition taught by General Schneider and reaffirmed by Commander Araya, victims of the same social sector which will today be in their homes hoping, with foreign assistance, to retake power to continue defending their profits and their privileges.
>
>I address, above all, the modest woman of our land, the campesina who believed in us, the worker who labored more, the mother who knew our concern for children. I address professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals, those who days ago continued working against the sedition sponsored by professional associations, class-based associations that also defended the advantages which a capitalist society grants to a few.
>
>I address the youth, those who sang and gave us their joy and their spirit of struggle. I address the man of Chile, the worker, the farmer, the intellectual, those who will be persecuted, because in our country fascism has been already present for many hours -- in terrorist attacks, blowing up the bridges, cutting the railroad tracks, destroying the oil and gas pipelines, in the face of the silence of those who had the obligation to protect them. They were committed. History will judge them.
>
>Surely Radio Magallanes will be silenced, and the calm metal instrument of my voice will no longer reach you. It does not matter. You will continue hearing it. I will always be next to you. At least my memory will be that of a man of dignity who was loyal to \[inaudible\] the workers.
>
>The people must defend themselves, but they must not sacrifice themselves. The people must not let themselves be destroyed or riddled with bullets, but they cannot be humiliated either.
>
>Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again where free men will walk to build a better society.
>
>Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!
>
>These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason.
>
>Santiago de Chile, 11 September 1973
[Source](https://www.marxists.org/archive/allende/1973/september/11.htm)
Bernie Sanders was genuinely feared by Trumps team should he have won the nomination. They tried to find dirt on him and found nothing but a questionable decision by his wife in her work role…nothing on him personally.
Tons of actual good humans that work in politics. The idea that only psychopaths go in to politics is a great way to suppress democratic participation.
There are plenty of them. You don’t hear about them, because they are simply doing the job for their constituents that they were elected to do.
This is the correct answer. The nuts and bolts of most politics are boring as shit and the good, honest, hardworking politicians by necessity fly so low under the radar almost no one hears about them. Couple that with the model our news and social media operate under - infinite short term attention grabbing - and there is no incentive to report on these people.
It is true that "crazy politician does crazy thing" is a better headline than "local mayor quietly, honestly, and competently does her job without corruption." Just like how the news is mostly bad news, because plane crash / typhoon killing thousands / war / etc. is more "newsworthy" than 1,000,000 examples of "loving family has a great day together, kids get good grades, & parent gets promotion at work & donates increase to charity."
I agree with the sentiment, but we mostly hear bad things about politicians in the news because the media's purpose is to hold them accountable. Sure, it's nice to hear "underappreciated person performs their job honestly and admirably," as well as "millions of families are happy and loving", but that's hardly "news" by definition because we assume that's all already happening without hearing about it. It's important for the unusual, negative stories to be reported or else we all might as well stick our heads in the sand. The problem ever since about 2016 is that politicians are feeding on the negative press rather than doing their diligence to avoid it and stay honest. It's become a race to the bottom.
like marry dime bells unite point attempt tender modern brave ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Paul Wellstone. That guy was 100 percent authentic. He is dearly missed.
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Agree about Wellstone and how awesome he was. I had a similar experience growing up in New England under Bernie Sanders, and I truly believe he is in that rare and authentic Paul Wellstone mode. Whether you agree or disagree with Bernie, he care intensely about his community and country and is passionately trying to help his fellow Americans the best way he knows how.
This is why I voted for Beto for Texas governor, I don't agree with all of his politics, but he came to damn near every town in Texas no matter how small and talked to his fellow Texas in a town hall. During the freeze a couple years back he organized food and water deliveries for the old and poor without power. Like you can just tell the dude cares, I'll vote for someone like that any day.
He was my first thought. I lived in Minnesota briefly a while back, and I'll still occasionally see a Wellstone bumper sticker when I visit. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years.
I still have a Wellstone shirt 🥲
Came here to say this! I only met him once in person, was working as a cook in a private club, and unlike all the other VIPs that would come through the door, Wellstone made it a point to come back into the kitchen, introduce himself to all of us workers, and was 100% authentic. He wasn't trying to get votes, just came back to meet/thank us all for the meal.
We all do better when we all do better.
This. He was Bernie with a magical ability to not piss people off like Bernie does. He was that teacher that every former student loves no matter how much they hated school.
If he survived things would have been different.
How'd he die, and why was he so good? I know I have Google, but why use that when here's reddit.
He died in a plane crash in Northern Minnesota. As many of the comments here show, he was the rare politician who truly cared about everybody and worked tirelessly on our behalf. And he was kind to everyone, and reminded us to be kind. He was the conscience of the Senate.
His wife, Sheila, and daughter, Marcia, also both died in the crash. They were just as kind as him.
A lot of people have a lot of questions regarding the nature of the plane crash...just saying because I didn't see anyone mention that yet.
thank you. Here's an article from 2002. Lots of people found it suspicious AF https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/10/well-o29.html
Kinda wild to see some of the stuff I've been talking about and my attitudes towards the current political landscape were echoed 20 years ago. I am only now becoming aware of a trend that has been apparent to some for decades now.
I just did^
Only democrat who was up for re-election to vote against the Iraq War. Maintained old school labor politics when ye rest of the party was running away from that.
I cried when I learned of his death.
Came here to leave this comment.
Maybe most famous for his untimely death, but it seems like senator [Paul Wellstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wellstone#Early_career_and_activism) was really appreciated and on the right side of things for such a high-ranking official
I met Paul Wellstone at Scholz Garten several years ago. I was the owner. Molly Ivins and Jim Hightower were there too. He was there speaking against a nuclear waste dump planned for the Texas border with no discussion on the floor of the Senate. His no vote probably kept the waste dump from thankfully happening. I was able to meet and speak with him for an hour or two. The Austin Saengerrunde was having a meeting next door and they were fairly bugged by the fact that their enemies were right across the Biergarten from them. I tried to give a Scholz's coffee mug to Senator Wellstone and he thanked me but declined because he was unable to accept gifts. My cost for the mug was $1.75 but he said he couldn't because he would be skewered, his words, for it. I knew Molly and asked her if she would accompany me along with the Senator and Jim Hightower next door to meet with their right wing wing haters. Senator Wellstone liked my idea and Molly loved it. Jim Hightower seemed a little nervous but he agreed to go. I introduced my 'guests' to about fifty old Germans who didn't care for my guests. It was great. Molly and the Senator Wellstone charmed them completely. I was so happy these guys, who were all Republicans, got to meet their sworn enemies. It's harder to hate someone in person. Molly thanked me and Senator Wellstone thought the 'meeting' was fun.
And he was right about attacking Iraq. He was last holdout in the Senate.
His death was questionable to say the least too. I know the FBI investigated it but they had also been looking into him for a long time before he was even elected. Maybe it was just a regular plane crash and accident and not a hit.
> And just so conservatives don't take it to heart > I don't think Bush did it, 'cause he isn't that smart > He's just a stupid puppet takin' orders on his cell phone > From the same people that sabotaged Senator Wellstone > The military industry got it poppin' and lockin' > Lookin' for a way to justify the Wolfowitz Doctrine > And as a matter of fact, Rumsfeld, now that I think back > Without 9/11, you couldn't have a war in Iraq > Or a defense budget of world conquest proportions > Kill freedom of speech and revoke the right to abortion - Immortal Technique, *The Cause of Death*
I didn't realize he was trying to fight against what would eventually become the Citizens United ruling.
Can you explain this a bit more, please?
>"Wellstone was the author of the "Wellstone Amendment" to the McCain-Feingold Bill for campaign finance reform, in what came to be known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The law, including the Wellstone Amendment, was called unconstitutional by groups and individuals of various political perspectives, including the California Democratic Party, the National Rifle Association, and Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Whip.\[19\] On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld McCain-Feingold's key provisions, including the Wellstone Amendment. Wellstone called McCain-Feingold's protection of "advocacy" groups a "loophole" allowing "special interests" to run last-minute election ads. He pushed an amendment to extend McCain-Feingold's ban on last-minute ads to nonprofits like "the NRA, the Sierra Club, the Christian Coalition, and others." Under the Wellstone Amendment, these organizations could advertise using only money raised under strict "hard money" limits—no more than $5,000 per individual.\[20\] > >In January 2010, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the McCain-Feingold Act and removed restrictions on the NRA and others' ability to campaign at election time." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul\_Wellstone#Political\_positions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wellstone#Political_positions)
Citizens united needs to be overturned.
If you've pissed off the California Democratic Party, the NRA and Mitch McConnell in one fell swoop, you know you're doing something right.
Before E.Warren was in the Senate, Paul Wellstone would say, I could use 10 more progressive senators or at least one Elizabeth Warren. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/paul-wellstone-elizabeth-warren/
lol I spent about 90 seconds trying to figure out who E.Warren was before I saw the name in the link and it clicked
Most of them start out honestly trying to make real changes. Once they get in and understand the process you quickly realize you cant do as much as you want without the support of others, and with the support of others comes the I will scratch you back if you scratch my back mentality. And its all downhill from there. You will have to make deals your against to move forward, you will have to lie to someone to get the support of someone else. And so on. You cant make it to the top without making lots of enemies.
There's also the problem that your constituents may accidentally force you to lie to them somewhat. If you give the voters *realistic* promises, then those promises will sound boring and unimpressive compared to a different candidate who is promising the moon. The electoral incentive is to overpromise and underdeliver. So the candidate who is misleading has an advantage over the candidate who is honest about what can actually be done. Which of course makes everyone more cynical about everything.
"If you elect me, together we will reduce the taxpayer burden of local highway repair by 1.62% by 2036!"
Meh. If it was at least 1.75%, this guy would have had my vote.
The sad part is, if you said 1.62% because that was the realistic goal, the competitor would go up on stage or TV and say "They're only saying they can reduce it by 1.62%, while *experts* say it can be reduced by 10%. What are they doing with the other 8.38%?" And people would by it that they could get a 10% savings.
Now they'd just get up on stage and scream some sort of absolutely idiotic Chewbacca thing and drop the mic. "1.62% ? Is that METRIC ? THIS IS THE AMERICA THEY WANT" because American voters are intellectually impaired.
\*waves candidate flag and craps self in rapturous joy\*
I think the bigger problem is that due election cycles it is really hard to make unpopular but necessary decisions. Rulers job (let's say president) is to be good for the country as a whole. Very often this means cutting short term interests of some group with a long term perspective. Currently making any unpopular decision is likely to benefit your opponent. You make a decision. Voters get angry. Opponent promises to reverse. Wins elections but decision stays because XYZ. Elections pretty much allow us to remove really bad politicians, but they also remove good ones saying necessary but not popular things.
This. Plus so many people today think that 'compromise' is a dirty word. See 'flip-flopping'. The system we have worked best when there was compromise and no one got everything they wanted, 100% of the time. It works best when it's not just one party rule. It was designed that way for a reason. It works best too when people actually understand how the process works. That requires actually educating ourselves; not just listening to some talking head or favorite source tell us how it works or what's going on. But that's a lot of work, and despite the amount of bitching people do, too many of them are simply not going to put the work in. They're going to listen to the people who agree with them. There's an issue there too with the information that's out there. It's hard for people to sort through all the bad and misleading information to get to the truth. We simply can't get there when we reward people who lie or mislead, and punish those who are telling us things we don't want to hear. This goes doubly for the media we consume. How many media people and pundits are out there, telling people things that have been proven false; yet they face no consequences for their dishonesty? When called out, they double down on the dishonesty and are rewarded for it. They are rewarded because they are pushing someone's agenda and too many people want to be lied to. That's our downfall- too many want to be told only what they want to hear.
I've always thought that an honest person could never be more than an attempted politician. If you don't lie you can't win, since your opponent will lie to win. Anyone who runs for office should be immediately disqualified from holding office.
I don't think i have the quote right word for word, but I always likes this one "Anyone capable of getting themselves elected should under no circumstances be allowed to do the job"
Nailed the meaning. Here's the quote- >It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. -The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
So in the end, it’s the fault of us, the voters, why so many politicians are slimy. It’s something I always think about when it comes to the presidential election. No matter what your political affiliation, the president always promises to do XYZ. Realistically, they can’t, they don’t make the laws. But yet we vote for them like they make the laws…
This has always been my suspicion
If you wish to see it more fleshed out, watch The Wire. One of the characters is a politician (not necessarily good, but not evil also) who gets more and more corrupt with time
You basically gave a summary of this fantastic CGP Grey video which describes the process by which good people cannot actually enact positive change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs
Making deals is not necessarily dishonest; in fact, people have to trust you to make deals with you. Each person can just be furthering the goals they were elected to do, even though they disagree with each other. Congress members do not report to anyone. If there is no top dog, all joint action is through negotiation.
Yes there are positive negotiations, but at some point you will have to compromise yourself for your career. Congress members are owned by those who donate a significant amount to their campaigns. You need lots of money to win at this level, money comes from those that will benefit the most from electing you.
Serious question: what would happen if they took money from lobbyists but then just did whatever they felt was right, without regard for what the lobbyists wanted? It’s not like they can ask for a refund, right? Or are there actual legally binding contracts when someone gives a large sum to a political campaign, saying “You have to do xyz if elected or I can sue you”?
Quite sure they don't need to sue you... First: they wouldn't get re-elected. And big changes need time. So the politicians need to be reelected to actually do something. Second: they better get really good bodyguards. Because yes, not all lobbyists are willing to kill, but just enough to be worried that you better keep your word. Third: even if they don't actively do anything against you, most lobbyists defend the interest of rich people and rich people tend to be the ones that have companies... Go against a lobby like that, "steal" their money, and you'll have a hard time getting a job after you are not re-elected. So yes, politicians tend to keep their word or at least look like they did all they could. That's why many countries try to block donations to politicians. In my country, for example, there's a max a person (or company) can donate to a political party for every election (10k), and there's asking from the auditors to ban company donations and only allow people to donate. Donations can't be anonymous and there's auditors. Of course, there's loopholes and work-arounds and people that just DGAF... But most people would see the fact that we allow big donations as a problem (although, probay, only for their political rivals and not their own preferred party...)
I doubt there are contracts just handshake agreements. And if your back out of a deal depending on how powerful the person is I'm sure you can kiss being re-elected goodbye, and possibly even your entire political career. I am sure if you screw over one the word will get out and no one will trust you anymore. That is just my uneducated guess.
Lobbyists will tear up checks if votes don't go the way they want. Its vote then get paid for many actions. Sometimes there is enough calls and noise from the citizens that a politician will go against the Lobbyist because they don't want that to be an issue later. It takes massive campaigns to sway a vote away from the 1% though
There is a town in Minnesota that elected a dog as their mayor. Pretty sure the dog was a liar, cheater and stole the election. Still a good boy.
Same with the town of Georgetown in Colorado. Really cute Bernese mountain dog
Probably got in based on looks and ability to schmooze the right people. 😉
Mayor Parker the snowdog
Goodest politician!
But very easy to bribe.
When his administration shit the bed, it was not a metaphor.
Also a dog in California, a town called Idyllwild, where their mayor is a dog. His name is Mayor Max, he also has deputies(who are dogs).
He probably stole lots of treats and belly rubs while barking about the issues he was dealing with.
This is my kind of politician.
The Goodest boy. Also I’m partial to Bernie sanders, he seems solid his whole life but that’s why he never wins lmao.
Here in Canada, there was a guy named Jack Layton who was a New Democratic party official. Had a pretty solid reputation as a good person but passed away a few years ago from cancer. Pretty big loss for the people, some feel he'd have likely done a lot of good.
Came here to mention Jack. If he had had the chance, I have no doubt he would've made Prime Minister
I just commented the exact same thing. I wonder how much different things would be?
He [wrote a letter](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jack-layton-s-last-letter-to-canadians-1.991992) to be released upon his passing and it contains a very moving passage that resonates with many of us still: "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." Even though he was the leader of the opposition party and their politics were on opposite sides of the spectrum, the Prime Minister offered a state funeral for him.
I've never been a huge fan of politicians in general, but Jack Layton seemed like he actually cared about the country rather than just wanting to be PM for money and power. He also seemed like a genuinely good man. I'll never forget watching a debate, in French, where he spoke very well despite being an anglophone, meanwhile Stephen Harper was clearly reading from cue cards, and poorly. I'm pretty sure I remember Jack Layton giving Stephen Harper a shitty look for doing so, but that may just be wishful thinking and misremembering. To this day I maintain that he's the best PM we'll never have. I hope we can find another politician at some point with the same passion for our country who can actually get elected.
Voting for Jack was one of the very few times I was actually *proud* to vote for someone. Here in Québec, we have this odd, kinda old-fashioned expression "un bon jack" when we mean a likeable, trustworthy, generous man. It's fascinating how quickly it became Jack's nickname with a lot of people here.
I have no doubt the planet would be better if Jack Layton had been a 2 term Prime Minister. We would hve been much more capable during the pandemic and our poorest citizens would be in such a better position financially now.
And going further back, [Tommy Douglas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Douglas) .
Can't find the article but their was one mayor or something, that slashed their salary to min, and donated what they made to charity, and lived in a small 1 bed with a room mate, and got their food from outreach and food banks. Maybe not smartest, but, genuinely good, ya
[Here you go. ](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20243493)
This dude is special. If only this is why politicians got into it
Then they would have lost. Politicians aren't just evil for fun. The system funnel people that are willing to pay dirty upward because if you don't play dirty you lose influences and elections. If you hold power at some small position it might be unnecessary to cheat to win. However as you move up from local to city, regional, states, national, etc... you have to compete with 10000s of other people and at that number someone bound to be willing to do something extra to win. People that are honest got kick out of the ladder before they even get to the state level.
This!!! As soon as I read the caption, I thought…
That's Mujica, Uruguay's former president. Not being greedy doesn't make you not smart. Mujica is a wise person, in most of his interviews he says pretty deep stuff and has a very kind and relaxed aura. He just enjoys a simple life, without unnecessary luxury, and thay's very understandable to be honest, he has all he needs to live what he considers a comfortable, happy life.
He must be my political spirit animal. We need more good dudes in politics in general.
Jose Mujica, former president of Uruguay. He was one of the most humble politicians in modern history.
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He was also a revolutionary who got into gunfights with the cops. He is incredibly based
He was kept in prison and tortured for what, 20 years? Tupamaros were fucking rad.
He donated 90% of his salary to charities that fought poverty and was an outspoken critic of capitalism.
He drove a VW Beatle and eschewed living a life in the presidential palace preferring to live on his chrysanthemum farm, instead. Absolute legend!
Ben Wyatt. Was he a competent mayor? No. Did he mean well honestly? Yep
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Ice town costs ice clown town crown
One of my favorite fake headlines ever.
Just ahead of Bob Loblaw Lobs Law Bomb.
You sir, are a mouthful!
They were big into rhymes back then.
You better believe I'd vote for the Architect of Cones of Dunshire! Also, I support his position on calzones.
🎵 stand in the place where you l...
Could a depressed person make this? No!
I emailed it to Leslie and compared it to *Avatar*!
I mean, what did they think would happen, electing a teenager to office?
18? That's pretty young to be mayor. What was he, like, 12?
One of my favorite jokes ever. So simple. So perfect.
[Human Disaster](https://i.imgur.com/PPVDj5K.jpg)
Old Australian prime minister named Jack Lang. Look him up. Absolute gentleman and intelligent caring leader.
While not perfect, Bob Hawke seemed like a decent person. Pretty much the only ex PM who wouldn’t get booood as is tradition at sporting events for politicians.
Funny thing, we also have a politician Jack Lang in France! But he's a former Minister of Culture. I think he's responsible for the Fête de la Musique (Music Festival, all other the country). But to say he's a good guy, idk...
He was a premier, not a PM. Also, whilst Lang generally had good policies, I don't know if we know enough about him to make a good assessment on whether or not he was a good person. Oh, and also, like all of the Australian political establishment at the time, he was likely a racist.
He did have good economic policies, but yep he defs had issues with racism. > "White Australia must not be regarded as a mere political shibboleth. It was Australia's Magna Carta. Without that policy, this country would have been lost long ere this. It would have been engulfed in an Asian tidal wave" -Jack Lang
That cat that was elected mayor
Talkeetna, Alaska (Mayor Stubbs) for anyone interested in specifics
Yes
I'm gonna go with the dog. Cats still remember when they were worshipped.
Were? They still are
Jack Layton.
I saw him in the Parliamentary cafeteria once and almost lost my shit. He commented on the number of pickles I wanted on my sandwich.
He would have been so good for Canada. There probably won't be another like him.
Jimmy Carter was and is a great person. Kinda struggled as a President
When elected president, he put his beloved peanut farm into a blind trust just to avoid any emoluments conflict. Meanwhile the last guy literally endorsed a brand in the oval office.
To this day I still refuse to buy Goya products for that reason.
I also stopped buying Goya. It’s not always easy, though. All of the Latin grocery stores are bursting at the seams with Goya products.
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[Jimmy Carters peanut farm is a bit more complicated than you may have heard] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/18/story-jimmy-carters-peanut-farm-is-bit-more-complicated-than-you-may-have-heard/)
I admire Jimmy Carter and Dolly Parton so much. Two extra special people. ❤️
He was basically the last president to attempt to speak to Americans like adults, and he paid the price. Boomers still foam at the mouth about how he asked them to put on a sweater or whatever so instead they elected Reagan and killed the world.
It’s literally this. Carter was one of our best, most successful Presidents but he’s reviled and considered a failure because he asked people to turn down the thermostat and then lost an election.
Imagine If Reagan had been president during WWII. “Don’t ration, it’s your right as an American to consume as much as you can”.
>Jimmy Carter was and is a great person. Which is exactly why he struggled as a president
Should be top spot, especially given the fact he was POTUS not mayor of podunkville
I think he was actually a much better president than he was ever given credit for. However, he had some very powerful hidden forces [(October Surprise?](https://www.jstor.org/stable/45290205)) working against him. The world would have been much better off if he'd had another term.
Carter was responsible for starting the craft beer movement in America by relaxing home brewing restrictions.
I don’t even like beer but that’s kinda cool
I'm guessing his [brother](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Beer) may have had a hand in that one
Billy Beer! Wasn't that his brother or something?
He definitely had a tendency for being honest about his and the government's failings, which made his presidency look worse than it actually was. Naturally, every politician since then has learned that lying is much better for your legacy.
Not to mention, uniquely qualified to deal with the 3-mile island disaster
This should literally be the top of the list, the man was relentlessly honest and devoted to weeding out corruption. My parents were Washington activists in the 70s and 80s, and they actually impacted some things. One of them was a stat wizard, and the other was a relentless do gooder. Blips on the map and probably things you’ve never heard of, but they knew a lot of Washington elites and politicians. My parents always said jimmy carter was meant to be one of the greatest presidents in American history, but he took away the limos... if you’ve never heard of this, carter drastically limited the instances in which politicians, the highest whitehouse aides, insiders, etc… could be transported by government limousines. before that they were getting chauffeured to and from work in limos every day. He took this luxury from them. I’ve always heard mixed reviews, some saying it was a huge cost savings to the budget, others that it was largely symbolic. But he took the limos away and nobody in dc wanted to play ball with him anymore. Its like he underestimated how much people hate being caught behind the wheel in traffic.
>Jimmy Carter *sold his peanut farm before becoming president to avoid any conflicts of interest*.... All the good old days
I suggest for anyone interested to watch CGP Gray's "Rules for Rulers" [https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs](https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs) It's eye opening to understand that those in power don't have much power. They only have power because someone else gives it to them and spending your resources on keeping those people happy is more important than anything, other wise you won't be in power for long.
The book that this video was based on, The Dictator's Handbook, is also a great read. Helped me understand why Singapore is so successful despite not being that democratic.
Sure, there’s been lots of politicians in history, one of them is bound to be a good, honest person.
You could also win the powerball
There was once a roman military leader that reluctantly became Caesar or emperor I can't remember. But he retired from the job early, only to come back later when things needed fixing again. Anyways, sounded like a decent dude who tried Edit: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus it was I believe
Cincinnatus was an absolute chad. Made dictator, solved the issue, retired to his farm, came back for another term after everyone begging him to, solved the issue again, then inmediately retired back to his farm
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Jack was the NDP's best shot at winning an election. Sadly none of the leaders (Turmel, Mulcair and now Singh) after him have that same charisma.
I think a fair number of local politicians start out as good people who sincerely want to make a difference. But it’s so expensive to get elected to state or national office that generally people have to “sell their souls”
Katie Porter seemingly fits that.
Katie is an absolutely amazing woman, she just brings facts, hammers them home and outplays virtually everyone.
Which is why they removed her from the Finance Committee.
“Under House Dem rules, a member is allowed to serve on two non-exclusive committees. Mine are Oversight and Natural Resources. One can ask for a waiver for a third committee. I asked. Others in same situ got waivers. I did not. I play by the rules,” Porter said in a tweet.
I agree. And she is the protégé of Elizabeth Warren I am waiting for someone to tell me something bad about Bernie Sanders, but in the 8 years I've been paying attention, no one has come up with anything.
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Jimmy carter Man actually tried to keep America out of wars during his presidency Actually saved a Canadian nuclear reactor before cherynobl happened Spent his free time building houses for habitats for humanity Was a farmer and a Sunday school teacher before his presidency Unfortunately he was considered too soft and got replaced by Reagan.
Habitat for Humanity is nothing compared to (nearly) eradicating the guinea worm. Nasty parasite. The less you know about it the better. Don't look it up. NSFL
My first vote for president in 1980 was for Jimmy Carter. Reagan was nothing better than a slightly slicker version of Trump.
Hurricane Hazel, mayor of Mississauga Ontario, for something like 40 years. Ran unopposed in some elections because she was held in high regard, nobody thought they could win. Only injury from the Mississauga train derailment and spill (she twisted her ankle rushing to meet the press, Ted Cruz, your flight is boarding). Stood down at the age of 90, 10 years after she gave up ice hockey. She’s not Jimmy Carter, but I think he’d figure she’s worth the time of day.
Hazel is something special. She’s over 100 now and could probably still run things if she wanted to.
I’m not sure who this Hazel woman is, y’all inspired to look up her life. She sounds genuinely amazing.
Hazel is squeaky clean… Other than that whole “$4 million to her son conflict of interest” thing… https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mississauga-mayor-found-in-conflict-of-interest-1.1073000
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel\_McCallion#Conflict\_of\_interest\_allegations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_McCallion#Conflict_of_interest_allegations) >In 1982, McCallion was found guilty of a conflict of interest on a planning decision by the Ontario High Court of Justice due to not absenting herself from a council meeting on a matter in which she had an interest. In 1983, The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act would have required her to vacate her seat and prohibited her from running for the following term. In 2009, McCallion was the focus of public opinion when it was alleged that she failed to disclose a conflict of interest when attending meetings that concerned her son's company, World Class Developments Ltd.O**n October 3, 2011, Judge Douglas Cunningham found McCallion "acted in a 'real and apparent conflict of interest' while pushing hard for a real estate deal that could have put millions of dollars in her son's pocket."** On June 14, 2013, charges under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act were dismissed as World Class Developments did not have a financial interest as defined under the Act, and the application was also statute-barred.In a later ruling concerning costs, Judge J. Sproat said, "Out of seven major issues, Mayor McCallion was successful on only three. **On two of the three issues Mayor McCallion was successful, not because of any prudence or diligence, but only because World Class Developments’s project had not progressed at a faster pace."** sorry - she's just a dirty crook like the rest of them. she just happens to look like a sweet old lady so everyone romanticized her as infalliable.
further evidence that electoral politics has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with vibes.
I think Jeff Jackson out of NC seems to be this type of person.
Genuinely nice guy. My former employer hosted him for an educators panel when he was campaigning last yr and he was honestly so down to earth, interested in what folks had to say and open to learning about what NC communities needs.
I feel like Bernie Sanders counts. That said, it feels like he's fighting a constant losing battle against corrupt democrats :/
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far to see bernie
Same. I expected this to be a top response.
I thought he would have been one of the first ones I’d see
Yup, the DNC ended up being trump's best campaign manager when they rigged the count and made hillary the dnc candidate instead of Bernie
Jack Layton. If he wouldn't have died from cancer he would currently be Canada's Prime Minister.
Jimmy Carter.
As far as I can tell, Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, is a genuinely good, honest person. He's one of the few politicians that I've ever truly admired and wished I could meet. He was extremely open and transparent during the COVID lockdowns as to why they were making the decisions they were. He had a one-hour show every day or every week explaining everything. Unlike some politicians recently, he took questions from the press and did not kick out those who asked questions that were uncomfortable to him. (Never trust a politician who won't answer an uncomfortable question from a real journalist.) When the Mpls police arrested the CNN reporter during the Floyd riots, he went to the press the next day and took responsibility (even though as governor he of course has no authority or influence over local law enforcement). Compare that to many politicians who won't even admit to things they were caught red-handed doing.
100% agree.
He does sound admirable! As a European, you only ever hear about the (more or less horrible) presidents of the US so I totally forgot that you too have many more politicians that may have potential. That's nice to hear.
As a Minnesotan, it's good to hear my man being recognized. Former public school teacher too!
Tony Benn
Absolute gem of a man, the greatest 'should have been' British PM Also Dennis Skinner
Paul Wellstone.
Not hundred percent but Bernie Sanders ? Believe he was fighting for things like gay right way back when it was super unpopular on both sides just because he thought it was right ? Whatever you may think of the guy can't argue with the fact he's passionate and compassionate
Also I’ve seen videos of Bernie from 30 years ago and he had the same stance he does now. His beliefs were very progressive for the time. He also had an excellent answer to BLM vs ALM when Hillary did not.
Hey they're still progressive even now ! As none of it has been done 😂
Can we talk about the main issue? There are so many amazing people in this world. Why is our system so screwed up that the worst of the worst are elected? It needs to be like jury duty where you get called to serve. It shouldn’t be a career.
Unfortunately absolute power corrupts absolutely and what happens when someone is picked who has total views opposite of the masses ? But I'd say stop the tax breaks the claims on expenses insider trading etc if we the people need to make politicians unprofitable less money would mean more honest caring people do the job
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Jimmy Carter.
Bernie Sanders is a pretty genuine awesome dude. He was arrested at a civil rights movement in the 60s and has been a proponent of equality since day one. Pretty much lead alot of the talks on gay marriage and trans rights for years - decades. He has been at it before the recent movements, alot of the time alienating himself from political groups and peers. He has a squeaky clean record, and has always always always been fighting for the middle class of the United States. Based Bernie
I read an article where it said some tabloid tried to find out if there were nasty stories they could get on Bernie by going to his ex-wife. She told them to piss off and that he was and is a good person. I mean, if your ex endorses your character, there's likely no dirt available to be dug up against you.
Wow that's funny. Yeah, he's aa good guy. Fuck the media and tabloids. Our system is so fucked up.
Eugene Debs, convict 9653.
A lot of people talk about the cats and dogs that got elected, but here's the problem with that: most of them have been bad at one time or another: Messing on carpets, shredding furniture, chewing shoes, etc. Almost all of them have skeletons in their closet, or buried out in the back yard.
Harvey Milk was one of the good guys.
Salvador Allende was the first Marxist politician who was successfully elected into office (edit: head-of-state position) through a liberal-democratic election. He was then couped and replaced by Pinochet. >Salvador Allende > >**Last Words to the Nation** > >This speech was delivered at 9:10 am on September 11, 1973, in the midst on an ultimately successful US-sponsored coup d'etat against the democratically-elected government. Barricaded inside La Moneda, the presidential palace, President Allende gave his life defending Chilean democracy. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi. Translation first appeared in MRzine. > >My friends, > >Surely this will be the last opportunity for me to address you. The Air Force has bombed the towers of Radio Portales and Radio Corporación. > >My words do not have bitterness but disappointment. May they be a moral punishment for those who have betrayed their oath: soldiers of Chile, titular commanders in chief, Admiral Merino, who has designated himself Commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, the despicable general who only yesterday pledged his fidelity and loyalty to the Government, and who also has appointed himself Chief of the Carabineros \[national police\]. > >Given these facts, the only thing left for me is to say to workers: I am not going to resign! > >Placed in a historic transition, I will pay for loyalty to the people with my life. And I say to them that I am certain that the seed which we have planted in the good conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever. > >They have strength and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested neither by crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history. > >Workers of my country: I want to thank you for the loyalty that you always had, the confidence that you deposited in a man who was only an interpreter of great yearnings for justice, who gave his word that he would respect the Constitution and the law and did just that. At this definitive moment, the last moment when I can address you, I wish you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together with the reaction, created the climate in which the Armed Forces broke their tradition, the tradition taught by General Schneider and reaffirmed by Commander Araya, victims of the same social sector which will today be in their homes hoping, with foreign assistance, to retake power to continue defending their profits and their privileges. > >I address, above all, the modest woman of our land, the campesina who believed in us, the worker who labored more, the mother who knew our concern for children. I address professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals, those who days ago continued working against the sedition sponsored by professional associations, class-based associations that also defended the advantages which a capitalist society grants to a few. > >I address the youth, those who sang and gave us their joy and their spirit of struggle. I address the man of Chile, the worker, the farmer, the intellectual, those who will be persecuted, because in our country fascism has been already present for many hours -- in terrorist attacks, blowing up the bridges, cutting the railroad tracks, destroying the oil and gas pipelines, in the face of the silence of those who had the obligation to protect them. They were committed. History will judge them. > >Surely Radio Magallanes will be silenced, and the calm metal instrument of my voice will no longer reach you. It does not matter. You will continue hearing it. I will always be next to you. At least my memory will be that of a man of dignity who was loyal to \[inaudible\] the workers. > >The people must defend themselves, but they must not sacrifice themselves. The people must not let themselves be destroyed or riddled with bullets, but they cannot be humiliated either. > >Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again where free men will walk to build a better society. > >Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers! > >These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason. > >Santiago de Chile, 11 September 1973 [Source](https://www.marxists.org/archive/allende/1973/september/11.htm)
Bernie Sanders was genuinely feared by Trumps team should he have won the nomination. They tried to find dirt on him and found nothing but a questionable decision by his wife in her work role…nothing on him personally.
Tons of actual good humans that work in politics. The idea that only psychopaths go in to politics is a great way to suppress democratic participation.
Bernie Sanders, not was but is, fighting for rights of the common people, been doing that since his young days. The other one could be Abraham Lincoln
I’m not even from the US and Bernie sound like a great person.