Dancing with the stars

Great leaders are all judged by history. Centuries of human history are often boiled down to a list of those who have defied expectation: Pericles, Augustus, Queen Elizabeth, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, to name just a few. But these are not just leaders history has judged to be great; they are also leaders who have improved the human condition.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, did not make history, and history has noted him for little more than his propensity for silence. When he died, Dorothy Parker (a famous left-wing poet, screenwriter and satirist) is reported as having said, “How do they know?” Yet ‘Silent Cal’ was the president during one of the most vibrant eras of American history.  The ‘roaring 20s’ was a time of massive economic expansion, increasing consumer confidence and expectation, colossal raises in the standard of living, new forms of art and music, technological development, emancipation of women and general happiness for the American people. This is not to paint the 20s as the long lost golden era when life was perfect and America had nothing to learn. Nor is it to say that it was a time when all American people were all happy. But it was a time of general hope and pleasure rather than one of earth shattering progress.

For decades, none of the prominent politicians or leaders in American government could bear the patience of silence. Loudness, obviousness and tabloid fame have become the central part of political life. It is less and less clear where Hollywood ends and Washington begins, and political life attracts characters that pretend to be real rather than real people that have character. Every politician wants to be a historical celebrity and to be mentioned in some survey to ‘change history’. Governing people has become far less of a political goal. Progress is celebrated by television ratings without reference to happiness.

Progress is not in itself a bad thing. While conservatives do not always celebrate change, we are not against change for the better but are, rather, in opposition to change for the worse. We stand up for what we believe to be worthwhile ideas from the past as well as those from the present and attempt to protect the wisdom of the ages from erosion. Many wonderful changes have taken place since the roaring 20s. I, like other American women, can look towards a future where no career is out of the question because of gender. There have been advances in civil rights, medicine, technology, liberty of thought and many other areas of life. However, political life has not only progressed, but also changed for the worse. Celebrity politicians have devalued governing, making the press briefing rather than the state of the union the signature of their office.

Celebrities are fakes. They are meant to be fakes. They draw us into a world that avoids what is real. Drama is the driving force upon which they exist. Therefore, when they are in love, their passion has no bounds. They live or die upon the words of their beloved. But true love is boring when presented in a tabloid because it makes miraculous the every day. Thus, celebrities are in love until they cheat. They raise children in the same way by creating false drama and intrigue around them — endowing them with strange names, adopting too many, and bringing sex into their lives from their first breath. Their religions have nothing to do with a higher power, a moral code or an understanding of human nature. They have everything to do with temptation, intimacy publicly displayed and the newest fad. Just as they attempt to remain forever young through crazed dieting and plastic surgery, they try to make their lives forever the last word in the dramatic.

Real political leaders must do hard work for the people whom they are elected to govern. They must be able to tell the real from the fake and the important from the unimportant. But today political news breaks in Rolling Stone magazine behind a picture of Lady Gaga’s butt. The first lady spends more time in Vogue than fighting childhood obesity, and the President appears on the front of Time dressed up as if he were from another era. The first couple flies off to other cities for date nights and their choice of dog is reported by major news media. Political life has become merely another avenue to the new American dream of fame and riches. Publicity has replaced the public good.

Democracy is the best government when it gives individuals real goods: a life where adults take care of themselves and their children, and the strong the weak. Real people work hard every day for the enduring goods and they deserve politicians who do the same rather than attempting to dance with the stars.