The State of American Politics

It's hard to think of a more corrupting occupation than American politics. While it's by no means an illegal activity, as opposed to, say, operating a meth lab or running guns to Mexico, it nevertheless seems to systematically corrupt otherwise good men and women of stature and accomplishment.

Our system has, in the past 235 years, produced political leaders who have provided able national leadership during times of war, of economic strife, of civil unrest, and of growth and regeneration.

But something's not right in today's body politic. Its ability to produce leaders of quality has been severely diminished. Ironically, the world-class quality of our made-in-America products and services has risen steadily and inexorably over the last quarter century; ironically, too, the quality of our elected leaders had deteriorated steadily and inexorably over the same period. Or so it seems to me. We have philanderers and exhibitionists, bribe seekers and bribe takers, money launderers and sexual predators. We have a political class who has to beg for money virtually every day to keep their jobs. We have behavior from high elected officials that is routinely unethical, often immoral, and sometimes outright illegal. And then they have the nerve to complain about the political scruples of the Iraqi and Afghan pols.

We've always had our share of rascals in political life. I get that. And I realize our real-time, right-now, 24/7 news cycle exposes more of the underside of American life than ever before, to include political shenanigans. But heretofore we've always been able to produce political leaders to meet the challenges of the times. Someone has traditionally always stepped forward and led. Washington, Lincoln, TR, FDR, Truman, JFK, Reagan.

So where are they now? I can't find any already in national office, and I'm looking hard, believe me. Oh, maybe there's a leader in the military or private enterprise or state government who could provide quality leadership at the national level, but how long before they would be corrupted by special interests or re-election demands or the hyper partisanship or simply the arrogance that comes with raw power? And why would anyone in their right mind want to enter such a profession nowadays, what with the all-intrusive scrutiny and the pettiness and the begging and butt-kissing that go with it?

Bit of a conundrum, huh? Many good and talented Americans just stay away. And who can blame them? Those who do seek office seem to have to sell their souls to gain the office, only to be corrupted once there, swallowed by a relentless boa-like system. Not always, but seemingly often enough. And that is, if they weren't corrupt to begin with. Those moths have always been attracted by the bright lights.

Where's the leadership? Where's the competence? Where's the integrity?

Beats me. I wish I had a solution. But I don't. Just like you, I'll keep watching. And listening. And waiting.

How to Write Informative Political Articles Online

As an online article author, I feel it is my duty to help article authors create quality content online. Indeed, I've written over a 1000 articles on political topics, and I've learned the hard way how to do it right, and which mistakes are easily made. Writing about political topics is serious business, it's easy to make a mistake and look foolish, and you can't rely on everything you hear in the media, most of the news stations are jaded towards a conservative slant, or a more neo-liberal motif. Okay so, let's talk about this for a moment if we might.

First, I would recommend that you don't write any political articles based on what you see on TV and take their exact perspective. Sure, you might have an opinion on something, but you need to make sure it is your own opinion, and you can back it up with facts, not the sound bites that you viewed on TV the night before. Secondly, I wouldn't recommend writing an article because you saw something which you either agreed with, or disagreed with, because it emotionally sent you into a writing mode. You need to stop and think about what you're writing, and explore the different angles.

Another issue, and this is something that really burns me up when I see other authors do this - you should never take a political article that you read somewhere else, and rewrite it in your own words. A unique perspective and opinion is important. If you have one, and additional personal experience which you can relate to, share that with your reader. Another thing, if you make blanket statements make sure you back them up by citing where you got the information. Perhaps you read something in Foreign Affairs Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, a research paper, book, or watched a video from the Council on Foreign Relations, say so.

Also, you should never cite something you saw on Facebook, or a tweet that you received, and be wary of citing Wikipedia, even if you did check your facts on that site. Another thing, you must remember is who your audience is, if you're going to be preaching to the choir, you need to write a certain way for your audience. However, if you are writing to persuade people of the opposite position, or from a different political party, then you must handle yourself properly, and not hit them too hard until you've made your points. Indeed I hope you will take this information and use it to write quality content online, we need more of the good stuff, and we need less of the debris. So please consider all this and think on it.