Serving the public-those that want to, do-like Bob Graham and Jerry Brown

[graham4anything]

in another thread, it is talking about Krugman, the writer, should be treasury secretary.
Nine out of nine times, people who are writers/talking heads/speech makes do not actually want to serve the public, it would take away their livelihood, much like those that were in a position in public service, lost an election and took their ball and mitt and left the arena, only to whine and whine and whine (aka Bill Bradley, aka Russ Feingold, etc.) instead of just serving the public in some elected office, that doesn't have to be the top, or by relearning things while in office.
But not just by whining.



For a good example of someone who just wants to serve the public, and does so not for fame and fortune, just to serve, no matter what position, see Jerry Brown. After the presidential run, (and the public sold him down the river), after his first go at Gov., he just set an example for all to follow- he went back to smaller positions in the public sector and served, a shining beacon of a human being.

and note that Jerry Brown has, through his ideas, now brought a surplus to California, a complete turnaround, and he, the inventor of the 1-800 send in a dollar campaign for president that almost (if not for a slur against him near the end) won him the nomination years ago. And the constant rightwing name calling against him. And he proved that when the right candidate is running, whom the public knows, respects, and loves through decades of service,
money could not buy that election and enabled California to sensibly balance the budget, have a surplus at the same time increasing spending as needed.(in a way making taxes a good word for once, instead of the hijacked bad word the republicans made it).

also the legendary (and my board name tribute to) Sen./Gov. Bob Graham's 386 workdays he did as Gov/Senator of Florida, to try and better the citizens of Florida, he wanted to know what different people actually did

wiki-

Bob Graham's campaign trademark was to work a full, eight-hour day at various jobs which represented Florida's constituents. He began his "Workdays" in 1974, teaching a semester of civics at Miami Carol City Senior High School in Miami while serving in the Florida Senate. At that time, Bob Graham was on the Education Committee. After a speech, M. Sue Riley, an English teacher at Carol City, approached Bob Graham and said, "The only problem with members of the Education Committee is nobody has any experience in education."

Bob Graham was taken aback at that assertion and asked, "Well, what can I do about that?" A few months later, Ms. Riley contacted Senator Graham with a proposal to teach the next semester of civics. Following that teaching experience, he performed 99 additional workdays prior to his successful 1986 campaign for U.S. Senate.

Graham has continued doing workdays throughout his tenure as governor and in the United States Senate. His jobs have included service as a police officer, busboy, railroad engineer, construction worker, fisherman, garbageman, factory worker, and teacher. On No. 365, he checked in customers, handled baggage and helped serve passengers on US Airways. He totaled 386 days.

Two examples of people just doing.
Not bloviating, not in it for fame and fortune.
Just doing.

(and just wistful here, if only Gore had picked Bob Graham in 2000, or Kerry had picked Bob Graham instead of the fraud known as Edwards in 2004, how different life in America would have been...
and in the 1980s, if only Jerry Brown had become President.
(cue in Louis Armstrong, "What a wonderful world&quot it would have been.

But Jerry was called names and Bob Graham was called too ugly, too old, too obsessive
(in an age that led to Cheney being the least open VP, wouldn't Bob's notebooks of daily data been a breathe of fresh air?) and Bob Graham was never picked by any of the people for VP.
It is a damn shame.

When the 3rd party ites say both parties are one and the same
besides their continual lies on that front, on the issue of SCOTUS alone, remember
people like Bob Graham, Jerry Brown and Barack Obama are out there making a difference and laying to rest the lies.

If only everyone in elected office would be like those three.
What a wonderful world this would indeed be.

[On the Road]

1. I Applaud Your Examples of Brown and Graham

and I think Jerry Brown had a chance to get the nomination in 1988 after winning the Connecticut primary. But the reason he went to lose New York was not so much that he was slandered, but that he (1) started to resemble an attack dog in his speeches and (2) began going on about a flat tax.