Don’t apologize

It isn’t easy for an advocate of small government to bemoan actors in the White House. I miss Ronald Reagan on a personal level, even though for the majority of his term in office I wasn’t even alive. I miss him like I miss dear friends from elementary school; memories of our time together have mellowed into something impossible. He had his faults, but people loved that man. Though I am opposed, on principle, to electing people whose profession is pretending to be something they’re not, the truth is, those people are effective. \nI wish this wasn’t so. A part of me wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to crash and burn in office, and I just don’t like former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. Actors have different talents, and their resumes are always more sparse than their competitors’. But for some reason, they still win. \nIt strikes me as a major injustice that the things you have been filmed doing as an invented character can serve as a substitute for real lines on a resume. Fred Thompson is a perfect example. Despite the fact that he chose to leave public service to pretend to be a public servant, when watching him, one can’t help but think of the theme music to “Law and Order.” We remember him from the TV series as a wizened old district attorney who could solve even the most heinous crimes in less than an hour – even less considering commercial breaks – and whose decisions were never marred by the complications of real life. His real voting record seems unimportant by comparison.\nPopular opinion of any public figure seems to rest solely on what the figure thinks of himself. Ronald Reagan believed that he was right all the time, so everyone else did, too. He had a simple message and broadcast it clearly. Whenever you listen to Schwarzenegger make an address, you need only remember that he was the Terminator, and you feel safe, comfortable and reassured. \nThe point is, you are either loved or hated not by what you do, but by the attitude with which you do it. And the biggest sin in the public eye isn’t a misstep, but rather the admission of wrongdoing. People hate a politician’s complicated past, a complex voting history or a contradictory appearance. Actors know how to sell the image of a clear direction and how to properly fill the role of the unwavering hero. For that, they are rewarded. \nCase in point: Even this latest news about Iran’s lack of a current nuclear program hasn’t helped President Bush. The November National Intelligence Report revealed that Iran is a good 10 years from producing nuclear weapons, five years longer than the previous estimate. Admitting that things are not the way he thought they were did nothing for Bush’s credibility, and only undermines it. Now Democrats call him a “flip-flopper” and the Iranians are demanding an apology. Never mind that it contradicts the worst that people said of him: that he purposefully seeks war. This latest sin in the public eye was letting it slip that the world is complicated. People who make no such admission usually lead richer and more agreeable lives.