A Radical Idea

"We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us."
- John McCain's acceptance speech

It has always been popular to bash Washington, DC, as a kind of shorthand for "politics". People seem to like the idea of "Washington outsiders" even though those who work in DC know just how useless most so-called "outsiders" actually are. Aside from getting lost repeatedly, they don't know how the system works.

McCain is a doofus, but this is at first glance a more honest line than most others. At second glance, it's full of crap. Because Washington is also just a city. It doesn't change anybody. Politics might change people, but politics IS people.

If you were elected decades ago to "change Washington," then maybe it's time to consider your epic failure. McCain hasn't changed politics, or his party, and now he's trying to get another go-around at it?

Here's the headline: Washington didn't change you. Nothing changed you. You're the same party that was elected into power 8 years ago, and the same party that held sway in Washington for 6 of those years. What does it take to make people realize that this was as golden an opportunity as a political party could ask for, and yet they've failed miserably? By McCain's own account, they've failed. He attributes the cause of the failure to the mystical energy imbued in the various monuments, museums and other buildings of DC, but he still admits failure.

Frankly, Obama could be the "emptiest suit" in the history of politics, and he would be better. He could be a scary black panther, or a Marxist, and I'd be more comfortable with him in charge.

That is how you change Washington. You give someone else a turn at the wheel, and you hope they do a better job.