Washington and the real world

Most of us acquire our limited spheres of influence through our own efforts. We work hard in our industry or for our company. We earn credibility. We hold some influence with co-workers, customers and competitors based on skills we have developed and tasks that we have accomplished. The respect our opinions command is based largely on real world experience, ours and the people we interact with.

There are select places where real world experience is less important. In some places across the globe, an accident of birth destines a person to a life of privilege or slavery unrelated to any knowledge or skill that he or she may possess. In the United States, two such places exist. Although we have neither monarchs or a permanent underclass, in Washington D.C. and Hollywood, the rules are somewhat different. credibility and moral authority are ordained, not earned.

In Hollywood, celebrity entitles almost anyone to advise us on how to lose weight, maintain healthy relationships and conduct the country's foreign policy (usually from the front cover of a magazine). But Hollywood is a fantasyland after all and most of us discount the advice of celebrities to a degree. We instinctively grasp that an actor who is four times married at twenty-nine may not be a good resource for relationship advice. Our radar informs us that Larry King's fascination with a celebrity is not evidence of a serious person. We still recognize that while celebrity does not make one smart, there are well-informed celebrities.

Clint Eastwood is a smart guy. Angela Jolie, while diminished by the cult of celebrity, is almost always better informed on any subject than the person interviewing her. We haven't completely lost our perspective on Hollywood. We have lost our minds about the celebrities in Washington D.C.

We treat politicians far too deferentially. During an earlier dust-up concerning the financial health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Barney Frank and Maxine Waters disdainfully dismissed the concerns of critics through the power of rhetorical assertion. Why do we have faith in these people? What qualifies Frank to speak authoritatively on this issue? Does he have those credentials? If so, he is a knowledgeable person who made a mistake. If he lacks the credentials, what does it say about the media or about us? Remember, this is a man who was unaware that a prostitution ring was being operated out if his own apartment. It is at least possible that something could have slipped past him concerning the mortgage giants.

We seldom question whether the actions of the Executive or the Congress reflect constitutional intent. Refer to the "czars" of the current administration. As policy is implemented to deal with the current economic crisis, two questions should be asked and answered. Are the rescuers constitutionally empowered to act as they have? Do they have expertise to deal with this situation at hand or just power?

My sense is that we fight harder with our alderman than our Congressman. My question is why?