The Madness of Presidency

There are so many soaring expressions that exist regarding what it takes to be president, one does not know where to begin.

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I do! There are so many that I will narrow them all down to one sweet, fuzzy, warm, paternal word: strength.

What a curious word when taken beyond the surface. More than just brute, muscle bound burliness, the word in a social sense implies a compelling phrase: tough choices.

Ah, yes. The tough choices a politician must make require incredible strength. Decisions they make affect hundreds, thousands, millions of people. They decide who to give to, and who to take from. Examples of this include the ebb and flow of state social programs. These programs help some groups, and are all too easily taken away, much to the collective groaning of the very same groups, now harmed by such coercive action.

Sometimes, if one is a really REALLY powerful politician, they decide who lives, and who DIES! Whoa! I bet THAT'S a rush.

Imagine looking at a map, advisers whispering in your ear, and making a decision that you know will kill innocent people: perhaps a man walking to a store with his wife, maybe some children at recess, maybe a fucking WEDDING, for chrissakes. Now imagine going to sleep, your nightmares populated by the souls you've murdered.

Or maybe you sleep like a cloistered child, the decisions you make possessing an unreality to you, as if nothing more than abstraction; the innocents who perish do so for the common good, even though they don't know it, and you tell yourself they will not die in vain, and you tell this to the public...and they believe you. At least enough of them to get you reelected.

But I, as usual, digress.

The president must make decisions that get innocent people killed. They KNOW this going into the job. And they still apply for it. Last time I checked, if you are willing to swallow enough of what makes you human to do such a thing, you're a sociopath.

Being president requires not strength, but madness.