The Next President?

In my work I don't take my politics beyond the business at hand: health and fitness. These issues, however, are crucially tied to our political system where more and more politicians find their hands tied by those who put them in office in the first place. This, unfortunately, is not the individual voter but ultra partisan interest groups. We've become a nation ruled by lobbyists.

During a discussion with one of my most politically polarized friends we easily came to the conclusion that we, as a team, would do a much better job in running our country than those in charge. This was due to a very simple fact; that our goal would be to do what's best for the country instead of placating a long list of special interests.

This is a disturbing idea. I mean, I'm pretty smart. So is my friend. It's not that I don't have confidence in my abilities. But I think it could be said for many people as well. As long as the ultimate interest would be creating a better country--or world--as opposed to personal gain (which includes "payback" to those who've personally helped you), I don't think it would be hard to do a better job than we're doing now.

I was almost disgusted when Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California using a campaign of forced rhetoric and movie quotes. Now, however, I'm very glad he did. While I disagree with much of his agenda, the pure fact that's he's bipartisan is forcing both parties to find some sort of common ground. For example, he's pro business and pro environment. If we could rectify even this one problem--businesses polluting in order to boost their quarterly earnings--the world would make its most significant change in a long time.

Anyway, the point of this morning's diatribe is not to preach. I merely wanted to point something out. In a political conversation a few years back someone said to me, "You're like a combination of Gandhi and Barack Obama." I didn't know much about the latter name at the time but have been watching him since. And, for certain, he's worth watching. Because, like him or not, his agenda is for a more thoughtful and bipartisan world. And if we can't find some common ground to stand on, we've got a lot bigger problems facing our future than being overweight.

Btw, this is a bipartisan article. Not necessarily pro Obama at all.

The Fresh Face

Here's an excerpt of his book.


The Audacity of Hope