For those of you who haven’t seen the movie Dave (1993) in awhile, there is a memorable part at the end of the film. Dave, Kevin Kline, still impersonating the President of the United States, is giving a speech to a joint session of Congress. The real president, lying in a coma, has been a manipulative and sleazy president, who would do anything to maintain power setting up innocent people to take the fall for his corrupting actions. Dave stands before Congress taking responsibility, explaining ”his” actions. We thought this dialogue was apropos for those men and women who hold office, who have forgotten the real purpose of holding office - even on a local level.
“I forgot that I was hired to do a job for you and that it was just a temp job at that. I forgot that I had two hundred and fifty million people who were paying me to make their lives a little better and I didn’t live up to my part of the bargain. See, there are certain things you should expect from a President. I ought to care more about you than I do about me… I ought to care more about what’s right than I do about what’s popular…I ought to be willing to give this whole thing up for something I believe in.”
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You mean that being elected to a public office is not license to belittle the common folks and to steal?
Well, we editors at the SCB are pretty darn sentimental and patriotic, so yes, Virginia, there is a right way.
You’ll have to introduce us to the concept!
That was a great movie. A common sense man in politics that cared about people and did not let it go to his head.
Somebody tell Dave Sauber and Ben Nutter to read this.