Which is:  Why is our system not producing the type of leaders we need?

With Governor Daniel McKee, Rhode Island is getting a distilled lesson in our nation’s problem in D.C.  At the same time his administration is signing a contract to pay a premium to dismantle the Washington Bridge quickly, he can’t find a company to rebuild it and admits to having no idea of the timeline or the cost.  He’s not up to the job of governor.

In fairness to Rhode Islanders for making him their governor, we seem to have slender choices for all statewide and national elective offices.  Turning nationally, the occupant of the White House is plainly and obviously not up for the job.  I’d opine that Biden’s level of intelligence and integrity has never in his life qualified him to be President, but at this point, there is no question, and there was none in 2020.

On the other side of the aisle, while Donald Trump’s long business career certainly gives him the necessary managerial experience, his behavior is inarguably not what we should want in our national leader.  Here, in fairness to Americans for electing him (hopefully twice), the political establishment had become so irresponsive (indeed, hostile) to the electorate and those who would represent them that it required a cartoonish personality to take the job.

So, back to the fundamental question:  Why is our system not producing the type of leaders we need?  I’d suggest that we’re trying to process too many social decisions through government, which pushes tremendous power and wealth through a tiny orifice.  A system of grift has developed such that industries’ worth of special interests see elections as a fight for survival and respond like parasites to corrective treatments.

But we shouldn’t start with my conclusion.  At the moment, it would be enough for Rhode Islanders and, more broadly, Americans to start discussing the question.  I may be wrong, and shifting the debate from partisan snipes to structural debate would be a step toward healing.