Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"What really struck me is how I used to think that what Washington (or government in general) truly needs is people with a sense of humor, i.e., someone to deflate all of those hard-ass politicos who take themselves way too seriously, someone --- like all of those joke candidates we used to vote for student council back in high school and college --- who would bring some fresh air into the process, get people to the point where they can laugh at themselves, mend their differences, and concentrate on the stuff that really matters. Note that the student government entities at Princeton and Stanford had budgets in excess of $100,000 to spend (and that was 15-20 years ago); there are quite a few things you can do with that kind of money at that level. And the amazing thing about it all is that I remember the joke candidates often did a pretty good job once all of the dust settled, i.e., once they realized that they were in the hotseat now and had do something useful, and once the poltico types stuck in the room with them got over their outrage at what the election results implied, realized that their goals and the joke-candiate's goals weren't actually all that dissimilar, and settled down to work. This occasionally happens in real governments, too (cf. Jesse Ventura in Minnesota)." -- wrog, 2004-02-10

(And by the way, happy birthday to Interrobang.)