In this complex world, where problems can be so multifaceted that their solutions produce disastrous side effects, the people charged with making the decisions that shape our lives are often the least qualified to do so.
Tim D’Annunzio (photo above) could be one example.
The North Carolina businessman is the Tea Party’s choice for a seat in the United States Congress.
D’Annunzio was the leading vote getter in the recent Republican primary and will face sportscaster Harold Johnson in a June 22 runoff. The winner will take on Democratic incumbent Larry Kissell in November.
At first glance, D’Annunzio appears to be a typical gun-and-God crusader who wants to drastically reduce the size of government and privatize such “safety net” programs as Social Security and Medicare.
The former Army paratrooper is married to a veteran and has six children. Their two youngest children are home schooled. He loathes Barack Obama and doesn’t mind saying so.
It’s a profile that would fit any number of Tea Party candidates.
And it is quite possible that Tim D’Annunzio will end up in Congress.
Yet a closer look at this man’s past reveals he claimed to be the Messiah, tried to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid on Greenland to house the New Jerusalem, and says he found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona. His blog is titled “Christ’s War.”
No kidding.
In addition, he reportedly received treatment for heroin dependence, and was jailed for burglary and assaulting a police officer.
I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the crimes and sins committed by elected politicians all over the world. On the whole, politicians seem to be a despicable lot. But you would hope they are reasonably smart.
That isn’t necessarily so. Apparently they might not even be sane.
It seems anyone can be elected to any position. Candidates take no test to determine their ability, knowledge – or even sanity. And, especially in countries with large populations, hardly anybody knows who they really are.
Doesn’t that give you the shivers?
As Winston Churchill observed, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”
