Red *#%$ Tape and Other Necessary Evils

Bureaucracy. Red Tape. Pencil Pushing Bureaucrats.
All the entities I can remember my parents rallying against when I was a child.
What is a bureaucrat? The dictionary lists the following definitions:

Unnecessary, as in avoidable, futile, gratuitous, irrelevant, useless and worthless.

 But does bureaucracy actually have a purpose in our every day lives?
 Terry Gilliam's 1985 film explores the world of the bureaucracy and gives the bureaucrat a human face.  Bureaucrats have feelings, and are not beholden to the rules that govern their occupations. According to Gilliam, bureaucrats are able to make their own decisions and are not strictly guided by the rules arbitrarily imposed by the bureaucracy.  I'm not so sure I buy in to that assertion. What are your experiences with the bureaucracy? Do you agree with Gilliam?

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington- And then What?

Frank Capra's 1939 film about a political outsider going to Washington to "change" the status quo may have been filmed over 50 years ago, but its content remains relevant today.

Jimmy Stewart's character starts out in the film as a young, impressionable Washington outsider. He's soon targeted by the usual political suspects.  His own ally in the Senate, a co-senator, attempts to bury him politically and sully his name.

The film has an ultimate "happy ending" in which Stewart's "Bailey" character is absolved.  But how realistic is this scenario?  How many senators have shown up on the steps of Congress, ready to affect change, only to have their own parties turn on them when they went against the status quo and refused to tow the party line?

The Candidate- Corrupted by the System or Corrupting the System?

The Politics of Personality.

How many times have you heard people attribute election results to a candidates popularity or personality ratings in the polls?  "She was too polarizing"  etc. Candidates for higher office have become  increasingly hand picked and packaged to win by pollsters and political consultants who seem to keep their ears to the ground and their fingers in the air when testing the political waters.

 "The Candidate", a 1972 film by Director Michael Ritchie exposed the political machine associated with "candidate creation." Robert Redford's naive candidate is initially visited in his "ingenue" stage and then followed as he becomes a political player, both denying and inevitably giving in to the system he so desperately wants to change.
John Edwards was poised to win the Democrat  nomination in 2008.  However, Mr. Edward's handlers weren't able to keep his personal life away from the political spotlight.   Unlike Redford's character in the Candidate, Mr. Edwards was a savvy political player, well aware of the rules of the game. He was very well "packaged" for the position. A successful lawyer and family man, he seemed to be well suited for political office on the national stage. However, when news of an extra-marital affair broke,  his handlers couldn't fend off the political backlash created by his infidelity. Edwards ended up stepping out of the race, and out of the political spotlight.