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“Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders." -George Carlin
The Ivy League mostly, with honorable mention to Stanford, MIT, and the bigger state Universities.
But also, they tend to come from the nation's wealthiest families, or as personal friends and social relations of these ultra-wealthy elites.
We had a 44 year run during which a Bush or a Clinton was a leading contender for President (1976 - 2020). What do you do when your options are so limited? Hell, guys like Trump and Biden are the outliers.
Get down to the state and local levels, and you'll see much the same. Perennial incumbents from entrenched social circles cement themselves into power and promote their cronies to surrounding offices. Down in Texas, you can point to the tight-knit social circle of former Bush-Era cronies running the state as their own private fief. Opponents are subject to a litany of subversive tactics, ranging from vigilante harassment to criminal prosecution. Voting participation is deliberately suppressed through both legal and illegal means. And misinformation runs rampant in a press owned and operated by outspoken fascists.
To say people are just picking its leadership on perceived merits is plainly false.
I think the quote is saying that leaders aren't being picked for perceived merits, rather we're just shitheads picking shitheads
Where are the non-shithead options?
Valid points, with love to George. But there's a bit missing from that pithy take. The reasons you don't see enough "good politicians" are the same systemic reasons we say "all cops are bastards".
The carrots and sticks in the system are all lined up to weed out a certain kind of person, and to give another kind as much help as they need. The carrots I'm thinking of are campaign finance and the sticks are corporate media.
The American political system loves people who are cynical mercenaries, vituperative demogoues, or any alloy of those traits flexible enough to find a lasting niche. The exceptions prove the rule, to my mind.
The only other time I've seen the word "pithy" was on the old cracked.com.
I suppose it would make sense when discussing fruit, as well.
Additionally, I looked up the word "pith" to make sure I wasn't being dumb and I learned it refers to the spinal cord! I've recently suffered a spinal injury, so that's useful information.
George Carlin was also an advocate for apathy and not voting, which is exactly what Republicans want.
Can't win them all. I ascribe to the saying "if voting didn't work, they wouldn't try so hard to stop people from doing it" though I am realistic about it's limitations. Voting each year is the bare minimum people can do to change conditions.
Between 2014 and 2024, Republicans became enthusiastic advocates for higher voter turnout. Trump's wins in 2016 and 2024 came through record numbers of Republican voters turning out in both the primary and general elections. Republicans have maintained control of Texas, Ohio, and Florida and tightly contested states like North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Pennsylvania by juicing their base voter participation.
The doggedly myth that Republicans only win when turnout is low was flatly disproven nearly a decade ago. Movement Conservatives have been more successful at turning out new voters in swing states than their Conservative Democrat peers, which is precisely why so many purple-ish states have swung red since the end of the Obama Era.