Rearrange Priorities: We’ve had enough lawyers

Despite all of their other differences, our elected representatives have one important thing in common. Right wing or left wing, Democrat or Republican, in the Senate, the House, or the White House, the majority of our representatives share the same profession: law. For many years, studying law has been the plan for most ambitious, would-be politicians, and law schools promote themselves as the critical first step on a road to holding elected office.

On some level, this makes sense. After all, we are expecting these people to make our laws for us, so it seems like a good idea to have lawmakers who have been educated to actually understand how the law works. Lawyer-politicians have been telling us for years that they studied law because they were devoted to public service, and that makes them perfectly suited for holding elected office and making laws.

However, what do you think of when you think of a lawyer? I, for one, do not think of civically-minded defenders of the public good or people who are devoted to serving their country. I think of ambulance chasers, of sleazy, two-faced liars with no respect for the truth. These attorneys go to university for years, and the skills they learn are how to sell themselves to the highest bidder and how to look you in the eyes and lie to your face. Lawyers are trained to think that the truth is relative, that the “right answer” is the one that gets them what they want, and that “prove me wrong” is the best approach to dealing with different viewpoints.

It should be clear to anyone that while these practices might be necessary in a court room, they are toxic in the context of a democracy. It is the job of lawmakers to listen to the facts and come up with the best solution for the problems they face. Our current batch of politicians chooses a side, then lies, deceives, and accuses their opposition of being liars and criminals. Is it any wonder that our government has become the mess that it is?

Richard Nixon was a lawyer before he was President, and he was at the head of one of the largest criminal political scandals in American history. Bill Clinton was a lawyer, and debased the office of the President. Barack Obama was a lawyer, and has almost singlehandedly divided the population of the country against itself with his political maneuvering. The Senate and House are packed full of former lawyers, all of whom are trading votes, ignoring inconvenient truths, and working hard to make sure that they represent their corporate owners at the expense of the American people.

We need our politicians to have more varied, real world skillsets. We need people who have learned to look hard at problems and solve them, not look at a problem and decide how to blame it on the other side for political advantage. We need politicians who are used to dealing with real people so that they know how important it is to stand by their word, instead of saying one thing and doing another. We need politicians with diverse real world experiences that will help them appreciate different perspectives, instead of viewing everything through the lens of the legal game.

In short, we need to rearrange our priorities. We need politicians who will actually work to solve our problems. We need a change. In 2016, cast your write-in vote for Art Drew for President of the United States.