Grown Up Conversations. Are We Ready Yet?
February 19th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Democracy, Public Leaders
“[W]e are at a point right now where it doesn’t make a damn whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican if you’ve forgotten you’re an American.” – Alan Simpson Amen! Alan Simpson is one of the first members of the political class I’ve heard talk like a grown up in a long time. I am hopeful that the former Republican Senator from Wyoming and his Democratic counterpart, Erskine Bowles, can help our country have adult conversations about the fiscal challenges facing [...]
Read more...Does Sarah Palin Go Too Far?
February 11th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Civility, Democracy, Public Leaders
Are you old enough to remember the 1988 Presidential Election? The Democratic Party nominated Senator Lloyd Bentsen for vice-president. The GOP nominated 41 year-old Dan Quayle for this position. Senator Quayle’s age was considered a liability. To compensate, Senator Quayle pointed out often that he was of a similar age as John F. Kennedy when Kennedy became President. Senator Bentsen capitalized on Senator Quayle’s age and the comparisons to President Kennedy during their vice-presidential debate. Senator Bentsen’s quip is legendary, “Senator, I served [...]
Read more...Fix Congress First Should Be Second
February 5th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Civility, Democracy, Public Leaders
The American people have lost confidence in Congress as an institution. The evidence is clear and overwhelming. The Gallup organization’s tracking polls show confidence in Congress remains near historic lows. Only, twelve percent of Americans expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress in 2008. People’s confidence level remained at an anemic seventeen percent in 2009. A summer 2009 Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that fifty-seven percent of Americans would vote to replace the entire Congress and [...]
Read more...Too Few Politicians?
November 8th, 2009 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Democracy, Education, Longmont, WTC
I am a fan of experiential learning. It makes sense for doctors to first be residents, for teachers to first be student teachers, and for electricians to first be apprentices. People learn to be better at their work when they practice. The same holds true for governing ourselves. We are a stronger democracy when people have experience as public decision makers. I serve on my local school board. It is a far different experience to make decisions on behalf of [...]
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