Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
I see Pejman Yousefzadeh has a suggestion for me: Following Professor Ignatieff’s lead, there is no reason whatsoever why we in America cannot elect academics to Congress. Indeed, now that Daniel Drezner will be decamping to Massachusetts, and given the fact that Ted Kennedy will be up for re-election this year . . . Well, ...
I see Pejman Yousefzadeh has a suggestion for me: Following Professor Ignatieff's lead, there is no reason whatsoever why we in America cannot elect academics to Congress. Indeed, now that Daniel Drezner will be decamping to Massachusetts, and given the fact that Ted Kennedy will be up for re-election this year . . . Well, I don't have to draw a picture for you, do I? Which is what inspired the title to this post. And also this link to a William Tecumseh Sherman quote. [You're afraid of all the rumors involving you, Salma Hayek, and the butterscotch toppng, aren't you?--ed.] No, I've met politicians, and I know I'm not one of their breed. I don't say this in a haughty, superior way, but rather with a sense of awe at the drive required to run for elected office in modern America. A few years ago I spent some time with a guy who was planning on running for Congress a year later. This guy wasn't a political legacy or anything, just someone who wanted to be a politician. What I remember about him was the focus, energy, and almost-animal appetite he brought to the task. He reveled in he things about campaigns that I would find infuriating. I found the experience akin to being in a room with the biggest, baddest alpha dog you've ever seen. Sure, once you get elected, the advantages of incumbency are pretty powerful. But to get to that point, you not only have to desire the office, you have to desire making the journey as well. That's not me. And so I teach instead.... [Wow, that was deep.... so what you're really afraid of are all the rumors involving you, Scarlett Johansson, and the buttersco--ed. Oh, give it up.]
I see Pejman Yousefzadeh has a suggestion for me:
Following Professor Ignatieff’s lead, there is no reason whatsoever why we in America cannot elect academics to Congress. Indeed, now that Daniel Drezner will be decamping to Massachusetts, and given the fact that Ted Kennedy will be up for re-election this year . . . Well, I don’t have to draw a picture for you, do I?
Which is what inspired the title to this post. And also this link to a William Tecumseh Sherman quote. [You’re afraid of all the rumors involving you, Salma Hayek, and the butterscotch toppng, aren’t you?–ed.] No, I’ve met politicians, and I know I’m not one of their breed. I don’t say this in a haughty, superior way, but rather with a sense of awe at the drive required to run for elected office in modern America. A few years ago I spent some time with a guy who was planning on running for Congress a year later. This guy wasn’t a political legacy or anything, just someone who wanted to be a politician. What I remember about him was the focus, energy, and almost-animal appetite he brought to the task. He reveled in he things about campaigns that I would find infuriating. I found the experience akin to being in a room with the biggest, baddest alpha dog you’ve ever seen. Sure, once you get elected, the advantages of incumbency are pretty powerful. But to get to that point, you not only have to desire the office, you have to desire making the journey as well. That’s not me. And so I teach instead…. [Wow, that was deep…. so what you’re really afraid of are all the rumors involving you, Scarlett Johansson, and the buttersco–ed. Oh, give it up.]
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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