Under the Hood, or Perotmandias

Ross Perot, RIP:

Ross Perot, a self-made billionaire business magnate who twice ran as a third-party candidate for president, died Tuesday at his home in Dallas surrounded by family.

He was 89.

"In business and in life, Ross was a man of integrity and action," a statement from his family said. "A true American patriot and a man of rare vision, principle and deep compassion, he touched the lives of countless people through his unwavering support of the military and veterans and through his charitable endeavors."

I suppose that's true enough. At the time, particularly in 1992, he was seen as the guy who siphoned off enough votes from George H. W. Bush to allow Bill Clinton into the White House. That's debatable, and frankly not that interesting. The Bushes present their own issues.

Once Perot lost his second race, back in 1996, we didn't hear much from him any more. I don't see that the issues he was most concerned about have been addressed. Government has grown under Clinton, W, Obama, and Trump. Perot's concern about the national debt? Pshaw. Perot liked graphs. Here's one:

Spending fools

These debts will never be repaid, of course. You can blame presidents for spending, but Congress holds the power of the purse and it hasn't mattered one bit -- they all spend like there's no tomorrow. Tomorrow will arrive eventually. But the reckoning? Who knows?

As for Perot, he's as relevant now as any of his other third-party predecessors were. He might as well be Fighting Bob La Follette or Strom Thurmond in his Dixiecrat phase. We don't have anyone who is seeking to repair our government any more. Trump is simply trying to forestall worse ideas than what we've seen and endured already.

Round the decay/Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare/The lone and level sands stretch far away.

George H. W. Bush, RIP

Time waits for no one

We're all a mixed bag, I guess. George H. W. Bush certainly was one. He served his country in a variety of ways. We read his lips. He lost the presidency to an outright scoundrel. I always had a tough time getting the stench of his time at CIA out of my nose. Thousand points of light. Voodoo Economics. The Wall came down on his watch, but his predecessor was largely responsible for that. He was personally as gracious a man as ever occupied the Oval Office, but he could be a vicious politician when he had to be. His son became president and was even more of a muddle than he was.

Sorting out 41's legacy will be a challenge for historians. I think we're still too close. My sense right now -- his time was a wasted opportunity, but there's this -- of the presidents in my lifetime (Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, Trump), he's clearly the second best one. That's damning with faint praise, I guess.