Promising The World

Tuesday, I posted a piece on Sego's glass promises and I suspect most of the regulars have already read it. But if not, you can read it here. It's apparent that Sego is dropping in the polls, so what's she doing to reverse that? What's a politician do almost anytime they are losing ground? They make promises.

Now, don't get me wrong here. Selling the cause of a candidate is a fundamental trademark of any free and democratic society, and one cannot use this as the sole basis of criticism for that candidate. But, what "we the people" simply must do in order to sort through the muck and the mire of things, is the same thing any consumer must do when they make a purchase, buyer beware. In this particular case, Sego has made more promises than she may be able to keep, because of the enormous cost that comes with the implementation of said promises.

Here's an article that reports, she is not quite sure how she is going to pay for her lofty dreams and fantasies, should she be elected.

PARIS: The day after Ségolène Royal, the French Socialist presidential candidate, unveiled an ambitious election platform that would add billions of euros to government spending, her campaign said Monday it needed a little more time to figure out who would pay for it.

Here's a prime example of not thinking through a proposal or idea, before it is offered. Sego's camp sees she is faltering, so what's the option? Promise the moon to get attention (and leave the details to be worked out later). If I were a concerned French citizen, I'd definitely be wondering if this is a preview of how things would be done, should she get elected. I don't know about others, but haphazardly and reactively is not how I want an elected official to behave when charged with such enormous responsibility.

It's one thing to be able to react to unforeseen, unexpected, serious events. That's a quality a leader must have. But, it's quite another to have time to put together a plan or proposal, and not have it fully developed before it is introduced (when there is no immediate pressure to do so). It's lazy, desperate, and shows how seriously committed a candidate truly is (or in this case, isn't).

My grandmother used to have a saying, she would say to me when I was a kid (and my own when they were little) and made desperate promises:

Promises are like pie crust, easy made and easy broken.

That pretty much sums up this case, right here. If not, it's going to be one lousy tasting pie for those that have to foot the bill.