We’re about to vote in Massachusetts. A variety of folks are vying to become governor. Nobody seems to notice that the existing governor, Mitt Romney, didn’t accomplish anything substantial during his four years in office. It seems that the office is purely ceremonial and that all of the power is with the legislature.
Ted Kennedy is running more or less unopposed for Senator. I’m not sure what it says about a state that nobody more sober and worthy than Ted K. can be found to run for national office. I’m not sure if politicians can still take home their unused campaign funds when they retire, but Ted supposedly has more than $7 million in the bank that he won’t be spending.
Speaking of national office, John Kerry isn’t running, but he is talking about how poorly educated our military personnel are. All of the folks I’ve met who served in Iraq seemed to be of above-average motivation and education. On the same day that Kerry was in the news, I had lunch with one of my instrument airplane students. He is a U.C. Berkeley-educated engineer who has worked designing high-speed CPU chips. At the age of 35, he has decided to apply to join the Army Reserve as a helicopter pilot. I asked if he was concerned about the possiblity of being sent to Iraq. “If they asked me, I would be honored to serve.”
It’s sad that Senator Kerry hasn’t used his position in your state to encourage the Ivy League schools to reinstate ROTC.