Don't hate on golf!

Hugo Chavez recently lambasted the sport of golf, describing it as a sport for rich, fat, lazy people. In some ways golf is a sport for the rich, be it with high green fees and expensive clubs, but there are ways to play on the cheap. There are indeed some heavier hitters in the game, but try walking 18 holes in the hot sun and tell me it isn't a workout. I just hope golf courses in Venezuela do not retaliate to these unfair and daft comments. Otherwise they may, like the Venezuelan press, be deemed a threat to Venezuela's security.

Chavez' golf remarks are almost as keen as his failed law to prevent parents from giving their children names that are invented, difficult to pronounce in Spanish, or exotic. Guess we don't have to say adios to Richard Nixon Rodriguez.

Political Capital

I find the idea of political capital quite intriguing. Essentially, people define political capital as the popularity or trustworthiness of a leader. This capital can then be leveraged by said leader to enact certain policies or ideas that, without such popularity, would be impossible to accomplish.

There is no way around political capital, but I find it somewhat outlandish. The idea of a popularity contest being the prerequisite for pursuing important policy is, in my humble opinion, backwards. A leader will make mistakes, especially early on in their tenure, and will (hopefully) learn from those mistakes. Without grace from the public, said leader will have "spent" all of their political capital making mistakes. Wouldn't we wish for a seasoned leader to be able to have the benefit of experience on their side when making important policy decisions? If mistakes were made early on, or if unpopular policies were enacted, and this person is bankrupt of political capital, should social security reform receive the ax? Currently the president finds himself in a quandary of finite political capital; in a push to enact healthcare reform, financial regulation reform will hit the back-burner. Isn't the failure of financial regulation what got us in this recession in the first place?

I'm not critiquing the President's agenda, I'm critiquing the idea that popularity drives reform. Any leader that reforms the entitlement system is bound to bear the scorn of the public, even if they do a good job. In our current environment, damn any politician that is courageous in undertaking truly necessary reforms. Forget ensuring that our Baby Boomers can retire without being penniless, politicians should, instead, focus on creating show trials in which to burn greedy bankers and businessmen at the stake. It is only then that the American public is satisfied with their leaders and precious political capital can be accumulated.