I read an article today about Sarah Palin resigning her position over to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell... and her plans for the future are still unclear. So, what was it that was so important that she had to leave office? Was it the mounting lawsuits against her that drove her out? Or is she just irritated with the media repetitively bashing her family? In my opinion - with the exception of death and forced resignation - there is NO reason good enough to leave office before your term is over.
And, before you read any more, I just want you to know that during the elections, I was neither for nor against Sarah Palin... and, before that, I didn't even know who she was. So, when I write this, understand that it is not necessarily her I'm talking about here. I guess I just don't understand what makes a politician - a person who is SERVING our country - think they can just stop doing that whenever they want to, without good reason.
Let's consider the military, another position where a person serves our country. If a soldier is told to be in a certain place, at a certain time, to do a certain job, they HAVE to or they face certain consequence. And, in worst case scenario, like "desertion," you face the death penalty... although, since the Civil War, only one soldier has been put to death for desertion, Private Eddie Slovik in 1945.
As a matter of fact, there are all kinds of laws for soldiers in this type of situation. So many, that it becomes wordy and confusing (check out some of them here). You can see how the matter of "intent" becomes very important in this type of situation. So, why do we judge the military so much more harshly?
Let's just say you've already been to war and, for whatever reason, you don't want to go back... so, why the hell should you have to? If you're the type of person that would say "because that person took an oath and they should be responsible for following through," then isn't that same true for politicians? Don't they take an oath? Shouldn't they have to follow through with some type of responsibility? And, on the flip-side, if a soldier or a politician decides they can no longer fulfill their position, then they BOTH should be allowed to step down... for ANY reason!
I mean, let's face it, both the position of a soldier and that of a politician are very stressful careers that would affect all aspects of a person's life. For the politician, there is ongoing mental stress because of the sheer fact that you are ALWAYS working... day, night, holiday, vacation... it doesn't matter. For the soldier, this is also true... except there is both mental and physical stress, especially if they've been to war.
It's obvious to me that we are doing the opposite of anything that resembles compassion here. It's clear that the soldier endures and sacrifices so much more than a politician, but yet we judge them so much more harshly. If anything, they should be judged the same way... again, "with good reason" ANY person should be able to step down. But, if there was any amount of compassion here, we would judge our politicians much more severely than our soldiers, for obvious reason.
