Mayor Jim Watson...

Is Doing A Good Job.

No I am not having you on.

Admittedly, I did not vote for Jim Watson, nor do I intend to vote for him in the future - he is a Liberal and I am a Libertarian - that is to say, right of the Conservatives.

But Mr. Watson has done an admiral job of effectively running the affairs of our great city.

He is spending more - but is keeping those additional expenditures within reason.

The main reason though that I have become a bit of fan, is the fact that he has restored civility to the operations of City Council. During his term, we have been spared the antics displayed by individual and groups of councillors so much in evidence during the administration of previous Mayor Larry O'Brien.

I voted for O'Brien - the first time, since I thought we needed to bring some 'business' discipline to reign in Ottawa's out of control spending. Although I stand by my desire to see business discipline applied to government, I soon realized that O'Brien was out of his depth. He was a good businessman but a very poor politician. When he needed to encourage unity, he sowed dissent.

I misunderestimated the importance of candidates having a political background.

This lack of background has been evident lately at other levels of government, indeed even at the highest level in the entire world. Barack Obama came into the Presidency after only a brief stint in the Senate. He too has reaped dissent when he should have been encouraging unity.

His main tactic is to criticize anyone and everyone who he sees as not sharing his particular vision at the time. He should instead be trying to form bridges to such groups to better the chances of overall success.

One of the leading Republican Candidates is Pizza Mogul Herman Cain. A nice chap with some good policies but he too lacks the needed political background. He is running for a job that does not lend itself to on the job training.

Indeed, in regard to the Presidency, to be effective - a successful candidate must intimately understand the intricacies of how government works in the most important and powerful country in the world. It is not something you can learn from a book - it is something you need to be steeped in.

One of the most effective politicians in recent history was Lydon Johnson who, up until the time he became President - he had spent a lifetime in Congress learning the ropes - its secrets, and forging alliances.

Obama should never have become President and hopefully Cain never will.

We need politicians to make government work.

Now if only we can keep them from lying every time they open their mouths.

As I see it ...

'K.D. Galagher'