Fringe Politicians and Their Sources

For John, BLUF:  Bad Leadership begets change of leadership.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here is Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds' USA Today offering for Monday, the 11th of January.  The headline is "Feckless leadership here and in Europe open doors for the fringe".

You think that Mr Donald Trump or Dr Ben Carson are from the Republican fringe (or that Senator Bernie Sanders is from the Democrat/Socialist fringe), then to what do you attribute their rise?  If you think French Politician Marine Le Pen is from the French fringe, then to whom do you attribute her survival in politics?  If you answered President Obama and President Hollande, respectively, then you are on target.  There are more who could be named, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  The "fringe" candidates are like liquid seeking a level.  And, remember, those looking at what the Bien-pensant call the fringe are looking up, not down.

Here is the Bottom Line from Professor Reynolds' article:

But what should worry us is that so many of our leaders, in so many ways, are painfully inept — and more interested in shutting up people who notice problems than they are in actually addressing the problems.  When the establishment fails so spectacularly — and so dishonestly — at doing its job, non-establishment figures come forth.  For good or for ill, that’s likely to be the theme of the next few years.

Former Army Chief of Staff (and former Norwich University Graduate) General Gordon Sullivan published a book almost twenty years ago, titled Hope is Not a Method.  There you have it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff