Dope v. Hope

First off, apologies to my six or so faithful readers for my absence. Last week was a busy one and the blogging dropped off. I was appropriately shamed, however, so I hope to make up for it in the coming week(s).

60 Minutes ran two segments highlighting two individuals, Grover Norquist and Christine Lagarde, that could not be more different in my mind. They both are clearly very intelligent people but people who utilize their intelligence in very different manners. Grover Norquist, of Harvard and HBS, has formed a a libertarian advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, whose "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" has held Republican congressman hostage for decades. Even in his short 60 Minutes segment, Norquist comes across as the dorky kid in high school that got a taste of a bit of power and now clearly revels in the fact that he has the rich, popular kids come to kiss his ring. He wisely deflects questions about being a tool for corporate interests and not divulging his supporters by stating that he is looking out for the American voter, despite the majority of Americans supporting tax increases. Long story short, I think he's a scourge on the American electorate and he gives me the willies. Christine Lagarde, on the complete opposite hand, is my homegirl. She was the first female chairman of Baker & McKenzie, a massive international law firm, then became the first female minister in charge of economic affairs in France, and just recently became the managing director of the IMF. Clearly she's one bad ass mofo (fafo?). Unlike Norquist, she comes across as a humble, hard working pragmatists that was too proud to join an elite French law firm because they stated she would never make partner as a woman (she just walked out of the interview... bad. ass.). She called out the French worker for being too lazy, Wall Street for ignoring the coming financial crisis in 2008 and now calling out the entire global financial industry for not accepting regulations quickly enough.

I'd recommend watching both segments and making your own decisions but I think many of the problems in the US exist because people like Norquist have too much power and  not enough people like Lagarde do.