Gary Nelson: We get the candidates we deserve

Well, the presidential election seems to be shaping up well. Either we are going to be represented by a bloodthirsty megalomaniac, who is a proven and deceitful liar, in complete league with the greedy banks and corporations on Wall Street, or we are going to get Donald Trump. Well, OK, Trump seems to fit nicely into that description as well.

But with Trump, of course, we have the specter of having a scandalous spouse in the White House. Oops.

So was Alexis de Tocqueville correct when he said we get the government we deserve? Does the politician who “rises to the top” actually reflect the political and cultural values of the nation?

I think so. For the most part, we are greedy, immoral people looking for a quick and simple answer and willing to overlook even the most inglorious faults of our nation’s leaders. I think this election, before it even happens, is an indictment of a people that has lost its course over the last 50 years and is floating adrift in a sea of self-love and hedonism.

We can’t fix it overnight, but looking at the garbage that is this election is looking into a mirror of our future.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Gary Nelson: We get the candidates we deserve."