Presidential Advice from My Favorite Diner

Have you ever stopped in one of those small diners or corner cafes – usually located in a crossroads town of less than 7,000?

If you have, then you already know what I am about to say.

You’ll likely see someone reading a newspaper off in a corner, or perhaps sipping coffee with a friend in a booth, or – if you’re in a really old one – they might be sitting on a stool at the soda fountain. And if you listen carefully, you will discover America’s biggest heretofore undisclosed national secret: Diners and corner cafes are the birthplace of America’s greatest ideas.

These people are known by different names in different communities – diner cowboys, cafe mayors, drugstore philosophers – but they all serve the same function: Solve the nation’s problems before leaving the diner or café or drugstore. They never disappoint those within earshot. They always find a way to solve the nation’s problems with a simple, direct and often immediate plan. And when they get up to leave the drugstore, no matter where they hail from, they always say the same thing: “If one of us went to Washington, we could straighten that place out in no time.”

And everybody nods in agreement. Regrettably, none of our leaders are there to hear the sage advice.

Now comes Sarah Palin. She’s like the waitress in the diner, listening to all the comments, who comes out from behind the counter, bragging, “And I could show ‘em a thing or two myself!”

I’m not putting these folks down. I apologize if anyone has been offended. These diners and cafes, frequented by “local experts” can be found in our nation’s major cities, too. You know 'em; you've been there, too.

And they’re all doing what citizens have done since the beginning of this republic – kibitzing about the problems that vex our leaders with suggestions that more often than not reflect a total lack of knowledge or understanding of complex issues.

Here’s the truth: Governing a nation as large as ours and as complex as ours is hard. The creation and execution of policy is difficult work. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires sound judgment and prudence.

And make no mistake about it, our nation faces difficult, complex, intractable problems that challenge the best minds in America. The solutions offered by Sarah Palin and John McCain so far are not any more helpful than those one might hear at my favorite coffee shop. America deserves better. No offense, Myrtle.