When I get depressed or frustrated or infuriated with how things are going politically I escape into a home-made fantasy whereby someone from the past time travels to the present to advise one of our political leaders for a week. Who would you pick?
When I enter this little bit of escapism I seem to often go back to our Founding Fathers to spend some time with President Obama. I want someone who knows our Constitution, who could survive the cultural shock of the pluralistic society we have today and who would have the self confidence to tell it like he saw it. Somehow, I always end up with Benjamin Franklin. (How about a plane ride to Paris Mr. Franklin?)
Looking at the 20th Century I'm often drawn to Harry Truman (hey, he desegregated the military) or LBJ (though I'm not sure he could deal with having a black President).
Who would Senator Reid listen to? Thomas Jefferson who cut from his Bible the passages he disagree with? Abraham Lincoln - a man who agonized over the decisions he had to make for the good of the country?
The aristocratic Franklin Roosevelt?
Could a Mahatma Ghandi have an influence in this world today?