Pick the Right Parents

The popular myth is that any kid can grow up to be President. Sadly, this is not the case. At the time I became politically aware of issues, legislation and candidates, I prayed that my children would *not* want to be President. There were so many compromises made just to get to the House, the Senate, or the Governor's Mansion, that it occurred to me "any kid" cannot afford just waltz in there. Even when we elected "someone good" to the House, they always ended up voting for stupid bills and I found myself wanting to get rid of them once more! They have to make alliances with PACs and special interest groups to get the funding to advertise and run an effective campaign.

Even being rich on your own doesn't do it. Ross Perot is proof of that.

Recently, I read that Barack Obama is related to every President except Martin Van Buren. Why does this not surprise me? How does an allegedly foreign-born "outsider" waltz into the White House? It wasn't just the political compromises and financial alliances. The same way the peanut farmer from Georgia did it in the 1970s. Like royalty, he was born into it, groomed since birth.

KSBW.com says this:

BridgeAnne d'Avignon, who attends Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville, traced that Obama, and all other U.S. presidents except Martin Van Buren, are related to John "Lackland" Plantagenet, a king of England and signer of the Magna Carta.

The student and her grandfather, who is a genealogist, spent this past summer designing the first known family tree chart in history that shows the presidents' direct relationship. BridgeAnne's grandfather has researched president genealogy for 60 years.

So there you have it. If you want to be President, it's very simple.

Pick the right parents.

What are the *realistic* career choices you would like for your kids?