←back to thread

Pope Francis has died

(www.reuters.com)
916 points phillipharris | 3 comments | 21 Apr 25 08:00 UTC | HN request time: 0.445s | source
Show context
d3ckard ◴[21 Apr 25 08:57 UTC] No.43749741[source]▶
I think he will be mostly remembered as a terrible politician, first alienating conservatives with progressive policy and then alienating liberals with very questionable opinions on war in Ukraine.

In the end, nobody was really happy with him. On the other hand, he definitely had a will and a spine to stick to his own opinions - I guess that counts for something.

replies(5): >>43749817 #>>43750002 #>>43750102 #>>43750219 #>>43750613 #
1. pyfon ◴[21 Apr 25 09:40 UTC] No.43750002[source]▶
A good politician is a people pleaser?
replies(2): >>43750034 #>>43750192 #
2. dredmorbius ◴[21 Apr 25 09:44 UTC] No.43750034[source]▶
A comment I'd heard some time back concerned a politician. The speaker (not a politician themselves, but recalling an interaction with one) had said to the politician something like "I suppose you want to win with the biggest majority possible". The politician responded along the lines of, "No, that would mean I wasn't doing my job; if I'm really pushing the limits of the possible I'll have just the barest majority."

People pleasing in politics means never pushing out of the public's comfort zone.

(And no, this isn't an endorsement of any current orange head of state, far from it.)

3. d3ckard ◴[21 Apr 25 10:11 UTC] No.43750192[source]▶
A good politician is able to garner support to enact change.