Why a book is different from a politician?

I believe the major differences between a book and a politician are:
1. Books are published to educate, add meaning to our lives, teach us something, as a guide as well as to entertain. Politicians are well ... you will see the difference big time if you treat them as guides, as teachers, entertainers and educators.See my drift? Look at Tina Fey parading as Sarah Palin at every turn. One has to look hard and listen carefully to spot the differences between Fey and the real Palin. They look identical, sound similar, wear similar clothing, have similar hairdos - the only giveaway is how popular Fey is with the audience and how quickly she can turn the room into a circus. Pity the real Palin could not turn her audience into a bunch of lemmings the way Fey can.

2. Books go through a rigorous process of writing, editing, reviews and more assessment before they can be published. I should know. I am an academic. We go through hell to get data, then get peer reviewed, then get university assessed for proper funding before it goes out the university press house for limited numbers of publication copies.

3. Books are notations written to denote the times and challenges we face as a community in this period of time. You can read economist Adam Smith right through to Keynes and Sach to see the economic policies that were implemented to circumvent the crisis and drive US economy. Keynes wrote many articles and books for us to follow through and debate the benefits of his ideologies. I tended to agree with some of them in my university days. However, times have changed with the current global financial crisis and with new terminology of “greed”, “ the new poor” and the role of regulators in the financial industries. Politicians, well, they can drive the economy by talking it up to instil consumer confidence rather than begging people not to spend money. Consumer confidence is an important indicator of our market index and so leaders have to be cautious on comments on public spending and fiscal policy.

4. Books can be recycled or pulped or reprinted due to popular demand. Dr Seuss’s books are being reprinted due to recent interest, so old books do have some intrinsic value in them to teach us basic values and decency. Politicians, can they be recycled, re-done and copied into something that is relevant to current needs? President Jimmy Carter is one of few older politicians who can rejuvenate his status relevant to current US situations – rallying for funds and international awareness over a range of humanitarian causes. The same goes to President Clinton. They still can maximise their currency and credibility as motivators, leading the way for community efforts to rebuild towns damaged by recent floods in US.

5. Books are for reference to guide us to the future like a road map. It may not be accurate but at least they provide some indications on how we are going to manage our current times and the challenges ahead. As it was written in the good book of Ecclesiastes, nothing is new under the sun: “..Whilst there is unceasing change, nothing is new; it is but a repetition of what has been before, and which again soon passes, leaving the heart empty and hungry still...”
Politicians, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen, each trying to outdo one another with their brand of bravado, language, policies, leadership style and their tenacity on certain projects to make sure they or the people benefit. So are the politicians trying to make a difference in our lives? Yes. They try to do that publicly, taking advantage of photo opportunities from kissing babies, talking to elderly folks, distributing money and mattresses to flood victims and the like. What is new? Again, all these are not new. Ask any newspaper seller and they will tell you, election is coming soon.

I could go on but I rather stop here in case you are getting migraine from my writings.
As posted in http://www.thenutgraph.com/books-and-politicians