[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Validius

Your right... It just bugs me that any politician would be at FIRST at all. I cant se any reason for her to be there other then petty political gain. She does not have a technical background. She has no appriciation of what the teams really accomplish! Politics and FIRST are diametrically opposed no matter which side of the isle you are on. There is no Gracious Professionalism in politics, there is no teamwork. It is all cutthroat tactics to get yourself ahead and sway the sheeple in your direction.

I really mean this in the nicest possible way, and not to insult you, but it is suspect that you have no real-world experience with politics, and have never worked with politicians to get something accomplished. I suggest that you widen your vision a little bit and learn that there are lots of different ways to accomplish many things. There is a lot more to politics than swaying the sheeple in your direction.

It is a tremendous boost to FIRST to have politicians at all levels interested in our program. I have been actively working to get local politicians interested in our program -- both to ask them for help with community support and funding, and to educate them on what we do for the community. Rather than disparaging elected officials, we should heed Dean's suggestion that we build and cultivate relations with them.