Bad Company

"They should stop kissing babies and write some poetry." He meant the politicians. I nodded in agreement. The idea appealed, but then I thought of all the bad poetry in the world, especially the political poetry, and I shuddered. He continued - "Art lifts us above the base condition. It inspires us beyond the personal." His words seemed plausible, until I recalled that Hitler was an artist, that Mao and other dictators wrote poetry, some of it acclaimed. I shuddered again. A man is judged by the company he keeps.