"That's why I write, because life never works except in retrospect. You can't control life, at least you can control your own version." -- Chuck Palaniuk (Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories)

OOC: Contains spoilers for 4.13, "The Oath."

I hate politics. I always meant to get out of that particular squad of rats while I still had the time to do so.

It always amazed me that Wally was able to survive, and even thrive, in that cut-throat world. He was, by definition, the very antithesis of a politician. He was more of a public servant than a politician. That's another thing that's always amazed me. Before I actually got into the world of politics, I was of the naive belief that politics was a necessary evil in the world of public service, that the two went hand-in-hand. The angel and the devil on the shoulder, counterbalancing each other.

Being a schoolteacher was simple. All I had to do was teach children and practice simple diplomacy, which has always been one of the fundamentals of any public servant's core qualities. Humility is also a quality that schoolteachers and public servants share and noticeably absent in any true politician.

If you want to shrink your soul to the size of a pea in no time flat, then politics is the arena for you. I've never seen so many self-serving bastards in one place as I have during all the tedious meetings, parties, events, so on and so forth, that I attended as Superintendent of Schools and then Secretary of Education. I got tired of it very quickly, but I stayed because I believed in one of them. He was supposed to change the world, and I think he started out with all the good intentions in the world, which is a better start than those who got into politics for the fame and power. Richard Adar never craved power, but I think he allowed himself to be swept up in it.

Politics is also unpredictable. I originally got into politics to do my part to clean up the Caprica City school district. I could probably sit down, write a book chronicling my journey from schoolteacher to President of the Colonies, read what I'd written, and still have no idea how I got to this place in my life.

I hate politics, but I'm very good at it.

 

President Laura Roslin
BSG
358 words

 It was cold. Cold and wet, but it didn't make one bit of difference to Laura as she trudged her way to the first (and thus far only) bar in New Caprica City. Maya had decided to turn in early after spending the better part of a day nursing Isis through a cold. Luckily, Cottle had not had to be called, but Maya had decided to keep a close watch over the baby, practically chasing Laura out of the tent they shared. And since there was really nowhere else to go, Laura decided to take a chance and head for the bar. She'd heard that it was actually a very pleasant place to be.

After all, Tory had been badgering her about keeping up at least a pretense of interest in what was going on. Maybe she'd run into Wally while she was there, or some of Bill's people. He'd asked her to keep an eye on them and so far, the only people she really interacted with on a daily basis were the Tyrols and Kara Thrace.

And Zarek, but she wasn't going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole. She hoped if she kept ignoring the Vice-President, he'd eventually give up and start getting himself together a harem the way Baltar had.

She stepped into the tent, trying to quell her nerves. Already she heard music playing and voices raised in pleasant and stimulating conversation. She supposed it was too early for the drunks to be taking center stage yet.

burnandrave , I was thinking probably about six months after Baltar's groundbreaking ceremony. Also, there's a chance I may reference my post of July 9th in this journal at some point during the game. So let's go back to a time when war and Cylons were the last thing on most people's minds and the biggest problem anyone had was getting Baltar to pay any kind of real attention to anything!    

OOC: This contains spoilers for season four of Battlestar Galactica up to Escape Velocity. 

She stood looking at herself in the mirror. Contemplating herself. 

President Laura Roslin
Battlestar Galactica 2003
452 words