After a chance meeting and chat, the Royal Governor of Pennsylvania, William Keith, had taken a liking to me. He knew of my ambition to start a printing business of my own, and so he promised to lend any support he could in order to turn my dream into reality.
I mentioned that I would need to investigate the purchase of type fonts, paper, a printing press, and various other items needed to launch my printshop. At that time in history, the nearest place you could obtain those sorts of things was London, England. So the governor encouraged me to set sail immediately, telling me that he would give me a Letter of Credit to purchase the aforesaid necessities.
Upon boarding, I inquired as to the promised funding the governor had pledged to supply. The answer was not exactly what I wanted to hear. Nothing yet, apparently. But since there was one more packet of mail still unopened before we sailed, I held out hope that the governor had indeed come through, and I’d soon have the money for my mission.
As it turned out, our ship sailed — with me on board — and we’d still not gotten any sort of firm answer regarding the Letter of Credit from the governor. Upon arriving in England, the last packet of mail was finally opened — and of course, as I feared, there was nothing from the governor for me. So, I basically had to fend for myself, securing food, employment, and a place to stay, all on my own. I wound up working for a London printer, where I gained quite a nice reputation as a hard-working, industrious American who preferred drinking water instead of beer to refresh me during the long workday.
To make a long story short — since this was intended to be a tale of politicians’ unkept promises — I never did receive any money from Gov. Keith. In fact, as I learned from one of my fellow ship passengers, this particular politician had already established for himself a rather unsavory reputation. He was notorious for making big promises, and never delivering on them! As that passenger told me, Gov. Keith “wished to please everybody, and having little to give (he really didn’t have any credit to offer others), he gave expectations instead.” So I had simply been the latest victim in a long line of hoodwinked Pennsylvania residents.
You might want to keep the moral of this story in mind as you watch events unfolding in Washington, DC these days. Governments come and go, and unfortunately, in my humble opinion, the leaders we entrust with our lives, our health, and our general well-being often turn out to be scoundrels in disguise, who are only out to feather their own nests, at the expense of honest, tax paying citizens.
Beware, my friends, of unfounded, unrealistic political promises that sound too good to be true. The swindlers who foist these fictitious travesties on a gullible public, with their accompanying infidelity, narcissistic tendencies, and outright dishonesty, will only wind up hurting you in the long run.
Your humble servant,
B. Franklin
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