Wikipedia tells us that Jonathan Alter is an American author, political analyst, columnist, documentary filmmaker, and television producer. Alter served as a columnist and senior editor for Newsweek magazine from 1983 to 2011, and he has written extensively on American politics and history, including several books about U.S. presidents. The picture above does not depict Alter.
The picture above shows us Leon Panetta, who represented a Congressional District that included a large part of Santa Cruz County. He served as our elected Member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993. Alter is currently writing a Substack blog with this title: "Old Goats." Panetta was featured in that blog on May 15, 2026. As far as I know, Panetta has not contested this characterization of him as an "Old Goat," demonstrating that he continues to be a person of rare good humor.
Leon did have a couple of things to say in the "Old Goats" column that I want to highlight. First, Leon said that our current president "operates by the seat of his pants. He looks for simple solutions and quick exercises of power. There is no diplomacy. There’s no real effort to sit down, work through these issues, and truly negotiate. He’s reached the point where he thinks that if he says something loudly enough, it will happen. And if it doesn’t, he resorts to threats and bullying tactics to get there."
Second, speaking directly about the war with Iran, Leon said this: "Look, you’re not going to bomb your way to regime change.... It has to happen from the bottom up."
Real change always occurs from the "bottom up." That is my personal experience, too. That's not only true when speaking of international relations.
Leon is five years older than I am, but I could probably be classified as an "Old Goat," too.
So, here's a thought: Take some advice from the "Old Goats." They often know what they're talking about. From the smallest county (geographically) in the State of California to the Executive Office of the most powerful country in the world, take some advice from a couple of "Old Goats" who actually do know how government works.
Fundamental change comes from the "bottom up." Let's not forget that!
Image Credit:
https://oldgoats.substack.com/p/panetta-iran-war-a-terrible-mistake
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