Politics As Usual?

I find it amazing how making a proclamation about removing one’s self from politics on Facebook elicits such a response both negative and positive. Obviously many thought I was done spewing my drivel altogether and that could not be further from the truth. I just found Facebook to be a tiring tirade of one liners that ultimately got down to bad talking your opponent’s Grandmother. No good can come from it and I think Facebook is better off sticking to mindless games and humor.

So I thought I would talk about a couple things that have been on my mind. My very prolific writer cousin had some fascinating points in talking about the political atmosphere we find ourselves in. I may regurgitate some of them to his dismay but he’ll get over it.

My Son chimed in on one of his few political moments about how, and I’m paraphrasing, the system is basically broken and it doesn’t matter who’s in office it will be the same old politics. I actually have been thinking about his statement and he may be closer to the truth than any of the rest of us. While that is a truth I think you must dig a little deeper about our system. My wife reminded me that the President is only the figurehead and really the policies he promotes are often coming from pressures within his cabinet and party. I acknowledge that fact. I also think that my viewpoint should not just be directed at Obama for that reason and I’ve often said that the real problem with our country is Congress. This is a huge body of self-serving politicians that really don’t see any issues past their next re-election. Someone on Facebook told me that term limits is a cop out and that we elect our politicians and should be accountable for what we get. That’s a great theory. It’s not so much a reality anymore. I read a study where over 50% of the electorate now can barely tell you anything about who they are voting for. People are not informed and are voting from the last effective negative ad they see or hear. I think term limits are the appropriate check and balance to keep our politicians honest.

One of the most fascinating points I’ve been reading about is the facts that seem to be coming from all sides. Is it 8.9% unemployment or 14.1%? Just how much is Obamacare going to cost? How many illegal aliens are there in this country and if you can count them why can’t you take action on them? The numbers seem to fluctuate all over the map and they are even reset by the very people that make them, for instance the unemployment figures which are reset a week after they are released. Why not wait and release them when you actually know what they are? The larger question is DO you really know what they are? With the advent of the internet and all its fringe kooks that have come into play on both sides you have to be very careful about what sources you use.

Probably the one thing that concerns me the most in our country is how civil discourse has begun to degrade. Instead of debating ideologies it has now become digging for dirt and relentless character assassinations that seems to fuel the political fires. I know you can go back till the beginning of the political process in our country and find examples of nasty campaigns. The bigger problem these days is the more immediate impact these unfounded and many times slanderous accusations on both sides take root. Tell a lie long enough and it becomes the truth. I’m not sure how this gets fixed or even if it can get fixed but it is a real problem in our political arena these days.

You know our country has really prided itself and distinguished itself over the years for being an open political process that few other countries can match. I guess the issue at hand at this point is being able to accurately discern truth from fiction. I will continue to read and try and listen to all viewpoints in making my decisions but I know what my core principles and values are and those will guide me to make what I think are the right decisions. If you know what your core values and principles are and stick to them then you have done the best you can do.

This country is a huge ship to turn if it needs turning. I think the political process, while tedious and frustrating, was set up as to not be able to make drastic changes too quickly and in that way protect us from ourselves. So to those of you that say this will never change I say it can only change if you begin now to advance what you think should happen. It won’t happen overnight but if you don’t at least give it the full effort it will indeed never change.

A Dirty Word

Again I will begin an exercise in what some would consider futility but I enjoy. It is to examine words and their meanings. For this submission I am really going to focus in on one word because it is quickly vanishing from the vocabularies of so many. I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting for me to divulge the word so here it is: responsibility.

It is such an intimidating and weighty word and the definition is no less intimidating.
1.the state or fact of being responsible. 2.an instance of being responsible: The responsibility for this mess is yours! 3.a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible: the responsibilities of authority. 4.a person or thing for which one is responsible: A child is a responsibility to its parents. 5.reliability or dependability, especially in meeting debts or payments.

You see I wasn’t kidding, this is serious stuff. So why has it become an endangered species among words in our society? My answer would be to you the same as why there are more divorces than ever….it’s hard and it takes work. I know I’ve harped on this in the past and I will continue to do so because this facet of our humanity is crumbling to the point that the buck never really stops anywhere anymore. No one person wants to shoulder the blame for anything these days. It’s why lawyers are doing so well even with the most frivolous of lawsuits. Everything and anything is now a potential lawsuit. That’s not to say that all lawsuits are wrong and in fact wrongful people get what’s coming to them almost every day. My point is we are losing our grip on common sense. If you buy coffee at McDonalds and you spill it in your lap then when does it become someone else’s fault? I believe the previous sentence started with two “yous” and therefore it likely should end with a “your”.

I think another area that has exploded is how many people are now on disability. I would propose to you that the reason for this is simply the inability of many to accept their own responsibility of their actions. That and also the fact that disability is easier to get simply because people making the judgments don’t want to be responsible for now granting these claims. See where I am going with this? It is an ugly spiral and we as Americans have a front row seat.

We are entering into an ugly political season now. Politicians are probably the worst for not accepting responsibility for mistakes because they deem it to be political suicide. By the way that fact goes for all sides of the aisle. I, for one, and quite probably I’m in a small minority, would find it refreshing to hear Romney say I screwed up in Massachusetts by putting his healthcare plan in place. I would love to hear Obama say I’ve really made a mess out of this healthcare plan and we should start over. It won’t happen. Both would consider it a sign of weakness but on the contrary I would consider it a sign of character.

So I guess my question is how do we break this cycle? It is far too rewarding for the lawyers and their clients. What happened to torte reform? That seems to have gone silent. I can tell you one reason. Most of our congressmen are lawyers so it would not be very self serving for that topic to surface and let’s face it politicians these days are all about serving themselves first! I think that is where it starts though.

The second and probably most critical way to create a change is by teaching our children personal responsibility. The hurdle with that idea is that we need to make parents actually be parents. (Again that’s the whole work thing) Parenting is not all fun and games. Sometimes it’s about teaching the hard lessons to your children so they are able to survive and flourish out in the cold world when they leave the nest. Your children will always have friends but they will only have two (hopefully) parents.

I could go on and on with this but whoever is still left reading this probably needs to get a life anyway. Hopefully I’ve given you a few points to ponder and think about.