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Commentary :: Elections & Legislation

Saviors And Heroes – Business As Usual

When a voting public is dissatisfied with its elected officials, it might seem the best thing for those officials to humble themselves and approach the public with a message conceding mistakes made along with things done correctly. There can be no doubt Americans are dissatisfied and it is not with one party alone. Fact is neither party is willing to humble itself in front of our nation and just admit the fault for the state of the nation, in part, lies with them. Again in the midst of all the angst and need to come together, both parties are busying themselves with finger pointing.

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Our nation's economy is crumbling while men and women overseas suffer more unnecessary bloodshed. Our elected representatives and those running for elected office portray themselves as the people with the right solutions and the answers we need now. Of course since 2008 they have had nothing but misses, bad advice, an inability to follow through and a disregard for the welfare of the public at large. They stand at podiums and say “we are right because of this, and the others are wrong because of that.” As for the first we're still waiting for results from both sides, thus as of right now their collective failure provides us no reasons to trust them.

As for the second, they are only partially correct. In most normal election years there are sensible points both sides put forth worthy of attention and debate. One side takes a stance on a particularly popular issue and the other asserts another approach. In a normal election year there is usually some time to listen to and contemplate these ideas with no real rush.

Of course this is no ordinary time in our nation's history and our politics is no exception to that reality. Aside from the urgency of the three foreign conflicts putting soldiers in harm's way unnecessarily and the dire economic situation we have real problems with our elected leadership on both sides of the isle and really the two party system. We cruised along for years with the current political system and have been fortunate to have always had elected representatives willing to put aside differences and come together to do what was right for the country when we really needed them; with few exceptions.

But ever since the elections of 2008 things have changed for the worse and hope has been standing on the sidelines talking to itself as though trying to psych itself up. Something has been different in this country and the idea that it was okay to grind the wheels of legislation to a halt and hold Americans hostage for the purpose of political gain seemed perfectly alright to some. It has been as though we elected representatives that did not care about the best for our country.

Instead of leaders ready to sacrifice themselves and do whatever was necessary to move the nation forward in this time of extreme need and stress they actually opted to use our struggles and pain for political leverage. They were not even subtle about it, and have been as blatant about it as they could be. And we finally understand the limits of our political system as the times have caught up to and exposed the frailties inherent in the aging two party system.

There is nothing to make up for the shortfalls brought about by a prolonged abandoning of political cooperation the way things stand. No other parties to fall back on. Of course, nobody ever thought adults appointed to positions of responsibility over the nation's future could behave like children for toxically long stretches of time. Yet here we are. If it's a record they want, someone please call the folks at Guinness so we can move forward.

For nine days now Americans fed up with being treated like doormats by their elected officials in favor of moneyed individuals and corporations have been on the streets protesting. Just yesterday “at least 80 people were arrested” and there are no plans to stop. (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/09/occupy-wall-street-movement-reports-80-arrested-today-in-protests/) The protests have been non-partisan and media darling politicians and even the more obscure fringe politicians have been locked out due to their being part of the problem thus far. People have begun to demand for more than the status quo, as it has not delivered solutions to the issues confronting us today.

The protesters state on their website, “The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.” (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/09/occupy-wall-street-movement-reports-80-arrested-today-in-protests/) They are the face of people tired of the influence and favoritism paid to corporations. They are the voices of the majority of Americans fed up with sacrificing lives and treasure on wars just to further enrich 1%, while the rest of us become poorer. They are voices questioning why we need to pay for troops to be stationed across the globe to protect wealthy corporations in the name of free markets.

They are the voices questioning currency manipulation deals our government cuts with governments in places like Eastern and South Eastern Asia so they can sell goods manufactured cheaply there on our market. They are the voices asking why our leaders are saying there is nothing we can do to get the jobs that were once here that went there back, when if we simply stopped the currency manipulation and military presence over there, which are the only things holding back thugs, strongmen, kidnappers, warlords, gangsters, corrupt politicians, terrorists and more from muscling in on those corporations, they'd be running back home fast as they could screaming wide eyed and banging on the gates. Hopefully people looking to stir it up and derail the protests don't mess it up with violence unrelated to the movement, or by finding an alternative to steer it towards petering out.

But it isn't just the protesters. In a recent nationwide Gallup poll, “a bare 13% of those surveyed approve of Congress, tying the worst record recorded in December 2010. Disapproval of the national lawmakers stood at 84%, a percentage point higher (hence, worse) than last December’s.” (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/16/news/la-pn-gallup-poll-congress-20110816) The president was doing better, but still poorly with a disapproval rating of 49%. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/gallup-daily-obama-job-approval.aspx)

Americans are fed up and the opposition to the president aren't offering more than talking points which seem to morph to follow with the most current trends. But the problem of intransigence has not been alleviated and there are no heroes or saviors stepping up to make the sacrifices needed to help our nation. As of right now they are all proving they don't understand what we want or need, and that they are unwilling to put politics aside to truly bring either hope or change - two more things we have been waiting for since 2008.

To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.

 
 

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