Cape Karen
With the up-coming elections on the horizon, I can't help but wonder where will we be as a nation this time next year? And, by 2008, will we be angry at President McCain, or at President Hillary Clinton? Will we be withdrawing our troops from Iraq, or sending new troops into Iran or North Korea? Will we be paying more or less for gas and oil? Will we still be leaving students behind, or will that piece of flimsy, ineffectual legislation be replaced by something better? Will we finally forge a pathway into an acceptable form of national healthcare, or will we just continue to stand by as millions of Americans go without any health care?
Whadda ya think? Will our 'newly elected' officials, this coming year and next, make any difference at all in our collective lives? Or not?
I tend to be skeptical that anything good can come out of D.C. anymore ~ no matter who is at the helm, no matter which party 'controls' the Congress. Our government process seems to have 'morphed' into little more than a mega-bank for millionaires; a disgusting and shamefully blatant, "good-old-boys" club. From on-going lobbyist corruption, to ineffectual /non-legislation, to wasting billions of our tax-payer dollars on foolishness and stupidity, to 'homeland' agencies that do absolutely nothing to protect us, to 'suspect' voting machines ~ I think we're in serious trouble as a 'democracy' and as a nation.
When people don't bother to vote, because they feel their votes are meaningless in the face of powerful lobbyists (and knowing that, in the last two elections, unchecked errors in the voting machines skewed the true results) can we even call our government a true 'democracy' anymore? Our increased feelings, of powerlessness and frustration, mark a frightening sea-change in the national mood. When we no longer believe that our votes count, or that our needs and interests are being fairly represented by our elected officials, just where does that leave us?
I think it leaves us all drowning in a sea of corruption and greed. I think it leaves us all unprotected and vulnerable. I think it opens the floodgate to more internal and external mischief-making. And, I think that 'we the people' have been played around with and ignored long enough. It's up to us to demand the changes we want and need. It's up to us to change - from being apathetic, cynical 'watchers' to becoming enthusiastic, determined 'speaker-uppers.'
But, in order to speak up effectively, we need to stay informed about the day-to-day decisions being made in Washington. And when we disagree with those decisions, or if we have a concern about the way a vote went in Congress, then we need to speak up and let them know it. After all, a big chunk of our hard-earned income is deducted out of every paycheck to pay their big salaries. The least we can do is make them more accountable to the hands that feed them. So, this coming year, let's give voice to our concerns; let's make our desires and needs known; and let's start holding them accountable to the decisions they make that affect our well-being.
If asked, I would guess that 95% of us want some form of national health care, less corporate lobbying for 'favors' in Congress, a stop to illegal immigration, and a raise in the 'poverty-level' minimum wage that is being offered to hard-working people, living in the richest country in the world. So, if 95% of us want those four basic things, why haven't we been able to get any legislation passed on even one of them? What are they doing up there on the Hill? They sure as hell aren't listening to the people who put them there; or. . . maybe it's just that they just can't hear us?
Well, we can change that! With a keyboard at our fingertips and cell phones in our pockets ~ we sure as hell can. They say "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" - so, it's really very simple. . . we just need to stop being so quiet, and start 'squeaking' - we all need to speak up - louder than the lobbyists. We need to make so much noise this coming year that they won't be able to ignore us any longer.
Let's stop blocking our ears and wearing our blinders ~ just because we don't like what's going on in Washington ~ and, instead, let's listen more closely, watch more carefully and begin to demand what a true democracy is all about. . .representing the will of the people. We really can start making a difference, if we want to. After all, we are 300 million strong now.
This is the Chinese "Year of the Dog." Here at home, to get ready for a new administration, I think 2007 should be designated as, "The Year of the Squeaky Wheel." I think that this should be the year when "We the People" finally begin to fight back.
(O' gawd - I'm starting to sound just like Glenn Beck. . . .)