We the People...

I used to fear that I would run out of things to talk about, regarding politics that is. I assumed that somehow cooler and more logical heads would prevail and refocus on what matters, leaving the silly drivel of mud-slinging and baseless propaganda behind, forcing pundits and charlatans alike to find better ground from which to mine our scandals—real and imagined. I no longer have that fear.

What frightens me now, is the reality that we have accomplished none of those things. A year—and an election—later, we have the same arguments. We hear the same ill-conceived and often flat out fabricated talking points. We find ourselves hoping magically for different results. We are a nation capable of great things. I never thought that redefining insanity, passing it off as governing and, holding our citizens hostage, was ever going to be on that list. Alas, again I was mistaken.

The events of the last 6 weeks have left me baffled and searching. Ever the optimist, even I am saddened at the horizon seeming to hold less hope than it did a year ago. In the optimistic haze of post-election 2012, it did not seem sophomoric to expect that the government might be able to govern. Then, set in the harsh reality of Congress by terrorism. The moral compass, I was sure directed our Congressional steps, seemingly for sale. The full faith, credit and reputation of our country, yet again, at the mercy of the hostage takers dressed in tailored suits, whose offices line the Capitol’s streets. It appears we have created and nurtured a culture that no longer understands the long game, but is willing to resort to extortion and masochism to assuage the latest fringe temper tantrum.

Depending on where you are reading, or watching, the victors – if there are any-- of the government shut down vary. From those who believe it was an appalling and egregious display of government dysfunction, to those who applaud the President for not backing down, to those who desperately cling to the romanticism of Tea Party rebellion, ever ready to pin the failure of leadership to the President. My finger, however, points in an entirely different direction. It points back to us, we the people of the United States…

There is an implicit contract most of us are unaware that we are party to, the one that by birth or naturalization, becomes our responsibility as citizens of our country. Part of the contract is electing qualified officials. Part is to hold responsible and accountable those we elect. It is expected that we do our due diligence and put those in power who are both able and willing to take the weight of governance seriously. Those willing to uphold, defend and protect our constitution, as well as to defend, protect and exert the will of the people and act in their best interest, not limited to the best interests of their people, all people.

The premise behind the Congress is representation, but I have wonder, who is it that they believe they are representing? Certainly, it is not millions of Americans who voted for the President. It could not be the countless soldiers with boots on the ground that they left in harm’s way, as they waxed poetic about the economic collapse that MIGHT ensue over the ACA, all the while almost certainly guaranteeing our financial ruin, when for the second time in 12 months they played chicken with the debt ceiling. It could not have been the families they locked out of commissaries around the world, the elderly they refused access to necessary care, the parents whose paychecks were held, or the students whose programs were suspended.

When it is all said and done, is it Congress with whom should we really be angry? After all, we voted for them, or failed to vote against them. We sent them to Washington with their murky agenda and our complicity. We left the House, figuratively and literally, to the children and then complained that they refused to behave like adults. WE, you and me, have a share in this, whether we choose to accept our culpability or not.

The brilliance of that revelation, is that as we were party to their meteoric rise, the power needed to drop them squarely on their contemptuous pomposity and be better for it, also rests with us. It is no longer enough to vote party line and expect that it still represents your values, ideals or what is in the best interest of our country’s wellbeing. Not when party, specifically the GOP, has replaced values with propaganda and sold its soul in the name of fundraising for midterm elections. It is time we ended our love affair of electing men and women we want to drink a beer with and expect our leaders to be better, to KNOW more, and DO more, than the average citizen. We need to end the assault on civility, common sense, and information. It is time we again embrace the fundamental ideas of meritocracy that made America a global superpower. We must divest ourselves from the chokehold of neo-aristocratic entitlement. A government for the people and by the people, must honor the will of the people, so whether the GOP likes it or not, the people have spoken. Government is not the nullification of their voice