Our country is at a critical juncture, where leadership from our elected officials is in many ways more important now than at any other point in our history. In order to obtain and maintain effective leaders the people of this country need to continue the groundswell of political interest and involvement that began two election cycles ago with the Bush/Gore presidential election. Young adults are showing an ever increasing interest and involvement in issues, which is very encouraging. You guys keep it up!
Our involvement shouldn’t stop at the election, however. We must stay involved and hold all elected officials accountable during their tenure in office. Once they're elected, we should challenge our leaders to be the best they can be and to once again put the interests of the American people first and foremost.
Let's work together to restore a sense of “America First” at all levels of the political spectrum so decisions are made that truly benefit the common good and are not self-serving to any special interest group; be they political, religious, corporate or other.
And, let's encourage politicians to stop hanging so tightly onto their party line whenever debating issues. Partisanship has many of the characteristics of an addiction. They practice it without thinking about it, it interferes with their ability to get the job done and none of their family (U. S. citizens) respects them. Perhaps someone needs to invent a 12 step program for partisanship to get us pointed in the right direction again! Or, how about it if all politicians take two doses of "anti-special interest" pills and call their doctor in the morning.
We must restore thoughtful, respectful political discourse and immediately end the endless bickering, which is encouraged by the sensationalist cable and radio “talk” shows. Each Senator and Representative needs to put their country in front of their party in all decision making.
But let’s not focus on what is wrong in this country today, but on what could be. Our ability to visualize the wonderful things we could accomplish as a nation versus focusing on the negative situation we're currently in might just lead us out of this morass.
Let’s look at just a few examples of what could be.
What if our politicians truly put country first, as opposed to merely adopting it as a political slogan, and reached across the aisle and made a true effort at reaching legislative solutions that would benefit all citizens?
What if all political gridlock ceased because politicians decided to actually work together, reaching compromise on 90%+ of all bills put before them? Congress’s approval rating is low for a reason.
What if the educational standards for our children were raised to the point where we graduated 100% of intelligent, involved, worldly students who were equipped to compete with students from any and all countries on the planet? What if Jay Leno could no longer find kids on the street who didn’t know the name of their president? What if being smart was actually a popular idea among our children? Isn’t it absolutely amazing that intelligence is considered by many in this country to be a character defect?
What if we developed an immigration system that once again welcomed the best and brightest immigrants from all parts of the globe to participate and contribute in making our country better than it’s ever been? America has always been the desired destination of those seeking to improve their lives and we can return to that position with the right determination and the correct policies. Illegal entry should not be allowed, but make legal immigration timelier, not easier, for desirable immigrants to enter and work in our country.
What if we developed an energy policy that made renewable energy a priority and we became a world leader in the development of alternative energy technology, creating millions of high tech American jobs, making us the “go-to” country for clean energy technology. As T. Boone Pickens has stated, we aren’t going to drill our way out of this problem. What real impact is drilling for more oil going to have on prices or our dependence on foreign oil when the best possible outcome is to find deposits that represent up to 3% of worldwide oil reserves? Is this just another political diversion our politicians are using to assuage our fears? Can we pursue some real solutions here?
What if our movement to cleaner technologies caused the market price of oil to drop, thereby drying up the discretionary funds used by Russia, the Middle East, Venezuela and others to stir up trouble on the world stage? Do you think for a minute that the Islamic terrorist groups would have funding if the bank accounts of Saudi Arabia, Iran and others were reduced significantly because of $30 or $40 oil? The quickest way to defeating terrorism is to take away their money. Also, per Thomas Friedman’s new book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded” (see our Books To Read page), the Saudis are building traditional Islamic schools like there is no tomorrow, spreading their conservative brand of Islam throughout the world, which encourages a philosophy that is most definitely counter to Western culture and beliefs. And guess what, we’re paying for it!
What if Congress started spending our money as if it were coming out of their wallets? What if they took ownership and stopped sending billions to rebuild Iraq, Georgia, Afghanistan, and other countries while our own country’s infrastructure is crumbling and a large percentage of Americans are going to bed hungry every night? Responsibilities at home should be taken care of before we spend a dime overseas to support people who don’t even like us!!
What if we could create a world class health-care system that was affordable for every citizen by eliminating waste, curtailing bureaucracy and implementing an efficient database for managing all health-care records across the country without compromising privacy?
A change is needed. As long as we, the citizens, sit on our backsides and let politicians do what they do, nothing will change. It's time to hold them accountable and to do it not only through the vote, but by continuing to educate ourselves on issues and to hold their collective feet to the fire on issues that are of utmost importance to the American people.
They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same old behaviors while expecting a different outcome. We’re not crazy and this idea isn't either. Change your behavior, get involved, and see what happens!
Want to get more involved? A simple start is to find out who your congressional representatives are and email them about the issues you're passionate about. Or, if you think your email will get lost in the shuffle, write a letter and send it the old fashioned way.
Complacency will only bring us more of what we already have, so change it up and get involved!! We can make America great again. There’s a lot of work to do and we have to capture the attention of our leaders before this journey can truly begin.
So, please, get involved and set your expectations high! We’ll probably all be surprised by what we are truly capable of.
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