Despair
I am sick of politicians. As one might infer, I am no fan of Dennis Kucinich. I think he's entirely craven and mostly just pathetic. His decade plus in Congress has contributed to the ongoing downfall of Northeast Ohio and the fact that he is routinely re-elected by wide margins is profoundly depressing to me. That's it on Dennis.
But our representation is failing us terribly just about everywhere else as well. Incompetent, corrupt, or just plain overmatched politicians are something of a rule in Cleveland, and you didn't have to look hard to spot them at the highest levels of American government either. But these days I am having trouble spotting anyone who is providing any real leadership. I define leadership as the ability to prioritize issues in good faith and push them to resolutions that benefit the country. Who is doing that? Name me one person in the Executie and Leglislative branch of federal government who is doing that.
My personal political history is kind of typical. I grew up in a Democratic household, my dad being influenced by the anti-Vietnam war movement in the late 60's and early 70's. I enthusiastically supported Clinton in the first two presidential elections I could vote in. I respected Gore running for president, but was confounded by the last months of his campaign when he started talking about "powerful forces consipiring against" common folk. That seemed awfully strange coming from a guy who was second-in-command for the past 8 years, and I concluded it was a dishonorable ploy. I voted for Nader because I didn't want to vote for anyone, though on election night I was still pulling for Gore. During the early Bush administration I braced myself for the worst.
Then of course 9/11 occurred and it affected me deeply. A lot of people back them commented on how 9/11 would be the death of sarcasm. It wasn't, of course. But it was for me to a large extent. Political gamesmenship could be vastly entertaining, but 9/11 made clear that politics was not entertainment. I don't think those people who died in NYC would ever appreciate the sort of political maneuvering that typically goes on during Sunday morning talk shows, Congressional hearings, and presidential photo-ops.
Anyway, I was suprised and impressed with Bush's response following 9/11 and relived that the country was united for a time. I was enthusiastic about going into Iraq for humanitarian and politcal reasons, not for WMD. Maybe that is why my feelings haven't changed much on Iraq in the years since. And maybe that is why I am so depressed to see all the politcal back-and-forth that has gone on regarding Iraq in recent years. But I also understand that many people who are anti-war are anti-war no matter what, and that many others blow in the wind. Still, I've always expected that a typical Senator would, at the end of the day, concede the merits of the effort even if they were critics.
But all this is just my imagination. On every single other issue that confronts our nation and our world the president and Congress have accomplished nothing or pursued solutions that are not worth the paper they're written on. Take Social Security -- anyone with a brain can see it is an untenable situation that is likely to leave millions of Americans counting on retirement income that simply won't be there. But I've never heard a politician describe it so plainly and accurately. How is it leadership to placate the masses that something is viable when it so obviously is not? America needs only to look to other Western countries who are struggling with more ambitious types of entitlement programs to see what we are facing in the coming decades. Yet we hear very little of substance from our leaders, and absolutely nothing has been put into law that will be part of a solution. In fact, all we've gotten is an additional prescription drug program that, while important for those who need it, only adds to the burden the nation faces. There is simply nothing even resembling leadership on this issue from any prominent politician from either party.
Other major issues are the same way. The Western world is obviously facing a growing threat from Islamic radicals yet there is no clear strategy from America or the West. In fact, we can't even get most politicians to acknowledge was is happening. We get half-baked ideas, concepts that are tossed about with no real analysis to back them up. The UN has no track record of success. No Western nation has ever successfully dealt with the problem, even on a smaller scale. Heck, no Middle Eastern country has either. Isn't it time for our leaders to at least identify and prioritize the issues at hand? We may all disagree about what those are, but then the first order of business is to clearly understand where the fault lines of such disagreements are. Until that happens we will be merely plugging holes in a dam. That is not leadership.
The final straw for me is the immigration "compromise" now going through the Senate. This really is an issue where there ought to be broad concensus. The country obviously favors legalization of currently illegal immigrants, but the terms of which are important. And the terms laid out by this bill are opposed by somewhere between 70% and 80% of the American public, and polls show that the more people learn about the bill the more they oppose it. How can a bill that is so unpopular come this close to being law? What are our Senators doing? People on all parts of the political spectrum have serious problems with the bill -- that is a signal to go back to the drawing board, not a sign of productive bipartisan support. Where are the leaders? Why aren't our Senators listening to the people? The bill itself is not the issue; it's the fact that our government is doing something that is so clearly against the will of the people.
I've written both our Ohio Senators repeatedly. Voinovich's office has never responded to my inquiries. Totally pathetic and unforgivable on such a major piece of legislation. Sherrod Brown, on the other hand, provided the unbelievably insulting response that he has "serious reservations" about the bill, but would vote to proceed so the Senate can "move on to other business." I am just floored by these two guys. Here we have two politicians from two different parties and neither can provide anything substantive regarding their position, and apparently their votes for or against are not necessarily indicative of whether they actually support the bill. As a voter, then, it follows that we should ask not only, "What good are they?" but also, "How do we get rid of them?"
If you browse around the internet you'll find that voters everywhere are having similar experiences with their own Senators and it is clear that something is seriously wrong. And the impression I get is that something is completely broken. Whether it's with our system, with our culture, or with our politicians is not totally clear. Perhaps it's all of those things. But the current situation is not only untenable, it is dangerous and damaging.
I wish I had a course of action in mind to change things. But right now I am just despairing and at a loss. A total loss. Kucinich seems like an afterthought, one little leech in an ocean of full of problems. And it doesn't seem like there is any way back.
But our representation is failing us terribly just about everywhere else as well. Incompetent, corrupt, or just plain overmatched politicians are something of a rule in Cleveland, and you didn't have to look hard to spot them at the highest levels of American government either. But these days I am having trouble spotting anyone who is providing any real leadership. I define leadership as the ability to prioritize issues in good faith and push them to resolutions that benefit the country. Who is doing that? Name me one person in the Executie and Leglislative branch of federal government who is doing that.
My personal political history is kind of typical. I grew up in a Democratic household, my dad being influenced by the anti-Vietnam war movement in the late 60's and early 70's. I enthusiastically supported Clinton in the first two presidential elections I could vote in. I respected Gore running for president, but was confounded by the last months of his campaign when he started talking about "powerful forces consipiring against" common folk. That seemed awfully strange coming from a guy who was second-in-command for the past 8 years, and I concluded it was a dishonorable ploy. I voted for Nader because I didn't want to vote for anyone, though on election night I was still pulling for Gore. During the early Bush administration I braced myself for the worst.
Then of course 9/11 occurred and it affected me deeply. A lot of people back them commented on how 9/11 would be the death of sarcasm. It wasn't, of course. But it was for me to a large extent. Political gamesmenship could be vastly entertaining, but 9/11 made clear that politics was not entertainment. I don't think those people who died in NYC would ever appreciate the sort of political maneuvering that typically goes on during Sunday morning talk shows, Congressional hearings, and presidential photo-ops.
Anyway, I was suprised and impressed with Bush's response following 9/11 and relived that the country was united for a time. I was enthusiastic about going into Iraq for humanitarian and politcal reasons, not for WMD. Maybe that is why my feelings haven't changed much on Iraq in the years since. And maybe that is why I am so depressed to see all the politcal back-and-forth that has gone on regarding Iraq in recent years. But I also understand that many people who are anti-war are anti-war no matter what, and that many others blow in the wind. Still, I've always expected that a typical Senator would, at the end of the day, concede the merits of the effort even if they were critics.
But all this is just my imagination. On every single other issue that confronts our nation and our world the president and Congress have accomplished nothing or pursued solutions that are not worth the paper they're written on. Take Social Security -- anyone with a brain can see it is an untenable situation that is likely to leave millions of Americans counting on retirement income that simply won't be there. But I've never heard a politician describe it so plainly and accurately. How is it leadership to placate the masses that something is viable when it so obviously is not? America needs only to look to other Western countries who are struggling with more ambitious types of entitlement programs to see what we are facing in the coming decades. Yet we hear very little of substance from our leaders, and absolutely nothing has been put into law that will be part of a solution. In fact, all we've gotten is an additional prescription drug program that, while important for those who need it, only adds to the burden the nation faces. There is simply nothing even resembling leadership on this issue from any prominent politician from either party.
Other major issues are the same way. The Western world is obviously facing a growing threat from Islamic radicals yet there is no clear strategy from America or the West. In fact, we can't even get most politicians to acknowledge was is happening. We get half-baked ideas, concepts that are tossed about with no real analysis to back them up. The UN has no track record of success. No Western nation has ever successfully dealt with the problem, even on a smaller scale. Heck, no Middle Eastern country has either. Isn't it time for our leaders to at least identify and prioritize the issues at hand? We may all disagree about what those are, but then the first order of business is to clearly understand where the fault lines of such disagreements are. Until that happens we will be merely plugging holes in a dam. That is not leadership.
The final straw for me is the immigration "compromise" now going through the Senate. This really is an issue where there ought to be broad concensus. The country obviously favors legalization of currently illegal immigrants, but the terms of which are important. And the terms laid out by this bill are opposed by somewhere between 70% and 80% of the American public, and polls show that the more people learn about the bill the more they oppose it. How can a bill that is so unpopular come this close to being law? What are our Senators doing? People on all parts of the political spectrum have serious problems with the bill -- that is a signal to go back to the drawing board, not a sign of productive bipartisan support. Where are the leaders? Why aren't our Senators listening to the people? The bill itself is not the issue; it's the fact that our government is doing something that is so clearly against the will of the people.
I've written both our Ohio Senators repeatedly. Voinovich's office has never responded to my inquiries. Totally pathetic and unforgivable on such a major piece of legislation. Sherrod Brown, on the other hand, provided the unbelievably insulting response that he has "serious reservations" about the bill, but would vote to proceed so the Senate can "move on to other business." I am just floored by these two guys. Here we have two politicians from two different parties and neither can provide anything substantive regarding their position, and apparently their votes for or against are not necessarily indicative of whether they actually support the bill. As a voter, then, it follows that we should ask not only, "What good are they?" but also, "How do we get rid of them?"
If you browse around the internet you'll find that voters everywhere are having similar experiences with their own Senators and it is clear that something is seriously wrong. And the impression I get is that something is completely broken. Whether it's with our system, with our culture, or with our politicians is not totally clear. Perhaps it's all of those things. But the current situation is not only untenable, it is dangerous and damaging.
I wish I had a course of action in mind to change things. But right now I am just despairing and at a loss. A total loss. Kucinich seems like an afterthought, one little leech in an ocean of full of problems. And it doesn't seem like there is any way back.
posted by Michael at 8:32 AM
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